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.

Velvet doesn’t even seem interested in cardboard boxes (weirdo) but our old cat, who as I’ve said before was MASSIVE, used to do this. Very entertaining. He also used to scratch the bottom of the boxes he got into in a sort of wild frenzy. Definitely a rewarding activity!

Frankenstein says he's a big scary grown up cat and is not cute and adorable at all.

Aldi sell brown paper carry bags here ...

That is so sad @CeciledeVolangesdeNouveau.I don't blame you for crying. This has been a tough year for me too and I've come to realise that animals are far more reliable than humans, and that when you win their trust, they're utterly devoted and loyal.
Many years ago we took in a stray who made friends with our Siamese and graduated from sleeping in the garage to moving into the house. He had just had his roast beef Sunday lunch one day when he was run over. 😥
On a more cheery note, here is Penny the insurance office goat.
I think any office pet would be a huge moral booster for staff. Possibly not a role Socks would excel at as she'd just hide under a desk. Matt on the other hand would be a natural except he'd pester everyone to share their lunch.

One solid minute of Daisy purrs. Or one minute of solid Daisy purrs, if you prefer!

Penny was hand reared after being abandoned by her mum, btw. Love her little nappy!

@Papergirl1968 Phoebe would be a natural for that job, too. Not that anyone would get any work done with her around.

@Catsmere So nice to hear a cat purring

Apparently purring has a beneficial effect on healing. Perhaps you could monetarise Daisy's purrs? I'll take 10%, of course, as it was my idea.

@SequentialAnalyst Bwahahahaha! Love it!

Now if only snurring and just general snoring could be monetised. Phoebes would make a fortune.

The idiot sisters love a primark carrier. They climb in themselves then fight their way out 🤣🤣 I usually keep one in the bottom of my wardrobe for when they seem bored

Penny the goat is amazing. I didn't know goats could be so small. She made me smile. Thanks Papergirl1968.

I am convinced workplaces with cats have happier staff and better retention. I once worked in a residential unit for people with substance use problems and had to do a week of nights. It was just me as the residents didn't really need help at night. I discovered that the resident cat who was out and about during the day was a lovely work companion at night. I got paid to spend a week reading books and stroking the cat!

Sorry that things are not so good CeciledeVolangesdeNouveau. Hope they get better. You always come across as very knowledgeable and entertaining here but I know that self esteem doesn't always work logically.

If you have Amazon Prime and a reasonably local Morrisons, you can get free grocery delivery for orders over £60 (slightly limited selection of goods). These come in large Amazon bags which are the perfect size for a large cat to crawl into & rustle around in. I do these orders around once every 2-3 weeks as you can get a free 2 hour delivery slot same day, often within 3-4 hours of putting the order in.

Sadly neither of my pair are into bags so they end up in the recycling. But the supposedly single use ice packs they put in with chilled & frozen are definitely reusable and I use them for my insulated lunch bag. And those are recyclable if you empty them of water too 😀

Cecile here reporting on Velvet news! After a very energetic play session she’s now snoozing while resting on my legs, the closest she’s come to lap cat yet. Her horrible foes (two dressing gown cords and some feet under a blanket) keep multiplying but she bravely fights on, including stupendous extra efforts to bite random bits of the blanket which haven’t done anything to her and getting very close to falling off the bed multiple times. She also conquered a charging cable which had not noticeably moved the entire play session! Well done Velvet.

Thanks for the comments above. My living situation is quite difficult but I don’t want to bring it into this thread too much.

Mighty warrior Velvet!

@CeciledeVolangesdeNouveau reading your posts gives me such joy. Your words turn into a video in my head, based on my own memories of many mad pouncy cats As I've said before, being on this thread is like having lots of different NMCs.

Sigh - I've just been referred to ENT on the two-week pathway.

Oh Shell! I am so sorry. I just hope they are being extra cautious.

Dear Nettie. You're always so empathetic. Thank you.

I am also hoping that it's just a question of them being cautious. It's almost always the case that cancer is excluded in these situations. Thankfully.

They have to check for worst first, AIUI.
Logical, but scary.
I recommend that you find a source of healing purring, and snuggle.

Like this.

I wish my GP could prescribe some of that - I could just do with it myself atm.

Are you okay, @SequentialAnalyst?

Just a bit stressed. As fast as I try to sort stuff out, more shit comes in
Being silly on MN helps quite a lot!

Hope all goes well Shell. Fingers crossed it's just a precaution.

Thinking of you, Shell x