Your daily cat and kitten news

[Calamity1971]

Groomed cats and idiot cat decided there was a bonus toy....

Mine would have ate it

 

[Epona]

I've never officially timed it, but we must've come close to the lap ever lap occupancy today. She assumed the position just before kick-off of New Zealand and South Africa, and looked most perturbed when I eventually evicted her at the final whistle.

Bloody exhausting for me, keeping my thighs in the correct position for that long and not being able to man-spread.

Since I started working I moved my computer to over by the sofa so I could veg out with my feet up rather than sit at a desk - whenever I am sat here I am pretty much sweating under a small pile of purring furry things that refuse to move

Mine would have ate it

Yeah mine are like that too - Radar overgrooms, Sonic eats non-food items, and Jakey plays with nuggets of poo...

 

[clicker]

Do you have feral parakeets where you are, or do you reckon (s)he’s someone’s pet…? Dad says there are loads up at his golf club.

Hi Gaia there are huge flocks of them in South London. They roost in the highest trees, make a bloody racket but it's still amazing to see them. At about 5.30pm hundreds circle above looking for the best roosting spots. Lately they've taken to eating the apples and pears in the garden. A hundred and one theories abound re their arrival...ranging from Jimi Hendrix releasing a pair to them escaping from a film set. They're resilient buggers. I watched a woodpecker drilling away for weeks on a new hole, only to be bullied away by the parakeets. They give the magpies a run for their money. There is probably a bank of high trees somewhere near your Dads golf course.

 

[Epona]

Hi Gaia there are huge flocks of them in South London. They roost in the highest trees, make a bloody racket but it's still amazing to see them. At about 5.30pm hundreds circle above looking for the best roosting spots. Lately they've taken to eating the apples and pears in the garden. A hundred and one theories abound re their arrival...ranging from Jimi Hendrix releasing a pair to them escaping from a film set. They're resilient buggers. I watched a woodpecker drilling away for weeks on a new hole, only to be bullied away by the parakeets. They give the magpies a run for their money. There is probably a bank of high trees somewhere near your Dads golf course.

I last saw Indian Ring Neck Parakeets (like that one) in Greenwich park near the observatory, but I've also seen them in big flocks in Kent and Essex. I don't think there is just one "origin story" of how they came to live in feral flocks here, just they have been popular pets for well over a century, I daresay people who were part of the British colonial regime in India kept them and may have brought them back to England, but they have certainly been pets here for ages with feral flocks here for a while now.

One reason why pets may have been turned loose in the first place is because parrots are really really messy and loud

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Hi Gaia there are huge flocks of them in South London. They roost in the highest trees, make a bloody racket but it's still amazing to see them. At about 5.30pm hundreds circle above looking for the best roosting spots. Lately they've taken to eating the apples and pears in the garden. A hundred and one theories abound re their arrival...ranging from Jimi Hendrix releasing a pair to them escaping from a film set. They're resilient buggers. I watched a woodpecker drilling away for weeks on a new hole, only to be bullied away by the parakeets. They give the magpies a run for their money. There is probably a bank of high trees somewhere near your Dads golf course.

I’m living near Brockwell Park at the moment, with a huge conference pear tree nearby. I see the parakeets feasting on the pears and dropping the remains, and in recent days also chowing down on conkers.

 

[Detroit City]

My cat Tina:

 

[High Voltage]

Groomed cats and idiot cat decided there was a bonus toy....

That's all you got??

I can get nearly that off my trousers after one, fairly minor, Casper lap-sitting session

 

[Manter]

That's all you got??

I can get nearly that off my trousers after one, fairly minor, Casper lap-sitting session

That’s just from the idiot. Yeti gave me enough to knit a whole new kitten

 

[stavros]

I don't think it's as popular as snooker, but the rugby World Cup has been welcomed in my house (the second photo is during an ad break):

 

[seeformiles]

Lil’ Bob and Mrs SFM enjoying the sun

 

[donkyboy]

Big sis. Little sis. Spending time together.

 

[smmudge]

On second thoughts let's not go out today.

