Your daily cat and kitten news

[LeytonCatLady]

Handsome boy!

 

[Epona]

I see what was meant about his ex-tomcat head and neck - head like a ruddy bowling ball bless him

 

[Orang Utan]

How old is Popeye? He must be old if he’s the same one I remember!
Have there been other Bookmongers cats?

 

[LeytonCatLady]

Lilith refusing to make room for me.

 

[story]

How old is Popeye? He must be old if he’s the same one I remember!
Have there been other Bookmongers cats?

No. There was Leo, the rescue dog who would sit up on his haunches like a circus dog. He was never encouraged to do it, Patrick didn’t like that he’d been trained into this behaviour so hard that he kept doing it, and even Leo rolled his eyes at himself whenever he did it. He was very old when he died.

Then Patrick fostered a lot of dogs for a while, and then he took on Rosa. She was a really beautiful pit-bull type, but more rangy and long-legged. Her coat was a gorgeous deep honey colour. She died quite young of an ongoing condition.

Then it was Popeye.


This is Leo








This is a Brixtonised postcard picture of Rosa.



And here’s another picture of her. She was painted onto the shutter front, which was a painting of the shop front. Then a photo of the shutter was turned into a picture, and put in the place where the original photo of Rosa looking out of the window was taken.




A couple more.




And here is Popeye. The second one is also showing his postcard.









And, as someone else said, he’s also on Instagram.

 

[story]

I posted this clip of Popeye on the Cats of Brixton thread a couple of years ago, lifted from Instagram.


Post in thread 'Woooo-oh; the cats of Brixton'
Woooo-oh; the cats of Brixton


Puddy_Tat also posted some photos of Popeye there. And as added bonus, I posted a picture of Queen Coquette further down on the same page.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I posted this clip of Popeye on the Cats of Brixton thread a couple of years ago, lifted from Instagram.

someone has said somewhere on here that he was known as 'tiger' in his previous life. a post from 2019 with a bit more biography -

That's Popeye. He's enjoying his retirement after a busy life.

Rosa the much loved pit bull died last year and the local mogs swiftly took their chance to colonise the back yard of the shop. After long internecine wars Popeye triumphed and staked his claim. He's always been a local feral and, being now quite elderly (in feral terms), was keen for a quiet retirement patrolling the one yard. The humans, despite being reluctant in their recent heartbreak to make space for any more four legged love (and in any case very sceptical about cats), gave them water during the heatwave and then, inevitably, started putting food out.

This chap had a huge hammerhead swollen face and one eye swollen shut (hence "Popeye") so they took him to the vet. The vet treated his eye and explained that his wide head and thick neck was due to massive levels of King Tom hormones.

Being a cat clever enough to rule the streets, conquering the human heart was a doddle. The sacrifice of occasionally allowing human interaction is small price to pay for his throne, warmth, shelter and regular meals. His face and neck are less massive these days (less need for the KingTom thing = lower testosterone overload) but he's still fiercely impressive in stature and bearing.

You can buy copies of his official portraits in postcard form at the counter.


ETA
I think he was known by other names by other shopkeepers over the years, but he's now come indoors at Bookmongers so he's got a proper name to go with his proper bed.

it's also been suggested there are some outstanding kitten support claims from his previous life as well...

and at the idea of trying to take him to the vet.

 

[May Kasahara]

Another tough day at the coalface.

 

[LeytonCatLady]

 

[seeformiles]

Perhaps it’s a northern shortage but our local Aldi has had no “Pawsone Pockets” for over 2 weeks now - just a gap on the shelf where they used to be. Vic loves those treats so interested to know if this is a National or just a regional problem?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Perhaps it’s a northern shortage but our local Aldi has had no “Pawsone Pockets” for over 2 weeks now - just a gap on the shelf where they used to be. Vic loves those treats so interested to know if this is a National or just a regional problem?

Mine love them. I always have 3 or 4 bags of them in the cat treat box, just in case.

 

[seeformiles]

Mine love them. I always have 3 or 4 bags of them in the cat treat box, just in case.

Anything in stock locally? I asked staff and no one could tell me why. I might have a feline mutiny on my hands

 

[Saul Goodman]

Anything in stock locally? I asked staff and no one could tell me why. I might have a feline mutiny on my hands

I'll know on Thursday when I go shopping, but I'd better stock up, just in case.

