Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 45,072
@Kronos we have the same 'brush arch'. It looks like your cats actually use it though!
Show us your kitty cats
- Thread starter ^TANK^
- Start date
Not really, Millie has on occasion used it but not often. The cat in the images is not my cat by the way just one that chooses to use my flat as a refuge from the cold nights.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 45,072
I have one too, and the brush bit is completely ignored
However put a bit of catnip on the base and she'll scratch it for ages... (well, for a whole minute or so until she gets bored )
Soldato
Yeah mine ignore the brush arch too
Better off putting it outside
As a shoe/boot cleaner lol
Got them a new toy other day
It rotates randomly
Got a feathery thing on a spring arm
A really bright red dot laser on opposite side
And a nice 18650 usb rechargeable
Battery
Finally a toy that doesn't use AA or AAA
Mushroom shaped even if they knock
It over it works upside down
They're loving it
Better off putting it outside
As a shoe/boot cleaner lol
Got them a new toy other day
It rotates randomly
Got a feathery thing on a spring arm
A really bright red dot laser on opposite side
And a nice 18650 usb rechargeable
Battery
Finally a toy that doesn't use AA or AAA
Mushroom shaped even if they knock
It over it works upside down
They're loving it
Funnily enough I have a laser toy but stopped using it. It drove Bella crazy.
If I get it out she still goes crazy, but she knows she can't ever catch it, so she just runs in a random direction at full speed when she sees it. Ie she has long since stopped trying to chase the dot, but the excitement remains.
Bella is a very clever cat and susses most toys out within a few mins of seeing them. Keeping her excited for playtime is a really difficult task.
If I get it out she still goes crazy, but she knows she can't ever catch it, so she just runs in a random direction at full speed when she sees it. Ie she has long since stopped trying to chase the dot, but the excitement remains.
Bella is a very clever cat and susses most toys out within a few mins of seeing them. Keeping her excited for playtime is a really difficult task.
As some of you might recall I inherited a 15 year old cat (Angel) from my mum when she died around three months ago. She is an incredibly nervous cat and literally scared of everything. We had never had a family cat, or other pet, before (although my parents had dogs when I was a kid). Angel is still unbelievably nervous at all times. Before my mum had her she was a rescue cat who I understand had not been treated well and had been left starving in an empty house for weeks before she was rescued. So she's had a difficult life and the recent loss of my mum and my mums partner within a few months would have been hard on her. She lost both people she knew, and then relocated many hours away from the area she was familiar with to my house. My house is also quite noisy with teenage kids. We've never had a family pet so I'm probably doing loads of things wrong. But I'm trying my best.
We've given her space and shown her as much love as we can when she seems to want it. In the early days she would nip us when she didn't want a stroke. Now she will still pretend to nip us but claws are pulled in and she never makes contact with teeth. She's just saying no rather than actually being scared now. We respect that. Usually we can tell her body language and stop before it gets to that. My kids and I love her although my wife isn't an animal person. Angel seems to know that and stays away from her but increasingly comes to us. She sometimes has this look of sadness in her eyes and even my kids have mentioned it. But other times she also has a look of happiness and contentment. She won't be cuddled and won't sit on our laps. She wants to be with us but at arms length in the same room. But over the few months she has gradually improved. She's starting to show signs of becoming a 'normal' cat. She's surprisingly social and wants me to sit with her a lot. If I'm working from home she will often come into the office, mew, and walk out, repeating it until I follow her and sit in the living room alongside her. At night she wants me to sit in the living room with her and she sits on the sofa behind my head or on the sofa near me. I fell asleep exhausted on the floor a few nights ago and woke up at 4am with her sitting next to me.
She's not used to play. My late mum was elderly and gave her the best life she could. But she was elderly, as is Angel. So both led a quiet, house bound, life. I've bought her a few toys and occasionally she will play with them. A few nights ago I was in bed and I could hear her running around, pouncing on a toy I got her. It made me happy. When we got her she was scared to go outside. Scared of everything. But she's becoming a little more confident. Luckily we have a very large fenced in garden, which she often goes outside to at night. She's staying out longer and longer. I was working from home a few days last week and I went outside and encouraged her to follow me. I kept moving further up the garden so she felt confident and would follow. She kept coming up to me, mewing and rubbing against me like a 'normal' cat but staying close. Today I was washing the car and she loved it because she could be outside the front of the house and confident it was safe with me out there.
