Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Your daily cat and kitten news

The black cat (Flora) that owned me a couple of decades ago was, officially, not allowed on the kitchen worktops.
I was standing in the next room, talking with a couple of visiting friends, when her imperial catness returned. I heard her door then she jumped up somewhere so I called out "Flora, Down, now! the reply was "muuwow" and she promptly jumped back down and came to find me with a little chirrup in return for a stroke. Friends were a little surprised ...
 
How long can a cat stubbornly not drink for before they fall over stone cold dead?

She's not touched a drop since she's been here. I've left a couple of bowls around, and a glass in a cunning attempt to make her think she'd be stealing my water, but they haven't been touched. I've shown her where the tap is, since the shelter people said her old owner said she liked to drink from one, but she's shown absolutely no interest.

And she's barely eating anything. She's had a crunch of a few biscuits, and I've managed to get a little bit of wet food into her. Now, I'd say it's because she's just settling in, give her time -- and I will. She's not in any immediate danger of withering away. But, she becomes especially insistent and purry and head-rubby and loud at times, behaviour you'd definitely attribute to her asking for food. I give her some, and she sniffs it, and comes back to miaow at me. I have a bag of the dry she was eating at the shelter that they gave me, but apart from the odd crunch a couple of times she's not interested. And yet she was clearly eating there because she's a chunky monkey.

I'm never not going to be a neurotic pet person, am I?
 
Also, she sticks her bum in the air more than any other cat I've known. They all have a 'bum in the air please keep rubbing the base of my tail' thing going on, but she sticks her arse in the air in a very definite "I offer myself to you" kind of way... all the freaking time. Is this a sign she hasn't been spayed? I don't remember my spayed girl cats from my childhood doing this.
 
Ooh, it's just started thundering. Now we get to see if she's one of those cats who are scared of it.

Charlie couldn't give a shit about thunder or fireworks. And yet move your foot in the wrong way and he'd jump 5 foot in the air.
 
At the risk of appearing a little coarse

Has she "room" for food? and drink?

Has she christened her "facilities" yet? if she hasn't then it might be lack of room

If she's not eaten after 3 or 4 days then I'd be a little worried - she's probably just settling down - have you tried bottled water? or cat milk? what about some scummy dirty rainwater from out of an old tin can - that usually hits the cat drinking spot
 
She pooed right before I went to collect her yesterday, but hasn't since then. She's only had one wee that I can tell as well.

She's just eaten a bit of wet food, and a few biscuits. I doubt she's about to fall over in her tracks, and I dont' want to panic unnecessarily, but am just trying to stay aware of any potential issues.

I've just put a bowl outside to catch rain water. Of course, it stopped raining about 3 minutes after I did...
 
Vintage Paw said:
How long can a cat stubbornly not drink for before they fall over stone cold dead?

She's not touched a drop since she's been here. I've left a couple of bowls around, and a glass in a cunning attempt to make her think she'd be stealing my water, but they haven't been touched. I've shown her where the tap is, since the shelter people said her old owner said she liked to drink from one, but she's shown absolutely no interest.

And she's barely eating anything. She's had a crunch of a few biscuits, and I've managed to get a little bit of wet food into her. Now, I'd say it's because she's just settling in, give her time -- and I will. She's not in any immediate danger of withering away. But, she becomes especially insistent and purry and head-rubby and loud at times, behaviour you'd definitely attribute to her asking for food. I give her some, and she sniffs it, and comes back to miaow at me. I have a bag of the dry she was eating at the shelter that they gave me, but apart from the odd crunch a couple of times she's not interested. And yet she was clearly eating there because she's a chunky monkey.

I'm never not going to be a neurotic pet person, am I?
Click to expand...

