The Very Eventful Lives of the Excellent Cats

[TheShellBeach]

Calling all cats and their overworked slaves - join us as we grudgingly accept that every day is National Cat Day as far as our moggies are concerned.

Thank you! Yes, she's a very pretty cat, and a real character. Anyone who comes into the house is clearly coming to entertain her and provide her with a lap to sit on. She's a one-cat crash course in Getting Used To Cats Whether You Like It Or Not. (Also for vetting support staff.)

Of course they’re there just to entertain her! That’s what is natural :) our previous cat was a one-cat crash course in being attacked by a small leopard, sometimes after said small leopard had begged for tummy scratches but more often he’d just leap out from behind a tree. Grown men (builders and plumbers) were wary of this cat…
Velvet is still being a bit shy, I find it very cute that she hides under my bed when my fairly big DP visits, but then emerges and she will go to sleep next to him but not touching him, which helps him as he is a bit allergic. But she has a slightly similar thing going on where absolutely everyone who goes into the kitchen for any reason at all is obviously doing it just to prepare a meal for her! I even showed my DP on a call the other day - we’d been chatting and laughing while she slumbered away very deeply, then I went and got a food sachet very quietly and at the first rip of the sachet, she apparated…

Velvet sounds like an absolutely magical kitty!

I had one who was known for good reason as Magnus the Monster, or at times Maggot. Spent most of his 22 years getting into fights with a neighbourhood cat, and we spent God knows how much money taking him to the vet to get patched up. He'd come in and curl up in the chair and growl when anyone breathed too loudly. I'd tell him "You'd better sulk your way back to health, Mags, or you'll have to go to the vet, and Doug will shout at you." Sometimes it worked.

(Doug was the head vet, a little bloke with a very deep voice, and one time we had Mags in he held him up under his armpits, ie Mags standing on his back feet on the table, eyeball to eyeball, and Doug said - in his voice it was like a bellow - "I've got no sympathy for stupid cats that get into fights!" Mum and I pissed ourselves laughing. It's the only time I saw Mags look intimidated. Mostly he intimidated humans. His last act on earth was to slash the vet (not Doug) who'd come to put him to sleep.)

I’m sorry about the PTS with Mags, it’s inevitable but always sad even if they’re absolute bastards! Our earlier cat (the one I keep mentioning, 7kg Bengal cross who could eat a whole rabbit a day or take down a pheasant) terrorised even the toughest men who crossed our threshold or even dared to get out of their vans near him. My (otherwise not ideal) ex once charged out of the shower naked and sopping wet to rescue me from him when he cornered me! Velvet is an utter cutie though, can’t believe we were so lucky with her.

Also VERY good going to have a cat make it to 22! Not really on topic for this thread but we had a horse make it to 47, thanks to my DGM taking scrupulous care of him. He was kept alive by malice I think…

47! That's a world record for horses, isn't it?

Your Bengal cross sounds like Magnus's distant brother, only worse! Maggot couldn't be trusted - I always suspected he'd been badly treated as a young cat - but he could be affectionate when he wanted. You just had to look very closely to see when he'd had enough, and get away from him then. One of my bosses gave me a lift home once, and came in to meet Mum and the clowder. Mags was winding around her legs while she patted him. I saw the change in his eyes - you know when a cat's eyes go sort of square at the outer corners? "Romy, he's had enough, stop now," I said, urgently. "Oh no, he's fine," she said, and went on patting him.

She came to work the next day with her hand covered in band-aids.

I think the world record for horses is actually around 60? He was exceptionally old for an equine though. I absolutely recognise the cat scenario, Mr N wouldn’t give any warning though, you’d have to guess when it was going to turn from luxuriating in a tummy rub to jumping up at your face! Velvet’s not nearly as clingy and she loves a nice fuss over her tummy or her little paws. But I absolutely recognise the eye thing from horses as well, there’s a sort of horse version of raising the eyebrows with anxiety and you know havoc will ensue…

Wow, 60? That's amazing.