I've not had a cat before so I am learning all of this. She's had an emotionally difficult life but I am trying to treat her as normal as possible and it does seem to be working. She's probably a bit old to change dramatically. But I want her to feel loved, that this is her home, and feel protected. From our side she certainly is loved.
We've given her space and shown her as much love as we can when she seems to want it. In the early days she would nip us when she didn't want a stroke. Now she will still pretend to nip us but claws are pulled in and she never makes contact with teeth. She's just saying no rather than actually being scared now. We respect that. Usually we can tell her body language and stop before it gets to that. My kids and I love her although my wife isn't an animal person. Angel seems to know that and stays away from her but increasingly comes to us. She sometimes has this look of sadness in her eyes and even my kids have mentioned it. But other times she also has a look of happiness and contentment. She won't be cuddled and won't sit on our laps. She wants to be with us but at arms length in the same room. But over the few months she has gradually improved. She's starting to show signs of becoming a 'normal' cat. She's surprisingly social and wants me to sit with her a lot. If I'm working from home she will often come into the office, mew, and walk out, repeating it until I follow her and sit in the living room alongside her. At night she wants me to sit in the living room with her and she sits on the sofa behind my head or on the sofa near me. I fell asleep exhausted on the floor a few nights ago and woke up at 4am with her sitting next to me.
She's not used to play. My late mum was elderly and gave her the best life she could. But she was elderly, as is Angel. So both led a quiet, house bound, life. I've bought her a few toys and occasionally she will play with them. A few nights ago I was in bed and I could hear her running around, pouncing on a toy I got her. It made me happy. When we got her she was scared to go outside. Scared of everything. But she's becoming a little more confident. Luckily we have a very large fenced in garden, which she often goes outside to at night. She's staying out longer and longer. I was working from home a few days last week and I went outside and encouraged her to follow me. I kept moving further up the garden so she felt confident and would follow. She kept coming up to me, mewing and rubbing against me like a 'normal' cat but staying close. Today I was washing the car and she loved it because she could be outside the front of the house and confident it was safe with me out there.
I've not had a cat before so I am learning all of this. She's had an emotionally difficult life but I am trying to treat her as normal as possible and it does seem to be working. She's probably a bit old to change dramatically. But I want her to feel loved, that this is her home, and feel protected. From our side she certainly is loved.
Associate
This is Milly.......Milly with the willy! Mrs thought he was a she hence the girls name and it stuck. He's going to be 13 in August.
Lovely story.
Soldato
How nice was that story. Good suff Hades 
Man of Honour
What a nightmare weekend we have had. Some of you may remember the sad story of Garfield and how we ended up adopting him at the end of November last year, well poor Garfield has became very poorly early Saturday morning. I woke up at 4.45am to the sound of retching. At this point I didn't know which of our three cats had done it as they had vomited and left the room. I cleaned that lot up only to hear more retching and found Garfield vomiting again and then again a couple of minutes later. I checked on him and he seemed his normal self in that he was happy to see me and wanted a clap (stroking) so I went and leaned both of his vomits up. While I was doing that he went down to use the litter tray. With all the digging going on I thought he had had a poop so went down the dispose of it only to see a clean litter tray. Went back upstairs and found him lying down in a corner of the room with his body spasming. Then the smell hit, he had the runs. I cleaned him up then the carpet and then got dressed so that I could keep a eye on him. He was ok for the next 30 minutes or so and I decided to make a cuppa. Came back only to see him shaking and then lie down on the floor with his body in spasm again. I gave him a clap and you could feel his whole body straining and his anus was trying to turn itself inside out while very smelly brown liquid came out of it. When he had finished I cleaned him and the carpet up again. At this point I thought it had just been something he had eaten and was going to wait another hour and a half for the vets to open. Unfortunately things went downhill from there and he had these spasms every few minutes and was now peeing himself as well. The smell was awful. I called the vets and got transferred to the out of hours service but the vet covering the weekend was from our vets (5 minutes up the road) other surgery 12 miles away. She was out on a call but made a appointment for 9am when she would be back. Poor Garfield had completely lost control by now and there was mess everywhere. In tears I went up and woke the wife as I just couldn't keep up with it.
