Test Equipment Anonymous

Edited because the original source was deleted, fuckers

Widlar was dropped off by my friend's wife a year ago today




And this time last year, he fit easily in my hand




-Pat

They look so innocent when they're little; no hint of clawed carpets, disembowelled rodents, distributed feathers, or casual puddles of cat sick.

This is Dually. Dually was 5 years old. Key word.....was. His 9 lives got used up and it wasn't his fault. And I'm not happy about it.

He was one of Blondie's daughter's 5 cats. She lives in a house on a corner lot next to an extremely busy road. All 5 cats are allowed outside. You know where this is going. Dually was found dead on the side of the road this morning. Across the road is a large field with all kinds of goodies to go hunting for. And Dually was a avid hunter. But his luck ran out this morning. I always thought that it was irresponsible to let the cats outside with the traffic on that road. Speed limit 35 MPH which is totally ignored. Blondie agrees but it fell on deaf ears. And they are "animal lovers". Yea, right.

RIP Dually.

Very sorry to hear, Mike. Mine are strictly indoor because they're on the food chain here, cars would also be a potential issue. RIP, little guy. Hopefully Blondie's daughter reevaluates the outdoor cat thing for her others.



-Pat

Sorry to hear, Mike.
Dually was such a handsome guy, love that white tip of his tail.
RIP poor fellow.

Cubdriver wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2026 12:54 am Very sorry to hear, Mike. Mine are strictly indoor because they're on the food chain here, cars would also be a potential issue. RIP, little guy. Hopefully Blondie's daughter reevaluates the outdoor cat thing for her others.



-Pat

Yea, one of the coyote's favorite prey is house cat. There don't appear to be many in this area. At my old residence they were abundant as many cat owners found out the hard way. Bobcats have been seen here and I suppose given the chance they will take a cat. Foxes tend not to be much of a threat. I've personally witnessed a fox and a cat have a stand off and the fox gives up.

MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2026 10:59 pm This is Dually. Dually was 5 years old. Key word.....was. His 9 lives got used up and it wasn't his fault. And I'm not happy about it.

He was one of Blondie's daughter's 5 cats. She lives in a house on a corner lot next to an extremely busy road. All 5 cats are allowed outside. You know where this is going. Dually was found dead on the side of the road this morning. Across the road is a large field with all kinds of goodies to go hunting for. And Dually was a avid hunter. But his luck ran out this morning. I always thought that it was irresponsible to let the cats outside with the traffic on that road. Speed limit 35 MPH which is totally ignored. Blondie agrees but it fell on deaf ears. And they are "animal lovers". Yea, right.

RIP Dually.

I know someone who had a white cat. It had one blue eye and one orange eye. It was deaf, which is a genetic condition with such cats. It was odd because you could walk up to her from behind and she was completely oblivious, then she'd start. He has a big garden but lives on a cross roads and cars take the bend on two wheels. His other cats go in the road but scram when they hear a car. He found her run over one day. I'd swear she never heard the car coming.

Sorry to hear about Dually. Our two cats go outside, but Binx doesn't venture out of the back garden. Her mother, Heidi, ranges far and wide, particularly into the stables across the (quiet) road. You haven't lived until you've woken in the middle of the night to a strong smell of horse shit and discovered a cat on your pillow caked in the stuff. She must have fallen in it. Unsurprisingly, she let me wash her with a wet face cloth. When wetted, it was even whiffier. I'm afraid cars are a risk you have to accept if you let a cat range as it wants.

Here's another pix of Dually. That kitten is Motley, who is....drum roll....Harley's brother.

Yes, we got Harley from Blondie's daughter.

Dually says, "Stop wriggling and look straight at the camera."

I've just been alerted by a shriek that one of our treasures had brought a rat in. Quite sizeable; about 6" long body and quite weighty. Thankfully, very dead.

I remember my neighbours cat throwing a mouse across the driveway, then chasing it and catching it. Rinse and repeat.

Never seen a dog be that cruel. Although daughter's dog has a string prey instinct, it hasn't caught anything yet. I suspect ragging would end any critter sharpish.

Cats are wicked like that.

