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No, really, she’s holding a cat

Why you’d call a black cat Blueberry, I do not know. But meet Blueberry. He disappeared in November of 2019 and turned up this week 200 miles away in the other end of Ireland.

They think he hitched at least one car ride. Maybe several. It’s news because they’re making microchipping cats compulsory here soon.

I have mixed feelings. I’ve had all my cats chipped, but a vet told me the things migrate all over the place. He picked up one low down in a cat’s front leg once. That doesn’t sound comfortable.

February 21, 2024 — 7:29 pm
Comments: 6

My very weird, very fat cat

Enjoy this view of my delicious catloaf.

He’s a very eccentric beast, like most formal ferals. He’s fat and it’s totally not my fault. He will only eat dry Iams, and not a whole lot of that. He won’t eat wet food. Not interested in people food. Eventually, he even refused treats (have you ever known a cat that turned his nose up at Dreamies?).

So it has to be the bunnies and mice doing it. The vet isn’t concerned. I suppose it’s self limiting – get fat enough, can’t chase prey.

At least, he was like that until last week, when began to reject his food. Vocally. Even angrily. We went nuts. Tried five different brands of dry catfood.

In despair, we tried pouches in jelly and…bingo. Except, he licks the jelly off and begs for more. He’s already visibly putting on weight.

I know a woman who swears her cat went diabetic eating Friskies jelly. I also went through the same behavior with my old cat Charlotte, the one I brought with me from the States (coincidentally also a tuxedo cat). At the end of her life, she’d lick the jelly off but refuse the food chunks and pointedly ignore it until the meat mummified in the bowl.

I am so not looking forward to this again…

January 8, 2024 — 8:26 pm
Comments: 5

The night Himself came in from the wilderness

We continue our low-effort stroll down memory lane with the first picture of Kitteh. He strolled into the house one night in July of 2018, screamed and ran out again. I trapped him next day with a squirrel trap and a pouch of food.

About three months old and totally feral, our local kitty rescue (or, rather, the big scary lesbian who runs our local kitty rescue) recommended we keep him in a cage until he was tamer. She even loaned us the cage (pictured).

It was good advice and he tamed down and acclimated to our other two cats in no time.

Today, he’s a lovable, weird, great fat pudding. He does still get that terrified feral look in his eyes from time to time (not pictured).

Rejoice! It is the weekend!

December 29, 2023 — 6:31 pm
Comments: 4

Vampire meows

We went to a popup cat cafe, y’all! It was a trip.

You have to pre-book and pay in one-hour increments. When we turned up, it was full of screaming little girls, which was less than optimum. But the cats were all around five or six months old, so they were just the age to love screaming little girls waving cat toys.

All the cats in this group were from Romania. I guess Romania has an awful track record for animal welfare so they’re working with a charity there. They all come over completely feral, so it was remarkable how socialized they have already become. I didn’t get bitten or growled at once, though Uncle B had his leg climbed like a telegraph pole by a kitten in search of his fruitcake.

We were warned that all the cats are partial to people food. I had to make some quick moves with the milk jug.

The cat in the picture is Ziggy, who was all white with a black spot on his head. His sister is all black with a white tip to her tail.

We didn’t bring anybody home, though.

December 5, 2023 — 7:47 pm
Comments: 7

Where would we be without science?

According to New Scientist, they have finally worked out how cats purr.

It makes sense that the larger the animal, the longer the larynx, the deeper the sounds an animal can make. So how does a little teeny dude like a cat make such a low rumble?

They dissected eight cats (which had been put down due to illness, they swiftly explained lest the internet come down on them like a ton of geeks), blew air through their larynxes and it made a farty sound. This they traced to some flappy cartilege in the windpipe. I may have taken liberties with the language.

So there you have it.

Having solved this important scientific problem, they turned their attention to why do cats like to sit in boxes? No, really.

October 3, 2023 — 7:33 pm
Comments: 8

Let’s end the week on *the cat*

A beast so talented he can roll over and lick his paw at the same time.

This angle doesn’t quite show how fat this boy is. We told the vet it’s not our fault. He doesn’t eat people food. He doesn’t eat treats (can you imagine a cat that spurns Dreamies?). He only gets Iam’s dry kibble and he isn’t hugely fond of that.

It’s bunnies. A pendulous belly composed entirely of adorable baby bunnies he catches himself.

Sometimes we hear the screams. Sometimes we only find disgusting lumps of flesh and fur. And sometimes, surely, they vanish completely without us knowing a thing about it.

The vet didn’t seem worried. I suppose it’s a self-limiting problem. If he gets fat enough, he won’t be able to catch them.

Have a good weekend!

August 18, 2023 — 7:17 pm
Comments: 4

Google Photos is weird

I have no idea how Google Photos chooses which photo to highlight when you open it, but this one is January 25, 2005 and my sweet old cat Charlotte in snowy Rhode Island.

It’s usually a dead pet. Thanks for the gut punch, Google.

Zo! I’m sitting here with a well-deserved G&T in front of me. With one or two little tweaks, I think I’m ready for printing and proofing tomorrow. Last minute fixes early Friday and done.

This is me, skittering around the corner on two wheels.

August 9, 2023 — 7:41 pm
Comments: 3

I used to get spam about these

We went to a cat rescue open day over the weekend, where I met this fellow. Very long haired ginger. They had to shave him when he arrived he was so matted.

He felt it keenly. I tried to pet him and he hissed and swiped at me. He’s going to be a gorgeous boy when it grows back out, but he won’t get brushed with that attitude.

They had their highest turnout ever and a distinct lack of cats, so there were like five people surrounding every cat. And boy were the cats crabby about it. Lots of hissing and swiping and hiding ’round the back.

Behind one shed was a roped off area with a big row of litter boxes and a dozen of them were hanging out back there, like High Schoolers sneaking a smoke in the bathroom.

Nobody seemed to mind. Cat people be like, “aw, isn’t that cute?” as they struggle to stanch an arterial bleed. And they made lots of money for the cats, which is the important thing.

July 18, 2023 — 6:55 pm
Comments: 7

Ohmygosh, I haven’t posted, have I?

We went to a party tonight. We had a very nice time on a very nice Summer’s night, but I meant to post before we left.

Oh, well. Have a look at this kitty. This is not my kitty, but it looks so much like my kitty that I stopped and did a double take when spotted it just outside my office door this afternoon.

All black and whites kind of look alike, but you know your own when you see it. Especially as mine is super fat. This is as close as it would let me come.

Have a good weekend!

June 23, 2023 — 8:09 pm
Comments: 11

Flat cat

There she is, everyone – my one hen! In the absence of Spoon, this is the remains of my flock. This and three roosters. Don’t worry about her, though – she’s little and quick. She doesn’t have any unwanted chicken sex.

I’m late tonight because kitty isn’t himself and I’ve been trying to work out if he’s really ill. He was limping on his right back leg a couple of days ago, and now he’s just moving stiffly and subdued. I tried without much success to get some Metacam down his neck (kitty Ibuprofen – to my surprise, I had a bottle that was still in date).

If he’s still logy tomorrow, I’ll take him to the vet. Have to get a new cat carrier, though – the old one has been a chicken house since forever.

May 22, 2023 — 7:50 pm
Comments: 4