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Animal companions in our happy homes

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  • NicoleMRNicoleMR Shipmate
    I have her home now and she seems fine. She's going to get eight doses of antibiotic injections I have to bring her back for, but that's minor.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Glad to hear it, Nicole!
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I'm glad your turtle is back home with you, Nicole!
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    edited March 2019
    That's great Nicole.

    I have been taking Aroha into the back yard for exercise and to tire her out so she sleeps more soundly. Guess who gets more tired? :tired_face: She is more active than I remember any other kitten being - of maybe it's because I am not as young as I was when I last had a kitten.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Huia wrote: »
    That's great Nicole.

    I have been taking Aroha into the back yard for exercise and to tire her out so she sleeps more soundly. Guess who gets more tired? :tired_face: She is more active than I remember any other kitten being - of maybe it's because I am not as young as I was when I last had a kitten.

    You don’t get a tired kitten, you get a fit kitten. 🤣

    I’m sure she’s doing you a power of good. 😸

  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    My puppy knocked me over yesterday and I hit my head and passed out - I had to have a brain scan - eeek!

    30 kilos of adolescent muscle bumping into me felled me like a tree. My brain is, my ribs and knees are bruised but all is well.

    This isn’t unusual with teenage pups - Twiglet knocked me down five times! But these days I’m usually more careful and very vigilant, keeping the pup in view at all times in order to side step if needed. But I was nattering with my friend and lost concentration.

    Lesson learned - again! 🤣
  • Learned the hard way too, Boogie. Hope the soreness goes quickly.

    I remember being knocked over when our German Shepherd cannonballed into the back of my knees. So sudden and totally unexpected. I imagine your surprise was something like mine
  • This is why I prefer cats - though in fairness our male Birman did pull my DH to the ground by catching his claws in his belt.
  • Thank goodness you had a (human) friend with you, even if that was your distraction. Glad you're feeling better.
  • NicoleMRNicoleMR Shipmate
    Scary, Boogie! Glad you're OK.
  • Oh, may you have a quick recovery Boggie.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Please get better quickly, Boogie!

    @Fredegund, I agree about cats (and I love Birmans). Last night I ended up spending six hours in the ER (TMI on the "Cancer Sucks" thread in Hell); as soon as a friend got me home and tucked in, the Feline Ministry to the Sick moved in for a curative cuddle.

  • Glad to hear it, Rossweisse. I don't want to imagine being ill without at least 1 cat at all times.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Thanks, @Fredegund. When I was first diagnosed with what was then Stage III cancer almost 8 1/2 years ago, I had three cats (two of them Birmans). When I was confined to bed, I was never alone: there were usually two cats with me at any given time, often all three, and never fewer than one. They are a great comfort.

  • Cats know when their ministries are needed, they just know.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    With all the pain and distress going on in Christchurch I am so glad I have Aroha the (unofficial) therapy kitten. Watching her as she loses traction turning a corner on the vinyl always makes me laugh.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    daisydaisy wrote: »
    Cats know when their ministries are needed, they just know.
    They do!

    @Huia, I am so glad that Aroha claimed you!

  • Hear hear! And, if you'll forgive the pun, I want to hear more.
    Betwys-y-Coed was mortified a few days ago; she tried to jump onto the roof of my new car (which already has a line of paw prints across it) and fell off. The look would have curdled cat milk.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Today I arranged things so Aroha will be able to use the exit window to the outside world that Georgie-Porgy used. I stupidly thought I might have to show her several times. but I had underestimated her determination to go outside.

    At the moment she's living inside, apart from a few visits out, with me in nervous attendance, but as she grows she will be an inside/outside cat. I'll call her in for food before it gets dark and keep her in overnight.
  • Sounds good. Wish I were closer to offer to lend a range of cat harnesses and leads. Always found them invaluable with new cats, although only ever lived with one who would happily walk on it (Yes, the Birman again)
  • I was rather surprised that my norty torty very independent Truffles was happy to walk on a harness and lead. Not that I can take her caravanning (the reason I tried) because she tends to freak out in the car. Unless she decides otherwise. Contrary.

