BS: Cats

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 03:41 PM

I wonder, Charmion,
how Watson and Isobel are responding to
the unexpected loss of one of their humans?

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 04:50 PM

That little cat called Pippin (who I christened BinkyWinky) was in our back garden again looking pleadingly at us through the kitchen window. So silly me chopped up some very tasty chicken breast for her and set it on the patio. She galloped up, sniffed it and let out such a stream of joyous miaowing right into my face as I bent down to stroke her!
I've never heard such loud purrs either.
Husband quite rightly said, "You're a silly lady. She'll be back tomorrow for more!" She will too!

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 06:08 PM

Watson and Isobel have experienced the one-human thing before, but not since Edmund left the Army. For the first four years of their lives, he would disappear for periods ranging from the inside of a week to a month when he went "on circuit", as lawyers say, to do trials.

They are maintaining standards, getting me up at 0600 hr and claiming their late-afternoon treat at 1700. Nagging me to go to bed will certainly come with time; until now, they didn't have to, as we usually toddled off before the cats were ready to call it a night. But my hours are erratic right now, as I have so much to do and I still suffer badly from disrupted sleep, so the cats are checking in every hour or so to find out whether I'm awake yet. So far, the answer is usually Yes.

The only notable change is that whenever I sit down and put my feet up, both cats immediately climb aboard; the second one to get the big idea doesn't bother waiting for Lap Two to appear in the sitting room.

And Isobel has just about learned to eat all her meals on the floor. Edmund always gave her her routine treats on the dining-room table, but I'm not having that any more.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 06:59 PM

Seems to me, Charmion, that Isobel and Watson's
frequent attention to you and your sleeping/waking state
is a sign of genuine concern.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 08:17 AM

Yes, keb, I agree with you.

They have taken to snoozing tangled up together on the sofa, leaving the comfy chair for me. I appreciate that.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 12:48 PM

Eliza/Senoufou,
I thought that Pippin the cat
had an owner who
requested that you not feed her pet ...

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Senoufou
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 02:41 PM

That's true keberoxu. But she looks so lonely and sad, and cries for a little snack. Her owners are out all day I reckon. I shan't do this every day, just as a little treat occasionally.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 03:36 PM

... an irreverent question, Charmion:
would you sleep better
if the cats slept with you ??

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 05:27 PM

Yes, keb, I think I would.

For the last few days, Watson has started the night curled up solidly in the middle of the bed, pressing himself against my side. He’s gone when I wake up in the small hours, but returns to turf me out of the pit between six and six-thirty.

But Isobel has yet to join the fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 11:13 AM

Mustn't let the cats get away from us.

Prairie Home Companion parody:

To all the cats I've known before,
Who wanted to come in my door,
And then they turned about
And wanted to go out
So they could come back in some more ...

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 12:11 PM

Sad news. Poor MickeyPickey/Sam the Skull/Spirit died a few weeks ago. It was very sad. He was tottering about and obviously very poorly. I often had him on our sofa wrapped in a fluffy blanket, and he was drinking gallons of water (sure sign of kidney problems/diabetes)
One evening I had to call my neighbour's daughter round (veterinary nurse) and she reckoned he was 'on the way'. We carried him down to the owner's house and he tottered through his cat-flap (they weren't in)
Next morning, he was lying in the middle of the road gasping for air, and obviously actually dying. Again, nobody was in. I posted him through again into his house. That evening another neighbour came to our door to tell me that he had died in the night. So his owners hadn't even sought help for him, just left him to get on with it. I cried and cried.
On a happier note, little Archie the rescued kitten has discovered bungalow roofs! He gets onto ours via the conservatory sloping roof and sits right up near the chimney pot trying to nab birds. He's a real character.
I still find myself in tears sometimes in the evening missing SmokeyPokey. Don't cats get into ones heart?

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Nov 20 - 11:23 PM

Charmion,
with all that floor-scrubbing and rug-cleaning
and furniture-moving chez vous,
Watson and Isobel must have found it challenging,
cats being both territorial and creatures of habit ...

how did they get through it
and are they adjusting?

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Nov 20 - 12:14 PM

Whilst surfing the Internet, I stumbled across a description of
a breed of cat called the
Japanese Bobtail. Never heard of it before.

