September 5, 2008
Meet Lyle
Lyle (son of Lloyd) is a very special barn cat who tangled with some sort of canine—coyote we suspect—and didn’t fare well in the outcome. I found Lyle at the barn one Sunday evening with two dime-sized puncture wounds around his right shoulder and two dime-sized puncture wounds around his left shoulder, one featuring an egg-sized pocket of infection. The episode apparently happened several days earlier and by the time I found him, Lyle was near dead. I took him home, cleaned him up, and got him to the Splendid Vet first thing the next morning.
Lyle is a polydactl, or Hemingway cat. He has (at last count) seven toes on each front paw and five on each rear. The Clayton Animal Hospital staff fixed him up (and I do mean FIXED him up). He will not be forwarding his polydactl genes. Thank-you Clayton crew—Lyle rocks because y’all rock.
Lyle had never seen the inside of a house, but no one would believe that if they met him now. Apparently, Lyle is “okay” with the cushy life of an indoor cat, kitty balls or no kitty balls.
Lloyd, Lyle’s papa, was also a very special barn cat who set out one evening and never returned. Lloyd was not a polydactl, but Lloyd was a remarkable barn cat regardless.
Lyle’s email address is Lyle.Barn.Cat@gmail.com He does his best to manage a QWERTY keyboard and answer all emails.
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22 Responses to “Meet Lyle”
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Hello Lyle! Lyle clearly rocks. I met a smokey grey cat with prominent thumbs once, called Timmy Thumbs, in an east village tattoo studio in new york city. I think I will blog my photo-portrait of Timmy Thumbs tomorrow, in celebration of polydactls everywhere.
Howdy, Lyle. Paddle-footed orange kitties are the best.
I am smitten with Lyle and as soon as I get over my nervous shyness, I am going to write him a fan letter.
What a great guy. I’m not sure he’d thank you for the shot of him in his collar though…..he may have moved inside from the outside but I’m sure that he still has standards and street cred.
Hopefully we can see one of him when he is more suitably attired.
Oh I did show his photo to Timmy who said he might write him as he has been longing for a pen-friend
He’s an attention whore.
Little snoogums.
My own cat, Lena, was so excited on hearing Lyle’s story that she up and vomited on the carpet.
Ah Sheila the vomit thing! Timmy manages it quite easily on his own so I think I will keep Lena’s tale from him….I know what he’s like in the copy cat stakes….always looking to impress…I’d hate this thread to become some kind of vomit fest!
Well if you are keen on the cat vomit theme, this might excite you.
http://deliciousghost.com/2008/07/31/maybe-you-saw-this-one/
It is an excellent technique for breaking up a fight, one I have employed myself when a couple of guys have gotten into it in the bar on Saturday night.
Our little Gracie is a kick-ass vomit queen. She has a taste for textiles, you know: socks, tee shirts, blankets, wash cloths, and some exotics like shoe strings. Gracie’s vomit is greeted with joy! Rejoice to be reunited with that missing sock or critical section of tee shirt that made sense of the graphic! Rejoice that the Splendid Vet will not need another $1,500 to remove the lodged fabric from her tiny colon! We’re saving to invest in an abdominal zipper for Gracie, but in the mean time, we love seeing that colorful vomit!
Kathy, does Gracie ever vomit when you are wearing her?
Lucy that video made me laugh like the proverbial drain! I have noticed with Timmy, when he is in one of his vomit phases - due to the drugs he is on - he always vomits twice, without fail twice.
Sheila, yea that sort of activity always breaks up a fight….do you need to use fingers or do your feline ways kick in and enable you to vomit at will.
Just to finish, I have perfected the sound of Timmy vomiting. I can hear you all asking why and I have no idea.
Phil, it never occurred to me to ask why.
And since you asked, my trick for inducing vomiting is actually one I copied from dogs. I gulp a great deal of cold water as rapidly as I possibly can. That often does the trick. Of course, it helps if one is stinking drunk to begin with.
Sheila, no, Gracie has not. But I suspect she’s considered it. About doggie-style vomiting, do you make a big dramatic show of it? Hunch over wheezing in every corner while someone tries to place a newspaper in front of your face? Then finally, after several minutes of wheezing and changing corners, eject a tiny teaspoon of white bubbly spittle? Or do you hork it all up in one giant puddle?
Lucy, that video was PERFECT! Reminds me our last staff meeting at work.
Phil, I’ve never tried to reproduce the sound of Bob or Gracie vomiting, but when I hear it, I know exactly which cat is gifting the carpet.
Kathy I am laughing so loud - perhaps I will record my attempts at a vomit sound - do I have the means to do that? I have no idea.
Looking for a piece of acetate and a pin…oh yes, a cone of card - how do I convert that to digital? Will a prayer help?
I vomit primarily to gain attention, Kathy, though often to a good end such as distracting participants in a fistfight. So I do go for as much drama as I can inject into the thing. Sometimes I opt for a protracted build-up. Very suspenseful. Cooper Renner could tell you about that. At least an hour of threatening and of failed attempts before the final request to pull the car off to the shoulder of the road there by Mountain Creek Lake.
Phil, I wonder whether amongst the lures to trap tourists there in Bath you might find one of those old make-your-own recording booths. You’d still have to upload the recording, but at least you’d have an archival record.
I will attempt to construct some sort of tread mill contraption and utilise Timmy as a power source. I think I need wax although I’m not quite sure what for. You know like boiling water at a birth.
OK, I have to go and perfect this if I am to broadcast it.
Gulpingly yours
Sheila, that’s the kind of doggie-style vomiting I’d expect you to perform. Atta girl!!
Phil, I’ve got a disc waiting in the CD burner. Poor Timmy is hiding under the bed by now.
Phil, there is actually freeware available to download, that will probably be adequate for capturing your talents, at least a forgiveably rough version. Check ‘audio recording freeware’ or something like that, on google. Audacity is the first one that comes up I think, and I downloaded that myself a couple of years ago, didn’t use it much, Apple makes much more user-friendly interfaces. But don’t let that put you off, it’s free, and it is better than a wax cone. You will need a microphone. If you have one built into your computer, that would probably do, but an external mic would be better.
Oh, and uploading it from a digital recording is piss simpler than a wax cone. We are all waiting, Phil.
It’s the antiquarian in Phil makes him want to put himself to extra trouble, I suspect.
OK Guys I’m working on this. I need to get an unbiased opinion on the vomit sound. After all this hype I really don’t want to make an ass of myself. It’s 8pm here and I’ve been drinking so I’m figuring this will only add to the experience.
Oh my what have I agreed to do - Timmy forgive me.