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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

I appear to have cats

329 replies

ZestyDragon · 20/09/2022 21:32

Hi all, I am posting here for some advice please. I moved into a small country cottage three weeks ago and it appears that the previous owner left their cat behind 😮 One of the neighbours told me a few days later that they had left him behind. He had mostly been living outside but is slowly moving in - actually maybe not that slowly seeing as he is asleep on the sofa beside me right now.

So....do I just try and get him to a vet for a check up? I am assuming that he has been neutered but actually I don't know. Also will he need vaccinations etc?

Secondly - there are a LOT of cats around - the neighbour down the road is a farm and have 14....so when a mummy cat and baby were hanging around I assumed that they were from the farm. Turns out that they do not and now they seem to live in my shed.

So I have gone from no pets to one house cat and two ferals that basically appear to have moved in. I'm feeding them all but I am worried about the mummy and baby - the mum let me stroke her once and her belly seems kind of large. Could she be pregnant again?

I have wormed and flea-dropped the indoor boy (Apparently his name is Kevin) - should I do the same for the others?

First pic is the baby - he likes to hiss for attention at dinner time.

Second is Kevin - who is in the bad books for stealing a piece of chicken.

Third is mummy - I am worried about her potentially being or getting pregnant again.

BTW I am in NI.

I appear to have cats
I appear to have cats
I appear to have cats
OP posts:
Thread gallery
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Original poster
ZestyDragon · 10/10/2022 21:50

@Fluffycloudland77 when I left my office and walked into the living room this evening I realised that you are right. It is Mimmy's seat now. There she was perched on the sofa in my spot again.

I am on day 4 of covid and had to work today and really can't be putting up a fight. I had left the back door open and all three were charging in and out, playing and basically making themselves at home. I also had left a cardboard box on the kitchen floor.....omg hours of entertainment for Perry.

I guess seeing Kevin in and out is making the other two wonder why on earth they should stay outside 🙄

Thanks to people saying they like the house - it is something I worry I did the wrong thing in buying to be honest. Nothing works, everything was filthy when I moved in, the garden was a wilderness and I do sometimes think I should have bought a nice house in town where everything bloody works! But I do quite love it and I feel at home and safe here. I didn't feel safe for a long time so it is important to me.

At one point I took this of Perry on my armchair (on my new curtains waiting to go up!). I just think he is so gorgeous even if all he does is hiss at me and demand food and cardboard (it is this weird obsession).

I appear to have cats
OP posts:
YesitsBess · 10/10/2022 21:58

Food and cardboard are small prices to pay for all the hissing you could want and someone to warm your curtains.

Kenwouldmixitup · 10/10/2022 22:30

This thread makes my heart sing.

PeloFondo · 10/10/2022 22:42

Rolled up tinfoil is often a good toy. I use those telephone wire type hair bobbles and my cat squirrels them away Angry he's obsessed with cotton buds too

StarbucksSmarterSister · 11/10/2022 21:42

OP, this thread is a joy. Thank you! And I hope you feel better soon.

It’s Mimmys seat now.

I once bought a new chair. From the day it arrived until the day he died, my old boy monopolised it. My current cat doesn't even look at it.

torthecatlady · 11/10/2022 22:22

I'm complete and utterly invested in Kevin, Perry and Mimmy. This thread is like catnip Grin

BovrilonToast · 11/10/2022 22:58

This is wonderful. And Perry looks like my gorgeous boy when he was a kitten 😻

Blackberrybrandy · 12/10/2022 08:47

I'm just checking back in - Mumsnet has only just emailed to say I was tagged in replies and there were new posts. Thank you for name suggestions for the new boys.

This remains my favourite thread in the 13 or so years I've been about. Cats definitely decide where they belong and once they have made their minds up there is nothing you can do about it.

I hope you are feeling a bit better Zesty Dragon and Mimmy is recovering.

My feral foursome are definitely growing up too quickly. They've gone from that odd kitten walk to being proud mini cats stalking around.

hilariousnamehere · 12/10/2022 20:27

I think this is my favourite cat thread ever! Massively overinvested in your new cat family and I love the sound of your new home!

Mia184 · 12/10/2022 21:37

hilariousnamehere · 12/10/2022 20:27

I think this is my favourite cat thread ever! Massively overinvested in your new cat family and I love the sound of your new home!

I absolutely agree. OP please keep updating!

Original poster
ZestyDragon · 13/10/2022 22:46

Evening all,

I am sort of recovered from Covid but I am wrecked.

I do have a cat question of course - it's a food one. I am giving the cats two BIG bowls of dry food each day and sharing four pouches of wet food between them each day. Is this enough?

Kevin knows there is snack chicken in the fridge. If I open the fridge he will try and climb up into it, if I wander towards the kitchen he comes running and cries. I find myself sneaking past my bedroom (where he likes to sleep) to try and get a drink and back to the office without him charging in. He gets too much treat chicken. If I give extra dry food he isn't all that fussed. I have created a monster here. I think he is developing a double chin.

