Christmas with the Excellent Cats

[TheShellBeach]

......... Silent Night.........

Well, maybe not so silent when there's a cat about who wants to be fed.

Join us in the run up to Christmas 2023!

One of our cats used to do this, and it wasn't until after he died that I realised that this wasn't normal.

Have you considered an allergy to something she's eating?

Announcement: Velvet has had her First Fight!

Just joking. I heard a noise which I thought was her crying to come in and found her face to face with this bigger black cat. She seems to think a fight is her meowing, me coming out to scare the other cat just beyond the boundary (I didn’t do anything, he’s just antisocial) and her hiding underneath a car.

Just so you all know, she was firmly in her own territory. Also, no matter how good she is at fluffing up - I think quite good, actually - she was never going to look bigger than the black cat. Neither of them even growled or did those howly meows that happen right before cats engage. When I approached them both it was almost as if she was meowing “you must leave sir” and he was going “yes but who’s gonna make me?” He wasn’t even bothering to stand up!

Cheddar's poos were horrendous. But I think she was grain intolerant. Put her on grain free. And huge improvement

Well done, Velvet. And well done @CeciledeVolangesdeNouveau (glitterball award)

You are a team, defending your joint territory. As I said upthread, it was standard to rush out as backup if it sounded like a fight was brewing. And with the plus of seeing a pair of puffed up cats with bottlebrush tails!

I hate to sound judgy, but all cats are grain intolerant. They’re obligate carnivores who shouldn’t be ingesting anything that’s not meat (in fact Mr N, back in the days when he used to kill and eat a whole rabbit a day, used to carefully extricate and leave the caecum of the rabbit lying about. The caecum is like the grain fermentation chamber for rabbits so it was the most high-starch bit). The manufacturers of cheaper cat foods are constantly trying to bulk it out with stuff like cereal or grain starch or even potatoes to make it even cheaper and most cats will at least have a little mouthful of something starchy if they’re hungry and haven’t just ingested an entire rabbit. In the long term, though, it does make them much fatter on the same number of calories because they can’t digest it the same way.

@SequentialAnalyst thank you! There are obviously going to be occasions when I can’t rush out to defend Velvet so she’s going to need to learn to get aggressive or back down properly (she was about a metre from the front door and decided to hide under a car that was totally accessible to the other cat and a bit further away from all her options for escaping into the house). But she must have done something right as a few minutes later I went out to try and find her and couldn’t, then she came into my room. nonchalantly without a scratch on her. Perhaps she administered one of her signature beatings-up (clue: it’s incredibly gentle and doesn’t involve claws, she just sort of grasps you and cycles her back legs nowhere near you). Either that or she just walked or sprinted around and got her confidence back.

I've tried her on Lily's Kitchen (grain free) but she's just not that keen. Prefers Felix. She'll eat the Lily's Kitchen if I don't offer anything else, but she really doesn't like the fish one and I'm stuffed if I'm spending £££ on grain-free food and only able to use three quarters of it - I just can't afford that. I don't think the LK stuff made much difference to the smell anyway. She's on Purina Pro Plan kibble. She's very regular and I'm not seeing much wrong with the poos themselves (the early dodgy tummy seems to have righted itself). It would definitely be preferable for her to go outside but we're not at that stage yet.

Very happy to take suggestions for grain-free options, by the way, but I can't afford the likes of KatKin. I will try gradually weaning her onto grain-free food to see if it helps. There does however seem to be some evidence linking grain-free diets with heart disease in cats. I'll see if I can find out more.

I'd also be interested to know how much people's cats weigh and how much (and what) they feed them. I've found so much conflicting information online. At the moment she has a pouch in the morning, another in the evening and a small scoop of kibble to nibble on during the day. It all gets eaten but she doesn't beg for more. She's 3.5kg.

All ok at the vets, @TheShellBeach ?

It was only to get Linney's monthly injection of Solensia.
But thanks for asking, Papergirl.

He's gained weight recently and I suspect that he eats at Picard's house.

