Your daily cat and kitten news

[Vintage Paw]

Thanks for the advice re claws, Epona - it didn't occur to me that front claws could become too long, having always seen the back claws getting unruly in other cats. Ted is, of course, on holiday at the moment, but as soon as he's back I'll book her in for a once over and see if he can wrangle her claws into a slightly better condition.

We're still learning boundaries, as is to be expected. She's taken a couple of swipes at me when I've either woken her up unexpectedly, or touched in just the wrong spot while giving tickles. Nothing vicious, just making sure I know my place. She very much loves sleeping on the bed with me. I woke up last night to find her sprawled on her back with her legs stretched out flat -- utterly ridiculous.

Afternoon snoozing today:

 

[machine cat]

I am cat sitting for a week. Any advice? They been here half an hour and are sussing out the place.

 

[izz]

Sure you need advice machine cat ? looks like they're settling in, as in, they're not still in the box they came in/in the airing cupboard/behind the sofa/under the kitchen cupboards.

advice ? dispense freely:- affection when asked for, water, warm safe places to sit and sleep, safe secure places to pee and poo.
dispense as per instructions from owner:- food, treats.

how long do you have them for ? e2a note to self, try reading post.

a week ? you should be absolutely fine and get special treatment when visiting them once they're back home.

 

[Bakunin]

Afternoon snoozing today:

"Yeeeesssss, miiiiiiine. It's all miiiiiinnnnnne..."

 

[High Voltage]

Another result - just fed Casper small pieces of chicken BY HAND - in that - he's taken small pieces of chicken from my outstretched hand - this has taken probably coming up to 2 months of little by little getting closer

AND I still have all the fingers on my hand - he's quite gentle, not as gentle as his brother Clive, but no blood was drawn either

 

[machine cat]

Sure you need advice machine cat ? looks like they're settling in, as in, they're not still in the box they came in/in the airing cupboard/behind the sofa/under the kitchen cupboards.

advice ? dispense freely:- affection when asked for, water, warm safe places to sit and sleep, safe secure places to pee and poo.
dispense as per instructions from owner:- food, treats.

how long do you have them for ? e2a note to self, try reading post.

a week ? you should be absolutely fine and get special treatment when visiting them once they're back home.

They've had a good sniff around so they know where the litter tray/their food/baskets are and they know I have treats so I'm just going to let them settle.

 

[Epona]

AND I still have all the fingers on my hand - he's quite gentle, not as gentle as his brother Clive, but no blood was drawn either

That is a result in itself, I nearly lost half my hand last night giving Jakey (who is one of the most gentle cats ever) a bit of salmon I had put to one side for the cats out of my fish pie.

If it is any consolation, they see up-close stuff really out of focus, but how hard they chomp down when they miss the target varies between cats and is affected by level of excitement about the food item offered!

 

[izz]

They've had a good sniff around so they know where the litter tray/their food/baskets are and they know I have treats so I'm just going to let them settle.

Splendid work, the hardest part will be taking them back when their humans reclaim them.

 

[machine cat]

Splendid work, the hardest part will be taking them back when their humans reclaim them.

We are calling this a trial run as the owner says her flat is too small, so if it works out they may stay longer

 

[Bakunin]

We are calling this a trial run as the owner says her flat is too small, so if it works out they may stay longer

Translation: If they decide the service is better at yours then they'll turn up out of nowhere, move in without consulting their new serfs and stay forever.

 

[machine cat]

Translation: If they decide the service is better at yours then they'll turn up out of nowhere, move in without consulting their new serfs and stay forever.

 

[High Voltage]

That is a result in itself, I nearly lost half my hand last night giving Jakey (who is one of the most gentle cats ever) a bit of salmon I had put to one side for the cats out of my fish pie.

If it is any consolation, they see up-close stuff really out of focus, but how hard they chomp down when they miss the target varies between cats and is affected by level of excitement about the food item offered!

He's such a scaredy cat really - to get this close to him without him running for the hills has taken coming up to 6 months - both him and his brother are appallingly socialised - they were in the rescue for nearly a year as a result - no-one wanted them

Neither me or Mrs Voltz have even touched him - in fairness we're only just starting to have any physical contact with Clive - FiFs was all over us like a rash within minutes of being brought home but these 2 are our/my charity case. When we went to the rescue centre where we got FiFi from last week - we had a look at their current guests and it really put into perspective how "damaged" the boys are compared to normally socialised cats - we had "new" cats all over us in minutes

The worry that we've still got though is how they interact with FiFi - they've both been "done" but were done quite late so, how shall we say, know what "it's all about" and FiFi, being a lady, is the focus of their attention - we can't and haven't left them all alone, apart from once by accident, for any extended period of time and when they're together keep a very close eye on all of them

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Vintage Paw - just a thought re the claws thing - did peggy have access to a scratching post when she was at the rescue place?

does she have one now? does she understand what it's for? a bit of catnip on it might make her more interested in it.

i never needed to do any maintenance on the claws of the mogs i used to live with - they had scratching posts (and one bit of wallpaper they didn't like - ) and also trees / garden fence and so on.

