On Cats

[57xx]

This is Spike.

My ex sister in law was on a weekend in Blackpool with friends when they found a big bag full of kittens. They brought the lot of them back down to Derbyshire where they ended up living at her employers stud farm (she was also on the weeknend trip). The SIL decided she wanted one but wasn't allowed to keep it at her rented flat so had him at her stables, letting him out of the feed room whenever she was up there. She had asked us about having him, but we'd declined as we already had a cat who didn't really get on with others, so she decided she'd keep him anyhow. I went up with the ex for a normal family visit about a week later and when we first saw him, he was tiny. Spike really was the runt of the litter, you could hold him in one hand. He followed us around everywhere at the yard, he was a proper people cat, even at that young age.

 

We set off home on the Sunday evening and were discussing him and what a horrible life he would have stuck in a feed room only being let out occaisionly and would probably just end up running off to the nearest house to be with people. So within 10 mins I'd turned the car around and we drove straight back to the yard. We found a box, put him in it and set off home. I left i t to the ex to inform her sister that we'd taken him. On the drive home (~120 miles) he was scrabbling at the lid of the box and mewing to get out so ex let him out and he curled up on her lap and promptly fell asleep for the 2hrs journey!

 

That was 20 years ago. He is still highly affectionate and has led a very exciting life. As I said, he's a "people cat", the amount of times I had to drive around town due to a phone call "Have you lost a kitten...?", "No, he's 5 years old, what's your address?". People would stop to fuss him outside the house and he'd just wander off following them. He got catnapped by a busybody neighbour one time who took him to the RSPCA claiming he was a stray, even though he had his collar on (she took off the name tag!!). Later on he went AWOL for 3 months. Thankfully he'd been chipped by the RSPCA when they had him and an old lady who had found him across the other side of town took him the vet so he got re-untied with us. He'd lie on the pavement on his back touting for fusses so much, the locals knew him by name as he used to have a dog bone on his collar with his name engraved (he was named after Spike in Tom and Jerry). One time I was cleaning out my van on the drive and heard someone saying "Hello Spike", I peered out the door to see 3 teenage girls giving him a stroke and him lapping it up.

 

Exploring the brand new washing machine...

 

A favourite place to perch himself...

 

No heirs and graces here.

 

Still enjoys the sun, but sticks to the garden now.

 

[J. S. Bach]

On 13/08/2020 at 06:14, Wacol said:

Temujin - checking out the comfort of the new couch that had been delivered 10 minutes earlier.

Wingnut: This recliner was delivered about fifteen minutes after delivery, I had gone out to say goodbye to the friends that brought it over:

 

It must be a cat thing. Strangely, she does not occupy the chair much anymore.

Edited February 25 by J. S. Bach
To add a photo

[J. S. Bach]

15 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

Chocolate is apparently also poisonous to humans.  The reason we don't recognise that is that the lethal dose is very high - average lethal dose is around 22kg!

Useless bit of information.

You do not say what time period is involved, but I can not even imagine eating 48lbs in any reasonable time frame less than a year. That works out to about one candy bar a day if it is mostly chocolate like a Hershey's.

[57xx]

20 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

Chocolate is apparently also poisonous to humans.  The reason we don't recognise that is that the lethal dose is very high - average lethal dose is around 22kg!

 

Useless bit of information.

 

Water is also toxic in the appropriate dosage.

[didcot]

Our cat Marble ate a whole pack of Maltesers once. Fortunately he didn't suffer any adverse effects. 

[Andy Hayter]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

You do not say what time period is involved, but I can not even imagine eating 48lbs in any reasonable time frame less than a year. That works out to about one candy bar a day if it is mostly chocolate like a Hershey's.

 

 

I assume it has to be consumed in a short period of time.  I also make an educated guess that within chocolate there is a natural chemical that is the poison and that the 22kg is a theoretical calculation based on the concentration of this material in the chocolate and not that some fiendish scientist has been feeding vast quantities of chocolate to his victims.  

[Damo666]

We had a lovely robin visit us in the garden for the past few weeks, would come down and wander around us or come close in the hedge. My wife seemed to get more enjoyment out of its presence than I.

 

This morning my wife found the Robin dead in our hall.

 

Our cat is in the dog-house.

 

It's the one thing that I dislike. We feed it really well and it's inside most of the day, but I hate to see it kill mice, voles and especially birds. I think birds and other wildlife has it hard enough with what us humans are doing (cutting down trees, chemicals on the garden with it's collateral killing of insects, the bird's food) without cats also decimating the bird population too. Our's has killed at least 7 that I know of in the last month. Multiply that by each month of it's 9 years.....

 

I guess I won't get much sympathy on this thread, but still.... Just saying.

 

Wife & I were genuinely sad at seeing that poor robin this morning.