 

[philosophical]

Scrounger Bloom knows the deal is usually in the kitchen for a biscuit, then is encouraged to go out the back door.
Sometimes he resists the idea and so I pick him up and gently put him outside.
Now the kitchen has few hiding places, so here he is squeezed into a sheltered spot under a bit of cupboard overhang, knowing full well that grabbing him is much more difficult from there.

 

[May Kasahara]

He's no fool

 

[trabuquera]

Paws tucked for the maximum "I'm comfortably settled in here" messaging. Bloom's nonverbal comms skills are impressive.

 

[RubyToogood]

Twice now Carrie has managed to shut herself in the spare room by wanting to look behind the door, which then swings closed

 

[Saul Goodman]

Twice now Carrie has managed to shut herself in the spare room by wanting to look behind the door, which then swings closed

It takes a while, but you soon learn to close every door in the house, although by that time they've usually progressed to cupboards, and you're fitting child locks to them.

 

[story]

It takes a while, but you soon learn to close every door in the house, although by that time they've usually progressed to cupboards, and you're fitting child locks to them.

And then they stand in front of the closed door complaining that it's closed and you'll think she's nagging you to be let in so you'll open the door, and then she'll refuse to go in. Cats don't like shut doors.

Or she'll do it a third time and decide not to go into that room.

Another alternative is that she'll do it a third time, and a fourth time, and a fifth time, and so on, until she's trained you to put some kind of stopper in place, so the door doesn't close properly and she can use the room at will.

 

[Saul Goodman]

And then they stand in front of the closed door complaining that it's closed and you'll think she's nagging you to be let in so you'll open the door, and then she'll refuse to go in. Cats don't like shut doors.

Or she'll do it a third time and decide not to go into that room.

Another alternative is that she'll do it a third time, and a fourth time, and a fifth time, and so on, until she's trained you to put some kind of stopper in place, so the door doesn't close properly and she can use the room at will.

There's an enclosure here containing the hot water cylinder. I think they call it a hot press. The doors are about 3 foot from the ground and kept closed by magnetic latches top and bottom, but I used to find cutie curled up in there on a pile of towels beside the cylinder, with the doors still closed. I couldn't work out how she was getting in, as the magnets were too strong for her to overcome, but I eventually caught her getting in, and it was both ingenious and hilarious. She jumped up onto the dining table, then launched herself into the cupboard door, bounced off it and landed on the floor, but the force of the impact had sprung the door open, and she just climbed back onto the table, leapt in, then closed the door behind herself!
She still does this, and I keep meaning to set up a camera to capture it. I'll have to put it on my to-do list.
This is the cat I used to think was a bit thick. She's far from it.

 

[story]

There's an enclosure here containing the hot water cylinder. I think they call it a hot press. The doors are about 3 foot from the ground and kept closed by magnetic latches top and bottom, but I used to find cutie curled up in there on a pile of towels beside the cylinder, with the doors still closed. I couldn't work out how she was getting in, as the magnets were too strong for her to overcome, but I eventually caught her getting in, and it was both ingenious and hilarious. She jumped up onto the dining table, then launched herself into the cupboard door, bounced off it and landed on the floor, but the force of the impact had sprung the door open, and she just climbed back onto the table, leapt in, then closed the door behind herself!
She still does this, and I keep meaning to set up a camera to capture it. I'll have to put it on my to-do list.
This is the cat I used to think was a bit thick. She's far from it.

Brilliant.
I wonder how she learned to do that. Maybe from watching you?

Being in private and mysteriously behind a closed door it really important to some cats.

One-eyed Cat had a secret retreat that I didn't know about for a very long time, and even after I knew about it I never found out how he achieved it.

The lodger would close his bedroom door every day when he went to work. One day he came home unexpectedly in the middle of the day and discovered One-eyed Cat sound asleep in his room.

I think (but do not know) he would jump onto the wall at the end of the garden, from there onto the roof of the neighbor's shed adjoining our garden, then from the shed roof up onto the first floor window cill of the lodger's bedroom, and then up and through the small open gap at the top of the box sash window.

