SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Moh
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

Post by Moh »

Ahhhh!!
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Thomo
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Yesterday was a bit fraught on the stray cat scene, Mabel has "bad fur" days and can be awkward and unfriendly, given that we know her past we put with it, and hope that care, love and affection will calm her down. Izzy is a different matter entirely, he is good to deal with but has been living rough for six months now. On Thursday morning he was here at 6.30. hungry and cold, he came again in the afternoon. on Friday we did not see him at all. Yesterday,Saturday, he came in the morning and again mid afternoon, our cats have tuna for tea on Saturdays alternated with fresh cod, he has always missed out on this. However he turned up again at about 5.30, so I opened another tin and fed him, whilst he was eating I moved one of the spare cat beds and put it in the hallway where he could see it. After eating he went into the front hall, past the bed for a drink, we always have a large dish of water in there as it is always cool. He then inspected the bed, got in and eventually fell asleep for two hours before going out again, he has been back again this morning and I am hoping that he will return later.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Brill Thomo.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Izzy is coming more often now and is getting used to our original cats, as they are to him. Last week it was his first go at the tuna on Saturday, today he was there on time. In the pic L to R is Ellie, Molly and Izzy. Evie is vegetarian!

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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Lovely----all in the garden is rosy.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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My lodging yard cat has started to use the nest under the bench in bad weather. It takes no notice when Jack checks on him/her. The nest is protected against wind and rain and the fact that it is being used is satisfying. Perhaps there should be more nooks like this to give outside cats some shelter.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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There is a nice warm feeling in the lounge this morning, and it isn't just the heating. Izzy turned up at 8.45, came into the kitchen and had some food, then calmly walked into the lounge and got into the spare basket by the radiator in the bay window. He had a wash and is now fast asleep in the basket, behind and to my right. Purrfect!!
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

Post by Wendyf »

Lovely.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Izzy has just gone out for a wander, having stayed 5.5 hours, he moved from the basket into one of the other, deep well padded beds, he has also had a "spot on" flea treatment just in case, we are getting there!

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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Many cats have something that makes them extremely vulnerable to they who have very little between the ears. I have just been reading another example of how mindless, stupid and cowardly, some can be. This product of our country took his girlfriends cat, Princess, and put it in the tumble dryer on a three spin cycle, why? because he thought it was funny. He made a video of what happened and put it on the internet. The poor animal has survived but has suffered physical and mental damage, he has been charged with this gross offence and is awaiting sentence. If he is lucky he will go to prison, if he is even luckier it will be for long enough for my terrible anger to dissipate, for I can think of several more fitting punishments. Distance is on his side as he lives in Cambridgeshire, Hunstanton to be more specific, but I have friends in that area. However let me introduce this worthless piece of human effluent, Welcome to Allan Staughton:-

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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Terrible! (LINK) It is impossible for a normal human being to fathom the mind of someone capable of this.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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It is Saturday again and all of the cats have had their tuna tea. Izzy, who is now coming more often is fast asleep in the basket behind me, next to the radiator. Evie is in another basket, Ellie on the bed, Molly on the sheepskin rug and Mabel in her own accomodation. I am a happy man!
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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My lodger yard cat likes the sun! It was on next-door's staircase window cill yesterday catching the rays.... Jack does the same thing in the kitchen when there is sun, he chases it round the kitchen, finds a patch and lies there till it moves.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Many animals are sun seekers, often first thing in the morning, chases out the night chill. We had a major breakthrough last night concerning Izzy. After his tea and an hours sleep he went out again, we do not usually see him again until the next day, but at 9.30 something made me open the back door and look out, I was just about to close it when he came in, had a few biscuits and then settled down in "his" basket. I stayed up longer than usual just in case he became upset, but he stayed fast asleep so I went to bed, it wasn't until 6.00am today that he wanted out, so off he went. At 9.00 he was back and a bit wet, dried and fed he is now curled up in his basket again, we believe that he has "moved in". another one saved!

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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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I cannot imagine what I would do to that guy, suffice for the moment I would put him in on top of Jimmy Savile, alive and cover him up.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Following last Saturdays overnight with Izzy, he missed Sunday night but stayed Monday and Tuesday and has been several times a day inbetween. Yesterday he was here 4 times and came back at 9 pm, he settled down and stayed till 9 this morning, curled up on the bed by my feet. 2 more visits and he is now in his basket. Thats a relief as it will get very noisy shortly, firework display not far away. Wow! our Ellie has just settled down next to him, I believe that he has been accepted.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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The past seven days have seen quite a bit of progress from a stray cat aspect, with many highs and a few lows. Mabel has been coming into the house for a look around at regular intervals and on Wednesday it appeared that Izzy had moved in. He only went out for a quick look at the garden and stayed in all night, Thursday as well. Yesterday, Friday. we knew we may have problems as we were going to a party at Colne Cricket Club in the evening, Izzy went out at 8.30 am, and we didn't see him again all day. In the afternoon Mabel made herself at home in the dining room and was still there when we came home, but she went to her own quarters for the night. Today she came in at 9 am and is still here in the dining room so I have put her bed and tray in with her. There was still no sign of Izzy and I was getting worried, a tour of all the likely places was fruitless. At 4 this afternoon I gave the cats their tuna and and sat down feeling empty and a bit sad, I was missing him badly. At 4.15 I glanced out of the window and there he was coming down the front path, he has had his tea and is now asleep on the bed, the leaden feeling in my stomach is beginning to fade, and Mabel is in and fast asleep as well. We are getting nearer the top of the hill!!