Said to be as talkative as any Siamese.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Nov 20 - 05:23 PM

Watson and Isobel have decided that humans gotta do what humans gotta do. When things get too strange and weird, they sack out on my pillow. And when the rugs come back from the cleaners, they have major work to do — all that woolly acreage to re-anoint with catness. In fact, even as I type, Watson is doing victory rolls on the big red Turkmen rug in the parlour. In a couple of weeks, he will have ground in almost enough grey fluff.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Nov 20 - 06:35 PM

Just watched a YouTube video of a picture window, from indoors.
Two Japanese Bobtail cats, obviously boon companions,
are on the windowsill, obviously on
outdoor-bird-patrol watching trees and rooftops.

And they do indeed talk.
One of them positively chatters, it's hilarious.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Nov 20 - 11:41 AM

I really must link to that Japanese Bobtail cat video

watching birds out the window

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Raggytash
Date: 17 Nov 20 - 01:07 PM

Charmion, if you want him to desist sprinkle a small amount of ground pepper over it, he won't thank you but the chances are he won't go near it. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 08:40 PM

Keep those cats and kittens coming.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Nov 20 - 07:24 AM

Raggy, Watson performs victory rolls on every square foot of every carpet in the house. That would be a lot of pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Nov 20 - 06:14 PM

When it is time to downsize, Charmion,
I hope the cats are going with you ...

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Nov 20 - 09:07 PM

I’m not going anywhere for quite a while, keb, and when I do, Watson and Isobel will come too.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Nov 20 - 01:56 PM

Now, if we can just find what is needed
to fill the dog-shaped hole in Mudcatter Ebbie's heart,
then everything will be lovely in the garden.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Nov 20 - 09:00 PM

here kitty kitty kitty ...

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 02:34 PM

where I am staying right now,
I am outnumbered by cats on two legs.

I much prefer cats on four legs.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 07:38 PM

I'm intrigued.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 08:17 PM

No, Donuel, nothing all that interesting ...

I mean people whose behavior is particularly catty.
In this clinic I seem to be surrounded by them.
Some of them even MOVE like cats, I swear,
very fluid arrogant hoity-toity gestures,
even the way they walk across a room.

To say nothing of their conversations about people who are not in the room --
that is when the retractable claws come out. Ugh.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 08:50 PM

Charmion,
how are Watson and Isobel doing chez vous?

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 09:09 PM

And Eliza/Senoufou,

what's the latest on Archie the orphaned cat?

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 04:44 PM

cats ... we need cats ...

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Jan 21 - 08:25 AM

Oh keberoxu, 'Archie' is now a magnificent young chap! He's always bashing around in their bungalow, chasing all his special toys that the veterinary nurse has bought for him. (Wind-up things with holes in from which a 'pretend' mousie pops out). She often posts little videos of him on our village Facebook site. And I often see him through our utility room windows (adjacent to theirs)
They have three cats, and 'Delilah' sits on top of their boiler in there. I wave to her and she opens her mouth to me and shuts her eyes ("Hello there!" in Catspeak)
Their third cat'Tiger Lily' is a bit old now and not very interested in her elderly neighbours. She's nearly always fast asleep.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Jan 21 - 07:21 PM

Archie the tomcat is the one who lives with a veterinarian
who has her own flock of sheep, correct?

Still haven't heard lately about Watson and Isobel,
although I recall Charmion allowing that
they took her stay-at-home lifestyle adjustment to mean
that she is staying home for THEM.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Senoufou
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 03:52 AM

Yes keberoxu, she has a flock of twenty two sheep. They are 'rescued' from farmers who intended to send them for slaughter after they're no longer any use. (mostly old or infertile, sometimes lame or poorly)
During the recent severe storm, her large sheep-shed (where the animals can shelter at night) blew down. Luckily no sheep were hurt,but the wooden construction cost £1000 and she's very upset because the company are refusing to sort it out.
Many of us in the village have contributed to a fund to put a new shed in place.
Sorry this is not about cats!

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 10:00 PM

Hooray for Watson who caught himself a mouse in the house.
(thus de-cluttering the house)

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: robomatic
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 01:41 AM

There was an episode of the 'original' Avengers, with John Steed and Emma Peel, where a team of killers used cats. They had a magic frequency that released all the feline ferocity bottled up in a tabby and could turn any cat into a killer in an instant.

Good Show!

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 07:02 AM

In the dead of an Ontario winter, there isn’t much for a housecat to do but take in another performance of the Squirrel Show, followed by a bout of bird lust and yet another long snooze. Watson did indeed clobber another misguided mouse the other day, but he spends most of his time in a basket on top of a heat vent in the parlour.

