LinMM Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 My dads cat liked snooker too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 My black cat Cesare like gymnastics, specifically male gymnasts. He loved it when they do giant circles. He would lie on the TV and bat at them when they came to the top of the circle! He and his sister would also come running whenever they heard the music for Life on Earth. They would sit on the rug and watch it 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 They're not daft then know a quality watch when it's on!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Bit late reading this, but so sorry to hear  your news,Porthesia. Enjoy your quality time together,and cherish all the memories.  I have all of this waiting ahead for me with my Blackie. After finding her mother dead at the bottom of the garden ten years ago [no idea what happened to her], and remembering how i was affected, it`s not something i`m looking forward to at all. She will be my last cat. Won`t want to go through the heartache again, plus, it will be nice to be able to travel a bit, and not have to worry about finding accommodation for her. But hope it`s still a good few years away yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 On the eve of the prog on The Secret Life of cats....a warning as to some of the possible content!! Â Yesterday there was suddenly a terrific squawking coming from the garden so rushed out in time to see a cat we know has been lurking around in the bushes for a while now disappearing over the fence. I couldn't see if he had a bird or not but all the baby starlings were het up and cheeping a lot so probably had one of them. I couldn't see any walking wounded around at any rate but it was the sound of a bird being "got" so to speak. We also have baby great tits just fledged and a robin nest very soon.....so will not have a very restful time for next couple of weeks I think. What with worrying about them and trying to keep the bindweed down could be positively fraught by this time next week!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 My cats were tormenting (playing with?) a frog in the garden this evening. What an incredibly loud sceeching sound a frog makes when it is threatened! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Frogs do make the most awful sound. Where we used to live there were quite a few and they were the only thing that Poppy used to catch. When we were having a move around of furniture we found a very dessicated frog behind the piano. It may have been one Poppy brought in or maybe it hopped in through the patio doors itself, perhaps it was a music lover or a member of the Frog Chorus and died for it's art! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 That made me smile Porthesia we once had a few marsh frogs in the garden and they are huge.....especially the females! They made a loud sound similar to a magpie at the best of times ......a real frogs chorus....wouldn't have liked to have been around if a cat "got" one of those! Â My friend in France has just emailed to say she was greeted with a "prezzie" of a leg and wing of a bird on the lounge floor this morning. Very nice before her first cuppa!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Well probably most cat lovers wouldn't have been that surprised by most of the info in this prog....anyone with a cat flap I'm sure will have experienced a stranger in the kitchen nicking the cat food!! I was a little surprised at the suggestion that cats didn't actually catch that much in a whole week....as I'm sure not all "kills" are brought home for owners to see. But although this does vary from cat to cat I'd pretty much bet on a longer experiment it would be more than half a mouse a week! Ive observed many times that cats try to avoid confrontation whenever possible though if they don't its always at three O clock in the morning in YOUR garden!! When I lived in London in the wilds of Islington along our road there was a huge uncut Tom ....big black and bit of white cat who did have a bit of an evil look about him.....I wouldn't like to have bumped into him in dark alley anyway......On one occasion I saw my then cat Toscar meet up with this Tom and thought....oh no....Toscars pain....and vet bills etc...however although there was a lot of yowling going on Toscar eventually just lay down and (rather wisely I thought) and the Tom went on his way! I also saw this repeated with other cats....this lying down in submission ...it does prevent a lot of fights I think. The "timeshare" on territory was interesting though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Not that surprised by a lot of the info but surprised that more people don't have the catflap which is programmed to your cats collars and stops other cat's coming in. I had to have this after a tom cat came in and sprayed everywhere!! Also surprised at how many people leave their cats out all night. I always tried to get mine in at night as I felt it gave the wildlife a sporting chance, but after I lost a cat to a car, I have tried extra hard to keep them in - just an overprotective cat owner I suppose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 A very good friend of mine thought about cat flap/collars but decided against because she worried that the collars might get caught on something and injure if not kill her cats and secondly that the recognition chips would fail leaving her cats stuck outside. Perhaps lots of people have the same concerns.  