Who Here Owns Cats?

Lazy bum resting in the 395 euro recliner.

 

My two cats are the same @Elmer B Fuddled. They like to be pampered and very fussy when it comes to food. One day they'll eat it and the next day ignore it. Sometimes I end opening 3 or 4 different types of food. They keep us guessing.

 

That's the thing about them. We only think we know what they want or will eat. We have purchased expensive wet food (29 percent wet) and one day she may eat it, then the next day turn her nose up. With the dry food there's no change and she will eat that, she actually prefers the dry to wet food. We just go along with it.

Now her favourite trick is to get up on the kitchen table, stretch out and take a siesta. Got me, quite interesting little creatures. Just enjoy the love they give.

 

Yes Elmer, they play all sorts of tricks on us. My Vet told me that it's fine for my female cat to mostly eat dry food if that's what she wants. She won't touch wet food. However, for a Tom cat it's completely different due to the urethra being so narrow, they should have wet food in their diet otherwise a blockage can occur in that area.

 

As I said, the new trick is the table to rest on.

 

@Michael Leigh, I would like to ask a question, when your cats go out to hunt or to just be out, will they both come in or does one think not yet, there's a bird up there.

 

Good question @Elmer B Fuddled.

My cats tend to spend a lot of time together and this might be because they are brother and sister. They go out together and will often come in together. They play in the garden but are always on the look-out for any unfortunate bird that makes the mistake of coming into their line of sight.

They will crouch down in the grass waiting patiently, then suddenly leap up snatching a bird in flight. Not pleasant to see. They like to prolong the ordeal by bringing the poor bird through the cat-flap inside the house and torment it endlessly. When possible I have tried to intervene but haven't always been successful. They can be very defensive by running and hiding behind a sofa or chair with the bird, and will only come out when it is dead.

Michael

 

Probably correct, being brother and sister as why they are together. I want to get another cat so Groucho has company, but we live so far out in the mountains that one could be in the garden and possibly the other could wander 300 acres out the back and not find its way back. Which would break my heart. Maybe best to just have the one.

Thanks Michael.

 

I understand your concerns Elmer, but I wouldn't let that put me off getting another cat, which I think would be good company for Groucho. Providing you keep the new cat indoors for about 6 weeks to get used to its new home, I don't think you will have any problems about it wandering off.

I have always had kittens. Polly and Alfie were a year old when I got them from a shelter last June. I was concerned about them wandering off since I live in rural part of Sussex, on the outskirts of Brighton.

They were kept in the home for six weeks and boy did they wreck the place! Opening draws, cupboards and investigating every nook and cranny. They certainly kept me on my toes. When I eventually let them out it was quite a tentative moment but everything went smoothly without a hitch.

Follow your heart.

All the best,
Michael

 

Umm... that’s not your rubber, is it.

 

Taking care of a feral has been a joy in life that's kept me going. Plus, no litter scooping, no meowing in the morning that might irritate my hyperacusis. Just a silent friend who visits as he pleases.

 

Nice to see you have more cats Michael.

Enjoying Grace on ITV.

Glynis

 

Cats chilling at the Holiday Inn.

 

Thank you. You have two nice cats too.

I am pleased that Grace will be on television again in the second book in the Roy Grace series: Looking Good Dead.

Mr Peter James is a very talented writer who always has time for his readers. I have been to many of his book signings. His Roy Grace books helped me return to reading after a two year hiatus due to severe tinnitus.

The Roy Grace books were very influential in my decision to move to Brighton. When I wrote to Peter, asking for advice on suitable locations to live in Brighton, he was very helpful.

Michael

 

Aww. They look so happy and relaxed. What cuties!

 

Nice to hear from you Michael.

My life changed so much.

Have you put a photo of your cats on here?

I work lots of hours now 6 nights one week and 5 the other.

Been single since 2018.

Hope you're keeping well.