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Izzy and Evie.

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Left to Right, Izzy, Molly and Ellie.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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A cat thread, luverly :-)

May I take this opportunity to introduce our 3 boys?
All are someones reject. All are neutered toms and are indoor/outdoor as the mood takes them. (I'm just the doorman).
We are lucky to live in an area where they are away from traffic and have plenty of fields around to hunt and explore.

Here's Alvin, the alpha male.
Image

Yes, butter wouldn't melt in his paws, would it? Don't be taken in

He was around 3 months old when we got him from our local Humane Society. He's now around 7
The people at the home named him Alvin and they surely knew his temperament. Likes being naughty and bullies the other two cats when (he thinks) nobody's watching.
Can (and does) open cupboards and doors at will

Around a year later we had a "walk in" who became known as Tommy.
Image

He was in such poor condition that I refused to take pictures of him.
He was virtually skin and bones and had, we found out later, lived mostly on grasshoppers.
He is the quietest of the cats and never causes any trouble. He will be around 6 now.

The last to join us was Oscar.
Image

He's approx 3 years old and been with us for around 18 months. He was also a "walk in".
It was obvious from the start that he was not used to humans at all and had lived rough so we called him Oscar Wilde.
It took us a long time to win him over, I still have the scars from my first attempt to get him to the vet.
My wife thinks he never had a "kittenhood" as he will play for hours with me with just a piece of butcher twine

As you can see from the picture, he's settled in and has now been renamed Oscar Mild
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

Post by Wendyf »

Glad to hear that things are progressing well Thomo, Izzy looks to be very much at home!
Nice pics Mick, I like Oscar Mild, he looks a lot like my much missed Monty. I took this photo of little three legged Tinky 2 last year. I had just put the dried fruit for my Xmas cake to soak in brandy.....

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Today I put this years fruit to soak and up popped Tinky 2 to sit in the bowl again! I'm glad I put a tea towel over it.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

Post by minimiller »

Wendyf wrote:
(snipped for brevity)

I took this photo of little three legged Tinky 2 last year. I had just put the dried fruit for my Xmas cake to soak in brandy.....
LOL. Tinky was getting squiffy by osmosis, by the look of it.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Thank you both, nice to see happy cats, and welcome to the site Mini. There is another topic that is related to this one, "Sadness stalks the house tonight" its about the down side of pet ownership, the loss of a much loved pet, we have lost five in the past three years and the remaining three are all a good age. Ellie 15, Evie 13 and Molly the ex stray about 11. Because of our own ages we had decided not to adopt any more, but with the appearance of Mabel and then Izzy, that went out of the door. Mabel is about 4 or 5 and was originally found beside the main road in Ingleton Yorks, with serious abdominal injuries. After she turned up here we sought and found her owners and returned her, four days later she was back, a month later she was returned again, this time back in three days, she has been here now over two months, living in the outside utility room but last night was her first indoors. Early on her behaviour suggested that she had not been well treated and was aggressive to other cats, she had never had her own bed or tray, she now has both and uses them. last night she came into the lounge, got up onto the wife's lap and curled up asleep, she is no lightweight either. Izzy we know is about 20 months old and was abandoned after the birth of a baby and a house move, he is at present unneutered, this we will address in due course. He stayed again last night but has been back this morning. I know where both original owners live, but neither are going back again. The veterinary treatment for Mabel must have been costly and I couldn't understand why they let her wander, I suspect that her owners were on benefits and the cost was not met by them. I still find it irksome that people on benefits get all the help they need, whilst we mere pensioners have to foot the bills ourselves, the total this year is over £400.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Izzy waiting for his tea.

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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

Post by Stanley »

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I'm happy to say that the lodger is making good use of the box under the bench. I think it likes it. It spends much of the day in there unless there is some sun about. Nice to know the old box gets so much use.
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

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Mabel is now resident indoors, we moved her in seven days ago and she is doing very well, signs of aggression are now minimal, she has her own room at present but is now exploring the rest of the house. Izzy continues to come ever day but has not spent a night in for three weeks, he vanishes before dark and does not return until it is light again, I will find out where he is going when we get a dusting of unfrozen snow. I have already located four possible places that he could access, and now that Mabel has vacated the utility room I have put the temporary bed etc, back in there.
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Moh
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Re: SO, WHAT IS A CAT?

Post by Moh »

Maybe another cat will take up residency !!
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