Page 7 | Tinsel, Glitter and Baubles - the Excellent Cats prepare to knock Everything off your Christmas Tree

TheShellBeach · 2024-11-29T20:31:33+00:00

As we approach the festive season, they're already finessing their plans and recalling last year's successes............

Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 11:57

@Papergirl1968 has that baby arrived yet?

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Papergirl1968 · 05/12/2024 13:00

Yes, @TheShellBeach Esmae arrived by c-section in the early hours of yesterday morning.
DD is on her way home after being admitted last Thursday. It’s been a long, exhausting week for both of us because DGD is delightful but hard work at 19 months! I suspect I’ll need to be hands on for a while yet as the father is…unreliable.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 05/12/2024 13:04

Many congrats @Papergirl1968 to you and your DD. 😁

Breadcat24 · 05/12/2024 13:10

congratulations @Papergirl1968

EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2024 13:52

Congratulations @Papergirl1968!

EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2024 13:55

Kitty is looking very innocent. Actually she’s worn out from attacking my feet half a dozen times overnight.

Tinsel, Glitter and Baubles - the Excellent Cats prepare to knock Everything off your Christmas Tree

Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 14:39

Papergirl1968 · 05/12/2024 13:00

Yes, @TheShellBeach Esmae arrived by c-section in the early hours of yesterday morning.
DD is on her way home after being admitted last Thursday. It’s been a long, exhausting week for both of us because DGD is delightful but hard work at 19 months! I suspect I’ll need to be hands on for a while yet as the father is…unreliable.

Ah good! About the safe delivery.
Not so good about the father, and the work it's going to cause you.

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Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 16:01

Sebastian and Cleo have settled in at DS2's house.

Sebastian (the black one) knew DS2 anyway. It was when DD2 moved out that she took him.

Here they are, on his bed.

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Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 16:03

And here they are on DD2's bed.
During one cold night, DD2 turned the heating off in her room, so the cats jumped ship, to DS2's room, where it was nice and toasty.

🤣🤣

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Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 16:04

Cleo gets comfy on a pillow.

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Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 16:05

Sebastian being a prawn

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EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2024 16:17

They’re looking very comfortable after their awkward arrival.

Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 16:46

EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2024 16:17

They’re looking very comfortable after their awkward arrival.

They've settled in really well.

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Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 16:48

TheShellBeach · 30/11/2024 00:54

I offered Gizmo some Spam tonight.
He loved it.

And Linney also scoffed some Spam today.

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RumNotRun · 05/12/2024 17:04

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 16:48

And Linney also scoffed some Spam today.

Show quote history

I bought some bags of sour cream and chive pretzels, the same ones that you often get a tiny bag of when you're on a flight. I didn't realise you could buy them here. Toad has decided he also enjoys them, or at least he enjoys licking all the flavouring off and then leaving a soggy pretzel on the floor for me to dispose of.

Congrats @Papergirl1968 and PaperDD. Welcome to the world PaperDGD, may life bring you good health, happiness, and an abundance of cats 😁

HumanToCatBeasties · 05/12/2024 17:13

Cleo and Sebastian are beautiful. I love Cleo's colouring and Sebastian's white feet with black paw pads. It's good that they are settling in.

Not sure about the spam consumption though, that's one delicacy that Boris and Matilda are going to have to live without.

EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2024 18:06

I’m not sure what I’m going to do about Kitty’s Christmas dinner. I feel she ought to have one.

She likes the Iams kibble she’s on, & various treats. I’ve tried her with a few posh wet foods & she just licks a bit & leaves it. Chicken & rice in broth today - she lapped up the broth & that was it.

I’m a veggie so she won’t be getting a bit of the turkey. I think I’m going to see if I can get a bit of ready-cooked organic chicken or something with lick-e-lix as a sauce.

Or maybe I should just get her spam…

Original poster

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 18:29

Or maybe I should just get her spam…

Universally liked by cats, Spam is a delight.

