Self-indulgent pet thread

[CRI]

OMG, I'm the worst pet parent ever. I was watching the live kitten cam here http://new.livestream.com/FosterKittenCam/TheArtificialIntelligenceFosters and Breeze became completely enthralled. When one of the kittens mewed, she went round the back of the screen (where the speakers are) desperately searching for the kittens. I've turned it off, but now she's laying with her ear against the speaker, I guess waiting for the kittens to return.

Does this mean I have to get her a kitten? At the very least, perhaps she can Skype her kitty cousins in America.

 

[CRI]

I'm stealing his limelight!!
View attachment 41362

And he looks well pissed off about it!

 

[seeformiles]

Buttons - Queen of the Bed:

 

[fishfinger]

Proper regal

 

[Schmetterling]

I'm stealing his limelight!!
View attachment 41362

Who is photobombing who (whom?) here?

 

[Schmetterling]

OMG, I'm the worst pet parent ever. I was watching the live kitten cam here http://new.livestream.com/FosterKittenCam/TheArtificialIntelligenceFosters and Breeze became completely enthralled. When one of the kittens mewed, she went round the back of the screen (where the speakers are) desperately searching for the kittens. I've turned it off, but now she's laying with her ear against the speaker, I guess waiting for the kittens to return.

Does this mean I have to get her a kitten? At the very least, perhaps she can Skype her kitty cousins in America.

I put this on while getting ready for work this morning and then became confused over, while absolutely delighted, to hear cat squeaks in my flat again.

 

[starfish]

Traumatic 24 hours over. Had to rush Bob to vets last night as was in a right state. Covered in drool & sweat & had soiled himself. Hed lost a lot of weight in a day & was extremely cold. But after a night of drips, charcoal & blood tests he seems to have made a full recovery & is now back home. He'll be on antibiotics for week but was so worried. We're not ready to lose the wee guy just yet.

 

[Cloo]

VastraKat demonstrates pwning the sofa:

 

[Epona]

OMG, I'm the worst pet parent ever. I was watching the live kitten cam here http://new.livestream.com/FosterKittenCam/TheArtificialIntelligenceFosters and Breeze became completely enthralled. When one of the kittens mewed, she went round the back of the screen (where the speakers are) desperately searching for the kittens. I've turned it off, but now she's laying with her ear against the speaker, I guess waiting for the kittens to return.

Does this mean I have to get her a kitten? At the very least, perhaps she can Skype her kitty cousins in America.

*Ahem* She's an ex breeding queen - probably best if you try to avoid playing kitten noises at her - of course she's going to react! Not necessarily sure that it would be a good idea to get her a kitten either, queens usually tell their own kittens to fuck off and find their own territory at about 6 months old at the latest, but if you got one they could be ungratefully sharing living arrangements for more than a decade

 

[CRI]

Traumatic 24 hours over. Had to rush Bob to vets last night as was in a right state. Covered in drool & sweat & had soiled himself. Hed lost a lot of weight in a day & was extremely cold. But after a night of drips, charcoal & blood tests he seems to have made a full recovery & is now back home. He'll be on antibiotics for week but was so worried. We're not ready to lose the wee guy just yet.

Whoa, what happened? Was it poisoning or a really virulent infection? Must have been horrendous for you. Fingers crossed all will be okay soon!

 

[CRI]

*Ahem* She's an ex breeding queen - probably best if you try to avoid playing kitten noises at her - of course she's going to react! Not necessarily sure that it would be a good idea to get her a kitten either, queens usually tell their own kittens to fuck off and find their own territory at about 6 months old at the latest, but if you got one they could be ungratefully sharing living arrangements for more than a decade

I think it was a "disagreement" with her daughter that was partly behind her needing to find a new home! Not that it will happen immediately if at all, but what would you suggest if we did want to, ahem, "add to the family?" Will the politics just be too messy to contemplate? Would it be better to get a dog or a pony instead? (Pony actually not that practical.)

 

[CRI]

VastraKat demonstrates pwning the sofa:

Oh, I can't see that. There are a few things I can't see now after the upgrade, or maybe it's Firefox?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Oh, I can't see that. There are a few things I can't see now after the upgrade, or maybe it's Firefox?

it's not firefox, it's a kitteh



are some of your add-ons out of step?

