Animal companions in our happy homes

Tales and tails. Stories and support.
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  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Well, nobody else has started yet, so I will.

    As those who were following the thread on the old board know, I've been having problems with Aida (my shy four-year-old cat) and Beatrice (the impudent young tortie I adopted in late December). I took Aida for her regular annual checkup, and there's nothing wrong physically; I thought she was stress-eating, but her weight is unchanged since last year. And they greeted each other in a friendly manner when I brought her home and let her out of the carrier. Whew.

  • Things are looking up, Ross. That is good news.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    If I can live indefinitely with a litter box in my bathtub (thank goodness I also have a stall shower), perhaps we can achieve peace in our time.

    Rossweisse // I'm not dead yet
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    Maybe Aida and Beatrice missed each other a little bit! Absence might make the kitty heart fonder sometimes, Ross!
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    An armed truce would be enough for me. They are eating their Dreamies (British kitty treats) in reasonably close proximity. (I'm only distributing treats when they're both in the same room.) That gives me some hope!

  • Sounds like things are on an upturn in kitty land. Perhaps time was all that was needed.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    I suspect that the (literally) odious move of a litter box to my bathtub has helped.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    My Keir (Guide Dog Puppy, nine months old) is now recovering nicely from his Big Boy operation. Things were very swollen and red at first and he needed extra medication. All is well now and he’s very hard to keep calm.

    He’s not bothered with the stitches at all, so he hasn’t needed a cone, thankfully.

    :smile:
  • Lily PadLily Pad Shipmate
    On one of the Facebook pets groups, they recommend to have three litter boxes for two cats who are not getting along. Not sure if you have room for that, Rossweisse, but it's a thought.
    Boogie, poor Keir! It is always hard to be calm in those situations. :blush: I hope that you can find lots of good activities that don't need moving about too much.
    Today, we are going to the manor for our final evaluation to be a therapy dog team. I am so nervous and trying hard not to make my dog nervous. We'll head out for a big run at the beach first so that she'll have a chance of being calm and collected when we go!
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Good Luck Lily Pad!
  • Yes, I have heard of angry cats who refuse to let the Other Cat use the box. Having one each, and an extra in case of arguments, prevents the litter boxes from becoming a source of contention. Have them be well separated so that no 'hogging' can occur.
  • Lily PadLily Pad Shipmate
    Boogie, we did it!!! I knew we should be able to do it but there is still that certain unknown that could have happened. She did great. She showed lots of respect to everyone, got out of the way of all sorts of equipment and people passing in the halls and said hello to everyone nicely. There are birds in a cage that I was a little worried about and I let her be free until I decided she had had enough and she came and settled at my feet as instructed. Phew, what a relief! Now she can have her vest and I can have my shirt and we will be all set.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Marvellous, simply marvellous - we’ll done both of you! I’d love to see a photo of her :)

    My friend’s assistance dog died recently so she’s looking for a new pup to train. She trains her own and gets them accredited, it’s a long and difficult process.
  • Lily PadLily Pad Shipmate
    We don't have any sort of accreditation here for assistance dogs. But we do have the owner-trained ones. I wish there was a system as one really nice guy has a dog who he has wearing a vest and she is not suitable. Here, if you want to do therapy dog visits, your dog cannot also be your service dog as it would be distracted from the primary task. I suspect the same is true everywhere but it was something for me to learn. In any case, the owner training would be difficult. If we had a system like yours and had a place near us needing puppy walkers, I would definitely volunteer. :) I love reading your updates on the dogs you have. Will pm you a link when we have a photo in our uniform.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Lily Pad wrote: »
    On one of the Facebook pets groups, they recommend to have three litter boxes for two cats who are not getting along. Not sure if you have room for that, Rossweisse, but it's a thought. ...

    I do have three boxes, but they were too easy for Beatrice to shut off when in a wicked mood. I've moved one to the tub, and will separate the other two when I figure out where else I can stand to have Tidy Cats on the floor.

    Congratulations to the new dog therapy team!



  • Lily PadLily Pad Shipmate
    Ahh, that makes sense, Rossweisse. It certainly sounds challenging. I hope they continue to improve. And thanks for the good wishes. Am looking forward to the visiting we will do.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Congratulations Lily Pad and your wee dog! :smiley:
  • DormouseDormouse Shipmate
    We have 4 cats and 8 litter trays and still one bugger pisses where she fancies. No physical reason, according to the vet. Yay!!
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Rossweisse wrote: »
    I do have three boxes, but they were too easy for Beatrice to shut off when in a wicked mood. I've moved one to the tub, and will separate the other two when I figure out where else I can stand to have Tidy Cats on the floor.

    Beatrice sounds like a cat to be reckoned with. I have a sneaking admiration for such cats, but they are not always easy to deal with.

    Huia

  • We have a few more companions than we started with yesterday. One of our chooks went missing a few weeks ago; we assumed that she'd been taken by a feral dog or a python or raptor. On going to shut the chooks and geese in the chook house last evening, we were met by the wanderer returned with additions to the family :smile:
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Aaaahhh! :smile:
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Huia wrote: »
    Beatrice sounds like a cat to be reckoned with. I have a sneaking admiration for such cats, but they are not always easy to deal with.

    Oh, she is. I hope I haven't taken on too much with her.


