Your daily cat and kitten news

[Puddy_Tat]

Probably getting near the time to let Larry retire somewhere a bit more laid back. I wonder how the stress of a move somewhere quiet with some outdoors space would compare with the stress of hundreds of people always milling about and the frequent change of "owner" the past few years...

Dunno really.

while it's hard to tell what a cat is thinking, Larry seems (from what's posted by the press photographers who pay him attention when not much else is happening in Downing Street) to be healthy and content with things.

some cats enjoy plenty of attention - as in the cats with homes and 'owners' who choose to go and hang out at shops / libraries / railway stations etc during the daytime. obviously some cats don't.

and most cats are more attached to territory than people, so the change of prime minister won't be that big a deal - there are civil service staff who stay at downing street if the PM changes, and they, rather than the PM, are likely to be the one/s that deal with feeding arrangements and so on.

only possible concern is that adding more cats to his territory may lead to conflict - larry had issues with the treasury cat in the past, and got filmed chasing a fox out of the garden a few years ago.

 

[stavros]

Probably getting near the time to let Larry retire somewhere a bit more laid back.

House of Lords?

 

[xsunnysuex]

 

[ddraig]

Regal AF!

 

[May Kasahara]

House of Lords?

House of Lording It.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

House of Lords?

as a cat, he might spend less time there asleep than the average member...

 

[LeytonCatLady]

 

[Skinny Ethel]

Meow.

 

[seeformiles]

Lil’ Bob has spent the last week defending his territory from a young whippersnapper and it’s only today he’s risking some lap time. Tradition has it that, at such times, I speak to him in German and refer to his “Schwatzengumminase” and he loves a stroke on his wee fruit gum nose

 

[Epona]

Lil’ Bob has spent the last week defending his territory from a young whippersnapper and it’s only today he’s risking some lap time. Tradition has it that, at such times, I speak to him in German and refer to his “Schwatzengumminase” and he loves a stroke on his wee fruit gum nose
View attachment 441194

It's always a bit of a relief to have it reaffirmed that others also say completely fucking bonkers things to their cats

 

[seeformiles]

It's always a bit of a relief to have it reaffirmed that others also say completely fucking bonkers things to their cats

He’s had a bee up his bum for a couple of weeks now. That ginger and white cat we thought was his friend turned out to be a 1 year old cat from about 200 yards away but he is pretty much taking the piss as far as Bob’s concerned so he’s been chief defender. A very unexpected development as he’s usually to be found poking his paw into stuff to see what it does.

 

[LeytonCatLady]

Lil’ Bob has spent the last week defending his territory from a young whippersnapper and it’s only today he’s risking some lap time. Tradition has it that, at such times, I speak to him in German and refer to his “Schwatzengumminase” and he loves a stroke on his wee fruit gum nose
View attachment 441194

Lilith's previous human was/is Bulgarian, as is one of my housemates. Last night, he tried talking to her in his native language and she seemed to like that!

 

[seeformiles]

Lilith's previous human was/is Bulgarian, as is one of my housemates. Last night, he tried talking to her in his native language and she seemed to like that!

Could be a response to the first language they heard? Mrs SFM family adopted a 1 year old collie dog from a Scottish farm and found she responded better to commands if given a bit of a Scot’s inflection

 

[Epona]

Ah this is going to be a bit of a downer, for which I apologise - but I went to the vet today to pick up a cat food order and when I got there the "someone is going through loss of a pet, please be respectful and speak quietly" sign was on the counter and there was this elderly lady in floods of tears with an empty cat basket, I gave her what I hope was a sympathetic smile and just about made it out onto the street before I lost it Always so difficult, and something we've all been through. I hope she's able to get some sleep tonight, I've been thinking of her all evening.

 

[LeytonCatLady]

Ah this is going to be a bit of a downer, for which I apologise - but I went to the vet today to pick up a cat food order and when I got there the "someone is going through loss of a pet, please be respectful and speak quietly" sign was on the counter and there was this elderly lady in floods of tears with an empty cat basket, I gave her what I hope was a sympathetic smile and just about made it out onto the street before I lost it Always so difficult, and something we've all been through. I hope she's able to get some sleep tonight, I've been thinking of her all evening.

