Post Your Pets

Recently turned 4, in his birthday box.

I quite often buy lambs hearts that have been reduced in tesco. Three for less than a pound. The cats and dog LOVE it. It has lots of chewy grizzly bits to give their teeth and gums a good work out. Thinking of getting a mincer/blender thingy to chop up chicken wings so I can include bone as well as meat.

Lamb's hearts are good because they are a source of taurine, which is important for cats. We used to blend the meat & bones that we feed our cats, but now we don't bother, they both just crunch the bones up quite happily.

It's worth noting that cats are *obligate carnivores, *i.e. have stomachs that are adapted to only meat. They shouldn't really be getting grains or other stuff. The only vegetables they would get in the wild would be whatever was in the stomach of the small birds & mammals that they caught.

Vets are not necessarily a good source of diet advice, as they are compromised by their association with the pet food industry.

More information here: http://rawmeatybones.com/, http://bunnieseatgrass.com/

Our cat goes out on the roof of the first floor and has been known to fall off occasionally (its pitched) and its basically the only outdoor space he's willing to use.
Next door have a ferocious dog which is often in the garden which makes me really nervous about him falling off on that side, otherwise the garden below us is empty and safe.
Nearly every morning, were woken up at about 6 by crows squarking like crazy at him. He just hunkers down and yabbers at them but will often get spooked and run indoors, usually via my crotch.
Are crows dangerous to cats? They're viscious bastards and it'd be horrible if they went for his eyes or something. Mind you, I did wake up the other morning with a commotion on the roof, thought he was slipping off but he was chasing a squirrel...

Our cat goes out on the roof of the first floor and has been known to fall off occasionally (its pitched) and its basically the only outdoor space he's willing to use.
Next door have a ferocious dog which is often in the garden which makes me really nervous about him falling off on that side, otherwise the garden below us is empty and safe.
Nearly every morning, were woken up at about 6 by crows squarking like crazy at him. He just hunkers down and yabbers at them but will often get spooked and run indoors, usually via my crotch.
Are crows dangerous to cats? They're viscious bastards and it'd be horrible if they went for his eyes or something. Mind you, I did wake up the other morning with a commotion on the roof, thought he was slipping off but he was chasing a squirrel...

The crows are probably just making alarm calls. They would be very unlikely to attack a cat unless the cat was a direct threat to them, or obviously crippled or sick.

The crows are probably just making alarm calls. They would be very unlikely to attack a cat unless the cat was a direct threat to them, or obviously crippled or sick.

Magpies, on the other hand, are proper evil bastards. I once had to rescue a cat that was being divebombed and pecked at by four magpies. Karma I suppose, but quite distressing to watch. I also saw a magpie swoop down and pluck a large feather from an unsuspecting crow and then eat the flesh from the end of it. shudders

Magpies and crows are basically what velociraptors turned into.
There's usually only two crows that sit on the opposite roof shouting but this morning they were on the scaffolding just one platform down from the cat. My missus got up and threw a hairbrush at them...

Magpies are fascinating creatures. There's a few that hang around our block, and they torment our cats. They imitate the calls of tits & finches, and are generally full of wit & mischief. I wouldn't say they were more or less wicked than cats, and are probably responsible for far less predation than our cuddly moggies.

there's a hitler cat across from us that hangs out on the roof a lot, you can always tell when it's out there as the magpies go nuts. the cat hunkers down on a chimney between 4 chimneypots, so the birds can't get at it.

there are at least 3 cats in that flat, I wonder if they know they provide an excellent neighbourhood Cat Amenity service... we often look out hoping to see them as they all habitually sit on the 2nd floor windowsill, either sunning, looking down into the garden (a black cat lives on the ground floor and is often out there) or if the window is mostly closed, just with a head poking out Ceiling Cat style.

Can any one recommend a quality dog bed? Price isn't really an issue. I guess something easy to clean and comfortable. I have been looking at the SnooZzze from Zooplus.

IKEA have some non specific animal beds...

Get a cat, they prefer cardboard boxes.

Can anyone recommend a good/affordable Vet or a Cattery for me? We haven't needed either since moving to Crystal Palace from Bristol but have a 2 week holiday coming up.

(cross posted from the AQA thread incase folks reading this thread have more ideas)

How many cats do you have? Could be cheaper to get in a cat sitter...

We sent our cats to a cattery place once while we went on holiday. The place was very well run, by nice people, but our cats clearly hated being there, even for only a few days. One seemed very changed by the experience.

As crank girl says, you should consider getting a neighbour or friend to just pop round and feed them each day. It's much easier on the cats.

2 cats.

Our neighbour has fed them happily in the past but we didn't want to ask them to do it for a full 2 weeks.

The other problem is we don't have a cat flap and the cats are used to being able to go indoors and outdoors. Normally this is easy because I work from home but they will be stuck inside if someone is just coming over once per day.

I have no idea what is more stressful for them, being locked in/out or being in a cattery.

thanks for the input.

Depends on the cattery I guess, but it'll mostly likely be a cage, possibly some kind of open arrangement. I think cats will definitely prefer to be free at home. The way I'd see it is that the worst case scenario of them being locked in is that they shit on the sofa.

There are professional cat sitters who can be more attentive, who I presume can reassure you they're safe.

eg http://www.cats-and-cuddles.co.uk/services/

But I don't know anything about them.

My experience of catteries is much like neu describes - the cats are kept in large cages surrounded by other cats in cages. Bit like a cat prison really. Mine are so much happier at home with someone coming in once a day. When we had three cats we kept the cat flap closed but recently we've been going away and leaving the cat flap open with no adverse effects.

Obviously you need to investigate costs etc. but for us it worked out loads cheaper than a cattery. Two of our cats didn't get on so it meant two cages and one cat in on her own.

You can get them to let them out in the morning and in in the evening. Find your local little old lady ply them with access to your xbox.

Can anyone recommend a good/affordable Vet or a Cattery for me? We haven't needed either since moving to Crystal Palace from Bristol but have a 2 week holiday coming up.

(cross posted from the AQA thread incase folks reading this thread have more ideas)

How far are you prepared to travel to your vet?

Celia Hammond in Lewisham are cheap (I got my kittens there but haven't yet used their services): "OUR VETERINARY SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE FOR PETS WHOSE OWNERS ARE EITHER ON BENEFITS OR ON A LOW INCOME AND ARE UNABLE TO AFFORD PRIVATE VETERINARY SERVICES." Website here.

We go to Andrew Kirby’s Vets in Bermondsey. They're very caring and good.

Sumo put a plastic tray on banksy, she didn't seem to care. She stayed like that for 10 minutes.

Wasn't there a website called 'Stuff On My Cat'?

EDIT: http://stuffonmycat.com/

Cats can be like that.

For example

That's either a massive cat, or a tiny hammer

conveniently there's a banana there to help you out.

Or is it a plantain, and an ipad?

Ha, yes I have been known to enjoy that site!
My favourite though is Cats In Bread. http://catsinbread.com/
Does what it says on the tin.