I'd just leave some bowls of water about, let it sit for a few days.

madamme eats wet food so I wasn't that worried, but it was months before she drank water in the house, and she started with drips of water off the bathroom floor, despite there being water for her. In the end, she started drinking from a glass I had sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks to soak a particularly crusty fountain pen nib. which I changed after a week or 3 to a large cup, then moved it to the floor next to my desk, then a bit accross the room to a more sensible place and then to a large pyres bowl. which was pretty much what she had been offered in the first place and refused for ages. but it took her time to accept tap water. and she still prefers it to be left for ages.

the several bowls sounds like you've already got the right ideas, and as long as they are in relatively quiet spots, away from her food and mog bog, she will drink when she needs to. i'd not change the water in case it's a tapwater smell thing because that dissipates after a couple of days, but I have also resorted to the catmilk when she wasn't drinking indoors and I was worried about her because i was keeping her in.
 
It takes a while for eating and drinking IME and they won't do it while you're around if they're a bit skittish. She'll settle in :)

ION, things I have missed about Bubbles:
- the silent second miaow that follows the first (he's very toothy)
- the running manically from wherever he is/whatever he's doing if there's the slightest hint there may be any food on offer
- the knocking things deliberately on the floor and looking at you in a 'what?' way afterwards
- the foraging among the Lego for heads because they make excellent cat toys (they have a hole at top and bottom so as well as being excellent for batting about, can be carried in your teeth). If you don't have Lego people in your house, buy your cats a mini-figure and see if they like the heads

I realise most of these things are ordinary cat things but they aren't things that Loki does. I am so happy to have two cats again :) :)

ETA Loki is also returning to himself a lot more and jumping onto the top of the fridge and the window sill and generally being more of a pain than he used to be
 
I wouldn't worry VP. When we moved house our cat spent six weeks at the top of the stairs barely coming down. She didn't eat a great deal during that time but she was fine. Don't worry, she'll get there when she's ready :)
 
This is Cats Protection advice on kitty drinking water.

It's worth bearing in mind though that the domestic kitteh's ancestors lived in very hot / desert conditions, so they don't need to drink anything like the amount that hoomans or dogs do.
 
Thanks guys.

That's all good advice in that link. I knew most of it, but not about moving it away from a wall, or them sometimes preferring a wide, shallow bowl. I'll grab the lid to a pyrex dish and see if that will help. I've put some filtered water in a mug to see if that's more interesting, and I've put a few flakes of dried catnip in the bowl of water that's been in the living room since yesterday. She's had a good sniff of that one, dipped her nose in it once, but no drinking!

I've got a ceramic bowl upstairs for her, and a glass on the windowsill upstairs. There's a bowl outside collecting rain atm.

If she was an outdoor cat I wouldn't worry as much because I'd assume she was drinking water she came across out there. After Charlie and his insatiable thirst (even before he developed hyperthyroidism) it's a big change for me to get used to!
 
She's flopped out rather elegantly at the moment. We discovered that while she finds liquid catnip a bore, the dried flakes are awesome, so we had a little play with some toys.

d957968f8b6bfc60dd0c3c82227e7b12.jpg


She's been eating more this evening. It seems she likes to do it while there's someone around, so I brought her food downstairs and she gets up now and again from sleeping and has a nibble then back to sleep.
 
Puddy_Tat said:
This is Cats Protection advice on kitty drinking water.

It's worth bearing in mind though that the domestic kitteh's ancestors lived in very hot / desert conditions, so they don't need to drink anything like the amount that hoomans or dogs do.
Click to expand...

yeah, I've got diagrams of some of that stuff in the kit they have sent me. and an a3 poster of that kitty
 
Last edited:
oh, and she may have drunk some when you didn't see her and she will be getting water from the wet food. you could try mixing a little more water in with the wet food if she's still not drinking anything in a day or so.
 
toggle said:
oh, and she may have drunk some when you didn't see her and she will be getting water from the wet food. you could try mixing a little more water in with the wet food if she's still not drinking anything in a day or so.
Click to expand...

She licked all the gravy off the Sheba I gave her earlier, so that's something at least. I'll get some cat milk tomorrow, and a small selection of gravy/sauce-based foods to see if it tempts her.