 

[toggle]

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.

thankfully, one of the tricks madamme hasn't bothered with. why use up all that energy jumping up on something when your butler can provide better service

 

[toggle]

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.

yes dear, keep saying that and some day, someone will believe it.

 

[Epona]

Vintage Paw - just a thought re the claws thing - did peggy have access to a scratching post when she was at the rescue place?

does she have one now? does she understand what it's for? a bit of catnip on it might make her more interested in it.

i never needed to do any maintenance on the claws of the mogs i used to live with - they had scratching posts (and one bit of wallpaper they didn't like - ) and also trees / garden fence and so on.

The fact you mention trees/garden fence indicates that they went outdoors - Vintage Paw (and I in my response) are talking about INDOOR ONLY cats who do not wear their claws down on hard surfaces. It's an entirely different ballgame, and most indoor only cats do have to have their claws trimmed occasionally as they only walk on soft indoor flooring.

Scratching posts don't actually help, they are used to allow the cat somewhere to strop (scent and scratch mark) and don't actually wear down the claws at all.

 

[Bakunin]

yes dear, keep saying that and some day, someone will believe it.

Well, it was you who invited her in. All the subsequent alteration of the domestic hierarchy flowed therefrom.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Scratching posts don't actually help, they are used to allow the cat somewhere to strop (scent and scratch mark) and don't actually wear down the claws at all.

oh.

i didn't know that...

 

[toggle]

Thanks for the advice re claws, Epona - it didn't occur to me that front claws could become too long, having always seen the back claws getting unruly in other cats. Ted is, of course, on holiday at the moment, but as soon as he's back I'll book her in for a once over and see if he can wrangle her claws into a slightly better condition.

We're still learning boundaries, as is to be expected. She's taken a couple of swipes at me when I've either woken her up unexpectedly, or touched in just the wrong spot while giving tickles. Nothing vicious, just making sure I know my place. She very much loves sleeping on the bed with me. I woke up last night to find her sprawled on her back with her legs stretched out flat -- utterly ridiculous.

Afternoon snoozing today:

awesome. cause swipes are good. cause i'd reckon it means she's had a series of homes where her responses/boundaries have been respected. one of the cats my mother cat sits for didn't have that and he goes straight from comfortable and headbutting and purring to deep bites and scratches in a second.

 

[toggle]

The fact you mention trees/garden fence indicates that they went outdoors - Vintage Paw (and I in my response) are talking about INDOOR ONLY cats who do not wear their claws down on hard surfaces. It's an entirely different ballgame, and most indoor only cats do have to have their claws trimmed occasionally as they only walk on soft indoor flooring.

Scratching posts don't actually help, they are used to allow the cat somewhere to strop (scent and scratch mark) and don't actually wear down the claws at all.

i got told that although it's about more than just the claws, it is still a way for them to strip off excess length.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Vintage Paw - just a thought re the claws thing - did peggy have access to a scratching post when she was at the rescue place?

does she have one now? does she understand what it's for? a bit of catnip on it might make her more interested in it.

i never needed to do any maintenance on the claws of the mogs i used to live with - they had scratching posts (and one bit of wallpaper they didn't like - ) and also trees / garden fence and so on.

She did have one, it looked well used but was likely a hand-me-down. She has one here, but has shown no interest so far. Good tip about a bit of catnip on it, I'll do that later, thanks!

As Charlie got older his back claws got out of control, they stopped retracting, and even a clip from the vet didn't solve a great deal. But they didn't cause him too much bother, and he never seemed to mind wandering around on carpet. So I really wasn't prepared for Peggy to be getting caught with every single step! To my eyes, her claws look fine. Whenever the back gate goes she makes a mad dash upstairs to get out of the way, and since it's the stairs carpet that's causing her the most problems it sounds bloody awful, I can only imagine how it feels. Still, she is going up and down stairs a handful of times a day.

 

[Vintage Paw]

i got told that although it's about more than just the claws, it is still a way for them to strip off excess length.