This weekend is going to be brutal btw. My parents arrive tomorrow night with two small dogs for a week. I am planning to split the garden in half - one dog half, one cat half. It can be done by cutting off the path - so the cats have the back garden and the dogs have the front. It is going to be hell. I know this.

I appear to have cats
I appear to have cats
OP posts:
NeverDropYourMooncup · 13/10/2022 22:50

He looks magnificent.

Original poster
ZestyDragon · 13/10/2022 23:12

NeverDropYourMooncup · 13/10/2022 22:50

He looks magnificent.

And slightly fat I suspect. But he is stunning.

OP posts:
Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 13/10/2022 23:31

Those dogs will be put in their place by those cats!!
my five eat a large bowl of dried food between them in around a day /day and a half. I give them six pouches between them. Treats are dreamies/milk treats and catit dried fish. One like chicken and cheese dog treats. One has webbox sauce and another has an occasional webbox stick.

glad you are on the mend op!

TheLongRider · 13/10/2022 23:33

Kevin is glorious. He'll have a massive ruff of fur by the end of the winter. You'll never wear black clothes again without a covering of fine white fur.

Crazycatlady75 · 14/10/2022 09:52

Kevin is gorgeous!

The easiest way to know if you are feeding too much or not enough is to weigh them. If they are putting on weight just cut down on what you are feeding (or vice versa). And I find the easiest way to weigh mine is to stand on my bathroom scales while holding them and then again without the cat and work out the difference.

My pair get three meals a day with each meal being a pouch or small tin of wet food. They rarely get dried food.

My female cat is obsessed with food and acts like she is starving constantly but she is actually a bit chunky so I really need to watch her with treats. My boy cat on the other hand is really fussy about food. He has an annoying habit of pretending to love whatever very expensive fancy food I am trying to introduce until the point that I decide to bulk buy it to save money. Then he will suddenly decide that he doesn't like it anymore and will only eat Sheba!!

YesitsBess · 14/10/2022 10:20

Kevin looks almost Forest Cat- like with his magnificent ruff!

And yes, for someone who doesn’t like cats I do spend a lot of time looking at them…

Soubriquet · 14/10/2022 11:23

My cat has a bowl of biscuits she grazes on. She doesn’t finish it all in a day.

She then gets one pouch of food in the evening for dinner.

Treats in between.

Kevin looks gorgeous. He’s really changed since you’ve pampered him

OnTheRunWithMannyMontana · 14/10/2022 11:51

Ah that's not fat!! It's just fluff!! Even Betsy agrees (and says he looks rather handsome btw). The vets say she is fat b it we all know it's just fluff.

I appear to have cats
Pixiedust1234 · 14/10/2022 16:07

The usual (ie minimum) is one wet pouch in morning, another wet pouch in evening per cat. Then topped up on dry biscuits to graze on. Four wet pouches between 2 and half cats means somebody is missing out. Are you feeding Perry a kitten wet food btw, as they have different dietary requirements until the age of one.

If Kevin is hunting you down every time you move offer him part of a wet pouch. If he eats it he's probably hungry, if he ignores it to climb in fridge then you have your answer 😂

Kevin is not fat by the way, thats winter floof Grin

MsGrahamCheese · 14/10/2022 16:37

The usual (ie minimum) is one wet pouch in morning, another wet pouch in evening per cat. Then topped up on dry biscuits to graze on. Four wet pouches between 2 and half cats means somebody is missing out

I agree, although the food companies and vets will generally give 4 pouches a day.
I've had some cats who need 4xday and some who are perfectly content (and not remotely skinny) one 1 per day (with dry food they can free feed from).

torthecatlady · 14/10/2022 16:40

Ours eat more this time of year and less in summer. He doesn't look fat to me, just wonderfully fluffy!

Floralnomad · 14/10/2022 19:03

TheLongRider · 13/10/2022 23:33

Kevin is glorious. He'll have a massive ruff of fur by the end of the winter. You'll never wear black clothes again without a covering of fine white fur.

It’s not fur , it’s cat glitter .
Lovely thread @ZestyDragon , hope it all goes smoothly with the visiting dogs .

Toasty280 · 14/10/2022 19:27

Mine have three pouches (breakfast, lunch and dinner) each every day. They also have biscuits down but these are usually eaten by a visiting cat. Mine don't get many treats.

DontKeepTheFaith · 14/10/2022 21:05

My Dcat has equally glorious floof and she does look fat at certain angles but actually is slightly on the skinny side. Picture of my floofball attached. She looks particularly round from behind but she really isn’t. It’s all floof! Floof for brains too🤣

Kevin is stunning😻

I appear to have cats
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