Cats. What Else?

Xavier and I shared a can of niblet corn. He loves the “sweet”.

I swear he hears the can opener and knows it means corn.

He’s good for 4 or 5 teaspoon servings typically.

Xavier has always been too timid to venture into the hallway on our floor.

In the past he would stick his nose out briefly then make a beeline for his hideaway.

He has never been fond of visitors aka “strangers”.

But something has changed.

The last time he poked his head out he commenced a very serious low continuous growling before scampering back inside.

Last week I held him in my arms and opened the door, again he started with the growling before panicking and leaping from my arms so he could bravely run away.

Yesterday we heard a noise in the hall. Xavier was in his hammock which is situated just behind my head when I am seated at my desk.

He began to growl in the same serious fashion.

Then he ran for cover when I opened the door to see the what the fuss was about.

No idea what brought this on. Weird.

Xavier weighs 11 pounds.

I found that out when we went to the Vet last week.

He developed a runny eye that was clearly irritated as he blinked and squinted continuously.

Vet took eye pressures and also looked for other signs of the irritation and nothing came up.

His appetite, functions and activity level were all normal despite the runny eye.

She prescribed a combo anti-biotic steroid eye drop – TobraDex.

It had an almost immediate positive effect.

I have a 7 day “drops in both eyes” regime to follow which ends Thursday repeated after 5 days of no drops should symptoms recur.

So far so good but I did notice a bit of blinking this morning.

That Ramen box is his favourite space next to a shoebox and he likes to lay on his scratch board more than scratch.

Nasa has streamed an ultra high-definition video of a cat back to Earth from the depths of space.

The 15-second clip of Taters the cat was sent via laser – and fittingly shows it chasing a laser beam.

Footage of the orange tabby travelled 19 million miles – some 80 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

A cat is still looking for a new home after more than 100 days at a rescue centre because he keeps being overlooked – for appearing to be too grumpy.

Nine-year-old Flash was discovered as a stray, but has had little interest from potential new owners due to his age and glum demeanor.

Real-life cat burglar Harry has spent years helping himself to items including a purse, sausages and M&S sports bras

A woman is having to return hundreds of pounds worth of items that were stolen by her pet cat.

Real-life cat burglar Harry wanders into neighbours’ homes on a weekly basis helping himself to food and clothes.

My cat Xavier is insane.

The receiver for my ceiling fan remote died so I opted to go Old School and purchased a couple of decorative pull chains, one for the fan and one for the light.

For some reason they freaked Xavier out, as in scared him crapless.

I have had to hide them in the fixture and I suspect he knows they are still attached … waiting to pounce.

At this point I have stopped the fan, next I will turn off the light to see if sanity can be restored.

If that fails I will uninstall the pull chains.

So it looks like the two varieties of wet cat food that Xavier eats consistently may have become permanently unavailable.

As explained by the PetValue guy the contract manufacturer just won’t schedule their orders in a timely manner as they are too small relative to the large runs they prefer.

That’s unfortunate as they were reasonably priced relative to a lot of what’s available.

I am down to two tins of the “salmon” he likes and about 18 tins of the “chicken pate” he loves and I had to drive around to 5 different stores to secure those supplies.

He eats a little dry every day but much prefers his wet.

We experienced a similar supply shortage last year and it was maddening trying to find another variety he would eat.

Typically with “new food” he will for all appearances enjoy the first serving then turn up his nose at the rest.

The one brand he does like other than his fave is now priced wildly out of range at nearly 5 bucks per 5 ounce tin. It’s so out of hand that PetValue will likely drop the line.

So… has anyone had experience making DIY cat wet cat food? I tried a simple chicken and potato recipe that I pureed in the blender and he did eat it but I have not yet sourced the Cat specific minerals that are evidently needed for his health.

I cooked him a haddock filet as trial, it was devoured, but in my research I see that no ‘reliable source” recommends real fish as a steady diet, only as a once a week treat. Some fish like tuna may pose a mercury hazard to cats. Haddock is apparently not one of them but still not recommended as a staple.

I wonder if the Pet Food companies, and it is a Billion Dollar industry, deliberately spread disinfo about DIY pet food and other alternatives to their offerings.

Let me know what you think and tip me to any recipes you may have found.

Cat Surrendered For Being Too Cuddly Finds True Love In Time For Christmas

The other day, Julia Wood was at an adoption event when she noticed a black and white cat in one of the kennels, seeming to call out for affection. Wood decided to move in for a closer look.

It was then that she learned the heartbreaking story behind how the friendly cat had ended up without someone to love her.

h/t DM

Feline OK? Alberta app uses AI to test your cat’s mood and health

Cats can be complicated creatures. But there are hints about their happiness written all over their furry faces.

“There’s lots of pain scales out there that look at facial features,” said Dr. Liz Ruelle with the Wild Rose Cat Clinic. “The shape of the whiskers, how are those ears set? That sparkle in the eyes.”

This is pretty cool. Pip was an incredibly stoic little fellow and it was much much too late before his symptoms showed.

I wonder if the app could have helped.

h/t JR

My routine.

1. Make Coffee or feed cat first depending on how insistent he is.
2. Clean litter box under cat supervision
3. Grab coffee sit down at computer
4.  Accept that cat will jump into my arms and wish to sleep there for as long as he desires risking injury should I move and disturb him or God forbid attempt to set him down.
5.  Feed at least twice more before 8 am.
6.  Fend off further hostile arm sleeps.
7. Deal with maniac staring game until I give in and toss him toys to catch. Rinse and repeat until he tires.

He stares like a feline Boo Radley, unrelenting, simultaneously menacing and pitiful. He will not stop until you toss the damn toys. If you don’t he’ll topple the bucket.

Xavier and I are slowly adapting to one another. He was as I now understand more feral than domestic.

Overall his behavior has improved however much damage was done to my arms and several items of furniture in the process.

I did purchase Feliway cat pheromone which I spray on the areas he uses as illicit scratching posts and it does calm him and prevent him from scratching. Interestingly he is not seeking out alternate illicit scratching posts instead relying on the dedicated ones I have provided. I do recommend Feliway.

We are working on his play style, when he roughhouses he tends to bite & scratch until he draws blood. 0 to 60 in seconds but slowly he’s learning to let up.

That said he is a loving little guy, a few issues yes but we’re working on it.

We may struggle at times but we are learning to struggle together.