On Cats

[Sidecar Racer]

[Il Grifone]

This morning I found Midnight asleep in the upturned lid of a travel box.

 

My wife said that a neighbour's cat (she responds to 'Sofia', but we don't know her real name) followed her almost to home this morning. She is often waiting for food by our gate. We have several other visitors like this. (As long as Stella is not around as she sees them off - there was a loud mewling session the other evening. Investigation found a white cat refusing Stella's invitation to depart! The altercation was resolved with two bowls of food.

Stella is also picky and objects to the cheap dry food.

Edited August 9, 2022 by Il Grifone

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Il Grifone said:

 The altercation was resolved with two bowls of food.

 

Altercations between cats can also be resolved with two bowls of water (one is usually sufficient)

[J. S. Bach]

A friend just adopted Stevie* as a four-year old; yes, she only has one eye (the other was removed due to a bad infection when she was a very young kitten) but seems to be able to navigate quite well. Her "good" eye is a bit cloudy. Note that my friend is the fourth to adopt her, the previous adopter's home had other cats that bullied her; she is now in a single-cat home and gets plenty of loving. She is even friendly to visitors, I enjoyed her company quite a bit.

 

*Probably named after Stevie Nix.

 

 

[TT-Pete]

 

[Johann Marsbar]

Just about sums up the weather here today...........

 

 

She usually collapses in the full sunlight for most of the time, but not today!

[doilum]

During this warm weather I am sleeping with an open ground floor window despite the raised road noise. Teaser quickly discovered this new route to the front garden hunting ground. She would then sit on the front step and yell to be let in. Last night she worked how to return through said window. And brought supper with her. I declined to join her and fortunately she understands the concept of " dining room". I cleaned up the gizzards before breakfast.

 

[Dick Turpin]

Any advice on cheaper cat meat (in tins) that is popular with your moggies. Mine do both quite like Whiskas, but don't mind Asda, slightly less so with Tescos, but with the hot weather, nothing lasts very long because of the flies.

 

[Andy Hayter]

Cats can get very fussy over their food and there is no right/wrong answer.  

 

Ours have settled on Felix "looks as good as it gets" and reject anything else - even other Felix offerings.  

 

On the other hand, they much appreciate have having a sprinkling of tasty biscuits on the top.  We started with Dreamies and are now on Lidl dried cat food biscuits!

 

[Chrisr40]

48 minutes ago, Dick Turpin said:

Any advice on cheaper cat meat (in tins) that is popular with your moggies. Mine do both quite like Whiskas, but don't mind Asda, slightly less so with Tescos, but with the hot weather, nothing lasts very long because of the flies.

 

I have found its actually cheaper to buy cooked chicken pieces and ham off cuts. Especially if you look in the reduced section in tesco etc. Nothing to stop you freezing it for use later. Robbie loves it and it's better for him too.

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, Chrisr40 said:

I have found its actually cheaper to buy cooked chicken pieces and ham off cuts. Especially if you look in the reduced section in tesco etc. Nothing to stop you freezing it for use later. Robbie loves it and it's better for him too.

Or, indeed, chuck an extra chicken breast in when you're doing something in the oven. Just bear in mind that it can't be their main food - cooked meat doesn't have enough of certain nutrients they need (particularly Taurine IIRC), so unless they're eating whole mice/birds/etc, they'll need a 'complete' cat food.

 

Our Clydie used to love freshly cooked chicken, and always got the scraps when we did a roast. Neither Bonnie nor Benji seem interested however. 

[Michael Hodgson]

The other day I was taking a phone call and heard a crash.   A vase had been knocked off the sideboard, there was water everywhere, a ginger cat and roses in a heap on the floor.  Having sworn at the cat I resumed the phone call, thinking I would tidy it alll up as soon as the call was finished.  About two minutes later, still on the phone,  I saw Macacity leaving the room with a red room clasped between his teeth! 

[amdaley]

3 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

The other day I was taking a phone call and heard a crash.   A vase had been knocked off the sideboard, there was water everywhere, a ginger cat and roses in a heap on the floor.  Having sworn at the cat I resumed the phone call, thinking I would tidy it alll up as soon as the call was finished.  About two minutes later, still on the phone,  I saw Macacity leaving the room with a red room clasped between his teeth! 

Clever boy.

Obviously had a hot date 😉

[Jonboy]

Moz our 15 year old neutered Tom was out exploring after dark last night (moved here recently and he was taking advantage of the open windows to explore). Suddenly hear a distant sound of loud miaowing and the wife says that sounds like a cat fight, suddenly he appears over the fence absolutely soaked head to toe…suspect he found next doors wildlife pond but oh how I wish they could talk…

[Hobby]

12 hours ago, Dick Turpin said:

Any advice on cheaper cat meat (in tins) that is popular with your moggies. 

 

 

11 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

Cats can get very fussy over their food and there is no right/wrong answer.  