Now well past their seventh birthday, Watson and Isobel are now middle-aged pussies, and the vet has started clucking about Watson’s weight, now about 17 pounds. He still jumps with apparent ease, but not as often or as eagerly as he did in his youth, and it’s a long time since he flung himself into my arms straight up from the floor. Isobel, on the other hand, is as slender and nimble as ever. Her concession to age is domination of my lap, whenever I park my butt in the comfy chair. With the whole province locked down, whole days pass like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: robomatic
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 07:00 PM

I lived with a pair of neutral males, the property of my landlady. Other than being domestic felines, they were different as night and day. One was black, rather laid back, not quite as self confident in balance and jumping as the piebald kitty. That one had grown up in the Alaska village of McGrath, was known in town for going up and getting stuck in a tree. The volunteer firemen simply cut the tree down for him.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 11:26 AM

By the way, I looked up the
Richard Jury mysteries written by Martha Grimes,
trying to trace Cyril the Cat
who is always pouncing on Superintendent Racer.

I believe the last time Cyril shows up is in the book titled
"The Grave Maurice."

After that came an installment titled
"The Winds of Change,"
and indeed, a sea change was worked on Richard Jury,
including a passionate love affair with a Latin woman.
(Melrose Plant, on the other hand, never changes.)

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 07:22 PM

I spent a brief period of my life around Austin, Texas.

In a room full of people, making conversation,
one lady casually referred to her neutered pet cat as
an "ex-Tom."

Whereupon one of the red-blooded Texan men present
fired back,
"That's politically incorrect . . ."

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 08:20 PM

Charmion,
have Watson and Isobel
claimed the territory of the cleaned rugs
to their feline satisfaction now?

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Feb 21 - 05:34 PM

Heheh. There's no cat like like a Texas judge cat... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Feb 21 - 11:59 AM

Embuing the carpets with catness is apparently a long-term mission, keb. At any given time, one cat or the other will be flat on the floor and squirming about, doing victory rolls and grinding as much grey fluff into the pile as possible. Of course, this performance is usually accompanied by loud purring and mewing, as if to advertise the general abandonment of inhibition.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Feb 21 - 07:54 PM

. . . or maybe the cat in question is trying to tell you:

I'm doing you the supreme favo[u]r
of making your rug my territory,
so why don't you groom me and pet me in return ...

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 07:29 AM

Archie the rescued kitten is now almost fully grown. He haunts our garden during the day, and we were amused to see he has paired up with Pippin the female cat and chicken-addict. They sit peacefully together and gaze lovingly into each other's eyes. I don't think Pippin (female) knows that Archie no longer has the ... er...'equipment' to do much except purr.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Jos
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 08:16 AM

Animals generally seem to keep love and lust separate. I suspect that even those that pair for life stay together because they love each other rather than because they lust after each other. This can, of course, be the same with humans as well.
We used to have a cat who adored a dog up the road. The dog ignored him completely but our cat would sit at the end of their path and just gaze longingly at the dog.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 08:40 AM

Oh how sweet Jos! It's true, animals can love each other. My veterinary nurse/shepherdess neighbour tells me her sheep make firm friends with a selected pal. Pairs or trios, always together and cuddle down in their straw at night with their 'friend' close and snuggly!
All the cats we've ever had used to be much closer friends with one than with another. Minty and Murphy, although litter mates, weren't all that keen on each other. And SmokeyPokey was rather a 'loner' than a matey type. But SimpsonSamson and Gussie (one a Siamese and the other a pedigree British Black Shorthair) were very close pals.
I've posted on here before how Sam the Skull (Spirit) hated every cat he clapped eyes on, until he began sitting with me on The Bench. He accepted Smokey eventually and they'd smile at each other in a chummy sort of way. I miss them both so much. Hope they're exploring Heaven together now!

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 09:31 AM

In the living room one wall is glass. The Mourning Doves have returned to keep the cats entertained for hours in the morning.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Apr 21 - 05:39 AM

In an hour's time we will be in receipt of a cat. She'll be our first cat for eight years, after 35 years of catfulness before that. She's a rescue tortie who has been temporarily named Twinkle by Cats Protection. We'll soon be changing that. I'm going to spend the afternoon showing her pictures of rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits and moles. I've installed a large warning sign on the bird table. This is going to be good!

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Apr 21 - 07:46 AM

Catfulness! Now, that’s a word I’ve needed my whole life.

Good luck with your training program, Steve. In my experience, a cat is either a mouser, or not.

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Raggytash
Date: 03 Apr 21 - 07:59 AM

Don't feed the little bugger, it will some become a mouser!!

Subject: RE: BS: Cats
From: Raggytash
Date: 03 Apr 21 - 09:04 AM

or even soon become a mouser!!