  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I love those additions to your family, Flatulent Duck!
  • I think that I'll add pics of our companions, a companion or two at a time, with decent intervals in between so that I'm not hogging the thread. Starting at the outside (as in not in the house), and eventually moving in:
    Miniature Galloways, Laura and Barb
  • I like them although I am more of a fan of Murray Greys.
  • Do you plan on breeding them FD?
  • No. We thought that we'd acquired 2 ½ moo cows, because Laura had been put to the bull before we bought her, but evidently to no avail. And we can't eat them, because they've got names :smile:
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I love them, FD!! Beautiful girls!
    (Why can't they go into the house? :wink: )
  • Sounds as if you need another visit from the bull, or a vet to do some AI. Not something I would recommend as being done by yourself. A morning with my arm up rear of a cow taught me something. :wink:
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host

    Fabulous - I am 100% jealous!

    Are they Toggenbergs?

  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    :heart:
  • I'm jealous, if I ever get any land I'd like to get goats
  • DormouseDormouse Shipmate
    When we moved to France I wanted to have chickens, ducks, goats and a donkey (called Hotey) however, the House we ended up buying meant we have a small courtyard...not ideal for livestock!!! So we have four cats instead: Pomme, Millie, Bib and Jasper.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    One of my grandkitties is diabetic, so when Daughter-Unit and Dear SiL go away, I get to keep him! It's so nice to have a kitty in the house on occasion. I'm not supposed to be around cats, as my biggest allergy is cat. My doctor will look at me sternly and ask, "You don't have any cats in your house, do you?" Every time he asks, so far, I've been able to tell him that there are no cats in my house. He just didn't ask about last weekend! ;)
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    ... and if he asks no questions, he'll be told no lies ... :naughty:
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    My thoughts exactly, Piglet! :)
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Your doctor should not ask questions to which he does not want to hear the answers, it seems to me.

  • And now, left to right, Gwendoline, Emily (Toulouse) and Lucy Goose, responds to Goose, (Embden). Pierre, a Toulouse gander, you can just make out in the bottom left, laid down his life to protect his girlfriends and the chooks against a large python :cry:
  • With all the geese you could call your place Roma. Oh wait, there’s already one in Qld. Poor Pierre. Age shall not weary him, nor the years contemn...
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    Brave Pierre. :(
  • Brave, brave Pierre.

    It's officially spring - Truffles has announced this by starting to use her cat flap to go in and out, which is a relief because when I am away she has meals-on-wheels once a day and now I can be sure she'll come in for food.

    It might be spring, but last night I was worried about a visiting hedgehog but discovered it's fine for them to be out foraging. I do hope it visits again soon although Truffles was so intrigued as to be nosy.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Brave Pierre indeed. :cry:

    I like hedgehogs - they've got such cute little faces. We rescued one in Belfast once - it had somehow got down a little flight of steps that led to a door at the Cathedral, but it couldn't get back up, so we put it in a cardboard box and took it out to the country where we set it free. I hope it lived a long and happy life in someone's garden.
  • Yesterday I met a caravanning cat for the first time - a very sensible and delightful creature. I am so tempted to try to acclimatise Truffles to the delights of travel, maybe just a quick There And Back Again to start with, heavily scented with Catnip or some other cat opiate.
  • Lol, we had a cat that followed us out and about - embarrassingly so at moments. He would regularly arrive at my daughter's school, find her classroom and sit outside the window. There was a memorable meeting where he tried to follow me in to the local town hall, managing to trigger the automatic doors. They had to lock the doors to keep him out, so he went around the outside of the building to find out where I was and sat next to the window miaowing with a paw up begging to be let in - I couldn't look at him.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited March 2018
    daisydaisy wrote: »
    Yesterday I met a caravanning cat for the first time - a very sensible and delightful creature. I am so tempted to try to acclimatise Truffles to the delights of travel, maybe just a quick There And Back Again to start with, heavily scented with Catnip or some other cat opiate.

    We used to have a narrowboat (Jamm Butty) which we spent every holiday and weekend on. Our cat, Smudge, came with us. In the car she snoozed on the parcel shelf. We travelled the country. Every night she was out and about on the banks and in the fields, every morning she was back at the boat and sitting on the hatch. She spent the day asleep on a bed near the window - we had lots of passers by pointing and telling each other ‘there’s a cat on that boat’. My lovely dog, Boogie, who I name myself after also came with us.

    :mrgreen:

  • SmudgieSmudgie Shipmate
    A travelling cat is one thing, but one of my two goes a-travelling without me and ends up in all sorts of scrapes. At the moment she's confined to barracks because it's Easter weekend and there are no vets open locally for her to be handed in to when she decides to get herself lost. She's even been on the train for a ride to Hampton Court! She's very indiscriminate with her affection and will blithely wander into anyone's home through their catflap, doing a remarkable impression of a poor neglected stray. She's totally stir crazy being locked in at the moment and making my poor other cat's life a misery by pouncing on her at every turn and chasing her from one end of the flat to the other.

    Millie, on the other hand, is quiet and shy and retiring, likes to pop out and survey the neighbourhood several times a day but tends only to stay out for a few minutes, and is a one-woman cat, She's not adventurous or promiscuous and her idea of play is to watch me wave a toy mouse on a string or one of those laser pointers around. She doesn't chase it - she just likes to watch. I am sure she breathes a sigh of relief every time Alex wanders off for a couple of days.

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    The question is, did she get chucked off the train when the conductor discovered she didn't have a ticket? Inquiring minds need to know! :wink:
  • JacobsenJacobsen Shipmate
    And which of my two darlings threw up on the rug while I was away? The only consolation is that my powerful g-tech cleaner removed the dried deposit with ease.
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