 

9 hours ago, Nick C said:

Or, indeed, chuck an extra chicken breast in when you're doing something in the oven. Just bear in mind that it can't be their main food

 

Ours has always liked the cheapest Sainsburys brand, sachets with jelly, not gravy! When I am cooking meat, doesn't matter which, I leave some raw meat with the juices in the plastic container and she spends the next ten minutes pushing it round the kitchen to make sure she's had every drop!

[doilum]

We have discovered two things. First, cats can be divided into two groups: those that think humans keep the best stuff for themselves and therefore steal / beg/ come to a sharing arrangement, and those raised by their mothers to never eat any thing they have not personally killed or observed the human remove fresh from a packet or tin.

Second. As soon as you invest in a bulk delivery of cat's favourite food it will go off it. Yesterday's flavour.

[TT-Pete]

22 hours ago, Dick Turpin said:

Any advice on cheaper cat meat (in tins) that is popular with your moggies. Mine do both quite like Whiskas, but don't mind Asda, slightly less so with Tescos,

 

I have always thought it paradoxical that a creature that will happily (and with gusto) consume mice, voles, shrews, frogs, grasshoppers (they’re crunchy!), baby rabbits, spiders, earwigs and other assorted arthropods will then turn their noses up, whilst giving you a look of utter distain, at expensive little tinlets of “Gourmet” finest, with the “clack” of the cat-flap demonstrating that they’ve gone out for “takeaway” (as K calls it) instead.

 

“Picky cats, starve.” As my Dad used to say (usually whilst surreptitiously offering handfuls of cat treats, or letting Charlie lick his favourite strawberry yoghurt from the tip of a proffered finger) - our two have re-written that to “Picky cats get the hoomins to give them exactly what they want”.

 

The wife is the worst, this morning she went so far as to take Myla’s dish from the fridge (she doesn’t like room-temperature cat food) to where she was lying on the bed and held the dish whilst she scoffed her fill. When Myla was last in her fresh coldwater prawns stage (note only from the fridge and not king prawns and only Aldi or Morrisons brand – Tesco or Waitrose will be rejected – I am not exaggerating) both of them stayed at the Cat Nap Hotel when we went to the Lake District and on our return the owner told us “the only way I could get Myla to eat was if I fed her the prawns individually from my fingers” (ah yes, the little witch has cast her spell over yet another unsuspecting hoomin).

 

By process of elimination we are now at the stage where Phoebe is in Felix "as good as it looks" mode (note only in Jelly, she won’t touch the gravy, and definitely NOT the chunky variety as these will have all the gravy or jelly surgically licked off with a bowl-full of dry lumps left behind. (I mean she goes to the extreme of turning each one over individually to get at the sauce underneath.)) Myla meanwhile has adopted Encore fish in broth (shredded chicken is ignored) and glares at you in a way that suggests that you have just put nuclear waste in her bowl if it is anything else.

 

Except, get this, if it is in the other’s bowl. Phoebe has her feeding station by the back door in the utility room, Myla's is by the cat tree just inside the kitchen. Myla will come in via the back door, have a cursory sniff of Phoebe’s dish, and then start noshing. Phoebe will wander into the kitchen and likewise have a sniff of Myla’s bowl, and polish off her Encore. But NEITHER would eat it if put in THEIR bowl to start with.

 

I occasionally enter in to a battle of wills with Phoebe, and with my Father’s words ringing in my ears go several days of not changing her food, or trying to trick her with Dreamies mixed in (they just get picked out one by one). It usually ends with K yelling “Just feed your bl00dy cat!” as Phoebe yowls her head off in the hallway in feigned starvation. I once tried a pouch of Lidl’s cheapo Coshida brand in desperation, Phoebe woofed it down, so next time out shopping I bought a box-full of the stuff – only for her to never touch it again.

 

I think I know who has the upper paw in this relationship….

 

 

[eastglosmog]

The only good side to Misty getting lost for 9 weeks was that after I got him back, he had lost all this picky eater nonsense and ate everything straight away. And as much of Honey's food he could get his mouth on as well.  Never could understand why Honey was fat and Misty thin!

[Captain Cuttle]

13 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

 

I have always thought it paradoxical that a creature that will happily (and with gusto) consume mice, voles, shrews, frogs, grasshoppers (they’re crunchy!), baby rabbits, spiders, earwigs and other assorted arthropods will then turn their noses up, whilst giving you a look of utter distain, at expensive little tinlets of “Gourmet” finest, with the “clack” of the cat-flap demonstrating that they’ve gone out for “takeaway” (as K calls it) instead.

 

“Picky cats, starve.” As my Dad used to say (usually whilst surreptitiously offering handfuls of cat treats, or letting Charlie lick his favourite strawberry yoghurt from the tip of a proffered finger) - our two have re-written that to “Picky cats get the hoomins to give them exactly what they want”.

