Christmas .... This is warning no 2.

The dangers of human Christmas have begun. My human is packing presents using ribbons. 

Bits of string are interesting.... if you poke them, they wiggle. And if they are not too large, you can chew them. Not a good idea. I spent Boxing Day last year at the emergency vet.

What had tempted me to swallow the ribbon was the fact that it was tied round the turkey to keep the legs close to the body. It tasted of bird.  So I didn't just poke it. I ate it. That was not a good idea.

Boxing Day was not a happy day. I loathe and detest all vets.

And the emergency fee, paid by my human was even more mouthwatering than the ribbon itself. I regretted that impulse to swallow the ribbon...

Then there are those other tempting items. Little fairy lights, tree decorations, and of course the tree itself.

If you climb up the tree you can bring it crashing down - quite fun if you enjoy teasing your human. But you can also get pine needles in uncomfortable places!

 

 

• I've written a book too. A far better book than the one written by my human (see post before this one). You can get my superior book here
  
  
  
  

Christmas... This is warning number 1.

 

It's beginning... the annual Humans-Go-Crazy winter festival. 

I noticed a half eaten mince pie on the pavement up the street. And there are fairy lights at night in some of the windows. Not good news for cats. At Christmas 2019 I was quite ill from eating a mince pie. It's the raisins inside the pastry that can be toxic.

And while turkey is delicious, the cooked bones can be dangerous. So can chocolate, alcohol and onions.

So far I haven't seen any new pot plants - thank goodness. Pointsetta isn't absolutely poisonous but it isn't very good for cats. Luckily I have never been tempted to eat any.

As for lilies they are far more dangerous. Even the pollen can poison us if it drops on our fur and we lick it off. My human cuts off the pollen stamens if she is given lilies. And she puts them high up out of reach. 

So start looking out for hazards, fellow cats. Next week I will talk about some more Christmas disasters.

 

• If your human is seriously interested about cats, she might like this book for Christmas.
  
  
  
  

Winter's here and cats need more than food.

 It's cold outside in the UK. Very cold. And there are homeless cats that may not survive the winter - unless humans help them.

I get impatient with humans that feed stray cats, but do nothing else. It's OK to feed my feline friends on the street. That's great. But stray cats need shelter too.

If you can't take in a cat to your home, and many humans can't, then feeding is not enough. If the cat is entirely feral, then put a cat flap into your garden shed or even put outside something like a dog kennel. 

We cats need a dry place urgently. We can survive the dry cold but we can't survive wet cold. So, humans should make sure we can shelter in the dry.

Better still - humans should take one more step. Find your local cat rescue people who can trap cats. Help them do this. Then the cat can either find a new home with humans or at least be neutered and spayed - this helps them survive better.

Don't just feed. Do more. Give dry shelter. Neuter and spay to help survival.

And for homeless pets, help them find a new warm home. Don't  let them freeze to death.

Cyprus disease alert

 

Humans need to protect us. There is a serious disease that is killing cats like us in Cyprus. We need to ban the import of cats from that country NOW.

It's a severe version of FIP, a feline corona virus which causes FIP, and there isn't a cure for this. If this reaches the UK or the USA, any cat that has a cat flap may be at risk. And in Cyprus even indoor cats have been affected. The details can be read here. 

This is an urgent warning to all humans. Read up about this illness. Check that your cat has not been, and cannot be, in touch with any Cypriot imported feline. Quarantine all street cats carefully before admitting them into your home where there are other cats.

Hygeine in shelters and cat sanctuaries has never been so important. Any cat lover travelling back from Cyrpus should make sure they have washed their hands (changed their clothes) before handling their own cats.

We also need import bans.

Bad "owners,'" cat hoarders, or cruel humans

Matted coat, heart murmur, kidney disease

Why are people cruel to us? Why do some humans kick us. The other day an elderly human kicked an elderly cat for no good reason. You can read about it here.

Of course, some humans are cruel to other animals like dogs and horses. Young humans who do this often grow up to be cruel to other humans.  

But a survey in l999 suggested that intentional cruelty was more commonly inflicted on cats than dogs. Cat killers may even boast about it. Or take videos of them hurting cats.

Then there are the ignorant cat "lovers," who are unintentionally cruel. If you are unlucky enough to live with them, you won't be neutered, or given veterinary treatment. If they move or go on holiday, they will leave you behind.

Some of these cat "owners" will even refuse to co-operate with organisations who offer to help. There are charities that can help with costs for those on benefits but they won't bother to use them.

Beware the mad compulsive  "rescuers". These are people who keep too many cats - a houseful of cats confined indoors that need veterinary care. They "love" the cats that they force to live in a disease-ridden house.

They usually refuse to admit that the cats are suffering and some have successfully got backing from ignorant social media people. They may even appeal for money or set themselves up as charities.

Please report these cat hoarders to your local RSPCA or Humane Society. If you find a rescue charity where there are scores of unvaccinated cats wandering around, or too many kept inside a single room or small building, or cats confined to rabbit hutches or tiny dirty crates, report them to the Charities Commission as well.

Humans who cannot or will not look after us properly should not live with a cat. Leave home if you can.

It's often better to be on the street than the live a life of confinement in filthy conditions.

• Read what we want in a human home.
  
  
  
  

Careers for cats - archeology.