Half past eight came and I got the carry box out and after some struggle getting him in it we set off in the car to the vets. On the way he messed himself again several times so he was in a right sorry state when we got there. First thing that had to be done was clean him up again which I helped the vet with. She had a good feel of his stomach, listened to his heart which was racing and took his temperature which was slightly below normal. She admitted him and put him on a drip and took blood samples for testing for various things. She told me that she was on duty at our vets from 13.00 and would take him with her so that I only had to pop up the road and that she would phone me at tea time with a update. I spent most of the rest of the day washing all the carpets and sorting through which bedding would be binned and which could be washed. Waiting until tea time seemed like a eternity but she phoned at 17.30 and told me that he was stable and was being rehydrated by the drip but that he was still straining every few minutes and that I could come up and visit him. Off I went and 5 minutes later she let me in and told me what she had been doing. His blood tests came back negative apart from one that showed his kidney levels were a little lower than normal which probably accounts for why he is always drinking so much. Unfortunately she couldn't find out what was wrong with him and as my other two cats were fine as well as all the neighbours cats it was more puzzling. She said it was best if he stayed in at least overnight as he needed the drip. I then went through to see him and he looked so pitiful just lying there with no strength and a drip in his paw. He just about managed to get up and come to me and even managed a purr when I cuddled him. By now I had tears streaming down my face and was fearing the worst. The vet left us for a few minutes and then it was time to go with a promise that she would phone me with a update around 9am Sunday morning. I just love him to bits as I do all of my babies. The way Garfield is such a gentle affectionate cat just makes it very hard to face up to the fact that things didn't look very good and that we may lose him. The vet phoned at 9.30 as she was called out to a farm earlier so didn't have time to call me then. She told me that he was no worse but no better either but his temperature had returned to normal. He still wasn't eating and was still straining although not as often. She said I could go up and spend some time with him as she had a couple of people bringing their pets in during the morning and if I could bring some of his favourite food to see if I could get him to eat something. I got changed and was up there within 10 minutes. She told me that she really didn't know which way this was going to go and that I should spend some time with him and took me through the back to where Garfield was. He was in the back corner of his pen looking very sorry for himself and she opened the door so that we could interact with each other. I offered him some food and he went to it, sniffed it and sat down as if he was going to eat it but got up and came to me instead. I was sitting on the floor with my left hand propping me up which he lay down against. I lay down on the floor with my face against his neck and put my arm around him to give him a nice cuddle and we were like that for a hour and a half before the vet had to go out again. She said she would phone me at tea time again with a update and she was going to wean him off the drip as she thought he should go home for the night so that we could spend time with him.
I was in pieces for the rest of the day and even Jade and Abby (my female cats) were very quiet and just wanted cuddles which is very unlike Jade. Tea time came and the vet phoned to say he was now weaned off the drip but had drunk a little water and had a little food. He was still suffering from a bit of the runs but much less often than earlier in the day. She asked if I wanted him home for the night as she was hoping that company and familiar surroundings would perk him up a bit. I went up to get him and was given a load of absorbant pads to put on his bedding and floor around it as well as several different types of pills to give him and that the vet had given him vitamin and steroid injections just before I got there. I got home and the wife and I had a go at cleaning him up a little better and then made him as comfortable as possible upstairs in his bed. I gave him his own litter tray as well as a bowl of wet food, a bowl of Pro-Plan dry food and his big bowl of water. He went straight to the water and drunk quite a bit then crawled into his bottom bed (when we took him on he made his bed under a old metal stand I had made for a fish tank years ago. He normally sleeps in a bed on the middle shelf but as he was weak I made one up underneath as well). I let him settle down and after giving him a cuddle went downstairs. Twenty minutes later and I heard the litter tray being disturbed (for some reason he likes to shift all the litter from one end to the other and back again before using it) so went up to check and there was only a little brown liquid. I cleaned that up and left him alone again. This went on for most of the evening and into the night until 3.15am. I hadn't really slept and was mostly lying in bed in tears and listening for the litter tray before going to check on him every time he used it. At 3.15am something changed. I went in to see that he had done one that was sort of 50/50 runny/solid and that he had had a nibble of his food. I got rid of the poop and changed the pad on his bed, gave him a clap and left him alone again. At 4.40am I heard the litter tray again so went through and checked him again. This time he had done another but it was more 60/40 normal/runny and he had eaten a little more wet food as was now a little Pro-Plan. I sat down on the floor and he came over to me and rubbed against me so I gave him some strokes and a big kiss on the top of his head. He then hopped up to his normal bed so I went back to my bed.