She apparently likes a dripping tap, so she might eventually start jumping up to drink from it. With that in mind, once my replacement plug arrives I'll set up the Cat Mate fountain I've got (that Charlie was scared of) and see if that interests her.

In other news, she slept on the bed all last night. I say slept, I mean slept in 15 minute bursts in between purrs and mews and head rubs. I had to go for a nap this afternoon, I barely got any sleep :D
 
It seems she refuses to go downstairs unless one of us is down there, so no food or litter tray or anything overnight, while she stayed on the bed. And she only comes downstairs after you've been down there for a while, so no ushering down to feed her. So Agent Carter got her breakfast (nearly) in bed today -- I had to bring it up for her at 6am and put it by the side of the bed :rolleyes:

She is, however, enjoying wet food a little more. She had all the gravy and a few bites of meat from a pouch of RC Ultra Light again this morning, and she's just had half a plate of Hi-Life tuna flakes. Still no water, and no litter tray at all. She appears to be happy enough, no scratching in her litter while crying or anything like that. Maybe now she's having a bit more moisture she will slowly start going. I'm getting a second litter tray, so she has one upstairs and one downstairs.

At least I understood Charlie's foibles.
 
Vintage Paw said:
She apparently likes a dripping tap, so she might eventually start jumping up to drink from it. With that in mind, once my replacement plug arrives I'll set up the Cat Mate fountain I've got (that Charlie was scared of) and see if that interests her.
Click to expand...

Radar is like that - he now has me trained so that when he wants a drink he will dash to the kitchen and jump up onto the side of the sink - my cue to go and turn the tap on for him. I leave it running for a few minutes until he has had enough water. He has access to bowls of water too and will drink from them if he really must. Tried a cat fountain once (which would have been ideal) but he broke it within 24 hours, his nickname is 'destructicat' for a reason :rolleyes:
 
Puddy_Tat said:
This is Cats Protection advice on kitty drinking water.

It's worth bearing in mind though that the domestic kitteh's ancestors lived in very hot / desert conditions, so they don't need to drink anything like the amount that hoomans or dogs do.
Click to expand...

See, they're resource-friendly. Another way in which they are our superiors.
 
It looks like she has had a few little wees, difficult to see with the litter I'm using. Also she doesn't kick the litter around the house like Charlie did, so there's no trail of evidence to follow.

Today we have learned she loves Dreamies, she doesn't like liver paste :mad:, and doesn't seem especially interested in cat milk.

She's going to be a finicky one, this one.
 
StoneRoad said:
The black cat (Flora) that owned me a couple of decades ago was, officially, not allowed on the kitchen worktops.
I was standing in the next room, talking with a couple of visiting friends, when her imperial catness returned. I heard her door then she jumped up somewhere so I called out "Flora, Down, now! the reply was "muuwow" and she promptly jumped back down and came to find me with a little chirrup in return for a stroke. Friends were a little surprised ...
Click to expand...

Not allowing cats on the kitchen worktops doesn't really work. The best-case scenario is that they will learn to wait until you've left the room before going on the worktops.
 
Vintage Paw said:
It looks like she has had a few little wees, difficult to see with the litter I'm using. Also she doesn't kick the litter around the house like Charlie did, so there's no trail of evidence to follow.

Today we have learned she loves Dreamies, she doesn't like liver paste :mad:, and doesn't seem especially interested in cat milk.

She's going to be a finicky one, this one.
Click to expand...

Be grateful you haven't become permanent servants of the mighty Taxcat (officially named 'Midnight' but known universally as 'Kitteh-Pooh'). She likes steak, but will make do with ordinary beef, chicken or pork. She also likes venison, cat milk, treats, various fish-based items and no meal is consumed without her inspecting it and, if interested, politely reminding us of our duty to reserve for her a portion to consume at her convenience. She also likes her meat broken up into small kitty-sized chunks before receiving her tribute and, on one memorable occasion, consumed half a chicken. It was like feeding a vending machine and, when I'd sripped said half-chicken to the bone, she looked at me as though enquiring:

"Where's the rest of it..?"
 
