On Cats

[TT-Pete]

 

 

[Il Grifone]

Panic!

Dylan had caught a lizard! (see previous post for species). He was still at the 'playing with the prey' stage, so, since luckily the dogs had just been fed, there was a tin of food handy, A lump of dog food was obviously preferable to lizard, so he was distracted sufficiently for the creature to beat a hasty retreat and hide behind the plant pots.

Edit.

Kitten 'Tinkerbell' has just high-jacked my lap. The dogs are going to have to wait even longer for 'Walkies'.

Kitten 'Gretel' has just arrived too and had to be removed from the keyboard - they seem to delight in walking over the 'Flight mode'  button in particular and causing disasters!

(Obviously the male kitten is 'Hansel'!)

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Il Grifone

[Dagworth]

Peace… she’s asleep 

 

[eastglosmog]

Thunderstorms three days in a row.  Tilly is not happy!

[big jim]

Lola trying for an insurance scam earlier today! 

[grahame]

We've not had any rain for weeks. Marley is not happy in the oppressive heat.

[Markwj]

Weathercat has suggested it might be raining, to be fair she is usually pretty accurate.

[J. S. Bach]

Raindrop got sentenced to a week in kitty jail last week and today I arranged for her release:

 

 

I was away for a week and decided to board her; she is quite happy to be back home.

 

[Classsix T]

44 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Raindrop got sentenced to a week in kitty jail last week and today I arranged for her release:

 

 

I was away for a week and decided to board her; she is quite happy to be back home.

 

Dad and I used to spend a week at least once a year on a drive-athon exploring the country in the late Eighties to mid Nineties, taking in preserved railways and such. Roxanne needed looking after (obvs) for that length of time. But both Pop and myself got fed up with it in the end as it went from affordable indoor cat only hotels to a bunch of external chicken-wired pens married with constant dog barking at the same.

Whilst Rox was happy to see us collect her at the former, the guilt I felt 'freeing' her from the latter wounded me deeply. We compromised by weekending away so Rox stayed at home with perhaps a top-up of fodder from a human we'd asked. This naturally shortened our ability to roam far but, man. I never wanna go through that again.

 

C6T.

[Nick C]

10 hours ago, Classsix T said:

Dad and I used to spend a week at least once a year on a drive-athon exploring the country in the late Eighties to mid Nineties, taking in preserved railways and such. Roxanne needed looking after (obvs) for that length of time. But both Pop and myself got fed up with it in the end as it went from affordable indoor cat only hotels to a bunch of external chicken-wired pens married with constant dog barking at the same.

Whilst Rox was happy to see us collect her at the former, the guilt I felt 'freeing' her from the latter wounded me deeply. We compromised by weekending away so Rox stayed at home with perhaps a top-up of fodder from a human we'd asked. This naturally shortened our ability to roam far but, man. I never wanna go through that again.

 

C6T.

We're quite lucky at the moment in that we have a friendly neighbour who looks after ours when we go away - with the added advantage that someone's keeping an eye on the house as well. Still don't like leaving the cats for more than a week though!

[doilum]

10 hours ago, Nick C said:

We're quite lucky at the moment in that we have a friendly neighbour who looks after ours when we go away - with the added advantage that someone's keeping an eye on the house as well. Still don't like leaving the cats for more than a week though!

We used to arrange for my brother in law to house sit. A fridge full of beer, full Sky tv package,  and a well equiped workshop to fix his bike.

All cat food sorted and a stack of daily litter trays ready. He had a good time the cats were fine but boy, did they sulk when we returned a week later. The sulk that followed our three week trip down under lasted five days.

[doilum]

Daughter had a traumatic night yesterday. She doesn't have a cat but lives with a seven year old Shiba Inu called Kai. Kai has had bed room privilege since the older dog died last year and was sleeping on the window side of the bed making the most of the breeze. Kai doesn't like cats ever since the day when a semi feral chav kitten jumped out of a hedge and attached itself to his face just like the baby critter in Alien.