@twobluechickens Linney has two pouches a day and he helps himself to Purina dry food. He currently weighs 4.9kg.

Hmm, I wonder if I'm overdoing it a bit then. Might reduce it to 1.5 pouches and the same kibble. Don't want a chubby puss, particularly as she's not going out much.

Great, Shell.
Matt is..er..8.9kg, down from 9.8 in the new year.
He eats a mixture of urinary care food and Sheba, Harringtons, Asda Select, Webbox, whatever is on offer, plus a tiny bit of ham most days, and is not above nicking food out of the dog's bowl. He has a small amount of dry urinary food last thing at night but I'm trying to reduce this and eventually cut it out, plus four or five Dreamies. I'd also like to get him completely on to urinary but at the moment it's more important to keep getting his meds into him so the vet said don't worry about it for now.
In theory I split one pouch or small tin between him and Socks for breakfast, lunch, tea and supper but in reality Socks doesn't each much so hers gets removed so greedy guts doesn't scoff it and it's served up again later for her or given to him if she really doesn't want it.
The prodigal daughter has returned home with baby and pronounced Matt was the size of a dog.

My glorious Emerald (who died in July) weighed 6.5kg.

I thought that was - er - heavy lol. But Matt is 8.9kg? Some cats just are a lot heavier than others (obviously).

Aw. Here's my favourite picture of Emerald.

Matt is a big lad! What about Socks?

She has such lovely colouring, @TheShellBeach. I followed her story when I was but a lurker.

@twobluechickens - Leroy's just been measured for a new jacket 🙈
Currently tipping the scales at 6.5kg and eats 2(ish) pouches of Felix AGAILDD and a bowl of RC Digestive Care a day. Plus various Dreamies et al. Plus a bit of raw meat when I'm cooking. Oh and he ate a spider earlier 🙄

Interestingly the tape measure said his tummy length is about 4". NOT WHEN HE'S HOGGING THE HEATED THROW IT ISN'T!!! It's about 7'6" when he does that 🤦🏼‍♀️

Emerald was a beauty - I probably already asked this, but did I show you a picture of my late Maddie, who crossed the bridge three years ago? She was a torbie, too, very similar to Emerald (and a chub, probably pushing 5kg).

I wish I could get Daisy's weight down, but she's already on diet food, doesn't much care for wet food, and is a mostly sedentary indoor-only cat in a tiny unit.

Basil weighs in between 5.5 and 6kg. He's long but not fat.
Karl and Lenny are both just under 4kg. Just smallish cats.
Sybs weight dropped from 4kg to 3.5 at the last weigh in - she does feel quite skinny, but she did at 4kg as well.
They eat between 8 and 12 pouches (agail) a day between them, plus dry food, plus dreamies, plus mice, (plus for Sybil porridge and anything else she can snaffle.)

Thanks all, good to do some data collection to see how our cats compare. I have noticed that Munchkin seems hungrier (well, wolfs it down) on the Pro Plan than she did on the Bifensis I bought as emergency rations when she first came home. I will compare the ingredients. I'm mainly pleased that she has a good appetite because my last cat was picky as anything and mostly just licked the gravy off, leaving the meat.

Lunch here has been postponed.

Possibly forever.

Oh and he ate a spider earlier

I have never understood why they eat spiders.

Lord Linney of Linney, resting against the wardrobe

I know cats are crepuscular, and therefore I expect being woken around dawn in the summer by riotous activity. However I do NOT expect the same riotous activity at 5:30 am a week before the Winter Solstice when sunrise is apparently due today at 755 am.

Galloping about in and out of the room, onto the windowsill then off with a loud "thonk", then eventually Tobias's signature squawking noises of excitement.

Bless the little angels, having fun and playing together!😒🙄

That's very sweet that Tobias and Girlcat are so companionable.

That was a lovely picture of Emerald, Shell.*

Matt is..er..8.9kg, down from 9.8 in the new year.

Thank goodness one is heavier than mine.

The prodigal daughter has returned home with baby and pronounced Matt was the size of a dog.

Oh, Paper. I'm thinking of you. That must be hard.