Cats.

[littleme]

All 3 of them being fussy really does point to something environmental really. How long has this been going on for?

Cats will generally eat anything if they get too hungry…

Probably from when I tried to get rid of the crate/bedroom. She/eldest doesn't want to eat or sleep with them (although is fine with them in the day), the other 2 will eat together, but the youngest only eats a tiny bit expecting to come back to it later, while middle cat will stuff all of her food then try to eat the little ones... She's then promptly sick.

They were fine with Purina for years, then nope, not eating that.

 

[That-Crazy-Rat-Lady]

I've recently been looking into better cat food for my three.

After scouring the internet the cheapest but best quality was coming in around £13 a kg!!

(Whiskers is £2.80 a kg so a massive jump!!)

All the best quality food seemed to boast that it was 100% meat and human grade.

Made me think - I can buy a tray of chicken thighs for £3.20 a kg.

That's exactly what I've done this week - popped it in the oven while tea was cooking, ripped it up and Tupperwared it!

They think it's Christmas!!

 

[Noah]

I would avoid Wiskas and other Pedigree pet food products. They used to have quite high levels of salt which can damage animals kidneys. They might have changed but I wouldn't rely on it.

 

[littleme]

I would avoid Wiskas and other Pedigree pet food products. They used to have quite high levels of salt which can damage animals kidneys. They might have changed but I wouldn't rely on it.

Thank you, they've had Purina for years , more expensive than whiskers, but now won't touch it
, whiskers they'd eat occasionally...

Maybe I'll try @That-Crazy-Rat-Lady suggestion, I'm already buying Mr fox chicken on a daily basis
.. but ours have always been fussy even with chicken & will only eat the chicken from inside Kim's kitchens chicken balls
.

 

[Glam]

I've recently been looking into better cat food for my three.

After scouring the internet the cheapest but best quality was coming in around £13 a kg!!

(Whiskers is £2.80 a kg so a massive jump!!)

All the best quality food seemed to boast that it was 100% meat and human grade.

Made me think - I can buy a tray of chicken thighs for £3.20 a kg.

That's exactly what I've done this week - popped it in the oven while tea was cooking, ripped it up and Tupperwared it!

They think it's Christmas!!

Cough!! Cough!! You have 3 cats????!!!!

 

[littleme]

Cough!! Cough!! You have 3 cats????!!!!

I'm pretty sure there was only 2 last time she told us....

 

[Cue]

I've recently been looking into better cat food for my three.

After scouring the internet the cheapest but best quality was coming in around £13 a kg!!

(Whiskers is £2.80 a kg so a massive jump!!)

All the best quality food seemed to boast that it was 100% meat and human grade.

Made me think - I can buy a tray of chicken thighs for £3.20 a kg.

That's exactly what I've done this week - popped it in the oven while tea was cooking, ripped it up and Tupperwared it!

They think it's Christmas!!

Purina Gourmet range and Sheba are a significant step up from Whiskers, try those. Zooplus, PetsAtHome or Amazon will be cheapest depending on the phase of the moon

 

[Gramaisc]

Being an experienced security professional, one of 'my' cat's key skills is 'behaviour profiling'. Recently, this has enabled her to successfully ambush me upon my return from evenings in the pub. Consequently, I then have a house guest for the night, after I gain access to the premises.

Last night, I was ready for this and I also hoped to disrupt her technique by returning via a lift in a car, which wouldn't be my normal method. I got out of the car on the other side of the road, to add to the 'behaviour disruption' that I thought might aid me in gaining sole access to the house. Before approaching the front door, I surveyed the area in front of the house - this is quite open and there was nobody to be seen there at all. So, I put the key in the lock and opened the door, only to find that I was the second person to enter the house.

The front door is at the back of a 'corner porch' and the 'open corner' is supported by a pillar a foot square. I can only assume that she was hiding behind this pillar.

Possibly as a recompense for unpaid accommodation costs, she has given the Shed a full security scan today.

 

[littleme]

Being an experienced security professional, one of 'my' cat's key skills is 'behaviour profiling'. Recently, this has enabled her to successfully ambush me upon my return from evenings in the pub. Consequently, I then have a house guest for the night, after I gain access to the premises.

Last night, I was ready for this and I also hoped to disrupt her technique by returning via a lift in a car, which wouldn't be my normal method. I got out of the car on the other side of the road, to add to the 'behaviour disruption' that I thought might aid me in gaining sole access to the house. Before approaching the front door, I surveyed the area in front of the house - this is quite open and there was nobody to be seen there at all. So, I put the key in the lock and opened the door, only to find that I was the second person to enter the house.

The front door is at the back of a 'corner porch' and the 'open corner' is supported by a pillar a foot square. I can only assume that she was hiding behind this pillar.

Possibly as a recompense for unpaid accommodation costs, she has given the Shed a full security scan today.

Sounds like living with Cato!