    I was amused that at this afternoon’s show of The Cat in the Hat had background interval music that all related to cats (Eye of the Tiger; The Lion Sleeps Tonight; Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat; Dancing Queen). The team had fun, I think!
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    I am a bit shaken. Read about the leads and thought, no, she's OK. Famous last words...

    This morning she climbed up the mesh of the screen door, onto a small porch roof, then onto the roof of the house. Although she manages to climb down the screen door itself, she couldn't work out how to climb off the porch roof and down the screen door.

    I tried, to lure her around the corner where she could jump down to the roof of a shed, but she hasn't explored this area and its access to the kitchen, so she wouldn't do it. In the end I got the ladder and stood on it waving da Bird her favourite toy. She came to the edge of the porch roof and I grabbed her.

    I hate heights and my balance can be dodgy, but seemed OK today. I was about four feet up the ladder which was sitting at the top of the concrete ramp which is itself a further 2-3 feet above the ground.

    Meanwhile Aroha is sleeping the sleep of a kitten that has had an Adventure.
  • We have two cats here. A pedigreed Abyssinian who has won many awards for his breeders. He was very happy with harness because of shows and a very long lead which allowed him to explore outside. The other kitteh was from a nearly feral mum. Absolutely refuses the harness and sometimes she can get out but does not seem greatly interested in the great outdoors.

    The Abyssinian has taken a great fancy to eldest son and follows him around. He seems to have become used to our large yard, but comes when his name is called, especially if son does the calling. Kitteh will jump from upstairs balcony onto roof of a lower veranda but can manage to get back. She is a guts and will eat all day, so it is easy to get her back inside with the offer of a treat.

    We did discover they had found their way through the pool fencing which surrounds the pool and associated cabana. They jumped into chook yard , a couple of metres down but could not get back out. Chicken wire was bought yesterday and that has been attached to the pool fence. They did not attack the chooks but seemed to regard them as friends, but we could not take the risk of a slaughter. Foiled this time.

    They are locked inside all night. Kitteh is in most of the day and the Abyssinian is out but with son.

    We could do without the lizard hunting. Tiny lizards are left on dining room floor waiting for rescue and their tails are twitching in another spot, having been used as a decoy by the lizard.

    We do have a cat run with perches and grass etc, made by former owner. Accessed through sliding window in my bathroom.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Oh, Huia!

    (My cats have all always been Indoors Only; the risks are just too great. They do adjust!)

  • That sounds scary Huia, hope that Aroha has also learned the lesson of a kitten that had an adventure and doesn't want to be so embarrassed as to have to be rescued again
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Oh my word @Huia - I’m glad all’s we’ll that ends well! :astonished:

    I am feeling much better today, thank you for all your good wishes. My ribs are still a bit sore but I don’t need the painkillers now. My face and head are a pretty shade of blue. 😂
    Rossweisse wrote: »
    Oh, Huia!

    (My cats have all always been Indoors Only; the risks are just too great. They do adjust!)

    I think it’s a cultural thing - there are no indoor cats round here, it’s just not heard of. My friend has a rag doll kitten, when I asked if she’d be an indoor cat my friend didn’t know what I meant. The cat flap is installed.

  • Oh Huia, I didn't mean to worry you! Ours have all been outdoor cats as well, although when we showed Birmans we did catproof the garden so they couldn't get out. (It was a much smaller garden and still we failed).
    The lead was for when we took them on holiday with us. We were staying in a cottage in Derbyshire with a campsite nearby, and had great fun asking people to keep their dogs on leads while we tried to walk our pet...
    Since then we've only used it to allow new cats to walk/slither/roll the boundaries. Otherwise it's a case of keeping them in until they've settled in, reached months of discretion etc etc. And we always try to get them in at night - the foxes deserve some peace.
    Never had a cat flap; our first feral would never have understood it.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    It was a matter of timing really. In a few months Aroha will probably be striding confidently over my and my neighbour J's roofs having got there from the roof of a disused woodshed, walking along a fence, then the top of the security gate my neighbour has. This seems to be a super highway for the cats of the neighbourhood,

    J was OK about Georgie-Porgy, who used to sleep in her garden, but I'm not sure how it will be with Aroha as J puts out dog roll for the magpies, and cats are as attracted to it as magpies are.
  • Boogie wrote: »

    I think it’s a cultural thing - there are no indoor cats round here, it’s just not heard of. My friend has a rag doll kitten, when I asked if she’d be an indoor cat my friend didn’t know what I meant. The cat flap is installed.

