Ring Out, Wild Bells! As 2025 approaches, the Excellent Cats raise their game with a discussion on Tennyson's poetry

[TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne]

And while the cats are thus engaged, their human slaves are still finishing the turkey and Christmas pud, and idly placing bets on whether or not Kitty will use her new cat tree.

I'm so sorry you are of course welcome 🤣 I love vixens tongue that is so adorable!

Kitty’s had a very tough morning so far.

First I took everything off the bed & left it to air, which meant that she couldn’t get in it. However hard she tried to burrow under the mattress.

Then when I started putting bedding back on & she was able to get under the sheet, I kept disturbing her. And as for when I was putting the fresh cover on the duvet….!

Sufficiently annoying and able to fit in a carrier?

@EmpressaurusKitty that poor little thing. Look at the sadness on her face! You must apologise to her immediately with Dreamies/Lick-e-lix/chicken/her choice of treats.

When I get back from the shops, treats will be available on the new cat tree.

How long has this cat thread been going?

About a hundred and thirty five years.

Has Kitty made it to the top shelf?
@EmpressaurusKitty

It sure looked like it in that last picture.

Longer - definitely pre-dates Babbage 🤣

@HomelyK

We have two cats. Linney is The White One.

Gizmo is The Broon One.

Gizmo used to live next door to @Grumpyoldpersonwithcats and did his best to move in with him. There were several threads about his adventures. Grumpy called him Thug Cat........

Anyway. Gizmo aka Thug Cat needed a new home in June, so we took him.

Linney and Gizmo now co-exist in perfect harmony, although it took them a while..........

We have a lot of elderly neighbours who Gizmo visits daily.

One neighbour calls him The Broon One (we're in Scotland) and another calls him Gonzo. My husband (Paw Broon) sometimes calls him Guillermo and sometimes (when Gizmo won't move out of the way) Ya Wee Shite.

We have four BRCs (Battersea Rescue Cats).
A pair of 13 year old siblings and a pair of 6 year old siblings. All have outside access and spend much of their time murdering the local rodent population.

And Gizmo is definitely a Wee Shite at times. He's a bugger for swiping our legs as we go past him, and he Gets In The Way all day long, refusing to move, even when asked nicely.

He is also strangely obsessed with getting into the bathroom.

We also have a new cat on the block who I have Christened Ginger Thug (GT) who is channelling Gizmo...

Linney, on the other hand, is a complete gentleman.

He's an old man now. Nearly 12.

The pic I posted first thing? No, that’s an old one with a much less challenging cat tree.

Kitty hasn’t really had time to think about climbing this morning, what with the bed trauma & having to supervise the bin lorry.

@HomelyK www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_litter_tray/5094177-the-one-where-tc-moved-to-scotland-and-joined-the-excellent-cats

Mine are two rescue moggies, one previously feral, one of unknown history but who must have been a pet. One's 2, one's 3, and we've had them for about a year. They both had kittens when we met them but the kittens went elsewhere (one set to a home of their own, the other set to a foster to try to civilise the little perishers). I sometime refer to them as robo-cats because they have some quite uncatlike behaviour. I suspect Thrifty, the tuxedo, was accidentally programmed as a dog, while Izzy is in permanent kitten mode. They don't go outside. I am supposed to be hacking the triffids down in the garden so they can have a catio; made the excuse that I was working last summer, but that will no longer wash as I have just retired (well, gone on saved-up leave until I retire next month, so effectively a lady of leisure from now on).

Here they are demonstrating the proper use of a cat tree.

@HomelyK Welcome to you and your (many) gorgeous cats!
Breadcat is an elderly grumpy tortie who dislikes other cats so I am very jealous of your multi-cat household. But I am sure she could be friendly from afar!

@EmpressaurusKitty well done you buying a cat thing for a cat and the cat liking it!

Thank you!

Hell no. I won't go back to that place. The one and only time I went I was eaten alive by massive winged beasties. Although I suspect my family put me forward as bait so they didn't get eaten. Six of us went, four had nothing, one had 2 bites but the youngest, probably tastiest, child didn't have a single inch of unblemished skin left on their poor, broken, incredibly itchy, little body. I'm traumatised I tell ya!

Although those kitties do have exceptionally floofy coats 😕

NMMDs at Burnham Beeches this afternoon.

Frederick has turned into a statue.

Random non cat post, but my granny used to always give us Angel Delight when we stayed over. My favourite was butterscotch. I discovered this in Morrisons and it was delivered this morning. For any Angel Delight fans, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's even got the same texture so you can eat it straight from the freezer.

Yelling outside and inside...