Hi Bill, I'm a little confused. My concern is moisture coming in from the exterior through the concrete block and potentially rotting the furring strips that will be holding the tile wall up. The "warm wall" will be tile on thinset on cement board on vapor barrier on furring strips. But those furring strips will be contacting the outside wall. It is that contact that I am thinking of. Should I just use PT for the furring strips and be done with it? Or should I install a second moisture barrier on the interior of the block wall before installing the furring strips? I'm inclined to go with the PT directly on the block, but would be grateful for any advice from folks more knowledgeable than me. One reason I am confused is that I understand that some water vapor will get by my vapor barrier, and when it does I think I would want it to pass to the exterior of the house. But if I apply something to that wall to prevent this, I will get an accumulation. Also, IIRC none of those paintable water barriers actually hold up over time, so I am not sure what I would be accomplishing by using them. Make any sense? Thanks again! Paul

So it is clear from scientific studies that physiologically, anatomically, and instinctively, man is perfectly suited to a diet for fruit, vegetables, nuts, and grains. And plenty of carrion, although our delicate modern minds don't want to think about that. Quite a few archaeological sites of extremely early human habitations (2.5-1.8 million years ago, Homo habilis and Homo erectus) have yielded bones showing marks of human teeth made AFTER marks made by teeth of other species, as well as marks of early stone tools (and the presence of such tools, often broken and so discarded) indicating dissection of those animals. Analysis of human coprolites, or what would politely be described as fossilized dung, from Homo erectus sites already shows evidence of extensive meat consumption (actually coprolites are really nifty once you get over the ick factor), and human-made stone tools purely for the use of hunting, such as spear tips, first appear approximately 1.5 million years ago. That doesn't even allow for animals intentionally killed by such things as thrown stones, wooden or unmodified-bone implements such as clubs or fish gorges made from thorns, trapping, hand-catching (such as fish "tickling", egg collecting, or hunting for animal dens to catch extremely young animals), as well as the "lucky find" of an animal that died of natural causes. Mollusc shells (snails, clams, oysters) abound in Paleolithic sites located near water. As for the "impossibility" of eating raw flesh "without the use of a knife and fork", sorry Jen, but that's outright bunk. Hunter-gatherer tribes (what few survive Western, well, let's call a spade a spade, invasion and habitat destruction) do still do so - two of the anthropologists I studied under at university had spent many years in the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies living with hunter-gatherer tribes as members of the tribes would live, one specializing in the Kalahari and the other with tribes in New Guinea and the Amazon. A great deal of perfectly edible animal protein does not even require being so much as smacked with a rock, although most of us wimpy Westerners wouldn't consider grubs, insects, raw eggs from wild-bird nests, and such as "edible". For example, Australian Aborigines who enjoy "bush tucker" (their traditional - and we're talking a good 50,000 years here - foods gleaned from the wild) covet a large moth larva called a witchetty grub, which would have most North Americans barfing on their shoes. Even some of the survival training of the American military include obtaining and consuming raw animal protein with one's bare hands, the basic assumption of the course being that one has lost all of one's equipment and being in an situation where building a fire with the old spinning stick technique isn't practical. (Someone I know went through advanced survival training and absolutely loved to tell gross-out stories about his dining adventures.) Personally, I agree with those who say that humans, like many of the other primate species, have evolved to be opportunistic omnivores - we as a species did and will eat pretty much anything we can get our grubby little hands on. It's only in relatively recent times that we've been able to afford to get as picky as we are now. As for whether I wear fur, leather, etc., I used to have a mink collar for my peacoat but it was cut from a coat from the 1960s and just got too tatty to wear, I have had hats and mittens from the skins of rabbits raised as food, and I once had slippers made from moosehide from a moose hunted for food. My leather jacket wore out and I haven't replaced it because they're too expensive. I wear leather shoes (or fabric ones) because plastic ones make my feet stinky and prone to fungi like athlete's foot, and as a previous poster points out, there's the whole petrochemical issue to non-leather shoes (besides fabric and latex rubber, and I dare ya to go through a New England winter in canvas shoes LOL) so you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. IIRC, anti-fur groups typically throw red paint (PETA claims that they do not advocate nor do they sponsor such actions), not blood, on fur-wearers. One reason I have heard straight from the mouth of one of these eco-vandals is that paint cannot be removed without destroying the fur, while blood can be removed fairly easily. (And then there's that minor hypocrisy of using blood to protest killing, unless these folks are donating their own blood to do it...)

Our house is all hardwood floors. We only have some small areas of carpet rugs, which we have had for over a year. The cats do love to lay on those... I don't know if that could be the cause? If so, would it be likely that our other cat would be having a similar issue though if from carpet rugs? Is it common for these areas (Tail, Hind Legs, and Stomach) to be affected first with food allergy? I checked my notebook where we keep track of anything usual or changes (we take this to the vet with us each year) and we changed their food brand entirely in January of this year. However, I do think the fur loss on the tail began before that. I am unsure of the stomach/legs, but know it has been within the past year. I have not heard of Diatomaceous Earth, but will check it out. Originally my cat ate Iams, which we switched a few years ago after the pet food scares. After that she was eating Innova, mostly dry with some canned wet food. We increased the amount of wet food this past year after she had issues with constipation. We had changed vets, due to being unhappy and getting mixed recommendations from the vet we had, and the new vet thought her vomiting and constipation could be a food allergy. We switched the cats from Innova to Wellness early this year. They do the Salmon based dry food, and they share a pouch of wet food each day. (April seems to prefer the gravy rather than the canned food.) We have had almost no vomiting since making the switch, and no known issued with constipation, but of course now we have the fur loss which is what brought me here. I THINK the fur loss started while still on Innova... but not positive. However, she at Innova for about 3 years and the fur loss and excessive vomiting did not begin until we moved.

I got to see it yesterday. I am pretty sure it is beaver. Unfortunately I saw some tears in it: she will have to repair these before offering it for sale. She is good at hand sewing, though. But the pelt is not dry at all (I have had a few of my own that were, since donated (I think: I can't find them) so I believe I can tell). I don't know what she can get for it, that remains to be seen. I priced a few when we were out that afternoon at other antique shops, priced between $100 and $200. Hers is a really nice style, and not dated. She also showed me a full length muskrat I had not seen before. That one is in perfect shape. No damage, pelt not dry. I don't know what the market is for muskrat. I urged her to place that for sale first, while she works on the beaver. At the end of February, she is running out of time.