I finally had a bit of hope and must have finally cried myself to sleep because the next thing I knew it was 7.15am. I went through to check on him only for him to jump down and run up to me for a cuddle. I cuddled him for what must have been 10-15 minutes with tears streaming down my face before he wanted to get down and have a drink and some more food. Overnight he had eaten about a third of a pouch of wet food and about a couple of egg cups of Pro-Plan and there was no more mess on the pads or anywhere else. I had a wash, got dressed and did their breakfasts as well as giving Garfield some fresh water and his medication. He ate about a quarter of a pouch before his appointment at the vets at 10am as well as quite a bit of water. When I got to the vets I went straight in and with a long face the vet asked me how he was. I smiled and opened the door to his carry case and out he came. The vet was surprised at this huge turnaround and he confessed that he wasn't sure if he would get through this as he was so poorly and wouldn't eat anything. He gave Garfield a thorough examination and explained that while this was a massive change he still had some ways to go before being back to normal. He took one more blood sample to send off to the lab to check for something with a long name that I just can't remember now before sending us home with a promise that he would call me tomorrow with the results and when to come up for another check up. Since coming back from the vets Garfield has been eating more (I have not been letting him stuff himself as that would be too much of a shock for his system) and we have had loads of lap time once we cleaned him up properly. He's had a wonder around the house, looking out of the cat flap (he is not going out for at least another few days) but hasn't gone far away from me really. I just have to hope that he continues improving now and doesn't suffer any setback. I don't really believe in them but that change early this morning is nothing short of a miracle and after everything he has been through he certainly deserves one.
I have typed this out while in tears reliving parts of the weekend. He was in such a sorry state through Saturday that I had little hope that he would pull through yet he is still with us, fighting and getting stronger with each passing hour. Some will say he's just a cat but I see them as family. My wife and cats are all of my family and I love them all so very much. Garfield worked his way into my heart long before we adopted him and you could say that he chose me over two years ago when he started coming around for cuddles and followed me around if I was working in the garden or on the car. I see him and my other cats as companion's more than a pet and hate to see them ill or hurt. Call me soft or daft for caring for a animal like you would a person but I will always love my babies. Sorry for the long essay and if you are still reading thank you for reading me pour my heart out. This has been such a emotional weekend for me I just had to let it out.
