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Some one very wise on urban said, " better a day too soon than a day too late"

When the lovely Jess was very poorly and we thought coming to her time we called the vet out. He took a quick look at her and told us it wasn't her time yet and left. If it wasn't Tiggy's time any good vet will tell you no
 
Vastra just spent 15 minutes mewing piteously outside the back door while we occasionally looked up and reminded her she has a catflap round the side. Which I had checked was unobscured. Eventually gsv relented and let in one very wet pet. Eedjut!
 
The Kittens are safely back from the vets having been neutered. Also chipped while they were under. Once they have recovered it will begin...The gradual process of them being allowed more and more free roaming and the associated anxiety of what the little shits are up too :D
 
Mine are going mad at the moment as we haven't fed them yet as they can't eat after midnight. Their ops tomorrow. I'm getting nervous for them.
 
Mumbles274 said:
How did it go?
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Aww, thanks for asking. They are both fine. :thumbs:

Main problem is her being a bit more knackered than him (understandable as her op's more invasive). He just wants to play and she can't be arsed.

Hopefully they'll both have a kip soon. They haven't settled since getting home.
 
Jemima has been 'rescued'.

I got her into the trap this afternoon. It was very easy, as I thought it might be. I've got her used to a particular catnip toy, which she loves, so after I'd fed her and given her lots of brushes and tickles (which she now rolls around on the floor to receive), I threw her toy into the trap, and on the second attempt she wandered in after it.

I felt like a monster. The poor darling.

The person on reception at the vets was particularly arseholish to me, and made me feel awful after I left (in fact I sat in my friend's car and cried). But after she's been looked over by the vet tomorrow, she'll be spayed/neutered, given a once over, and they'll liaise with Iris' shelter to organise her going there to hopefully be rehomed.

We stopped by to let Iris know to expect a call from them tomorrow, and Iris kept us talking with stories of cats gone by. The one about Bob Geldof (the cat) was the best.

I'm going to miss Jemima so much. I'd really grown attached to her. When I think back to how timid she was and how she'd run away if you walked towards her just a few months ago, to now rolling around in my kitchen being brushed all over... Damn it Peggy why do you have to be such an anti-social shitbird?

If/when she goes up on their facebook page I'll link to it :)
 
Vintage Paw said:
Jemima has been 'rescued'.

I got her into the trap this afternoon. It was very easy, as I thought it might be. I've got her used to a particular catnip toy, which she loves, so after I'd fed her and given her lots of brushes and tickles (which she now rolls around on the floor to receive), I threw her toy into the trap, and on the second attempt she wandered in after it.

I felt like a monster. The poor darling.

The person on reception at the vets was particularly arseholish to me, and made me feel awful after I left (in fact I sat in my friend's car and cried). But after she's been looked over by the vet tomorrow, she'll be spayed/neutered, given a once over, and they'll liaise with Iris' shelter to organise her going there to hopefully be rehomed.

We stopped by to let Iris know to expect a call from them tomorrow, and Iris kept us talking with stories of cats gone by. The one about Bob Geldof (the cat) was the best.

I'm going to miss Jemima so much. I'd really grown attached to her. When I think back to how timid she was and how she'd run away if you walked towards her just a few months ago, to now rolling around in my kitchen being brushed all over... Damn it Peggy why do you have to be such an anti-social shitbird?

If/when she goes up on their facebook page I'll link to it :)
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Nice one.

My two are running about this morning as if nothing had happened to them at all. Resilient!!
 
In what can only be described as a "disturbing observation in the evolution of cats"

It would appear that Casper is developing a thumb or at the very least something which is thumb like

As he spends more and more time on my lap and he gets more and more relaxed I've noticed that when he's "noodling" with his front paws, not only do the main 4 "fingers" stretch and relax but his dewclaw is also stretching and relaxing - I've not noticed this in cats before and Mrs Voltz commented on it as well, so it's not just me

It's only going to be a matter of time before he tries to open tins of cat food isn't it :facepalm:
 
Vets again today for the check up after ops. Waited ten minutes in a busy surgery for the vet to literally look at them for 3 seconds and say lovely. It took longer to put them back in the carriers.
 