They also have other peculiarities, such as invariably choosing the most expensive and prized piece of furniture to sharpen their claws on. If they fish, they always pick the most expensive goldfish in the pond.

I've seen a cat throw a live snake up in the air several times and catch it each time as it fell.

Enter "cat vs snake" into YouTube and there are numerous videos about how cats have faster reactions. There are also videos on how cheetahs are just big pussy cats.

Yesterday while at Blondie's daughter's picnic we learned that Motley, Harley's brother, hasn't been seen for 5 days. That's not a good sign at all and further angers me that they let their cats outside with those traffic conditions. I guess it's a miracle that Dually made it 5 years and Motley 3 years.

They have 3 other cats. 9 month old kittens, 3 brothers from the same litter. All allowed outside and I fear for their safety. And one of them is deaf.

That doesn't sound good. Although we have a road going past our back garden, it's pretty quiet, so our previous cats died of old age. I worry a bit about Heidi because there's not a lot between her ears, but she's 7 now, so she probably knows what she's about. I hope.

EC8010 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2026 3:59 pm That doesn't sound good. Although we have a road going past our back garden, it's pretty quiet, so our previous cats died of old age. I worry a bit about Heidi because there's not a lot between her ears, but she's 7 now, so she probably knows what she's about. I hope.

Daughter's worry about her dog and roads is that the dog is monomanic when it has prey in its sights. Prey == chase, don't look elsewhere.

MED6753 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2026 1:00 pm Yesterday while at Blondie's daughter's picnic we learned that Motley, Harley's brother, hasn't been seen for 5 days. That's not a good sign at all and further angers me that they let their cats outside with those traffic conditions. I guess it's a miracle that Dually made it 5 years and Motley 3 years.

They have 3 other cats. 9 month old kittens, 3 brothers from the same litter. All allowed outside and I fear for their safety. And one of them is deaf.

WTF?!?! This actually pisses me off - you literally just had a cat hit and killed by a car, another has been missing for nearly a week, and you still let the others outside?

ESPECIALLY if one is DEAF!! WTAF?!?

Blondie's daughter should not have pets - she's too irresponsible.

Please give Harley some scritches from me, and tell him to thank his lucky stars that he lives with you!

-Pat

Cubdriver wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2026 8:09 pm

MED6753 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2026 1:00 pm Yesterday while at Blondie's daughter's picnic we learned that Motley, Harley's brother, hasn't been seen for 5 days. That's not a good sign at all and further angers me that they let their cats outside with those traffic conditions. I guess it's a miracle that Dually made it 5 years and Motley 3 years.

They have 3 other cats. 9 month old kittens, 3 brothers from the same litter. All allowed outside and I fear for their safety. And one of them is deaf.

WTF?!?! This actually pisses me off - you literally just had a cat hit and killed by a car, another has been missing for nearly a week, and you still let the others outside?

ESPECIALLY if one is DEAF!! WTAF?!?

Blondie's daughter should not have pets - she's too irresponsible.

Please give Harley some scritches from me, and tell him to thank his lucky stars that he lives with you!

-Pat

Dually was her other half's favorite cat and he supposedly cried upon finding him. His sadness won't overcome his irresponsibility. And you watch....they will get more cats.

I told Harley he was lucky he lived here and in typical cat fashion was unimpressed.

mnem
Do not feed him after midnight.

A piece of good news and a miracle of sorts. After nearly 6 days Motley showed up. Apparently OK. Where he was is a mystery. I will keep further opinions of that whole situation to myself.

Cats sometimes just clear off, probably to find a better billet. Sometimes they turn up on your doorstep out of nowhere. Occasionally cats which left years back reappear.

Mostly they are with you from when they are young. Now and then they come to an untimely end.

MED6753 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 06, 2026 3:44 pm A piece of good news and a miracle of sorts. After nearly 6 days Motley showed up. Apparently OK. Where he was is a mystery. I will keep further opinions of that whole situation to myself.

I strongly suspect our opinions on this subject would be in line. That said, I'm very happy to hear that Motley has reappeared.

-Pat

One of the few things I've learned is that shit happens, and will always find a way to happen.

An interesting question is to what extent we should try (and often fail) to wrap our dependents (of whatever species) in cotton wool.

There is no right answer to that question.