[nick_bastable]

1 hour ago, Damo666 said:

We had a lovely robin visit us in the garden for the past few weeks, would come down and wander around us or come close in the hedge. My wife seemed to get more enjoyment out of its presence than I.

 

This morning my wife found the Robin dead in our hall.

 

Our cat is in the dog-house.

 

It's the one thing that I dislike. We feed it really well and it's inside most of the day, but I hate to see it kill mice, voles and especially birds. I think birds and other wildlife has it hard enough with what us humans are doing (cutting down trees, chemicals on the garden with it's collateral killing of insects, the bird's food) without cats also decimating the bird population too. Our's has killed at least 7 that I know of in the last month. Multiply that by each month of it's 9 years.....

 

I guess I won't get much sympathy on this thread, but still.... Just saying.

 

Wife & I were genuinely sad at seeing that poor robin this morning.

I would refer you to this 

 

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/cats-and-garden-birds/are-cats-causing-bird-declines/

 

Nick B

[rdr]

Thanks for this thread.

[BR60103]

5 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

Chocolate is apparently also poisonous to humans.  The reason we don't recognise that is that the lethal dose is very high - average lethal dose is around 22kg!

 

Useless bit of information.

Isn't that about the critical mass of uranium before it explodes?

 

[Chrisr40]

5 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Isn't that about the critical mass of uranium before it explodes?

 

As long as its uranium and not Uranus that's okay

[eastglosmog]

Folks round here were glad of Badger and Tilly's prowess at rat control.  Can't say I was so keen on the  results, though!

[SRman]

Hattie and Sykes, who I showed earlier, were rescue cats, as were quite a few others here. The first photo shows them as we first saw them in the refuge in 2017. They were the only cats that day that responded to us, with the rest having been (I think) "peopled out". Hattie and Sykes purred loudly and reached out paws to us, and snuggled in when picked up.

The second photo shows them on the first day home, about a week later. Both settled on my lap. Sykes is no longer a lap cat, but likes his cuddles in the early hours of the morning when we are in bed, whereas Hattie continues to cuddle wherever and whenever we want her to.

 

 

[AndrewC]

We've been adopting rescue and unwanted cats for years. 

A small selection. 

 

This is Keith. He came back to SWMBO after her ex couldn't keep him. Runt of the litter he still weighed in at just over 9kg. Cancer in 2001 at the age of 14. 

 

Toffee another SWMBO returnee. Adopted as a feral kitten from Fort William Historical Park. He was supposed to move to the UK with us but the vet f*cked up the paperwork. Cancer as well just a few months later. 2003 at the age of 12

 

Monty, adopted from a friend who had to move at short notice into a no pets home. He too was supposed to join us in the UK. MiL ended up with all three in the end. 

Caesar. Monty's "brother". Nicknamed tripod as he had a clubbed foot and more or less ran on 3 legs. We think he came from a large farm litter as club foot is quite common in feral farm cats. 

 

More to come. 

 

 

[Allegheny1600]

11 hours ago, Damo666 said:

 

Wife & I were genuinely sad at seeing that poor robin this morning.

I would never criticise you for feeling sad about a creature dying but you have to accept that cats are predators. Humans cannot deny any animals instincts no matter what.

If you are concerned about your own cat hunting, maybe do as we did and build a cat pen?

 

Sure, it takes up a lot of our garden but it keeps our cats safe from roaming, hunting, being run over (a major consideration if you live near a main-ish road) and fighting with other cats.

Our cats access it whenever they want and it acts as a stand alone "cattery" for when we go away - all we then need is a reliable friend or relative to feed and water our cats on a daily basis.

It has paid for itself that way in cattery fees alone.

If you love cats and want to keep them safe but relatively free, why not?

Cheers,

John.

[franciswilliamwebb]

1 hour ago, SRman said:

 

 

Pictures that cute are normally accompanied by a 'Donate' button! 

[Nick C]

We've also got two rescues, currently aged 10.

 

Bonnie is very much 'my' cat, quite active during the day (especially at the moment as we're working from home), and seems to have something of a sweet tooth - we have to be careful around biscuits, cakes etc as she'll pinch any crumbs if we're not looking. She's very much not a hunter, why bother going to all that effort when she can get her humans to do it for her...

 

Wheras her brother Clyde tends to gravitate more to my wife. He's a very calm, undemanding cat, except when we're cooking chicken, which he much prefers to cat food! He has kidney problems, and we came close to losing him last year, he ended up spending a week at the vets getting fluids, and was apparently the darling of the practice, being the most cooperative cat they'd had in ages. He does occasionally bring in the odd mouse too.

[big jim]

my old 12ft x 6ft layout shed is about to be changed into a cattery for ‘complete’ males and ferals we get through the doors as we currently have to shut them in the dining room away from other cats when they stay until they are safe to be with other cats.