Yeah, I saw a thing on one of those cat programmes, it showed a cat scratching a post outdoors in order to shed the outer sheath of the claws so as to make sure when they climb they have the soundest possible footing, since a cat often relies on climbing to get out of danger. So while your average roaming cat will have all sorts of obstacles that help keep the claws short, that the indoor cat doesn't have, the scratching seems to also act as a bit of top up maintenance.

The retractable thing is an issue in some cats whether they go out or not as well. My first childhood cat had terrible back claws in her later years, and hated walking on carpet. She had always been an outdoor cat, too.

 

[Epona]

i got told that although it's about more than just the claws, it is still a way for them to strip off excess length.

Their claws are like our fingernails and toenails and they keep growing constantly - except they kind of grow outwards in all directions (width as well) rather than just from the bottom up. When they strop, any dead layers of claw keratin will be pulled off and left behind - leaving a newer, sharper point on the newer claw underneath the excess keratin!

Scratching is for territorial marking (visual scratch marks and scent from glands in the paw pads at the base of the claw), and it exposes newer, sharper, claw-tips - not ones that are blunted.

 

[Epona]

The retractable thing is an issue in some cats whether they go out or not as well. My first childhood cat had terrible back claws in her later years, and hated walking on carpet. She had always been an outdoor cat, too.

Definitely - 2 of my boys are Oriental Shorthairs and it is a feature of the breed that they have quite dainty oval paws with long toes in comparison to paw size - and hence long claws.

It's also the case that most cats will pull off the old keratin sheath from their own back claws with their teeth, but in older cats with arthritis and a few aches and pains they may not be able to do it for themselves - and a jagged split old layer of keratin is probably worse for catching in certain fabrics/floor-coverings than sharp claws.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Charlie was always pulling off his claws with his teeth, and invariably leaving them strewn around. In fact, I found one just last week. Because I'm a sop, I kept it (like I've kept a collection of his whiskers, and quite a bit of his fur that over time got brushed off with his zoom groom).

 

[Vintage Paw]

Peggy laid on my lap for the first time about an hour ago. Didn't last for long, because a) she was very excitable and doesn't settle when she's like that, and b) her claws kept getting caught in the blanket. I've brought a cotton sheet down to use as my blanket (my feet get very cold so I use a blanket nearly all year round when I'm lounging on the settee) because that doesn't seem to bother her. Anything woolly, carpet, or fleece will catch at some point though.

 

[Epona]

Charlie was always pulling off his claws with his teeth, and invariably leaving them strewn around. In fact, I found one just last week. Because I'm a sop, I kept it (like I've kept a collection of his whiskers, and quite a bit of his fur that over time got brushed off with his zoom groom).

(Don't tell anyone, but I have a little box of shed whiskers from all my cats, I also have a rather large collection of moulted out feathers from all the birds I have ever had. I can see I have Beaky's (circa 1985) tail and cheek feathers, a couple of Spartacus's tail feathers, some from Titus' wing and tail, some 'spot' feathers and tail feathers from Maxiumus, and chest, tail, and face feathers from Jasper. Whiskers from all the cats too.)

 

[Vintage Paw]

She just drank water WOOOO!

I gave her some wet food, added a little water before mashing it up so I could get a little extra moisture into her. She licked off most of the sauce, and ate a few bits. Then we had a little play with the laser pointer. Then I dropped a few treats into her puzzle feeder thing (seriously, I'd have fun eating my tea out of that), then we had a little play with a fishing rod toy. Then she did an exploramation and got stuck behind a crate. She bravely found her way back out again. Then I went to sort out her biscuits to take upstairs overnight, since I don't think she likes to go downstairs much while I'm in bed (bless), and while I was doing that I noticed she was drinking! From the low, wide pyrex lid that I think has filtered water in. She didn't drink for very long, certainly not in Charlie terms anyway. But she drank water and I can sleep easy at last.

Now we just have to make her poo.

My mum told me not to worry if she doesn't seem uncomfortable. Apparently when she used to take our cat, Smokey, to the cattery when we went on holiday, Smokey would hold it in until we picked her up and save it for my mum to deal with. Good girl, Smokey Peggy's had a few different wet foods over the past couple of days - some of them fishy - plus biscuits and Dreamies, and now a bit of water... so I'm sure it'll be ready to come in due course.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Peggy being elegant, earlier:

 

[Epona]

She is fantastically photogenic Or maybe you are just really good with a camera - either way, some great photos here.

If she is eating a little and drinking a little, she will poo eventually. Once she has found a safe spot that she likes (make sure your laundry waiting to be washed is in a laundry bin rather than in a pile on the floor, learned that one the hard way).