Bakunin said:
. . . She also likes her meat broken up into small kitty-sized chunks before receiving her tribute and, on one memorable occasion, consumed half a chicken . . .
Click to expand...

On one occasion I called Bob's bluff about chicken and put an entire chicken portion down for him - cooked obviously. In fairness to Bob he gave it a damned good go - pretending to be one of the big cats in Africa that he'd seen on TV by trying to haul is "downed prey" up into his "tree" to consume at his leisure
 
High Voltage said:
On one occasion I called Bob's bluff about chicken and put an entire chicken portion down for him - cooked obviously. In fairness to Bob he gave it a damned good go - pretending to be one of the big cats in Africa that he'd seen on TV by trying to haul is "downed prey" up into his "tree" to consume at his leisure
Click to expand...

I blame toggle entirely for insisting we take her in in the first place. She's pampered the creature so much that she's gone from a terrified bag of skin and bones to a domestic dictator whose rule is law and whose expectation of obedient indulgence knows no bounds.

It's all her fault.
 
Last edited:
trashpony said:
It takes a while for eating and drinking IME and they won't do it while you're around if they're a bit skittish. She'll settle in :)

ION, things I have missed about Bubbles:
- the silent second miaow that follows the first (he's very toothy)
- the running manically from wherever he is/whatever he's doing if there's the slightest hint there may be any food on offer
- the knocking things deliberately on the floor and looking at you in a 'what?' way afterwards
- the foraging among the Lego for heads because they make excellent cat toys (they have a hole at top and bottom so as well as being excellent for batting about, can be carried in your teeth). If you don't have Lego people in your house, buy your cats a mini-figure and see if they like the heads

I realise most of these things are ordinary cat things but they aren't things that Loki does. I am so happy to have two cats again :) :)

ETA Loki is also returning to himself a lot more and jumping onto the top of the fridge and the window sill and generally being more of a pain than he used to be
Click to expand...

That's fab news about Loki getting back to normal :) Bubbles return is the feel good story of the year :)

My daily news is that today Higgins fell down the stairs :rolleyes: and Archie is desperate to get in the bathroom as we've bleached away all the mouldy bits and he's obsessed with the smell of bleach. Love their peculiar ways!
 
I've just spent a while catching up on the weekend's posts, lovely to see some new photos as always :D

Vintage Paw - looks as though Peggy is settling in fine and has taken a shine to you :) Do not worry too much about her not eating a lot right now, if she is eating a little of something every day then that is fine, it's natural for a cat in new territory to be a bit nervous (even if they don't show it) and sometimes that can manifest in initial reluctance to put themselves in 'vulnerable' situations such as eating and toileting.

Make sure the litter tray is somewhere private (one of my boys will only take a dump if he closes the door of the room he is in first, so that no-one can unexpectedly walk past while he is incapacitated). Whilst I expect she will settle in fine, just keep an eye on the peeing to make sure she isn't having any bother, as stress can be a factor in cystitis in cats - I wouldn't expect there to be a problem mind you, just something to keep in mind.

Wrt claw clipping, yes I usually have to trim my boys' (indoor only, so not much wear and tear) front claws about once every couple of months or they start getting hooked up in things. I'd actually suggest though not to do it yourself while she is still settling in, building up trust is more important at this point, so get the vet to do it when you take her to get her registered on their books and have an initial check-up.

She looks absolutely gorgeous and must be quite a bold character to be exploring and affectionate so quickly :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Gromit
  • Poll
Cat on a lap
Replies
21
Views
685
Me76
Me76
TopCat
Overgrown cat claws
2 3
Replies
60
Views
2K
TopCat
TopCat
Humberto
Indoor outdoor cats
Replies
5
Views
459
Epona
Epona
platinumsage
Cat food recommendations
Replies
13
Views
1K
ddraig
ddraig
andysays
Your daily hat and mitten news
2 3
Replies
67
Views
2K
Monte
Monte
Back
Top Bottom