    And a practical thing. I live in a first floor flat so when I took her on as a tiny kitten I knew I was going to raise her indoors. In summer I do try to take her out on the lawns on a lead (road and railway right by) but she is reluctant to leave and once out keeps staring up at the flat or wailing to the door. Plus side is I wake up to gifts of Christmas decs rather than dead animals, even in August.
  • MooMoo Kerygmania Host
    When we installed a dog door for our mutt, she couldn't figure out what to do with it until my very slim teenaged daughter crawled through it a few times. Once she caught on, she loved it.
  • Lothlorien wrote: »
    We could do without the lizard hunting. Tiny lizards are left on dining room floor waiting for rescue and their tails are twitching in another spot, having been used as a decoy by the lizard.
    Eeek. I’m not sure what’s worse, lizards (and tails) or mice.

    @Huia your rescue adventure had me holding my breath- I’m so glad you are safe.

    House cats around here seem to be reluctant prisoners as they occasionally appear in my garden - rather precious looking types hoping for a bit of fun, I think. In the winter Truffles would like to be a house cat but gets thrown out at least once a day. At this time of year I think she gets called by the dawn chorus because she leaps all over me demanding to be let out, refusing to use her cat flap. In the summer I rarely see her but prefer her to stay in at night rather than be a tasty morsel for roving foxes (and the rumoured minks).
  • We had a house cat as Vets in our area suggest it as safe and healthy. We once adopted a cat who had belonged to an elderly gent who had to go into care. The agreement of the rescue was we had to sign a contract stating that she would be keep indoors. She had very nice house manners. She stayed off counters and never clawed furniture. She would watch the birds out the window but never showed any interest in trying to go outside. She was 10 years old at the time and lived for 4 more years.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    edited March 2019
    Cats live much longer if they're kept indoors; out of doors, they can too easily be the victims of dogs, coyotes, vehicles, or sick human beings. (No, I don't think it was foxes.) They do better if they're indoor kitties, with perhaps the occasional expedition on a leash. (And local birds live much longer, too.)

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    The cat for whom we worked when we did the house-sit was basically an indoor cat, although she'd have the occasional stroll round the deck, just to make sure that the other creatures in the vicinity (birds, squirrels, next door's cat) knew whose garden it was.

    As it was winter, she didn't show much interest in going very far: she'd demand to be let out, then stand on the threshold looking as if she thought opening the door was the most brainless thing her humans had ever done. :mrgreen:
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    Rossweisse, humans can be so sick and evil. I was shocked and crying as I read the article you linked to.

    I have had indoor kitties most of my adult life, but Mama cat (Prince Charming and Snickerdoodle's mama) went bonkers in my house as soon as the kittens were weaned. So, she lived in my back yard until the end of her life. I didn't like it, but she was obviously not going to be a happy cat in the house.
  • I’d struggle having an involuntary indoor cat, much as I struggle with caged animals - in my childhood, when my parents were out, my hamster roamed freely indoors when I was at home, and my budgie too (although he stripped wallpaper far too efficiently). I don’t think I’d make a good fish custodian.
  • I don’t like it either,daisydaisy, but our cats can get out into the open. Long grass, bushes etc. shelterfrom sun and rain if needed and an outdoorviewing areas. They sit up high and think sly thoughts about the chooks they can see but not reach.