Never saw him do it despite watching out for it. I think he'd wait until no one was around to see him.

I know he continued to do it because (I confess) I occasionally peeked through the keyhole and saw him curled up on the lodger's bed.

I once had a cat who knew that opening the back door required a combination of turning the handle and the key. She would sit on the ledge beside the door and pat and worry at the key and the door handle, clearly trying to work out how to manage the trick.

 

[polly]

They're so lovely aren't they. My kids are grumpy teenagers, my husband is a grumpy old man but my cats are always sweet, quiet, steady company. Ken kips on the sofa while I work and Ryu is always on my bed.

He did let me put my face in his tummy and it smells like bran flakes.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Brilliant.
I wonder how she learned to do that. Maybe from watching you?

Being in private and mysteriously behind a closed door it really important to some cats.

One-eyed Cat had a secret retreat that I didn't know about for a very long time, and even after I knew about it I never found out how he achieved it.

The lodger would close his bedroom door every day when he went to work. One day he came home unexpectedly in the middle of the day and discovered One-eyed Cat sound asleep in his room.

I think (but do not know) he would jump onto the wall at the end of the garden, from there onto the roof of the neighbor's shed adjoining our garden, then from the shed roof up onto the first floor window cill of the lodger's bedroom, and then up and through the small open gap at the top of the box sash window.

Never saw him do it despite watching out for it. I think he'd wait until no one was around to see him.

I know he continued to do it because (I confess) I occasionally peeked through the keyhole and saw him curled up on the lodger's bed.

I once had a cat who knew that opening the back door required a combination of turning the handle and the key. She would sit on the ledge beside the door and pat and worry at the key and the door handle, clearly trying to work out how to manage the trick.

I've no idea how she learned it. Reasoning is the only answer I can come up with, but, apparently, cats aren't able to do that. So I guess the two cats that learned how to open the windows at my last house didn't actually use reasoning to work out how to lift one latch with a front paw whilst simultaneously lifting the bottom latch with a rear paw.
Maybe cats are more intelligent than we think. Maybe they're just biding their time before the takeover

 

[May Kasahara]

Cats are intelligent enough to have organised things so that they get fed, warmed and loved with minimal effort. Who among us humans can say the same

 

[story]

View attachment 446085

They're so lovely aren't they. My kids are grumpy teenagers, my husband is a grumpy old man but my cats are always sweet, quiet, steady company. Ken kips on the sofa while I work and Ryu is always on my bed.

He did let me put my face in his tummy and it smells like bran flakes.

The many smells of cats.

One of my cats smelled like clean cage bedding. Not hay, the sawdust kind, but not sawdust either.

Another smelled like clean linen, but only after the bed had been made in the morning and it was now time for bed. Not the scented stuff, just…. dunno, clean sheets at bedtime.

Not exactly like those things obviously but somehow reminiscent.

The Auld Warrior smelled of testosterone. Or sex. Not cat piss. Not juices. Just, kind of, like, he kinda smelled like the horn.



I can’t describe how Cat smells but I can recall it very clearly.

 

[polly]

The Auld Warrior smelled of testosterone. Or sex. Not cat piss. Not juices. Just, kind of, like, he kinda smelled like the horn.

Haha! My two developed a very testosterony smell just before we got them done. Around the same time they started trying to have sex with the back of my head.

 

[Saul Goodman]

And right on cue... I just heard that all too familiar thud. But I got there before she closed the door behind herself.



She must go to the top shelf to close the door, then climb down onto the towels

 

[story]

Haha! My two developed a very testosterony smell just before we got them done. Around the same time they started trying to have sex with the back of my head.

I delayed getting Cat done for as long as I could. I know it’s necessary but I hate to do it.
Then he disappeared for two full nights and came home strutting, exhausted, filthy, and stinking of man-cat.
Ate, and crashed out. Didn’t even wash before falling asleep for 3 hours.

Got him done the following week.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

and even after I knew about it I never found out how he achieved it.

I understand that time travel can be involved

 

[Saul Goodman]

I can’t describe how Cat smells but I can recall it very clearly.

I can describe exactly how Spud smelt when he decided to use the litter tray in the bedroom last night
How can something so small make such a smell!