Do cat-people have their cats chipped? Are there cat flaps that work recognising implanted chips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 If Ihad another cat I would have it chipped definitely. Don't know whether there's a cat flap which could "read" the chip though......good idea it seems.....you could be on to something there! Dragons Den and all that!! Â I couldn't have a cat flap when living in London(on third floor) but I always got Toscar in at night. Occasionally.....usually on the hotter days in summer(where have they gone these days) I couldnt find him and then he would turn up at two in the morning on the bedroom side of block yowling loudly to be let in so not very nice for the neighbours! Â My parents had two cats and they always went to each others bowls just to check that one hadn't been given something the other hadn't just like kids really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 I was rather disappointed with this programme. I was interested to see the individual cats' movements tracked on the chart and to learn about the "time-sharing" but I didn't learn much else. I would have liked to have followed one or two cats (using the tracking devices and the cameras) for a 24 hour period to see how they spent their time, but it's possible that this will be shown in the "Little Cat's Diary" programme(s) which I haven't yet watched. I was surprised that the cats wandered such a short distance from their homes, as I had understood that male cats at least had large territories. One of my cats is not seen for hours at a time, and I don't know whether she has gone far or whether she has hunkered down in the garden next door. Sometimes she has found a hidey-hole indoors which we will discover after we have been wondering where she is for hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Little Cats Diary programmes Aileen? Do you know when these are being shown? Are they connected to this programme or a separate series? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 None of mine have collars, for fear of getting caught in something. I'd like to microchip them but it's not widely used here and I haven't found a vet willing to do it. The most precious one, Filippo the marmalade cat who my son considers his little brother, is not allowed out at night. This is after his twin brother, a beautiful black cat, was run over at night, many years ago. Naturally we don't have a cat door. The others live in the back garden and seem to prefer to stay there at night instead of gallivanting like Filippo.  Filippo is also the one who regularly brings me gifts, he has a special "look what I've brought for you" voice and when I hear it I go to the front door and thank him without letting him in. This is a wise strategy since the gifts could be anything from birds or mice to lizards and small snakes. I have tried to save birds more than once, but they usually seem too badly injured to survive so now I don't interfere. There's only been one successful rescue, a tiny fieldmouse who sat up on his haunches and put his little forepaws together as if he was praying. I couldn't resist and rushed out and grabbed Filippo and carried him, biting and scratching, into the house while the mouse escaped. He didn't forgive me for days. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 In Toronto vets microchip cats as a matter of course, usually when you take them in to be neutered. afds, your story about the praying field mouse reminded me of an incident with Aquinas, one of my former cats. Aquinas, who was a charcoal grey "tuxedo" cat who looked as if he was always dressed for an elegant dinner, brought in a mouse one time, and, fastidious cat that he was, deposited the mouse (still alive) in his bowl of crunchies, then sat back on his haunches as if to say, "Look, mum, here's dinner, may I start eating now?" Naturally the mouse took one look around and promptly scuttled away under the fridge where I couldn't get at it. Great, I thought, a mouse in the kitchen. Halfway through the night I heard furniture moving, followed by "eek eek eek" and then a crunching sound. The furniture moving was my other cat, Bathsheba, chasing the mouse around the dining room table and shifting the chairs as she went. Anyway, she finished off Aquinas's unfinished business! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 (edited) Both cats microchipped, but as I haven't updated our new address of little use at the moment. I've always had collars on my cats. It used to get a bit expensive when they lost the collar with the coded magnet for the catflap. We haven't got around to putting in catflap here - the cats are quite happy to be let in and out of the house.  Trying to catch live presents has kept our cats amused over the years as they have watched us race around the house with small containers for the mice and madly opening windows and flapping wildly to encourage the birds out any opening. Was always worried about the mice taking up residence in the piano. Now if the Borrowers want to set up residence, quite happy with that. Wander what they'd be called? The Keys? The Ivory's, The Chords? Loved those books as a child  Edited for appalling sentence construction and extra words not required! Edited June 18, 2013 by porthesia 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 This reminds me of one year we arrived back at my parents house who had two cats at the time after a relatives funeral. It was quite late about ten and were a bit annoyed to see all these books over the floor as assumed the cats had been chasing each other around. We made tea and were just settling down to mull over the days events when....I think it was my dad first.....who noticed a female blackbird sitting on the top book shelf! He managed to get hold of it.....I think it must have been exhausted.....and as it seemed intact took it out and put on garage roof. It eventually flew off. Poor thing.....don't know how long it had been trapped on the shelf with two cats trying to get at it!! We don't know how it got in...presumably one of the cats had brought it in and it had escaped up to the shelf...but a happy ending that time. Â afds .....my first cat was like that he would turn his back on you and get the hump if you upset him at all very unforgiving!