    Foor their part, the chooks parade under the perches in the late afternoon and swear at the cats, knowing they are safe..
  • That sounds ideal @Lothlorien
  • The only problem is that this area which we inherited from vendors here, is accessed from the window in my bathroom. It is shut at night but they wait anxiously for it to be opened in the morning. A jump onto handbasin and then through the hole cut in gauze window and they areout. Return journey is reverse but they come in with wet and dirty feet. Some days I have to clean hand basin several times a day of muddy cat pawprints. I keep a cloth dedicated to this in cupboard.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    The cat exit at my place is up 3 steps of an old kitchen step stool that is unsafe for people, along the edge of the tub, onto the window ledge and through the window held open just wide enough for a cat by two security stays, then down another ancient step stool to a cat sleeping bench. I am considering enclosing the bench and outside stool so Aroha can have access to the outside at night, but still be protected.

    It does leave a window open, (although on security stays) but that window would within a cage. Any burglar could cut a far more accessible window to gain access anyway.
  • Our cat run has netting over most of it but we shut window at night. Not so much for security but to foil the resourceful possums. They can get in upstairs unless windows are blocked and there is no way I want one downstairs. Very few of our windows have curtains but these have been brought down with a crash in the middle of the night if someone left window wide open.

    We have trimmed trees close to building as these were being used as a pathway to upstairs balcony. Partially successful. If we eat dinner in pool cabana on summer nights we can see them trying to get in as night falls. The chooks get scraps but those are fed in the middle of the day so nothing is left to encourage possums.

    At least we rarely have dead ones on ground, unlike where we lived when electricity wiring from street to house was used as a highway to house. Fine for one wire only but two wires touched electrocuted the possum which fell to ground.
  • daisydaisy wrote: »
    I’d struggle having an involuntary indoor cat, much as I struggle with caged animals - in my childhood, when my parents were out, my hamster roamed freely indoors when I was at home, and my budgie too (although he stripped wallpaper far too efficiently). I don’t think I’d make a good fish custodian.

    But did it eat the carpet and curtains? Mine did (the hamster, that is)
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Fredegund wrote: »
    daisydaisy wrote: »
    I’d struggle having an involuntary indoor cat, much as I struggle with caged animals - in my childhood, when my parents were out, my hamster roamed freely indoors when I was at home, and my budgie too (although he stripped wallpaper far too efficiently). I don’t think I’d make a good fish custodian.

    But did it eat the carpet and curtains? Mine did (the hamster, that is)

    My free hamster made an amazing nest in the wardrobe with my overalls - it was a work of art and very neat and clean.


    :)
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I remember suddenly waking one night, wondering what woke me. Then I heard it. *slurp-slurp-slurp*

    I got out of bed, and there was our little escape artist Minny the Hamster stuffing a whole package of turquoise bias tape into her cheeks.

    Luckily, saliva-infused bias tape washes well.
  • My mother took exception to the eaten curtains; full-length, and she'd hemmed them by hand (the inability to use a sewing machine as anything other than a blunt instrument is passed through the female line).
  • Hamsters are pickles :-) at one time mine had one of those plastic globes and wandered around my flat in it, bumping into chair rods. Then a friend and her dog visited-the dog freaked out at the self-propelled ball.

    Another friend, living in a 2nd floor (3rd floor across the pond) apartment, made her cats a walkway out of planks, zig zagging down the side of the building.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Loth, I am thankful that my suburb doesn't have possums, we are too far from any bush. There are some on the Port Hills but there is an eradication programme in force. I know the situation is different there with possums being a native animal.

    The most common animal to be wandering around at night here would be hedgehogs, which, as far as I know stick to the ground.

    I don't think hamsters are kept as pets here, but they sound more active than guinea pigs which we do have.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    This tweet has gone viral - it reminds me how visible me and Spencer are at all times. Best behaviour boy, best behaviour!
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Oh Boogie I saw that on my Twitter feed and immediately bookmarked it to watch later and show to others. No idea that was the fabulous Spencer and you!
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited March 2019
    MaryLouise wrote: »
    Oh Boogie I saw that on my Twitter feed and immediately bookmarked it to watch later and show to others. No idea that was the fabulous Spencer and you!

    No, it wasn’t us, sorry to confuse you - it’s the Chelmsford and Essex branch. 🐾🙂
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