Glynis

 

Photos of my cats are not available on this thread but can be seen here:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/624250/

Michael

 

I owned a cat named Ringo. That was his name from the shelter and me being a drummer it seemed appropriate. He was 7 at the time, and the previous owner took his nails out. My friend and I figured he would be put down if nobody took him, but I hadn't had agreement from my apartment, so we took him and figured between the both of us we would take him. I ended up taking him as I moved into a house and he lived another 5 or so years.

 

Morgan - 10 + years old

 

I am in the process of repairing a wooden stairs that leads from my kitchen/diner down to the back garden. Although it's regularly painted, due to the frequent rainy weather here in Brighton, on the south coast of England, it is prone to wet rot. This happens when wood is constantly wet and then dries. Over time it breaks down and eventually needs renewal.

As I'm a carpenter I am able to do this work myself and fortunately able to save most of the stairs from further deterioration. However, it still needs intensive work, that requires cutting out the rotten treads, splicing in new pieces of wood, then replacing with new treated 9 inch x 2 inch treads.

While enjoying my breakfast, consisting of bacon, sausage, egg, baked beans, two slices of toast and a nice hot cup of cappuccino, I contemplated my work for the day on the stairs. The sound of soothing classical music from my favourite radio station filled the room and completely relaxed me. At the same time I was looking through my double glazing doors at the wonderful panoramic view over Sonning Dean towards the south downs.

Suddenly my concentration was taken away by Alfie, who strolled into the room with a bird clenched tightly in his mouth. Polly was closely behind him. As he approached he dropped the bird on the floor about 6 ft away from me, which at first I thought was dead because it lay motionless.

Alfie and Polly crouched down staring at it in complete silence. Once they saw a flicker of the bird's wing, they both began to growl, hiss and snarl unlike anything I've heard before. They were in serious attack mode. Using their front paws they began to tentatively play with it at first, then retreat and then pounce more aggressively each taking turn.

I had enough and quickly reached into a cupboard for a hand brush and scoop. The cats must have known my intentions, by the time I turned they ran off with the bird into another room and quite a commotion ensued, as they were unable to reach the bird despite all their attempts it was perched up high off the floor on picture frame in relative safety.

I managed to coax it into a bucket then release it to the outdoors out of harm's way. Much to the annoyance of Alfie and Polly, who were still looking for it even when I commenced my work on the stairs.







Michael

 

Great story, @Michael Leigh, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The photo of your cat perched on the balcony railing made me a bit nervous. Cats and high places! Yikes.

I have a similar, yet different story, with a much less happy ending. My cat brought a mouse into the kitchen, it was still squiggling and squeaking. When I approached the cat in an attempt to free the mouse, he swallowed it whole, rather than give it up willingly.

You live in a beautiful part of your country, your view is spectacular.

 

Dear emmalee,

Thank you for your kind comments. I am sorry to hear about the ordeal with your cat and the mouse, for it must have been particularly gruesome being a witness to such a event and hope a similar thing doesn't happen to me. My cats are becoming quite a nuisance.

Yesterday I went out for about an hour, and on my return opened the front door to see bird feathers scattered across the hall carpet. I knew instantly that Alfie and Polly were at it again. They had a bird pinned into a small box room with the door closed. I could hear the bird's wings fluttering trying to keep away from cats, who were causing quite commotion again by the amount of noise I overheard.

I went to fetch a bucket, brush and pan from the kitchen and eased the room door open. Alfie and Polly stood over the bird which was now on the floor with a wing torn from its body and was now unfortunately dead.

In the passed I have fitted collars to the cats with a tiny bell in the hope a bird will be alerted by their presence and quickly fly away. However, each time the cats remove the collar so I have given up trying. I have also tried keeping the cats in early morning and just before dust. They reward me by tearing up my hall carpet with their claws in frustration because they want to go outside.

The cats have won and now the catflap open 24/7 so they can come and go as they please. It is an electronic catflap which is programmed to read their microchips so only Alfie and Polly can enter the home.

Take care,
Michael

 

I believe that a cat always wins, @Michael Leigh. ~.~

The mouse that my cat swallowed was a baby, tiniest thing, ever. It all happened so fast. It took me a long while to warm up to him again.

