On Thu 25 May 2006 09:48:19p,  wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
(news:1148608099.123062.175850@j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com):

No, he can't fit in there.  It's about 4" diameter, and the entry
to the duct isn't straight down, it's a 90* turn; he couldn't fit
into the recess. Scarlett might, but I doubt it. They might bat
stuff down there, but the last cleaning turned up tons of junk.
This is the first time I've seen any of them pull the register out.
My brother told me that his youngest stuffed food down there back
when he lived here. LOL

But yes, he's SUPERCAT.  He was the one pushing the humidfier
around the floor. He just slashed the top of my foot because I
inadvertently got in the way of him batting an icecube around the
room.  ANOTHER obsession.  ;)

On another note, I got Shamrock slowly down to a teeny tiny dose of
Clomicalm to wean him off of it. Then he started horking up his
food several weeks ago and I suspected the Atopica for his
allergies was causing it.  Since the Clomicalm dose was so low, I
stopped both drugs to stop the vomiting. The vomiting finally
stopped, but now he's back to psycho-kitty and he's getting bumps
that itch him really bad. My carpet is covered with black clumps of
fur (poor Bonnie).  He's got to go back on the Clomicalm. I don't
know what we're going to do about the allergies.  He might have to
go back to Depo shots when it gets bad.  That means he has to
endure the itching that leads to the bloody bitten bumpy skin with
no fur.

Sprinkle a few mice in the ducts.

No, on second thought, bad idea...

Cantate

Oscar likes to lie on my shoes.  There's always a pair lying out
somewhere, so it works out well for her.

Christine: Remember the Febreeze controversy? It was probably 6 years
ago or so...I wonder how that ever came out. Some people claimed it was
harmful to both adults & pets.
I guess it probably came out fine...they're putting Febreeze in
*everything* now. Dryer sheets, laundry detergent, air sprays, fabric
softeners. It smells good but it's strong! When I use it on the
laundry, and hang it out on the clothesline, the bees swarm the
clothes. They think there's a giant flower in there somewhere...

Sherry

Thanks Christine. I'll look for something that might work. Tonight
he's left them alone. The kitchen one has one of those deflectors
that directs the air flow, and I put it there mostly to keep them
from knocking dry food down the hole. That made it even heavier, so
I'm amazed that he could pull it out of the floor.

Here in 'Merika, a lot of homes/apartments have central heating/cooling.
What's to say is that air is heated/cooled and blown through aluminum
(aluminium for you, Tweed :D) ductwork (which is where Duct tape comes into
play - it was originally used to tape these together, to patch holes in
them, etc., etc, and it was silver to match the ducts - but no, now we
butchered up the language and call it "duck" tape (possibly because the
inventor/manufacturer has a picture of a little yellow duck on every
package), instead of the proper term of ducT tape) and vents that runs
through floors (if your house has a basement/crawlspace), ceiling (no
basement, but attic space) or walls (no basement nor attic, but the unit is
located in a centralized location in the home, and the vents only go a short
distance through the walls to each room).  The 'register' is what is used to
cover the opening in the floor/wall/ceiling but still let air through.  Some
of them can be directional to aim the air to particular (or different) parts
of the room (they refer to these types as diffusers), some can be closed off
so that you can save money by not heating/cooling a room not in use.  The
registers can be drab things, painted to match the floor/wall/ceiling, or
they can be highly decorative, such as this one here, made to look like a
Victorian era 'grate':

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=63136-45311-AMFRAB
V410&lpage=none

Are you confused enough now?

If not, please holler and I will do my best at confusing you even more!

A lot of American houses have central air and heat systems which include
conduits under the floors.  In order for the heat/cold to reach the
rooms intended they have little holes in the floors with a metal plate
with slots or holes cut into them to let the desired temperatures out.
There is usually a small wheel on the side that lets you open or close
slats to regulate how much heat or cold goes into any given room.  For
some odd reason, some of these designs are not made to be bolted down so
that they cannot be lifted up from the floor by those strong enough
(like Rhett) to do so.  Ours are a decorative style that doesn't bolt
down, but in our case that is good as the cats seem to think that the
floor duct system is a soccer goal and try to slap all sorts of foreign
objects into them.  In most rooms this is not possible, but the dining
room vent is in an awkward place and has been damaged to the point that
anything less than an inch in diameter can and will go down it.

Rhett is a strong kitty.

Pam S.