 

[sim667]

We're started to look at rehoming another now that I'm starting a new job and my partner will sometimes be at home overnight on her own, I think she could do with the company.

However she's never had a pet that wasn't mine first, and even then only lived with me and the cat for 18 months before I had to have Lucy put down, so I really need her to have a grasp on how much a cat costs to run, and this time I don't want to flake on insurance as it landed me with some big bills last time, even to the point my mum offered to help me out.

So how much do you reckon your cat costs to run each month? I'm thinking £30 for a wicked insurance policy, £30 for food and I'd like to sign them up to the monthly subscription at my vet where you get worming tablets, flea stuff and a check up every 6 months all included for £15 a month (you get some other stuff too, I can't remember what though).

Does that sound about right to all of you cat owners?

 

[colacubes]

We're started to look at rehoming another now that I'm starting a new job and my partner will sometimes be at home overnight on her own, I think she could do with the company.

However she's never had a pet that wasn't mine first, and even then only lived with me and the cat for 18 months before I had to have Lucy put down, so I really need her to have a grasp on how much a cat costs to run, and this time I don't want to flake on insurance as it landed me with some big bills last time, even to the point my mum offered to help me out.

So how much do you reckon your cat costs to run each month? I'm thinking £30 for a wicked insurance policy, £30 for food and I'd like to sign them up to the monthly subscription at my vet where you get worming tablets, flea stuff and a check up every 6 months all included for £15 a month (you get some other stuff too, I can't remember what though).

Does that sound about right to all of you cat owners?

I think you're probably overestimating insurance cost unless you go for an elderly (over 10) cat. I pay £10.50 per month for an excellent lifetime policy with Animal Friends. Other costs pretty much tally with what I spend. I also have a vet policy like the one you have and the cost is about the same. My food costs are slightly less but that's due to my cat only liking Waitrose or Lidl own brand which are both much cheaper than Whiskas etc.

 

[sim667]

I think you're probably overestimating insurance cost unless you go for an elderly (over 10) cat. I pay £10.50 per month for an excellent lifetime policy with Animal Friends. Other costs pretty much tally with what I spend. I also have a vet policy like the one you have and the cost is about the same. My food costs are slightly less but that's due to my cat only liking Waitrose or Lidl own brand which are both much cheaper than Whiskas etc.

Animal friends refused to pay out anymore for my cat after her first round of treatment though and I was paying about £13 a month...... They paid for one treatment, and then said it was no excluded from the policy.

I'd much rather over estimate though, because if its cheaper we'll stash that money for cat sitters etc as we were very reliant on friends and family with our last cat when we went away.

 

[colacubes]

Animal friends refused to pay out anymore for my cat after her first round of treatment though and I was paying about £13 a month...... They paid for one treatment, and then said it was no excluded from the policy.

I'd much rather over estimate though, because if its cheaper we'll stash that money for cat sitters etc as we were very reliant on friends and family with our last cat when we went away.

Oh that's shit. I've found them quite good. Yeah but definitely better to overestimate than under.

 

[hegley]

I'd much rather over estimate though, because if its cheaper we'll stash that money for cat sitters etc as we were very reliant on friends and family with our last cat when we went away.

We've got the Covered for Life policy with Petplan and I'm sure it's about £18 a month (will check when I get home).

 

[Epona]

On second thoughts let's not go out today.

View attachment 184948

That was me this morning after 5 hours of sleep and hearing the torrential rain outside...

 

[seeformiles]

We're started to look at rehoming another now that I'm starting a new job and my partner will sometimes be at home overnight on her own, I think she could do with the company.

However she's never had a pet that wasn't mine first, and even then only lived with me and the cat for 18 months before I had to have Lucy put down, so I really need her to have a grasp on how much a cat costs to run, and this time I don't want to flake on insurance as it landed me with some big bills last time, even to the point my mum offered to help me out.

So how much do you reckon your cat costs to run each month? I'm thinking £30 for a wicked insurance policy, £30 for food and I'd like to sign them up to the monthly subscription at my vet where you get worming tablets, flea stuff and a check up every 6 months all included for £15 a month (you get some other stuff too, I can't remember what though).