I didn't know about the eye thing with horses!

Phoebe update - currently enjoying lap time.

Catching up on the litter subject, liners would be absolutely no use in my house. Both try to dig down to New Zealand both before and after using the tray, and in Tobias's case I sometimes have to remind him to stop afterwards. The bottom of the tray is covered by scratches - I tried a liner once when Boycat was still alive (nowhere near as diggy as Tobias) and the liner was shredded in a day.

I scoop out as & when I notice a disturbance in the Force, though not immediately after Tobias as his are sometime a tad smelly when fresh - think being knocked backwards off your feet as the odour drifts towards you. I use wood pellets and they seem to absorb the smells pretty quickly and well.

I reckon I do downstairs (favoured tray) morning & evening for a scoop out & sometimes more often at weekends, and upstairs I check daily. Full change every 2 weeks for downstairs (the night before general rubbish day) and either every 2 or 4 weeks for upstairs depending on useage.

Basil is sitting on the kitchen table staring intently at me while I'm eating my breakfast. I think he may want something.

Resistance is futile. Hand it over.

You're not sharing your breakfast with him.
That's why he's staring.

Phoebe & Velvet are both very beautiful. TBH the thread is littered (sorry) with beautiful cats.

I think Basil may want to rule the world Grumpy - or just have first dibs on your breakfast, hard to tell with cats 🤷🏻‍♀️

My brother just came upstairs to use the loo so Nijinsky did an impressive vertical take-off - from sleep - to meet him on the landing with a suggestion it might be lunchtime; & then followed him downstairs to help Balanchine supervise the garden, do a public appearance on the sitting room windowsills for the nursery children as they come past our house presently, & supervise my brother while he works. That last is done from their bed in the dining room, which is by the radiator & made of layers - including a self-heating one - so delightfully toasty. They are cats who like beds, though Balanchine usually sleeps on the den-style one in the sitting room, not in it. He’ll sleep in the den-style one on the landing, but is more likely to opt for either first!bed or the hand-me-down bed one of my College daughters sent me on hearing I’d got kittens, as her cat didn’t use it: combined with the ensmallering ring-shaped cushion from first!bed [& a fleece blanket] it is a popular choice. Though sometimes they’ll still pile into their kitten bed because obviously they’re not big grown-up cats at all. (Not yet put the self-heating mat that goes on my bed out. Not cold enough yet…)

Ya think? 😆

I was supposed to be getting lots done this morning but this thread scrubbed that plan.

I have a cat-of-cats and another who I adore too. Here they are. Obviously up to something which I've intruded upon

"We're innocent! Can't you see we're just proofreading for you?"

It sounds like the ballet cats are very upstanding citizens! And so cute.

As for the adventures of Velvet, she has developed a fascination with a little hole in the sideboard under my cupboards and she checks it out every day (no mice or anything, she just likes it there). I texted my DP about it saying there must be a reason for this and he replied “Velvet and the Chamber of Secrets”

Today’s photo is our late Mr N! Enjoy.

Velvet and the Chamber of Secrets 🤣🤣🤣

Mr N was a very handsome boy! Magnus had similar markings. (Apologies for the photo quality or lack thereof - all his pics were taken on film cameras and I've never got a decent scan of them.)

Magnus looked lovely too! His gaze does slightly remind me of a mildly cross headmaster of an old-fashioned public school. Very imperious.

🤣🤣🤣

That describes Maggins perfectly!

Imperious reminds me of Mads in her Empress of Stinkeye (no, I didn't dub her that) mode:

Haha, we had a cat who could quell the enthusiasm of an exuberant Labrador with a single glance! We were dog-sitting and the cat just looked at him from the top of the stairs and the dog went and hid! The fireworks hadn’t even started yet…

Shady would like me to play fetch and dropped the paper as a giant hint

How can you resist Shady?

Oh my gosh!! How could you even begin to resist!

ahaha. Empress of Stinkeye really had that one down didn’t she!

"So you're going out?
I'll have to miaow at the door to be let back in"