Test Equipment Anonymous

I've had frogs, birds, rabbit, and unidentifiable smelly stuff. We once had a mole. Moles are quite strong and this one really didn't want to be rescued. I keep a pair of oven mitts for handling such creatures to avoid injury to both parties.

Feathers vomited on a sofa are an unpleasant memory of mine.

I keep leather welding gauntlets for brambles and my mother's free range Hans macaw.

Hahn's Macaws are playful, intelligent and charming pets, according to this.

https://www.thesprucepets.com/hahns-macaws-390835

It says they are very gentle birds. It doesn't mention anything about welding gauntlets.

Perhaps your mother's was of a naturally wicked disposition.

I suspect, without much evidence, it might have been better with a pair of them.

It got on well enough with my mother, but the beak is an awesome (and destructive) weapon.

Zenith wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 8:53 am https://www.thesprucepets.com/hahns-macaws-390835

It says they are very gentle birds. It doesn't mention anything about welding gauntlets.

No, but that article is littered with careful caveats similar to those thrown around by cat-lovers. ("No, no, cats can be trained and are gentle and affectionate provided they are treated appropriately.") One of our cats will need a visit to the vet soon; welding gauntlets might be a useful investment. I have given up on attempting to take the other to the vet; it's too traumatic for all concerned.

EC8010 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 10:19 am

Zenith wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 8:53 am https://www.thesprucepets.com/hahns-macaws-390835

It says they are very gentle birds. It doesn't mention anything about welding gauntlets.

No, but that article is littered with careful caveats similarly to those thrown around by cat-lovers. ("No, no, cats can be trained and are gentle and affectionate provided they are treated appropriately.") One of our cats will need a visit to the vet soon; welding gauntlets might be a useful investment. I have given up on attempting to take the other to the vet; it's too traumatic for all concerned.

Daughter's dog has to be heavily sedated before visiting the vet, enough that its tongue lolls out the side of its mouth.

Even in normal relaxed circumstances, touching its paws causes it to express its extreme displeasure.

Welding gauntlets allow me to grasp blackberry stems and thorns, and pull. They would probably hold off a cat's teeth and claws for a while.

What I've noticed is that there are parrot people, who are immensely enthusiastic about them, and owning one seems to be more a way of life than owning a pet. Parrots also have particular views about people. Some don't like boys, some don't like girls, and some take an immense dislike to certain people for no particular reason.

You have to watch out when buying arc welding gauntlets, mostly they are thick cow-hide with no touch sensitivity at all. You don't need touch sensitivity for arc welding (MMA). There are thinner ones, which I find more pleasant to use, but they probably wouldn't do much to stop brambles. They were sold by welding supply places for about £3 a pair, or there were "wood burning stove gloves" which were the same thing but cost £12 a pair.

TIG gloves are different and much thinner. You need touch sensitivity to feed the filler rod with TIG.

For transporting cats to the vets, there are butcher's chain mail gloves. There are full arm versions which might be best.

Zenith wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 11:23 am What I've noticed is that there are parrot people, who are immensely enthusiastic about them, and owning one seems to be more a way of life than owning a pet. Parrots also have particular views about people. Some don't like boys, some don't like girls, and some take an immense dislike to certain people for no particular reason.

You have to watch out when buying arc welding gauntlets, mostly they are thick cow-hide with no touch sensitivity at all. You don't need touch sensitivity for arc welding (MMA). There are thinner ones, which I find more pleasant to use, but they probably wouldn't do much to stop brambles. They were sold by welding supply places for about £3 a pair, or there were "wood burning stove gloves" which were the same thing but cost £12 a pair.

TIG gloves are different and much thinner. You need touch sensitivity to feed the filler rod with TIG.

For transporting cats to the vets, there are butcher's chain mail gloves. There are full arm versions which might be best.

Definition of a ball race:
Tom cat with a 5yd lead on the vet !

Really you only need a spare Wellington boot (Gumboot for those Downunder) and a razor blade.
Stuff the cat head first into the boot and snip snip, hey presto 2 stone lighter.

tautech wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 11:31 am

Zenith wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 11:23 am What I've noticed is that there are parrot people, who are immensely enthusiastic about them, and owning one seems to be more a way of life than owning a pet. Parrots also have particular views about people. Some don't like boys, some don't like girls, and some take an immense dislike to certain people for no particular reason.

You have to watch out when buying arc welding gauntlets, mostly they are thick cow-hide with no touch sensitivity at all. You don't need touch sensitivity for arc welding (MMA). There are thinner ones, which I find more pleasant to use, but they probably wouldn't do much to stop brambles. They were sold by welding supply places for about £3 a pair, or there were "wood burning stove gloves" which were the same thing but cost £12 a pair.

TIG gloves are different and much thinner. You need touch sensitivity to feed the filler rod with TIG.

For transporting cats to the vets, there are butcher's chain mail gloves. There are full arm versions which might be best.

Definition of a ball race:
Tom cat with a 5yd lead on the vet !

Really you only need a spare Wellington boot (Gumboot for those Downunder) and a razor blade.
Stuff the cat head first into the boot and snip snip, hey presto 2 stone lighter.

??? are you shaving cats down there? for what purpose? is it a competitive sport?

we need more details......something like that might actually catch on around here too.

tautech wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 11:31 am

Zenith wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 11:23 am What I've noticed is that there are parrot people, who are immensely enthusiastic about them, and owning one seems to be more a way of life than owning a pet. Parrots also have particular views about people. Some don't like boys, some don't like girls, and some take an immense dislike to certain people for no particular reason.

You have to watch out when buying arc welding gauntlets, mostly they are thick cow-hide with no touch sensitivity at all. You don't need touch sensitivity for arc welding (MMA). There are thinner ones, which I find more pleasant to use, but they probably wouldn't do much to stop brambles. They were sold by welding supply places for about £3 a pair, or there were "wood burning stove gloves" which were the same thing but cost £12 a pair.

TIG gloves are different and much thinner. You need touch sensitivity to feed the filler rod with TIG.

For transporting cats to the vets, there are butcher's chain mail gloves. There are full arm versions which might be best.

Definition of a ball race:
Tom cat with a 5yd lead on the vet !

Really you only need a spare Wellington boot (Gumboot for those Downunder) and a razor blade.
Stuff the cat head first into the boot and snip snip, hey presto 2 stone lighter.

I thought you lot just bit them off

Zenith wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 11:23 am You have to watch out when buying arc welding gauntlets, mostly they are thick cow-hide with no touch sensitivity at all. You don't need touch sensitivity for arc welding (MMA). There are thinner ones, which I find more pleasant to use, but they probably wouldn't do much to stop brambles. They were sold by welding supply places for about £3 a pair, or there were "wood burning stove gloves" which were the same thing but cost £12 a pair.

In this context cheap and insensitive are prime benefits!

OOOOOH!!!

got it now. the razor is not for removing fur.

I was actually converting stone to kilograms and lbs. 2 stone.....that's 28 lbs.....that would be a lot of fur.

the confusion was because......here in a civilized place we take cats to the vet to be "fixed".

Zenith wrote: ↑Fri Apr 24, 2026 10:00 pm Well if you harbour cats you can expect a succession of these tributes.

"Harbouring" them makes them sound like criminals. Which of course they are, as any cat owner will tell you.