I rushed out to protect the honour of next door's Simba the other night.

She's often out a lot and Simba doesn't cooperate by coming in beforehand, so he often sits for hours at a time on my kitchen roof (crying at me because he doesn't understand that when he sees me at the window I'm not in his house and I can't let him in). The other night he attracted the attention of some ne'erdowell who promptly charged onto the roof to have a go. Lots of screeching and hissing ensued. I went out and clapped my hands a lot and said things like, "now come on, lads" and Simba ran through my yard, over his fence, and under the patio chair in his garden. Then a big old black and white cat charged after him, stopped dead in its tracks when it rounded the corner and saw me, took a few "should I chance it?" glances at the fence, but saw me wagging my finger at it and saying "you leave him alone!" and slinked off.

Simba jumped onto the fence and I thought he was going to say thank you but he didn't.
 
Just had my first fully immersive, surround sound, Tri-o-phonic purring experience on the sofa this morning

Capser has exceptional volume, reverberating, body shaking bass notes and excellent lap warming properties

FiFi, meanwhile, located on the back of the sofa, at ear height, fills in the mid range and performs sterling head resting service i.e. me resting my head against FiFi

Clive. Poor little, nervous Clive - completes the audio spectrum with his gentle, some may say, inaudible purring - but like the finest and most appreciative of cat audiophiles (see: are you an audiophile - thread) he adds a depth and richness to the experience that would be lacking with just the other two cats

It was lovely
 
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So, lovely cat people of Urban, if I was possibly considering being adopted by a rescue cat, what do I need to know/think about/consider? :hmm:
 
1/ Indoor-only or outdoor access? Can be relevant if the cat you like / get / get allotted is accustomed to outside and can't adapt to being without it. Indoor-only is better for wildlife and (some people argue) the environment, but not practical for every human or every cat.

2/ How much are you home? If you are barely there, you can still take care of a cat's basic needs but it might not interact with you much and may be better off with another cat to keep company with ... BUT that usually only works if the 2 cats are very young, or already know each other or are related; introducing 2 complete stranger cats to each other can be messy.

3/ What will you do when or if you're on holiday? Most cats would prefer to sit tight, hold their territory and have someone come in to feed them, but that might not work for you. Sending them off to someone else's home for the duration can be tricky (esp if the other person has their own pet/s or lives far away.) Catteries or 'cat hotels' come at all levels of comfort and expense but even the cheapest ones can be pricy. And it can be a bit gruelling for the owners leaving cats there!

4/ Can you afford it? Factor in not just food + litter + monthly flea treatment + vaccinations + chipping (if those haven't already been done) - you need some good robust pet insurance as well. Also bear in mind that your cat is likely to get most obsessed with the most expensive or unobtainable food you ever give it/him/her, and if he/she/it needs special food for some medical issue this can get expensive - and pet insurance, even the luxury-ish plans, won't cover a special diet. Cats are sort of a luxury - even rescue moggies can be surprisingly expensive to keep.

5/ Are you going to drive the cat mad? Is your house full of hustle-bustle and strangers coming and going? or really loud kids or babies? or stupid kids/irresponsible people/right sadists who might torment it? do you have dogs? or other cats* (see 2/ and 6/)? do you play loads of loud music? Some cats can adapt to any of these things, but some won't wear it and will run away.

6/ If you already have a cat or cats you REALLY need to consider this carefully and try (as far as you can) to control how they meet each other, gradually, with an elaborate little dance of mutually-agreed smelling and sniffing and reserved areas for each beast until they agree to tolerate the other's existence.

7/ is the cat going to drive you mad? how patient are you? how good are you at cleaning up sick? are you a neat freak who's going to go mad if/when a cat scratches or wees on valuable things? or craps /pukes somewhere disgusting? how ready are you to go out looking for a lost/escaped cat in the cold and dark? (not wishing this obviously, just thinking of the downsides)

8/ how far is your nearest vet and how much of a hassle is it for you to get there with a cat in a carrier? (depends where you live, if you have a car, is there public transport etc). You're likely to have to go there a minimum of once a year for a check and have a few unscheduled visits as well (not every year, but in a cat's lifetime) for things like infected bites / malaise.