Does that sound about right to all of you cat owners?

For food our two boys probably cost us about btw £30-50 per month - depending on how fussy they are - but places like Poundstretcher and Wilco’s sell great quality cheap biscuits, pouches and treats that they love - providing you do some crafty variety rotation.

After all the premiums (& excesses) we paid to PetPlan vs actual treatments required for our previous late lamented moggy (who died aged 17) we figured it just wasn’t worth it. For our current 2 boys, we put aside £20 per month into a dedicated account and, should treatment be required, the cash comes from there. So far (over 3.5 years), the account has covered everything and is running at a serious surplus so no regrets there at all. Obviously, if your pet has weird pedigree needs or strange health conditions related to the same then perhaps it makes financial sense but, for your standard moggy, it just doesn’t add up.

 

[Epona]

For food our two boys probably cost us about btw £30-50 per month - depending on how fussy they are - but places like Poundstretcher and Wilco’s sell great quality cheap biscuits, pouches and treats that they love - providing you do some crafty variety rotation.

After all the premiums (& excesses) we paid to PetPlan vs actual treatments required for our previous late lamented moggy (who died aged 17) we figured it just wasn’t worth it. For our current 2 boys, we put aside £20 per month into a dedicated account and, should treatment be required, the cash comes from there. So far (over 3.5 years), the account has covered everything and is running at a serious surplus so no regrets there at all. Obviously, if your pet has weird pedigree needs or strange health conditions related to the same then perhaps it makes financial sense but, for your standard moggy, it just doesn’t add up.

My standard moggy is the expensive one - I've told him multiple times that we could have had him fucking gold plated for less... I'm not sure we'd have been able to save his life if it wasn't for petplan footing most of the bill.

EDIT TO ADD (tbh, these days there are DNA tests available for most of the common health conditions related to particular breeds, and if a pedigree cat DOESN'T come from DNA tested negative lines, then the breeder is not one you should buy from. There is no excuse since the feline genome project and DNA testing becoming widely available for any cat to be deliberately bred that may have a serious hereditary health condition).

 

[Numbers]

Little Marvellous Marvin is 4 months old now

 

[Schmetterling]

View attachment 185033

Little Marvellous Marvin is 4 months old now

‘Well hello there.’

 

[TopCat]

My 17 year old Tom Bobby is getting a bit thin. I wondered worms. He is not a vet friendly cat.
GF bought tablets. Said to crush in food etc.
I'm awake now and the bastard cat is running about and snarling.

 

[Epona]

View attachment 185033

Little Marvellous Marvin is 4 months old now

He looks like he loves himself a bit, striking a pose in the mirror - bless him

 

[ginger_syn]

Cyd on the edge

She fell off ten minutes later and left the room highly offended when we laughed

 

[Shirl]

Brad likes to sleep on Wolfie's leg sometimes. I struggled to take this photo because Madge was on my lap and refused to move.

 

[stavros]

Three mornings running that Missy has been outside when my alarm's gone off. This has meant that we haven't had our early morning cuddle, which ranks among the highlights of her day, at least if measured in purr intensity.

 

[Epona]

Brad likes to sleep on Wolfie's leg sometimes. I struggled to take this photo because Madge was on my lap and refused to move.

View attachment 185056

Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss
Old fat furry cat-puss
Wake up and look at this thing that I bring
Wake up, be bright
Be golden and light
Bagpuss, Oh hear what I sing

 

[May Kasahara]

Pretty Vivi

 

[Gaia]

My 17 year old Tom Bobby is getting a bit thin. I wondered worms. He is not a vet friendly cat.
GF bought tablets. Said to crush in food etc.
I'm awake now and the bastard cat is running about and snarling.

It could be his thyroid, TC. Worms are usually visible in the litter tray. Hyperthyroidism is extremely common in elderly mogs; unfortunately, the only way to find out for certain will mean a trip to the V-E-T. Sorry, Bob mate, but it's for your own good… Is he eating…?