Oh, that must have been heart wrenching. Hope she's getting support, and that you're OK too.

 

[Epona]

Oh, that must have been heart wrenching. Hope she's getting support.

Every time I see someone going through that it takes me back to the times I've been there myself, I hope she's OK tonight.
She's one of our local "cat hostel" people iykwim, she keeps saying she can't have another because it's too upsetting when they die but when she's without one a stray will turn up on her doorstep or someone will bring a foundling to her for care.

 

[Elpenor]

Resting under a neighbours van

 

[Rebecca Riot]

It's always a bit of a relief to have it reaffirmed that others also say completely fucking bonkers things to their cats

I once had a cat who would only eat if I sung the theme tune to Neighbours to him. I think his previous owner must had fed him at that time in the evening when it was just about to start.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I once had a cat who would only eat if I sung the theme tune to Neighbours to him.

was this something you were told, or did you find out by trial and error?

 

[mentalchik]

Otherwise ok cat, he's eating and pooing ok but has started weeing everywhere.....at first it was just my things, dirty washing, my bed but this morning just caught him peeing on a cloth bag that has other bags in it (iykwim)....can't see any blood in it etc but my flat will stink.....trying to think of anything i might have done to upset him (i know they can do this if upset).....he is quite terratorial (him and his sister are both house cats)....anyone else experienced this ?

 

[Epona]

Otherwise ok cat, he's eating and pooing ok but has started weeing everywhere.....at first it was just my things, dirty washing, my bed but this morning just caught him peeing on a cloth bag that has other bags in it (iykwim)....can't see any blood in it etc but my flat will stink.....trying to think of anything i might have done to upset him (i know they can do this if upset).....he is quite terratorial (him and his sister are both house cats)....anyone else experienced this ?

My poor lad is having issues at the moment, with him it started as a bacterial UTI (although these are rare in healthy cats, he has kidney disease which makes it more likely due to protein in his urine and a different pH to usual making bacterial growth more possible), but we've been having ongoing weeing problems since which I think at this point are more age related - he's antique and it could be a mixture of bladder/urinary sphincter weakness, alzheimers, or behavioural issues.

If you can afford it, I would suggest getting a urinalysis done as the first port of call (our vet charges £160 for full lab urinalysis including cultures - if doing cultures for bacterial infection the sample should be taken by the vet using cystocentesis - needle to withdraw urine from the bladder to minimise cross contamination, but if your cat doesn't have kidney disease the vet may not want to test for bacteria as it is rare in younger cats and a sample collected at home might be ok , if you're outside of London the price probably won't be quite so steep), to rule out anything like bladder stones or a bacterial infection.

If at any point he is straining to wee and nothing is coming out, that needs to be treated as a medical emergency that requires urgent veterinary attention even if out of hours.

You are correct that stress can be a major factor and can trigger cystitis in cats, or behavioural weeing/marking issues.

I hope the little lad is OK.

 

[High Voltage]

Quick follow up to the cat charity cats being released

Out of the 18 that were released 16 are back safe and sound although one of the 16 has decided that it just wants to hang around outside and it looks like they've joined the "outside" cats

One cat took matters into its own paws and simply rehomed itself at a nearby house

Which leaves only 1 unaccounted for. No reports of a cat being found on the nearby busy road so, whilst unlikely we'll see it again, all hope it's not lost

In other news 10 adult cats arrived between last week and Tuesday of this week. They were riddled with fleas and ticks. Obviously they've all been dabbed so that's resolving itself just means there's a lot more deep cleaning to do

 

[LeytonCatLady]

 

[Rebecca Riot]

was this something you were told, or did you find out by trial and error?

I was trying to persuade him to eat (I hadn't had him long) and I often find that if you sing, or even whistle to cats that it helps them relax. Neighbours was the first tune that came into my head as it was on twice a day back then. I didn't even like the programme but it could have been worse....his previous owner could have been a fan of Home and Away!