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Puppylucky · 05/12/2024 18:33

EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2024 18:06

I’m not sure what I’m going to do about Kitty’s Christmas dinner. I feel she ought to have one.

She likes the Iams kibble she’s on, & various treats. I’ve tried her with a few posh wet foods & she just licks a bit & leaves it. Chicken & rice in broth today - she lapped up the broth & that was it.

I’m a veggie so she won’t be getting a bit of the turkey. I think I’m going to see if I can get a bit of ready-cooked organic chicken or something with lick-e-lix as a sauce.

Or maybe I should just get her spam…

We're trying Elton on Sardines in spring water. It will either blow his tiny mind or be roundly rejected as a poisoning attempt - the suspense is killing me!

JaceLancs · 05/12/2024 19:06

It’s very chilly here tonight with a severe weather warning for next 4 days
Finlay is not risking getting caught in the rain - in squirrel pose tonight

Pudmyboy · 05/12/2024 19:08

Finlay has looking cosy down to a fine art!😻

Pudmyboy · 05/12/2024 19:12

Allergictoironing · 04/12/2024 18:33

Well the results are in (drumroll) - Tobias has FIV 😢

To be honest, not a total surprise to me considering he spent 2 years on the streets, and came to me with tastefully fringed ears (little nicks all round them). But at least he came back clear for FELV, and doesn't currently have a gastro infection.

Short term steps are a) get Girlcat screened, as they live together, and b) get his GI tract scanned by ultrasound with possible biopsy depending on what they see on the scan. I'll need to decide whether to have that done locally & decide after those results what to do, or send him straight to the RVL at Potters Bar where they have the latest & best of everything.

Obviously I'd prefer the latter but there are 2 factors to consider. Firstly is money - only have £4k per year insurance and we've spend a good grand at least of that, and RVL could cost between £2-4k going by a recent quote my vets had for FIV cat - I am broke living from pay day to pay day. Second factor is if I send him to Potters Bar they would likely keep him in for a few days, and bearing in mind his only symptom is a bit of a runny tummy would it be worth the tremendous stress it would cause him - he gets upset enough just going to the vets for a couple of hours, plus Girlcat would be very unhappy.

So the jury is out deliberating on which way to go with that.

Long term the biggest normal change for cats is that they need to be kept in, and of course mine are anyway so much lower chances of him catching anything. He has decent quality food, doesn't have raw anything (which is contra- indicated). I watch them both carefully for any changes anyway. I suppose medium term the biggest change will be 6 monthly check ups instead of yearly, possibly more detailed than before.

Sorry to hear about Tobias, but very glad that he has you and that others here have good advice and information.
I know people with HIV are put on antiretroviral medication, is there anything like that for cats?
Good luck for the future, he is so lucky to be with you (though of course he would rightly say it's the other way around!)

RumNotRun · 05/12/2024 19:27

Vixen is looking particularly drunk tonight. I promise I have not let her have any Baileys.

HumanToCatBeasties · 05/12/2024 19:39

TheShellBeach · 05/12/2024 18:29

Or maybe I should just get her spam…

Universally liked by cats, Spam is a delight.

I'm mostly worried that if the cats refuse to eat it I might have to. To be fair I've never actually tasted spam so it might be delicious, but for some reason meat out of a tin puts me right off. I eat tinned tuna so there's no logic to my tinned meat aversion.

Allergictoironing · 05/12/2024 19:39

I know people with HIV are put on antiretroviral medication, is there anything like that for cats?

I know there's been a bit of cutting edge research into this lately, but it is in it's infancy and so far there are some considerable side effects seen like anaemia (which is already one of Tobias's symptoms). There's also the issue of him not being the most compliant cat in the world when it comes to meds (getting Gabapentin in him to get him to the vets is "interesting" and involves deceit), and if he needed to go too often to see the vet for e.g. injections that would distress him greatly. There's also the money issue - these are VERY VERY expensive, the insurance would run out probably before we even got to that stage, and as a admin in a county council there's no way could I afford it myself.