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.

Arriving tomorrow Paper love. Prince loves a bit of feliway if he’s feeling poorly too. I put it in the bedroom where no one else is allowed. X

Finlet is very weird in some photos he appears huge - then he will run in through cat flap and look so kitten like and be an absolute baby

@JaceLancs he IS an absolute baby

I am shocked at the thought of a cat getting stage fright in the litter tray 😱
Leroy noisily demands protection every time he goes 🙄

It is quite sweet though that they come to protect us while we go. Toileting is a very vulnerable time for a creature you see... that Toilet Duck could get vicious...

I’m not sure Phoebe even grasps that that’s what I’m doing! She wanted me to pick her up and cuddle her this morning and I really didn’t have a hand free …

Basil regularly accompanies Mrs G at her toilette in the morning. Without wishing to overshare - why do they have to jump on your lap when you are sitting on the loo?
This has made me reflect that Morisot really should have put a cat in her painting for added verisimilitude.

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats At my house they like to curl up in your trousers/leggings/tights, whatever garment is round your ankles whilst you are sitting on the toilet.

Yup - experienced that too 🤣.
But of course if you shut the loo door they go ballistic, yell their heads off, and scratch the door like mad.

I'm away for a few days with work so was able to go about my morning ablutions completely unfettered by the crazy cats this morning.

I miss them 🤣.

Our late darling Hadji used to do that! I do think he had rather a thing about toilets …

We are having a lie-in here this morning: breakfast will be whenever Nijinsky decides it’s time for breakfast; unless Balanchine squeaks about it first. (Latter vanishingly rare, he rolls with his - yowly - brother’s sense of a meal schedule.)

Your photo made me giggle @Catsmere : Hadji is giving that loo such an old-fashioned look 😄

Just had our first foray with Velvet into the great outdoors. It was supposed to be our back garden only but she helpfully identified three holes in our fencing and escaped into several neighbours’ back gardens. She had a good investigate and came back, but I had to pick her up and carry her (which she hates) to get her back inside even though she came back most of the way at my call - she was looking like going into the road. I feel really guilty as I was doing it properly and gently but she started squeaking in distress :( it was only about 15 steps as well. She nearly gave me a heart attack repeatedly disappearing though. She’s recovered after some Dreamies and a MASSIVE poo but I’m still feeling anxious…

I quite frequently have my first wee of the morning with one cat on my knee, one on the cistern behind me and a third agitating round my feet!

Obviously breakfast is served as soon as I'm done 😆

Now they are having a BIG NAP to recover from the effort of eating and pooing 😸

Your stories of cats and their obsession with toilets are making me smile.
Matt has had his breakfast, a pootle round the garden, and is currently finishing off the milk from my cereal. Seems fine. He was very loving last night, nuzzling my hair and face while I was watching TV and rubbing his head against mine.
The vet recommended getting a water fountain. Not sure if it's necessary really. I've seen Matt drink out of the dog's water bowl, although not recently, probably in the summer when it was hot.

Velvet sounds like she will be an adventurer, Cecile.
It is terrifying when they first go out by themselves.

A water fountain probably isn’t necessary. My nana bought one for her elderly Siamese, but she also fed her cats frozen (defrosted obviously) prawns and carried the same Siamese up and downstairs in a covered basket known as the “Winter Palace”. Velvet has her water changed twice a day but is much more likely to drink from a running tap or my water glasses and then just play in her bowl (I think Bengals are particularly keen on water). Our late Mr N had indoor and outdoor water bowls but preferred the absolutely fetid paddling pool which he was in more and more danger of falling into as he got older…

Thanks @Papergirl1968. I’m not sure how Velvet will be when she’s properly by herself (ie without her anxious human keeping an eye on her and constantly jingling a toy so she knows where to come back to). She’s a bit arm’s length and easily startled which should be protective, and she loves her food, but I’m a bit worried she’ll want to make a new friend of a passerby or get too keen on investigating and go out of range, or she’ll try hiding under a car and it will turn out badly…

The vet recommended a drinking fountain for Basil. Needless to say he never uses it, but Sybil absolutely loves ir and drinks from it all the time, so it has some benefit.
The other three prefer to drink from dirty puddles or straight from the river.

Leroy used to be susceptible to UTIs and the vet recommended a fountain. He drinks well from it every day and touch wood, he's been UTI free for a good few years.

I bought Alizè (Favourite Cat) a CatMate water fountain on the advice of the vet when he started getting UTIs. They all love it but it was looking a bit worn so I recently replaced it with a fancier looking metal one. I meant to get the one where the water comes out of a spout similar to a small tap but when it arrived I realised I'd bought the slightly cheaper model. After a few days looking distrustfully at it, they all seem to prefer it to the old model. It's certainly much quieter.

The old fountain is set up in the kitchen now where it is ignored by all.

Cecile you may want to think about getting your garden cat proofed & restricting Velvet to there only. She is exceptionally beautiful so even if she manages to avoid the usual pitfalls of going out, I could see her being a prime target for thieves.

Thanks :) and we know, she’s actually really helped by identifying the holes in the fence we didn’t know were there (my parents move often and the problems with the house were obvious and have been fixed but the gaps in the fencing were not). She is my gorgeous little friend and I’d hate to lose her to any thievery, I don’t think we live in a high-crime neighbourhood but I’ll be extra cautious nonetheless!

Not about cats.
But anyway... I've certainly experienced missing pet anxiety, a pet rat of mine disappeared into the space that runs the length of the terrace. She was a very sensible rat, would come when called, and did come back eventually - but the agony of waiting for her, not knowing whether she would return or not, remains with me to this day

I was very nervous about Finlay going out even though we have always had outdoor cats - it’s years since we had a kitten and he seems so tiny so we put a collar on at 12 weeks then airtagged him a couple of weeks later and he soon got used to it - he’s been allowed out for 2 weeks now and has not gone far
its surprisingly accurate I even know which sofa he is on if I check during the day or whether he is in front or back garden

I am very nervous about letting Munchkin out. She has shown zero interest so far so I'm not going to push it, but she frightens easily and I can see her being scared off and not knowing how to get back. I live on a no through road which you would think would be safe, but one side is taken up with parked cars and people zoom along there. She's also completely black so I've bought a reflective collar. I think I'll start in the back garden and stay out there doing some gardening while she explores and gets to know it.