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 LinMM, I'm not sure whether they are on television or on the internet. If I find out I'll let you know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 A cat stands for mayor in Mexico:  "Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat."  This is a gem and Morris the cat is a very handsome feline too  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/19/cat-stands-election-mexican-city 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Thanks for the link MAB. I hope he wins the election! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 a strikingly similar cat, Tuxedo Stan, ran for mayor of Halifax, Nova Scotia last fall: http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/cat-named-tuxedo-stan-heats-up-halifax-mayoral-race-1.955433 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 MAB.....yes he is a rather handsome fellow isn't he....those eyes! And I love the slogan  Love your post toursenlair very amusing and considering this one started off as a feral cat they seemed to have got him pretty tame!  What a lovely start to my morning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 It looks like Jellicle cats are savvy politicians. Who knew! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) I have just posted to my blog my explanation of where the word "marmalade" comes from (and another term for orange cats that you may not be familiar with). http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2013/06/cat-word-of-month-marmalade.html  afds, what do you mean by "jellicle" cats? I know the allusion to TS Eliot, but I'm wondering in what sense you are using this, and whether this is a widespread usage. Edited June 21, 2013 by toursenlair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) Yes it's Eliot. Jellicle cats are black and white, jellicle cats have moonlit eyes, are the lines that I remember offhand. I don't know whether it's widely used, but I have always considered all my b/w friends as Jellicles since I first read the poem many decades ago! Â For the full text:Â http://www.moggies.co.uk/html/oldpssm.html#jelli Edited June 21, 2013 by afds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 oops, sorry, my "marmalade" post does not include the other "orange cat" word. That's in next month's post about "ginger". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I have just posted to my blog my explanation of where the word "marmalade" comes from (and another term for orange cats that you may not be familiar with). http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2013/06/cat-word-of-month-marmalade.html   I always thought marmalade and ginger were different names for the same type of cat! I noticed the cat in your blog post has white paws, while Filippo is orange all over. My son says he's the colour of honey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I always thought marmalade and ginger were different names for the same type of cat! I noticed the cat in your blog post has white paws, while Filippo is orange all over. My son says he's the colour of honey. Filippo was named for Taglioni, I take it? I've always thought Petipa would be a great name for a cat, too. Although last night I was singing some sublime Palestrina and firmly resolved that my next cat would be called Giovanni Pierluigi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 No, he just looked like a Filippo (that's the explanation given by my son, the official cat-namer). The only one of our cats with a ballet-related name is Estella Esmeralda Rojo, so called because she's always en pointe. She's a beautiful little tabby with very elegant black velvet pointe shoes. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 we've been getting a rabbit a day from our Maine coon for the last few weeks - unfortunately it's usually the postman who gets confronted first by the grisly remains.. Â I've managed to save a few shrews live and well, but he's welcome to the rabbits and gets a big pat for a mole! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird22 Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Me and my cat have had a horrible experience today and thought I would share/warn! Normally my fussy cat only eats whiskas but I was doing a mad dash round the co op on Friday and grabbed a few pouches of their own brand cat food. She ate a few of the pouches with far less fuss than I was expecting. However today I emptied another pouch into her bowl only to find it with a soup like consistency and a rather wriggly nature. Upon closer inspection (lots of heaving on my part) the food was full of maggots, utterly disgusted! Â Has this happened to anyone else ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted June 23, 2013 Author Share Posted June 23, 2013 OMG how vile!!  I hope you get recompense and a grovelling apology from their customer services department   1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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