9/ sort of deep life planning stuff ... cats can live into their 20s ... so where are you likely to be by the time the cat's seriously old and needing more care? If you are planning any really big changes (moving house, moving country, setting up a new human household with new partner and/or kids or babies) are those going to be possible with the cat?

10/ related to the above - think really carefully if you MUST have a kitten(s) or if you can make room for an older cat ... kittens have obvious charms but they will need you around a bit more in their early months. Older cats might have health issues - thought very many of them are perfectly fine, just older! - but are also calmer, less likely to shred your home, and won't need care for two full decades of YOUR life.

um ... that's all the stuff I can think of that matters, really. also be prepared for people from cats protection / battersea / celia hammond / other shelters to be mad control-freak interfering botherers who'll tell you your home is inadequate - they do that to almost everyone.

of course 11/ is that it's an unbreakable urban75 rule that pictures of the cat are required on this forum as soon as reasonably possible and you have to follow this thread.
 
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11/ if you have your pick of several cats needing a human to love, consider the old black cats first if you're able. Black cats are often the most overlooked, and old cats because people love kittens and don't like to think of only potentially having a few years with their new mog. These cats are just as deserving of love, and require that special someone who is prepared to take them on. See also: cats with illnesses/behavioural problems, but if this is to be your first cat it's okay if you don't want to take on that extra level of responsibility (bearing in mind any cat can develop illness and/or behavioural problems in the course of its life even if you adopt it when it is perfectly healthy and balanced).
 
Thanks very much both - lots of good points!

Vintage Paw said:
11/ if you have your pick of several cats needing a human to love, consider the old black cats first if you're able. Black cats are often the most overlooked, and old cats because people love kittens and don't like to think of only potentially having a few years with their new mog. These cats are just as deserving of love, and require that special someone who is prepared to take them on. See also: cats with illnesses/behavioural problems, but if this is to be your first cat it's okay if you don't want to take on that extra level of responsibility (bearing in mind any cat can develop illness and/or behavioural problems in the course of its life even if you adopt it when it is perfectly healthy and balanced).
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We visited a cat shelter at the w/end and they pretty much steered us away from some of the older cats with health conditions on the grounds that it will be our first cat (we've had a dog for the past 13 years who we had to have put to sleep in April), but we're definitely open to the idea.

trabuquera said:
7/ is the cat going to drive you mad? how patient are you? how good are you at cleaning up sick? are you a neat freak who's going to go mad if/when a cat scratches or wees on valuable things? or craps /pukes somewhere disgusting? how ready are you to go out looking for a lost/escaped cat in the cold and dark? (not wishing this obviously, just thinking of the downsides)
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My biggest concern is the 2nd part of this. We have a small garden and live in suburbia away from main roads and I'd feel happier about a cat that had the freedom to go outside - but reading on here and various forums about cats going missing for days/weeks ... :( , does worry me!
 
trabuquera said:
4/ Can you afford it? Factor in not just food + litter + monthly flea treatment + vaccinations + chipping (if those haven't already been done) - you need some good robust pet insurance as well. Also bear in mind that your cat is likely to get most obsessed with the most expensive or unobtainable food you ever give it/him/her, and if he/she/it needs special food for some medical issue this can get expensive - and pet insurance, even the luxury-ish plans, won't cover a special diet. Cats are sort of a luxury - even rescue moggies can be surprisingly expensive to keep.
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Do you (or anyone) know what sort of age it starts getting difficult to get insurance for an older cat? I know for dogs anything over 8 is considered senior when it comes to insurance. Are companies iffy about insuring rescue cats if not much is known about their history?
 
umm ... sorry, I don't know about this. with rescue cats there might be room for some creative accounting about how old you think the creature is (tweaking the age down a bit in your wallet's favour) but iirc the insurance companies don't probe all that deeply about (ordinary non-pedigree) cats compared to dogs, as the claims are a bit lower. One thing I do remember about insurance is that you have to give the cat at least a nominal value ... and comically, even for stray moggy cats, the minimum sum is usually set at "£30" even if it wandered over your threshold of its own will, or came from nowhere and nobody has any idea what or how old it is.
 
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