Want a career in archeology? Felines can apply in Italy. These are jobs for cats that earn their food by rat catching. Not just strays, but cats with a career.

Take Augusto of the Coliseum, for instance. Augusto is so popular that he got too fat. Visitors would forget the ruins and start photographing and feeding him too many treats. His fat photo (taken by guide Carmelo Carubba) can be seen here.

Then there is the tabby and white cat of Pompeii. Much photographed near the restaurant, where she finds her daily cat food. And of course the cats in the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary.

Among Temples A, B, and D they can be found snoozing in the sunlight, or getting visitor attention on the walkways. They are the cats that have special needs which make adoption difficult and they can be "adopted" at a distance here.

As a much loved cat with a pet human, I don't fancy archeology. Though the rats sound great, and the visitors show proper admiration, I prefer lying under a radiator than lying under a Roman column!

Not for me the marble floors of a ruined temple. Give me the carpets of a human home! It's a pity that there are rarely rats, but the armchairs and beds make up for it.

Purring and its meanings

 

 

Hear Tilly purring here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMH0Q-3hEcw

 

We purr, therefore we are. Yet the purr means different things, depending on what is happening around us. 

An example of the happy relaxed purr can be found here It is my friend, Tilly, being stroked. Yet we also purr (with a tiny cry inside the purr) when we want something. Purrhaps when we want food from our humans.

And finally, some of us purr when we are at the veterinary surgery. It's a way of trying to soothe our anxiety and it may even help our pain.

But how do we make this low noise? We are only small animals and small animals make high rather than low noises? Scientists used to think we were moving the muscles of our voicebox or larynx.

Now they think it may be because we have pads on our vocal chords which press together and then start vibrating automatically, making this low noise.

Aren't we wonderful?

 

• To learn more about us buy Being Your Cat here
  
  
  
  

The oldies need you.....

Elderly Maggie waits for someone to love her.

When we get old and our fur becomes tatty, we need kind humans to help us. Especially if we are in a shelter waiting for a home.

We can't look beautiful when we have arthritis and our fur gets a bit rough, in those areas where we can't groom it.

We can't look graceful, if our aches and pains stop us jumping up high or being athletic.

We can't catch the adopters' eye if we are sleeping rather than playing. And we do sleep a lot.

We can give love. But only if a human recognises that we want to be a loving pet, rather than an old cat stuck for weeks and weeks in a pen waiting.

So please adopt the elderly.

I'm a tiger....

 

A domestic Bengal cat not a leopard!

We cats really are tigers -- small ones but nevertheless tigers. Or lions if you prefer. Tiny leopards in your kitchen?

Why?

Because we all have the same body plan and we all do the same thing - prey on other animals and eat them. We are totally carnivorous - "obligate carnivores" is the phrase.Or, you could say, serial killers.s

An evolution expert, Anjali Goswami, has said that we cats are perfect. We may vary in size but we don't change our shape and lifestyle pattern because we don't need to. 

Want to learn more? Read this interview in Scientific American. She says: Cats have nailed this one thing so well that they all do it and just come up with slightly different sizes. That’s why they’re perfect, evolutionarily. They don’t need variation."

There is one difference, however. Bit cats roar. We domestic cats purr. 

Which makes us even more purrfect....

I am not a vegan....

 

Stupid, stupid humans! A ridiculous bit of "scientific" research says cats are healthier on a vegan diet... though the statistics themselves say nothing of the kind.

We are not vegans. We are carnivores. We have to eat meat to stay healthy. What is more we are totally carnivorous - obligate carnivores. Unlike humans who are omnivores and can live on a vegan diet as long as they take supplements.

What do we cats have to do to make humans stop being so silly. We need meat. We enjoy meat. Food matters to us. We will slowly sicken and die if we don't get what our body needs.

Humans, don't believe that nonsense. Feed us proper cat food, which will include meat as protein. And feed us the food that comes from respectable providers, not some jumped-up firm importing bad stuff from China.

If you don't believe me, ask a vet. 

This is a reliable blog. Some are not. Let's say it one more time....

CATS ARE NOT VEGANS.

If cats were politicians....

 If cats were politicians, they'd do better than our politicians do.... After all, Larry the cat has lasted at number 10 Downing St much longer than any prime minister.

Now at last, a novel has come out which looks at what would happen in Whitehall if cats really were politicians. Cats whose humans read to them can find out more at catsociety.co.uk

I can't read human scratch posts but I welcome the idea of cats ruling Britain. There is every chance they would do a better job than the current humans.

Larry has shown dedicated service to the nation, a lack of corruption, no interest in sexual assaults or gropes, and a consistent honesty that has not been evident among those who have tried to lead our nation.

Help for bored cats

Indoor cats like me can't help getting bored - unless, of course, our humans work at  home. (If so we can play with their keyboards and their mouse - so called but not as good as a real one!).

My human got me a Funboard - so that I can spend some time poking food out of it. There's a video at the end of this post showing how I work it.

I would really like a live mouse that I could chase round the house then grab and kill - just like cats do. But this is better than nothing. It won't work for a big cat like a Maine coon because the openings are too small for big paws, but it works for me, an average size cat.

It can be put in the dishwasher and wet food could be put in those little round bowls. Get your human to give you one. If your human can't afford one, get some home-made ideas from my Celia's website here. You could make a cardboard version of your own using old lavatory rolls.