 

were planning on making 2 or 3 pens inside with storage space below for crates and food etc, and i was thinking of making the trellis area i had built to hide the shed into an outdoor area too, would be simple enough to do, add mesh to the existing trellis panels and fit a mesh door to the rose arch and a roof 

 

the beauty of the shed is as its my old layout room its fully insulated and has electricity to it (that needs reconnecting), it would only be used in extreme cases but a handy addition when its done

 

we had a big crate for mike the maine and he’d happily sit in it all day chirping at the birds, however if you let him out he wouldnt try and escape the confines of the garden, most of the time he would happily go outside and go straight to the crate!

 

we did let him out at the caravan once and he made a beeline for the small but thickly wooded area behind the van and wouldnt come out, dominic was beside himself with worry, we were all frantically searching back and forth for hours, covered every inch of it then eventually after about 4 hours mike just sauntered out of the woods along the path behind the van totally ignoring us as if we werent there, i think he was having too much fun to come home, we grabbed him and bought him in though!
 

the same woods last week lola and fae went in together which was unusual as normally they dont get along, lola is a cantankerous old sod, she went in, fae followed, lola came out 5 mins later but no sign of fae, again, missing for over an hour, we could faintly hear a cat but not see her despite covering the whole area, eventually she came back too but one of her claws was twisted, all we can put it down to was lola had purposely chased her up a tree and she got stuck, lola emerging from the trees as if butter wouldnt melt

[big jim]

1 hour ago, AndrewC said:

We've been adopting rescue and unwanted cats for years. 

A small selection. 

 

This is Keith. He came back to SWMBO after her ex couldn't keep him. Runt of the litter he still weighed in at just over 9kg. Cancer in 2001 at the age of 14.  

 

 

 

for some bizarre reason everytime i scroll past this picture i see a cat version of ronnie barker!

 

Edited August 14, 2020 by big jim

[AndrewC]

8 minutes ago, big jim said:

 

for some bizarre reason everytime i scroll past this picture i see a cat version of ronnie barker!

 

That's meow from me, and meow from him. 

[Chrisr40]

7 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

That's meow from me, and meow from him. 

That would be on a dog topic...Ronnie Barker.

[AndrewC]

After 2 years in London without moggies. We moved to a larger place that allowed pets. A visit to Celia Hammond was arranged and we came home with 3 furballs. Their story is quite sad. Cat and her 2 kittens rescued from a fire after their human decided to kill herself in dramatic fashion. Emma, the mum cat and boB (we spelled it backwards) were both nervous and very shy for the rest of their lives. Iggy on the other hand was probably the most affectionate cat I've ever known. 

 

Emma. Only around 11 when she died peacefully in her sleep 10 2010. 

 

poor little boB. Such a fraidy cat. Sadly missed. 

 

Iggy the wonder cat. He used to try to shower with me in the morning. He'd also jump up on my lap just about anytime he could. Sadly his was a short life. He developed FATE and had to be put down after only 18 months with us. .

 

 

[BrushVeteran]

Well I've just made friends with one of the farm cats in a barn we rent to restore our buses. The ginger tom is very good at keeping the mice and bay and occasionally the pigeons..............you could never get anywhere near him though. Yesterday, as I usually do,  'borrowed' some cat biscuits from my two at home and 'Mr Tom' or ''Sidney as I call him was actually waiting for me to arrive. He is certainly very friendly all of a sudden with plenty of head butting and purring so I think he must live nearby as he seems quite well looked after. Glad to have made another friend...................just two more to go that frequent the barn.

[Chrisr40]

[kevinlms]

16 hours ago, Damo666 said:

We had a lovely robin visit us in the garden for the past few weeks, would come down and wander around us or come close in the hedge. My wife seemed to get more enjoyment out of its presence than I.

 

This morning my wife found the Robin dead in our hall.

 

Our cat is in the dog-house.

 

It's the one thing that I dislike. We feed it really well and it's inside most of the day, but I hate to see it kill mice, voles and especially birds. I think birds and other wildlife has it hard enough with what us humans are doing (cutting down trees, chemicals on the garden with it's collateral killing of insects, the bird's food) without cats also decimating the bird population too. Our's has killed at least 7 that I know of in the last month. Multiply that by each month of it's 9 years.....

 

I guess I won't get much sympathy on this thread, but still.... Just saying.

 

Wife & I were genuinely sad at seeing that poor robin this morning.

My council in Australia has a 24 hour curfew for cats. This means it can only be confined to your property.

 

It is for exactly the reason you state, to protect other wildlife, especially native.

 

Not sure I like the idea of a cat run. So I think Mrs KevinLMS & I will remain cat less, which we have for the last couple of years.

 

Cats usually come to me more than the other half. I was out at a customers place a few years ago, having a coffee with the lady of the house, with the cat next to me getting a good deal of attention, under the chin.

Man of the house walks in, sees what I'm doing and tells me that his cat, won't let him do that!