"Cats are kindly masters, just so long as you remember your place." —Paul Gray

 

Have a lovely day!

The feral loves fish flakes the best. There was an automatic feeder set up but lately bears have been breaking into it. Going to have to find a way to fix that...

 

That is so true @emmalee. We must remember the home belongs to the Cat, who agrees to share it with us as long as we know our place.

 

Bought a new wood basket for firewood. But it appears that Groucho has made it her new bed.

 

@Michael Leigh, good morning to you. You mentioned having to open different cat foods because, like mine, it's called "picky".

"Today it's good, tomorrow I don't want it."

So I think I have the solution. We need to start our own cat food manufacturing plant, and make a food that tastes like mice hair, and one that tastes like bird feathers. I'm real sure it would go over really good in the cat food world.

We could call it Michael and Elmer's Fine Cat Food, all natural flavours.

 

That sounds like a great idea @Elmer B Fuddled. I will ask my people to contact your people so we can get this project rolling.

Alfie is the one that is quite choosy when it comes to food. Polly is content eating the same brand of dry food but will not go near wet food no matter how hard I try, so I have given up. A few weeks ago I had to gradually ween her off the dry food that she likes as I could no longer buy it, due to a supply issue with the manufacturer. It took about a week but she is has accepted the new brand without any problems.

Purely by chance I have discovered Alfie likes to eat throughout the night and into the small hours of the morning, as I regularly hear the cat-flap opening and closing during these hours. His nocturnal activities whatever they are, must work up quite an appetite, because wet food that he once refused to eat is now completely gone when I arrive downstairs in the morning, his food dish has been licked clean!

This is a good result for which I am pleased, as I don't have to keep throwing perfectly good food away. It is such a waste. Nothing is assured with the way a cat behaves, so I am bracing myself for when Alfie starts his antics again.

Michael

 

Cats like to nibble, our cat will eat during the night off and on. Although we don't let her out after dark. Too many foxes in the fields behind us. Foxes like cats. But the vet told us to keep the dry food dish full, as cats like to have a continuous snack in front of them.

My people are in the lab working on mouse hair and bird feathers food, so far not one cat will eat either of the samples. I can't figure them out. I recently bought a wet food which Groucho enjoyed for about 2 weeks, now doesn't like it, wants me to buy something else. Tossing out perfect cat food again. It's like we have cat food money tree in the back garden.

Take care,
Elmer

 

I live on the outskirts of Brighton, in an area that is semi-countryside and approximately 15 minutes drive to the seafront. Foxes are regularly in my garden especially early morning and at dusk. I was very concerned about my cats' safety if they were outside during these times.

When I got the cats from the shelter last June, they were one year old. A requirement for rehoming them was, they must have access to a garden as they are outside cats. They were kept in for 6 weeks to acclimatise to their new home and surroundings. I have previously explained the havoc they caused because they so desperately wanted to go outside - it's something I don't wish to endure again in a hurry. I never encountered this before since I have always raised cats from kittens when I lived in London.

With hindsight their mischievous behaviour was quite humours at times, literally leaping up onto cupboards in a single bound and climbing up onto sound absorbent panels that I use in my acoustically treated listening room for my HI-FI. It was no laughing matter when they started sharping their claws with vigour on the material covering these panels.



My vet tried to reassure me that a cat and fox usually keep a wide berth from each other. Should a fox decide to attack a cat, usually the fox comes worse off, as a cat's claw can easily take out a foxes' eye. Not only that, the vet remarked on Alfie's unusually long and very sharp front fangs. He said they could be quite a formidable weapon should a fox feel brave enough to take him on. I had read the same online but part of me still felt a little apprehensive.

When I finally let the cats out, within a few days Alfie had an encounter with a fox early one morning. My heart was in my mouth as I feared the worst for Alfie, especially at just being a one year old. He wouldn't back down but instead, stood his ground for a moment with steely defiance. He arched his back and slowly moving towards the fox albeit with some trepidation. His voice had suddenly changed emitting the familiar cry as a signal that he's ready for a fight. The fox done and about turned and ran off.

Michael