 

[CRI]

it's not firefox, it's a kitteh



are some of your add-ons out of step?

Probably. I am generally.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Probably. I am generally.

tools > add-ons

then a blue link near the top "check to see if your plugins are up to date"

may be worth a try

having said that, the picture was a sub-domain used by farcebook. i used sometimes to get blank squares when someone put a picture from there up (and no i don't have a farcebook account)

 

[Epona]

I think it was a "disagreement" with her daughter that was partly behind her needing to find a new home! Not that it will happen immediately if at all, but what would you suggest if we did want to, ahem, "add to the family?" Will the politics just be too messy to contemplate? Would it be better to get a dog or a pony instead? (Pony actually not that practical.)

Honestly, with cats, adding to the family (wrt adding other cats) has the potential to be messy (especially if they are indoor only and are sharing a fixed territory - indoor/outdoor cats can at least part ways at the cat flap). It also can have the potential to go really well (Sonic and Jakes ADORE one another and usually sleep curled up together), but it's a bit of a gamble every time. I never ever want to relive the stress of adding new felines to the established adult feline indoor-only family, if at any point in future after this lot are no longer with us I decide to have multiple cats I will get them all at around the same time when they are all between the ages of 3 to 6 months old.

Something to bear in mind is that when left to their own devices in a feral environment, females of reproductive age do not tolerate having overlapping territory with another mature female - and they can fight and spray just as well as any male cat. Male territories tend to be larger but will overlap with one another at the fringes and also overlap with female territories. I would suggest that if you wanted to introduce another cat, go for either an older neutered male with an easygoing personality who is used to sharing space with a female cat, or a male kitten that is fairly laid back and will do what he's told by Breeze. I'd avoid 'highly strung' or high energy/dominant personality breeds (Rexes/Oris/Siams/Bengals), and also very shy/nervous breeds (Russian Blue etc) - you'll want a cat that is neither wanting to take top spot, nor too likely to be bullied. Another MC, or a Ragdoll or NFC might be good, the latter two breeds are known for being easygoing in multicat households or with other pets.

Probably goes without saying that the first priority should be existing pets - yes it's disruptive to a kitten to return it to the breeder/shelter if it all goes pear-shaped, but it's worse to keep it if it's going to make either it or your existing cat's life a misery for the next however many years.

 

[CRI]

Honestly, with cats, adding to the family (wrt adding other cats) has the potential to be messy (especially if they are indoor only and are sharing a fixed territory - indoor/outdoor cats can at least part ways at the cat flap). It also can have the potential to go really well (Sonic and Jakes ADORE one another and usually sleep curled up together), but it's a bit of a gamble every time. I never ever want to relive the stress of adding new felines to the established adult feline indoor-only family, if at any point in future after this lot are no longer with us I decide to have multiple cats I will get them all at around the same time when they are all between the ages of 3 to 6 months old.

Something to bear in mind is that when left to their own devices in a feral environment, females of reproductive age do not tolerate having overlapping territory with another mature female - and they can fight and spray just as well as any male cat. Male territories tend to be larger but will overlap with one another at the fringes and also overlap with female territories. I would suggest that if you wanted to introduce another cat, go for either an older neutered male with an easygoing personality who is used to sharing space with a female cat, or a male kitten that is fairly laid back and will do what he's told by Breeze. I'd avoid 'highly strung' or high energy/dominant personality breeds (Rexes/Oris/Siams/Bengals), and also very shy/nervous breeds (Russian Blue etc) - you'll want a cat that is neither wanting to take top spot, nor too likely to be bullied. Another MC, or a Ragdoll or NFC might be good, the latter two breeds are known for being easygoing in multicat households or with other pets.

Probably goes without saying that the first priority should be existing pets - yes it's disruptive to a kitten to return it to the breeder/shelter if it all goes pear-shaped, but it's worse to keep it if it's going to make either it or your existing cat's life a misery for the next however many years.

Wow, thanks for all the advice!

