thanks Obama!

[Ironclad Alibi]

I grew up in north Florida. When we visited my father's family in Ohio, on Lake Erie, in July, we wore sweaters.

As for avoiding frozen pipes, even in north Florida we had to leave the faucets dripping (or running slowly) to avoid frozen pipes. Our house had an uninsulated crawl space that was open to the weather.

[Slave to the Phone]

I would never survive a real winter. Currently, its 42F outside and when I went out to feed the stray cats* (bundled up in 2 sweatshirts, a jacket and snow boots) I thought my hands were going to freeze off.

I didn't know that pipes in crawl spaces could freeze, but that's probably because I've never actually lived in a place where things get that cold.

I think I'll just stay here and tell my great nieces and nephews about walking through knee deep sand to get to school. Uphill both ways! Using the pads of prickly pear cactus for shoes and considering ourselves lucky if we could find enough oil leaking out of a car for the plier hinges so we could pull the spikes out before wearing them. And we LIKED it!!! Shakes cane in the air.

*please don't judge me. Its not their fault they are homeless and afraid. These are not nice kitties, they are totally feral. I've had them all fixed and I feed them. Most of the neighbors don't even know about them because they aren't fighting or breeding.

[Pixelated]

I would never survive a real winter. Currently, its 42F outside and when I went out to feed the stray cats*
*snip*

*please don't judge me. Its not their fault they are homeless and afraid. These are not nice kitties, they are totally feral. I've had them all fixed and I feed them. Most of the neighbors don't even know about them because they aren't fighting or breeding.

The only "judgment" I would make is that you are a wonderful person to be doing this.

[katzklaw]

indeed. i also judge you an awesome person. thank you <3

[Captain Neon]

I used to feed strays too. The only reason that I don't now is that I never see any stray cats here. Cats are clever inventive and persistent survivors. IMHO, a cat outside has a better chance of finding a forever home than one in a shelter. Shelters are a death sentence for cats. $100 adoption fee vs. getting one for free from a local farmer.

[Nunavut Pants]

IMHO, a cat outside has a better chance of finding a forever home than one in a shelter.

Depends on where you are. Most outdoor cats are quite feral, which is why most of us don't notice them. Even the friendly ones often do not take to being confined in a house.

A number of the shelters in my area are no-kill. They do not euthanize for time-in, or for age, or for crowding. If an animal is accepted by one of those, they will eventually get adopted.

[WishfulSpirit]

There are lots of tutorials on DIY feral cat shelters. Making one for your back yard can help them survive. Does your area have a neuter and release program? Some of these cats will never be ok to be pets but we can at least keep them from producing more animals it will spend their lives on the streets.

[Slave to the Phone]

Thanks for your kind words everyone and thanks even more for doing your part to help those poor critters. Feral houses are indeed easy to construct and the only insulation they need for our mild winters is straw. Personally, I think that fixing them helps them more than having a regular source of food.

Of course, "my" feral cats do have access to kibble and clean water 24/7 AND they get bowls of the same gooshy fud that our resident cats get.

There is one who is at least 7 years old and that's a really long time for a feral cat to live.

What can I say, I'm a sucker.

[Minflick]

Gooshy Fud (TM)

[katzklaw]

$100? O.o dang. The local shelter adopts cats out for 35 bucks.

Also... Apparently the lady this story is about didn't get any satisfaction from the bbb or the White House, because she called this morning to tell us she's taking us to small claims and sueing us because we didn't give her a refund.

Manager said "ok. Go ahead and sue" and hung up. XD I'm liking working here!

[eltf177]

Any bets the fool actually tries to sue? Not that any sane lawyer would bother...

[katzklaw]

I'll take a bet that she tries to sue, the one lawyer who is willing to take the case knows it's a lost cause, so really he's just taking her money, and when she realizes, then she tries to sue HIM

Anyone wanna go in on that bet?

[notalwaysright]

$100? O.o dang. The local shelter adopts cats out for 35 bucks.

I understand that shelters want to make sure the pet is adopted into a good home, but some seem to have gone a little far. I haven't had personal experience with the one in this county, but I've heard it described as "harder to get a dog than it would be to adopt a child." Again, I totally am behind the idea of not giving a St Bernard to someone living in a small apartment. But if the rep of the shelter gets so bad that nobody even tries, that's also counterproductive. It's actually quite hard to get a kitten around here. If I was looking for another animal I would 100% go for an adult, as they are the one's in need.

Aaaand, back to the thread. I hope that if she tries to sue you can keep us updated. If having a non-refundable deposit was illegal, than pretty much all hotels are breaking the law.

[katzklaw]

Oh this person came and stayed both nights she'd reserved... She wanted her money back because it got cold.

[Sparklyturtle]

If this took place in the northern hemisphere, did she happen to notice that it was winter?