Half past eight came and I got the carry box out and after some struggle getting him in it we set off in the car to the vets. On the way he messed himself again several times so he was in a right sorry state when we got there. First thing that had to be done was clean him up again which I helped the vet with. She had a good feel of his stomach, listened to his heart which was racing and took his temperature which was slightly below normal. She admitted him and put him on a drip and took blood samples for testing for various things. She told me that she was on duty at our vets from 13.00 and would take him with her so that I only had to pop up the road and that she would phone me at tea time with a update. I spent most of the rest of the day washing all the carpets and sorting through which bedding would be binned and which could be washed. Waiting until tea time seemed like a eternity but she phoned at 17.30 and told me that he was stable and was being rehydrated by the drip but that he was still straining every few minutes and that I could come up and visit him. Off I went and 5 minutes later she let me in and told me what she had been doing. His blood tests came back negative apart from one that showed his kidney levels were a little lower than normal which probably accounts for why he is always drinking so much. Unfortunately she couldn't find out what was wrong with him and as my other two cats were fine as well as all the neighbours cats it was more puzzling. She said it was best if he stayed in at least overnight as he needed the drip. I then went through to see him and he looked so pitiful just lying there with no strength and a drip in his paw. He just about managed to get up and come to me and even managed a purr when I cuddled him. By now I had tears streaming down my face and was fearing the worst. The vet left us for a few minutes and then it was time to go with a promise that she would phone me with a update around 9am Sunday morning. I just love him to bits as I do all of my babies. The way Garfield is such a gentle affectionate cat just makes it very hard to face up to the fact that things didn't look very good and that we may lose him. The vet phoned at 9.30 as she was called out to a farm earlier so didn't have time to call me then. She told me that he was no worse but no better either but his temperature had returned to normal. He still wasn't eating and was still straining although not as often. She said I could go up and spend some time with him as she had a couple of people bringing their pets in during the morning and if I could bring some of his favourite food to see if I could get him to eat something. I got changed and was up there within 10 minutes. She told me that she really didn't know which way this was going to go and that I should spend some time with him and took me through the back to where Garfield was. He was in the back corner of his pen looking very sorry for himself and she opened the door so that we could interact with each other. I offered him some food and he went to it, sniffed it and sat down as if he was going to eat it but got up and came to me instead. I was sitting on the floor with my left hand propping me up which he lay down against. I lay down on the floor with my face against his neck and put my arm around him to give him a nice cuddle and we were like that for a hour and a half before the vet had to go out again. She said she would phone me at tea time again with a update and she was going to wean him off the drip as she thought he should go home for the night so that we could spend time with him.
I was in pieces for the rest of the day and even Jade and Abby (my female cats) were very quiet and just wanted cuddles which is very unlike Jade. Tea time came and the vet phoned to say he was now weaned off the drip but had drunk a little water and had a little food. He was still suffering from a bit of the runs but much less often than earlier in the day. She asked if I wanted him home for the night as she was hoping that company and familiar surroundings would perk him up a bit. I went up to get him and was given a load of absorbant pads to put on his bedding and floor around it as well as several different types of pills to give him and that the vet had given him vitamin and steroid injections just before I got there. I got home and the wife and I had a go at cleaning him up a little better and then made him as comfortable as possible upstairs in his bed. I gave him his own litter tray as well as a bowl of wet food, a bowl of Pro-Plan dry food and his big bowl of water. He went straight to the water and drunk quite a bit then crawled into his bottom bed (when we took him on he made his bed under a old metal stand I had made for a fish tank years ago. He normally sleeps in a bed on the middle shelf but as he was weak I made one up underneath as well). I let him settle down and after giving him a cuddle went downstairs. Twenty minutes later and I heard the litter tray being disturbed (for some reason he likes to shift all the litter from one end to the other and back again before using it) so went up to check and there was only a little brown liquid. I cleaned that up and left him alone again. This went on for most of the evening and into the night until 3.15am. I hadn't really slept and was mostly lying in bed in tears and listening for the litter tray before going to check on him every time he used it. At 3.15am something changed. I went in to see that he had done one that was sort of 50/50 runny/solid and that he had had a nibble of his food. I got rid of the poop and changed the pad on his bed, gave him a clap and left him alone again. At 4.40am I heard the litter tray again so went through and checked him again. This time he had done another but it was more 60/40 normal/runny and he had eaten a little more wet food as was now a little Pro-Plan. I sat down on the floor and he came over to me and rubbed against me so I gave him some strokes and a big kiss on the top of his head. He then hopped up to his normal bed so I went back to my bed.