 

[starfish]

Mitzi thinking "what shall i clean next".

Daisy just lounging.

 

[LeytonCatLady]

Cat ornaments in a barber's window.

 

[High Voltage]

Seeing as it was pissing down this morning which kind of kiboshed what I'd planned to do at Compassion 4 Cats (the charity, if you want to have a bit of a nose around their FaceBook page(?)) I ended up in one of the large pens which is currently housing kittehs

There's good news and not so good news

Get the not so good news out of the way first
We've rescued 4 kittens from a not great place - absolutely riddled with fleas and ticks. So far we've lost one due to Anemia ,that's how badly infested they were. It's unlikely that the other three will make it either (same cause) but at least they're warm and safe and have access to food and water
Maybe more coming from the same source in the not too distant

Out of another litter of 4 kittens (3 x grey and white and 1 Calico) One G & W is no longer with us and a second one is not looking that promising. They've all just had some of their injections and as previous, it's a fine balancing act of giving them protection against viruses versus them not starting that healthy. The Calico was looking very subdued when I was sitting in with them but was starting to perk up a tiny bit

But there is one short haired grey and white who was brilliant. In full hunter killer mode with various toys I was playing with them, allowing me to stroke it's back, not too keen on being picked up and plonked on my lap but came back for more play and was climbing up my legs (heavy duty work shorts so not a problem)

A 2 maybe 3 black kittens also were tempted out to play with various toys

And 3 tortoiseshell (I think) that were running around the place like loons, also were getting in on the killing game

In the room next door with the 10 young adults, they're still not "receiving guests" due to having visitors of their own, iykwim - but looking through the windows and door at them, there are some seriously pretty cats in there. As they're older and strongerI'm hoping that any vaccinations that they'll have won't cause any harm

 

[surreybrowncap]

My mate Felix who greets me on many evenings after work..
He used to hide under cars..

 

[RubyToogood]

I was trying to persuade him to eat (I hadn't had him long) and I often find that if you sing, or even whistle to cats that it helps them relax. Neighbours was the first tune that came into my head as it was on twice a day back then. I didn't even like the programme but it could have been worse....his previous owner could have been a fan of Home and Away!

It was recommended to talk or sing to a new cat when I looked up how to settle them. I have a song I made up for Carrie in her first few days about my washing up brush.

 

[Rebecca Riot]

Seeing as it was pissing down this morning which kind of kiboshed what I'd planned to do at Compassion 4 Cats (the charity, if you want to have a bit of a nose around their FaceBook page(?)) I ended up in one of the large pens which is currently housing kittehs

There's good news and not so good news

Get the not so good news out of the way first
We've rescued 4 kittens from a not great place - absolutely riddled with fleas and ticks. So far we've lost one due to Anemia ,that's how badly infested they were. It's unlikely that the other three will make it either (same cause) but at least they're warm and safe and have access to food and water
Maybe more coming from the same source in the not too distant

Out of another litter of 4 kittens (3 x grey and white and 1 Calico) One G & W is no longer with us and a second one is not looking that promising. They've all just had some of their injections and as previous, it's a fine balancing act of giving them protection against viruses versus them not starting that healthy. The Calico was looking very subdued when I was sitting in with them but was starting to perk up a tiny bit

But there is one short haired grey and white who was brilliant. In full hunter killer mode with various toys I was playing with them, allowing me to stroke it's back, not too keen on being picked up and plonked on my lap but came back for more play and was climbing up my legs (heavy duty work shorts so not a problem)

A 2 maybe 3 black kittens also were tempted out to play with various toys

And 3 tortoiseshell (I think) that were running around the place like loons, also were getting in on the killing game

In the room next door with the 10 young adults, they're still not "receiving guests" due to having visitors of their own, iykwim - but looking through the windows and door at them, there are some seriously pretty cats in there. As they're older and strongerI'm hoping that any vaccinations that they'll have won't cause any harm

Are most of these kittens coming from farms or feral colonies, or just irresponsible owners?

If only everyone would have their cats neutered it would save so much misery for these poor creatures.