4am all is peaceful until a random cat strolls into the bedroom and jumps on the bed.

Daughter is woken by his explosive response crashing his way down the steep staircase, miraculously avoiding a five figure vet bill, out through the dog flap and down to the bottom of the garden where he treated the whole estate to the full volume 11 Shiba scream. Daughter calms herself and comes down stairs to find the cat in the kitchen sat by the fridge. It had a collar and was promptly sent home.

Edited June 13, 2023 by doilum

[bbishop]

When I was growing up, we used to hold family conferences before important decisions - two adults, two children, dog, cat all had to be present.  One decision was the family holiday.  Toddy wanted to come with us, so our holiday was a caravan on a farm which suited Toddy, as by heritage he was an Exmoor farm terrier and he just joined in with the resident dogs.

Harvey chose to move next door for the fortnight, with bed, bowl and teapot.  Eric was an amateur ornithologist and hated cats, the exception was Harvey who would sit beside him on the bench and watch the birds. 

[eastglosmog]

Tilly was off her food yesterday and this morning.  Given her history of Pancreatitis, a panic trip to the Vets to get her checked over.  Doesn't seem to be anything wrong, except a slightly raised temperature so she had an anti-nausea jab and came home again. By the time she was back home, she was beginning to take an interest in food again. 

[roundhouse]

Too hot for cats.

 

The tricolour is blending in under the Bush.

[Michael Hodgson]

3 hours ago, roundhouse said:

Too hot for cats.

 

The tricolour is blending in under the Bush.

Of course he's hot - he's wearing a fur coat in this weather !

[sandra]

Very hot for long haired cats. Perhaps this is why Jasmine is taking an interest in Locomotives of the LNER, for at least its slightly cooler than the rest of the sofa.

[didcot]

 

Mia in the pot and Pepper helping the Wife with gardening. 

[roundhouse]

On 16/06/2023 at 10:50, Michael Hodgson said:

Of course he's hot - he's wearing a fur coat in this weather !

Today the tuxedo cat is under the Bush as it had been raining while we were out. I would guess that the tricolour cat is close by behind the engine shed where she has been when hers spot has been squatted by him.

[TT-Pete]

We have an addition to the menagerie -

 

 

Two weeks ago this peahen flew in to our garden and shows no sign of moving on just yet

 

 

She was a bit wary at first, but now spends her days on our patio and watches us through the window when we're sitting in the lounge. Phoebe and Myla weren't sure how to react at first, going from trying to stalk her to running away if she came near them and she definitely gave them a wide berth, but some kind of truce or understanding now seems to have been reached,

 

 

Madame has named her "Clarissa".

 

 

[Il Grifone]

Today's gift was half a lizard....

[steve1]

steve 

[grahame]

Oddly enough, the roof of the plastic garden storage locker seems to remain cool even when the air temperature is high, making it a current favourite place for Marley to hang out:

 

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, grahame said:

Oddly enough, the roof of the plastic garden storage locker seems to remain cool even when the air temperature is high, making it a current favourite place for Marley to hang out:

 

High specific heat capacity - the very opposite of a cat on a hot tin roof.

 

There must be some ambient air temperature at which a cat switches from seeking the warmest spot to sit to seeking the coolest.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Compound2632

[Classsix T]

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

High specific heat capacity - the very opposite of a cat on a hot tin roof.

 

There must be some ambient air temperature at which a cat switches from seeking the warmest spot to sit to seeking the coolest.

Yeah, I've never really grasped this concept of cats and temperature. One season they want to doze nearby to a heat source, but as soon as summer comes around they'll be after the shady spots.

 

I guess body temperature regulation can be difficult if the only heat dispersion you have is sweating from your feet. One summer was that warm Roxanne was actually panting.

Mia not really enjoying the day time warmth ATM, I must get the brush on her, there's copious amounts of her undercoat coming off her when stroked. She was very wary of the brush when initially introduced to it but will now happily lay down as her unwanted insulation is removed.

 

C6T.