I finally had a bit of hope and must have finally cried myself to sleep because the next thing I knew it was 7.15am. I went through to check on him only for him to jump down and run up to me for a cuddle. I cuddled him for what must have been 10-15 minutes with tears streaming down my face before he wanted to get down and have a drink and some more food. Overnight he had eaten about a third of a pouch of wet food and about a couple of egg cups of Pro-Plan and there was no more mess on the pads or anywhere else. I had a wash, got dressed and did their breakfasts as well as giving Garfield some fresh water and his medication. He ate about a quarter of a pouch before his appointment at the vets at 10am as well as quite a bit of water. When I got to the vets I went straight in and with a long face the vet asked me how he was. I smiled and opened the door to his carry case and out he came. The vet was surprised at this huge turnaround and he confessed that he wasn't sure if he would get through this as he was so poorly and wouldn't eat anything. He gave Garfield a thorough examination and explained that while this was a massive change he still had some ways to go before being back to normal. He took one more blood sample to send off to the lab to check for something with a long name that I just can't remember now before sending us home with a promise that he would call me tomorrow with the results and when to come up for another check up. Since coming back from the vets Garfield has been eating more (I have not been letting him stuff himself as that would be too much of a shock for his system) and we have had loads of lap time once we cleaned him up properly. He's had a wonder around the house, looking out of the cat flap (he is not going out for at least another few days) but hasn't gone far away from me really. I just have to hope that he continues improving now and doesn't suffer any setback. I don't really believe in them but that change early this morning is nothing short of a miracle and after everything he has been through he certainly deserves one.
I have typed this out while in tears reliving parts of the weekend. He was in such a sorry state through Saturday that I had little hope that he would pull through yet he is still with us, fighting and getting stronger with each passing hour. Some will say he's just a cat but I see them as family. My wife and cats are all of my family and I love them all so very much. Garfield worked his way into my heart long before we adopted him and you could say that he chose me over two years ago when he started coming around for cuddles and followed me around if I was working in the garden or on the car. I see him and my other cats as companion's more than a pet and hate to see them ill or hurt. Call me soft or daft for caring for a animal like you would a person but I will always love my babies. Sorry for the long essay and if you are still reading thank you for reading me pour my heart out. This has been such a emotional weekend for me I just had to let it out.
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Soldato
I was reading this with tears in my eyes. - We have had our tears over most of the cats we have had.
I do hope he recovers.
I do hope he recovers.
Soldato
Our cats are just our mini kids with fur and fangs. They are one of the family alright.
Man of Honour
Thank you both for the kind words. Garfield has eaten a whole pouch of food now as well as quite a bit of Pro-Plan and kept it all in so that's a good start. We have had lots of lap time and cuddles and I have just given him his next tablet with no problems. He really is such a good cat for giving pills and examining as he just lets you get on with it. We gave him a good wash earlier so he's nice and clean again. He actually liked being blow dried with the hairdryer on low and then I gave him a good brush which he always loves. Hopefully he (and I) will get a decent nights sleep tonight and we'll see how he is in the morning. He has the vets again tomorrow at some point but they will be phoning me with the last test results and then giving me a time to go up. I will keep you updated.
Soldato
^ Cute Cat, had a look through the instagram
Soldato
Here's hoping he makes a good recovery.
Man of Honour
Today Garfield is almost back to normal. He (and I) had a good nights sleep last night and he licked his supper bowl clean and had a decent amount of Pro-Plan overnight as well. He also jumped up on our bed for cuddles last night, something he didn't have the strength or will to do on Sunday night. He ate his breakfast this morning as soon as I did it for him and then moved on and ate some of Jades and then Abby's. He also just licked the plate clean when I gave him his mackerel fillet for dinner. He keeps wanting outside but I am keeping him in for a few days yet. One thing he hasn't done is a poop since early Monday morning and I thought that as he has been eating well he should have gone by now. I will mention it to the vet when he phones later. His turnaround is just amazing. If anybody saw him on Sunday morning at the vets he looked so pitiful and even the vet couldn't say that he would recover. Now he is almost back to normal and you wouldn't think he was touch and go only a couple of days ago. I love my cat's to bits but they don't half put me on a emotional roller coaster at times!!
@shaank Misty is gorgeous and has lovely markings.
@shaank Misty is gorgeous and has lovely markings.
Caporegime
So glad Garfield is feeling better pastymuncher