 

The wife is the worst, this morning she went so far as to take Myla’s dish from the fridge (she doesn’t like room-temperature cat food) to where she was lying on the bed and held the dish whilst she scoffed her fill. When Myla was last in her fresh coldwater prawns stage (note only from the fridge and not king prawns and only Aldi or Morrisons brand – Tesco or Waitrose will be rejected – I am not exaggerating) both of them stayed at the Cat Nap Hotel when we went to the Lake District and on our return the owner told us “the only way I could get Myla to eat was if I fed her the prawns individually from my fingers” (ah yes, the little witch has cast her spell over yet another unsuspecting hoomin).

 

By process of elimination we are now at the stage where Phoebe is in Felix "as good as it looks" mode (note only in Jelly, she won’t touch the gravy, and definitely NOT the chunky variety as these will have all the gravy or jelly surgically licked off with a bowl-full of dry lumps left behind. (I mean she goes to the extreme of turning each one over individually to get at the sauce underneath.)) Myla meanwhile has adopted Encore fish in broth (shredded chicken is ignored) and glares at you in a way that suggests that you have just put nuclear waste in her bowl if it is anything else.

 

Except, get this, if it is in the other’s bowl. Phoebe has her feeding station by the back door in the utility room, Myla's is by the cat tree just inside the kitchen. Myla will come in via the back door, have a cursory sniff of Phoebe’s dish, and then start noshing. Phoebe will wander into the kitchen and likewise have a sniff of Myla’s bowl, and polish off her Encore. But NEITHER would eat it if put in THEIR bowl to start with.

 

I occasionally enter in to a battle of wills with Phoebe, and with my Father’s words ringing in my ears go several days of not changing her food, or trying to trick her with Dreamies mixed in (they just get picked out one by one). It usually ends with K yelling “Just feed your bl00dy cat!” as Phoebe yowls her head off in the hallway in feigned starvation. I once tried a pouch of Lidl’s cheapo Coshida brand in desperation, Phoebe woofed it down, so next time out shopping I bought a box-full of the stuff – only for her to never touch it again.

 

I think I know who has the upper paw in this relationship….

 

 

Yes same here with the food, Teddy generally has Fe lix sachets but sooo many different varieties now. Beef with carrot, another with courgette, saith with salmon etc etc. Yes licks all the gravy or jelly off and leave the dried lumps behind, then you add cat soup and then he does the same. The remains go in the bird box which my wife puts out late in the evening usually encountering the resident hedgehog and some stray cat and all is wolfed down!

Tried all the cheaper ones and generally will eat first sachet then no more. Yes and goes berserk for prawns and tongue!

Thinking back to the seventies we had katkins,  kit e kat or whiskas in tins and that was it. Plus we always gave our cats milk to drink but now it's harmful so just water!!

[Hobby]

2 hours ago, Captain Cuttle said:

Plus we always gave our cats milk to drink but now it's harmful so just water!!

 

Didn't seem to harm them either, our's lived to 17 on such a diet! Snowy licks plates clean if given the chance so has milk and cream from time to time. I'm sure i read somewhere that one difference between a domestic cat and wild one is that a domestic cat's digestive system has adapted to suit the diet it gets, i.e. fewer, if any, fresh raw meet with bones in it!

[Michael Hodgson]

30 minutes ago, Hobby said:

 

I'm sure i read somewhere that one difference between a domestic cat and wild one is that a domestic cat's digestive system has adapted to suit the diet it gets, i.e. fewer, if any, fresh raw meet with bones in it!

 

Except the domestic cats still bring home fresh raw meat with bones it.  So fresh it isn't necessarily fully deceased.

[Edwin_m]

39 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

 

Except the domestic cats still bring home fresh raw meat with bones it.  So fresh it isn't necessarily fully deceased.

They bring it home, but they don't necessarily eat it.  Sometimes it would be better if they did.  

[Hobby]

(Reply to Michael) I didn't say it was, it's still the same basics but the programme said that it was starting to adapt to a domestic human-made diet which is different to what they would get in the wild. It's the same principle as domestic cats adapting their behaviour to get the best out of their interactions with humans. Evolution!

Edited August 15, 2022 by Hobby

[Andy Hayter]

On the subject of milk, yes or no;  most mammals develop a lactose intolerance shortly after weaning.  It is suggested that most humans do not develop this intolerance because they continue to get milk and milk products from weaning onwards - at least in western countries.

 

By analogy then, if a kitten has been regularly fed milk, cheese etc. they also will not create an intolerance.  So feral cats will be lactose intolerant but domestic cats may well not be.  

 

Whether interrupting natural processes is good or bad is something I am complete unqualified to take an opinion on.

[Nick C]

3 hours ago, Captain Cuttle said:

but sooo many different varieties now. Beef with carrot, another with courgette, saith with salmon etc etc.

All clearly designed to appeal to the human buying it, not the cat, which as an obligate carnivore, doesn't care in the slightest for carrot or courgette!