I don't think it's going to be a prospect for some time, and I've managed to resist the impulse to get more pigs for 15 years now (and that's a tough one - good thing I don't have sows, as you can always have "just one more," when you can't add to bonded boar pairs.) If we did, it would probably be another MC, just because well, if Breeze is anything to go by, they are quite a unique animal, in a very, very nice way. The "dog cat" stuff is true!

Might catch you in future if I get to the point where I can't "resist the force" any more!

 

[starfish]

Whoa, what happened? Was it poisoning or a really virulent infection? Must have been horrendous for you. Fingers crossed all will be okay soon!

Not certain. He probably ate something dodgy but had a secondary infection as well as his white blood cell count was very high. It wasnt pleasant i can tell you & hopefully he wont do it again.

 

[eatmorecheese]

Living Stone, the slab of Lab

 

[Manter]

Living Stone, the slab of Lab

he's gorgeous. I love labs

 

[CRI]

Can't see the Lab either Plug ins seem okay. Not on Facebook, so is that the problem? Crap.

 

[sim667]

Can't see the Lab either Plug ins seem okay. Not on Facebook, so is that the problem? Crap.

On a lead?

How much does your longhair groom? Mine seems to spend vast amounts of the day grooming herself

 

[High Voltage]

VastraKat demonstrates pwning the sofa:

This cat appears to have a broken back - I would suggest the liberal application of minced beef or freshly cooked fish to bring it back from the edge - Oooo!! chicken has remarkable healing powers as well

 

[xes]

plz can we has kebab?

 

[a_chap]

It's a scientifically proven fact that a dog's natural food in the wild is the doner kebab.

 

[CRI]

It's a scientifically proven fact that a dog's natural food in the wild is the doner kebab.

And a cat's is definitely nachos!

 

[Frumious B.]

FYI Schmetterling they cost £1/day to feed

Mine costs 42p per day at the moment, because she's spurned all three top quality foods on offer in my kitchen - she'll only eat the cheap stuff from Lidl.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

Something to bear in mind is that when left to their own devices in a feral environment, females of reproductive age do not tolerate having overlapping territory with another mature female - and they can fight and spray just as well as any male cat. Male territories tend to be larger but will overlap with one another at the fringes and also overlap with female territories. I would suggest that if you wanted to introduce another cat, go for either an older neutered male with an easygoing personality who is used to sharing space with a female cat, or a male kitten that is fairly laid back and will do what he's told by Breeze. I'd avoid 'highly strung' or high energy/dominant personality breeds (Rexes/Oris/Siams/Bengals), and also very shy/nervous breeds (Russian Blue etc) - you'll want a cat that is neither wanting to take top spot, nor too likely to be bullied. Another MC, or a Ragdoll or NFC might be good, the latter two breeds are known for being easygoing in multicat households or with other pets.

When we got our cats I originally went for two sisters because I had read that female feral cats sometimes made colonies with their sisters. However, in practice it was very much like you say, once they had got over a certain age there were definitely territory disputes.

If we do get another one I was thinking a male kitten (an Arthur to go with Trillian ), so what you say is positive. My yoga teacher has a little ginger kitten at the moment and I'm really jealous!

 

[CRI]

On a lead?

How much does your longhair groom? Mine seems to spend vast amounts of the day grooming herself

Yes, she walks on a lead. You sort of more follow where she wants to go rather than lead her though, but it usually works. I get her harnesses from this place http://www.mynwoodcatjackets.co.uk/ (she's currently the 11th photo on the "Catwalk" page.) She's got a few with custom fabrics and I'm about to have some more done. Fun and functional!

I don't think she grooms herself as much as our late short haired ginger tom Herbie did. She gets a brushing most days, and the furminator really helps to keep the loose bits out of the way. No problem with furballs so far (was huge problem for Herbie.) What kind of longhair is yours?

 

[Epona]

How much does your longhair groom? Mine seems to spend vast amounts of the day grooming herself

I dunno if you're up for a fun trivia fact (if not, just pretend I have said nothing) - but apparently, cats lose more fluid every day through their saliva due to grooming than they do from pissing.