Your daily cat and kitten news

[pogofish]

The black cat on the right? Is it a Maine Coon?

I don't think so - I've met both her parents, who are quite normal looking/sleek black cats.

Sgarba however, she is a quarter Maine Coon through her father, although that heritage was much more obvious in one of her brothers, who is a perfect mini-Maine Coon..!

 

[stavros]

Sitting in the middle of the floor washing with one leg in the air.

"Playing the cello", I believe it's called.

 

[girasol]

You won't feel a microchip, it's inserted under the skin. Best bet is to take her to a vet and get them to scan her. She is lovely, I hope you find out what the score is with her!

I can my feel my cat's (Rusty) microchip... But yeah, when the time comes I shall take her to the vet. When I took Rusty they felt her up and said she wasn't pregnant. Then she started getting very big and had lots of kittens. Of course now I'm worried Precious might not have been neutured. I can't deal with lots of kittens again. Once was amazing, but quite enough!!!

 

[Rebecca Riot]

If anything, the reverse

Because the parents most likely hadn't had any vaccinations there's a chance that any infection came through the mothers

They were, I think, too young for the vaccination but once they started dying what have you got to lose. But banging in a full dose maybe was too much for them

This really is a learning as you go

It sounds like they haven't got a clue but you couldn't be further from the truth. It's done in consultation with the vet

This is an ongoing problem

There was a colony of dumped cats (thanks Covid) that hadn't been sterilised or injected or anything so inbreeding just was a thing and we had, god I don't know, 20-30 cats and kittens over a period of time. Some lived, most didn't. Some were rehomed. I like to think that this colony has been sorted but there's others.

This current lot is coming from a farm I believe. There's still several pregnant queen's that for one reason or another we've not got yet. But the speed after having a litter to getting pregnant with another litter is unbelievable. So there a vanishingly small time window to halt the problem

As for the life expectancy of this current new batch... shrugs... I'll be surprised / delighted if half of them make it

And that's another problem, it's this charity's policy to not rehome a kitten until its around 6 months old to ensure that they're chipped (now a legal requirement) fully injected and most importantly of all, sterilised. As despite previously supplying a voucher for the procedure to be done for, basically free, people can't be bothered and we've had super young cats returned because they weren't done as promised and were pregnant and they weren't wanted any more. Makes my blood boil. This is not a national charity, it only started just over a year ago and they've pretty much permanently got over 100 animals they're caring for

I really do take my hat off to people like you who do this sort of work as I know how heartbreaking it can be.

I use to be involved with a local cat rescue (sadly no longer there) and one day we had a phone call to say that a man with mental health issues had been turfed out of a squat in Swansea and had 6 kittens with him (we don't know what happened to the mother cat). The RSPCA couldn't take them as they were full but the lady in our group who housed the cats said she would take them.... only she didn't have any room either. She phoned and asked me if I could have them 'just for a few days' and of course I said yes but they ended up staying with me for the rest of their lives and two of them lived to be 16 years old!

They became know as the Swansea Six which made them sound like some sort of protest group!

 

[Saul Goodman]

She phoned and asked me if I could have them 'just for a few days' and of course I said yes but they ended up staying with me for the rest of their lives and two of them lived to be 16 years old!

This is when you realised how cats work

 

[philosophical]

My regularly seen Tortie on the way back from Lee station being looked at by a possibly put out local cat.

 

[High Voltage]

I really do take my hat off to people like you who do this sort of work as I know how heartbreaking it can be...

There's no need really

Me and Mrs Voltz are retired so having something to do is useful

I've had cats for as long as I can remember, this is a logical extension

I've got a bit of a tool habit which means I've either got or am prepared to spend far too much money on unnecessary tools

I'm also learning and figuring out how to make stuff

And in return I get goes on cats and kittens - which in any bodies book is fair exchange

The one who I feel for is the head of the charity as she's taken on the job of removing... well... I'm sure you can guess. She doesn't want that job on the volunteers

Still kittens on Tuesday

 

[Puddy_Tat]

My regularly seen Tortie on the way back from Lee station being looked at by a possibly put out local cat.

i think you may have interrupted a critical point in a game of cat chess*

* courtesy terry pratchett, 'the unadulterated cat'

 

[Epona]

i think you may have interrupted a critical point in a game of cat chess*

* courtesy terry pratchett, 'the unadulterated cat'

Love that book.

We (me and N) interrupted a 4 (or possibly more than that!) way game of cat chess when we went outside on our housing estate to have a couple of cans outside just after dusk to cool down a bit on the really hot day last week.

They were triangulating is the best way to describe it, each cat could keep 2 others in its sights, each moving bit by bit.

Pratchett used the perfect term to describe it.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Love that book.

I had to explain the 'campaign for real cats' and 'fizzy keg cats' concept to an american a while ago...

 

[Happy Tree]

 

[Chz]

^ This, a microchip is smaller than a grain of rice and you wouldn't be able to feel it - vets and shelters have scanners so could check her for you girasol to see if she belongs to someone.
She's a lovely looking cat.

I've found it once or twice whilst stroking the neck, but that's twice in seven years and there's zero chance I could find it while looking. Little fuckers move around, don't they?

 

[Epona]

I've found it once or twice whilst stroking the neck, but that's twice in seven years and there's zero chance I could find it while looking. Little fuckers move around, don't they?

They do, they have very loose skin - Sonic's ended up at the top of his leg and I had to remind the vet when he was checking for it that it had relocated a bit
I've never felt one myself, I guess it must be possible as a couple of you have reported being able to do so!
You'd think it would be more likely with very slender ultra-shorthair cats but nope never felt a microchip in them

 

[Dystopiary]

It's so interesting to observe the deepening levels of relaxation. Today Carrie has been doing all sorts of normal cat things that I hadn't realised were missing. Weaving round my legs while I'm getting her breakfast. Sitting in the middle of the floor washing with one leg in the air.

Currently she's properly asleep curled up on the window ledge, not keeping an eye on everything.

View attachment 438718

It sounds like she's really starting to settle in! Lovely news.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Spud wants the rain to stop.

 

[Saul Goodman]

"I'm staying in here until it stops raining"

 

[RubyToogood]

It sounds like she's really starting to settle in! Lovely news.

She really is. I reckon I'll be able to let her out sooner rather than later, so I've just been to buy a collar, to see if I can persuade her to wear it, and I'm training her to come when I call her name (with treats).

There's so much good advice online now about managing all these things.

 

[May Kasahara]

Vivian at peace (because Donut is outside).

 

[LeytonCatLady]

 

[Cloo]

Slovak mountain lake cat disapproves of you

 

[LeytonCatLady]

 

[ddraig]

View that greeted me this morning

 

[LeytonCatLady]

 

[xsunnysuex]

.

 

[Rebecca Riot]

I'm growing cats in my greenhouse.

 

[xsunnysuex]

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I'm growing cats in my greenhouse.View attachment 438945View attachment 438946

looks like a good crop this year

 

[May Kasahara]

Rebecca Riot I see you also have a Donut-alike

 

[May Kasahara]

HELLO YES NICE SUNNY DAY IT'S DINNER TIME

 

[Rebecca Riot]

Rebecca Riot I see you also have a Donut-alike

Gosh, they are alike.

My one's called Tosca and she use to be jet black but as she gets older (she's 12 now) there are more and more brown tones appearing in her coat.