Cato Fong

Films: 7 Cato Fong is Clouseau's Chinese manservant, trained to attack him regularly to keep him alert and skilled in martial arts. Cato and Clouseau have a love-hate relationship, with their fights being long and vicious, as well as destructive to the furniture, and always interrupted by the...

pinkpanther.fandom.com

 

[Gramaisc]

Re-establishing the pecking order - or "I'm so badly fed that I have to survive on bird food!"

And "If I keep very still, they might think I'm a garden gnome?"

Also, I think I've realised part of her surveillance technique. Most of the lighting in the house is automated, but the amount of light in the kitchen goes up, via a manually-controlled light, if I am actually in there. This signals my presence quite reliably, even if my approach has gone undetected. Last night, having carefully accessed the house without being intercepted, I gave it five minutes with the kitchen light on and then went to look outside - there was a sentry on the doorstep.

 

[Gramaisc]

I have had a slight victory.

Last night, I was roped into a quiz in a neighbouring village, this meant that I had a lift there and back. My return in this manner seems to have caught the cat slightly off-guard, so, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her approaching to get to the front door just as I opened it. I had previously thought that she was hiding behind the support pillar for the porch, but she was, in fact, approaching along the base of the kitchen wall, and would have been out of my sight as she did this, if she hadn't been caught out and started just a tiny bit too early.

Investigations today have revealed the site of her OP.

This offers a safe, clear view of anybody accessing the site.

I have become aware that she is able to deduce the occupancy status of the house by the slight lighting pattern change, whether I am in or out after dark.

This makes me wonder if she has had KGB training? In the early years of the Reagan presidency, the USSR became increasing worried about the threat of the USA launching a pre-emptive nuclear attack. Part of the evidence that backed up this theory was provided by the embassy in Washington. They had a regular practice of driving 'aimlessly' around at night, but in a pattern that involved all five sides of the Pentagon. A chap in the back of the car was tasked with counting the number of windows that were illuminated. This was taken to be indicative of being planning for military operations. The more windows lit, the more that was going to happen. Suddenly, the number of windows lit in the evenings greatly increased and this caused deep concern in Moscow.

Eventually, they discovered that the change was actually caused by there just being a new cleaning contractor, who had a different approach to the preceding one and was just lighting the place up for their own convenience, rather than planning the destruction of the Soviet Union.

 

[Glam]

I have had a slight victory.

Last night, I was roped into a quiz in a neighbouring village, this meant that I had a lift there and back. My return in this manner seems to have caught the cat slightly off-guard, so, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her approaching to get to the front door just as I opened it. I had previously thought that she was hiding behind the support pillar for the porch, but she was, in fact, approaching along the base of the kitchen wall, and would have been out of my sight as she did this, if she hadn't been caught out and started just a tiny bit too early.

Investigations today have revealed the site of her OP.

View attachment 16357

This offers a safe, clear view of anybody accessing the site.

I have become aware that she is able to deduce the occupancy status of the house by the slight lighting pattern change, whether I am in or out after dark.

Ahem!
We don't want photos of the young ladies hidey-hole, we want photos of her!

 

[Noah]

I think I can see an eye and the outline of a head in the hidey hole

 

[Gramaisc]

I think I can see an eye and the outline of a head in the hidey hole

That could be possible*, of course, but they won't be her own....

She was safely asleep in the Shed, when I was checking for her possible observation posts, so I wasn't observed.




* Much like the component parts of the hare/rabbit that I found in the conservatory last year.

 

[basil]

'young ladies hidey hole' mmm, that got my interest.....

 

[Mudgie]

Meanwhile, north of the border

SNP to consider banning cats​

Owners could be forced to keep pets indoors or, in some cases, prohibited from owning them, to protect wild animals.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/02/snp-to-consider-banning-cats/?msockid=3d1876222e296a5930d865b82f3b6bcc

 

[Cue]

Meanwhile, north of the border

SNP to consider banning cats​

Owners could be forced to keep pets indoors or, in some cases, prohibited from owning them, to protect wild animals.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/02/snp-to-consider-banning-cats/?msockid=3d1876222e296a5930d865b82f3b6bcc

I’m sure this will go down well.

Don’t feck with cats.

Edit: oh never mind, just more bull from the Torygraph: https://www.thenational.scot/news/24905239.snp-really-considering-banning-cats-scotland/

 

[Gramaisc]

Owners could be forced to keep pets indoors

How would 'my' cat get between the various premises that she is responsible for? This is clearly not a workable policy.

She is, of course, not even theoretically subject to the jurisdiction of the neighbouring state and is not even required to be chipped here, so it doesn't really matter. In fact, she has no time for such nancy-boy stuff as collars, either.


* Even if she was confined to just here and nextdoor, then there are five separate buildings that need to be attended to.

 

[The Hawk]

How would 'my' cat get between the various premises that she is responsible for? This is clearly not a workable policy.

She is, of course, not even theoretically subject to the jurisdiction of the neighbouring state and is not even required to be chipped here, so it doesn't really matter. In fact, she has no time for such nancy-boy stuff as collars, either.


* Even if she was confined to just here and nextdoor, then there are five separate buildings that need to be attended to.

 

[Gramaisc]

Ahem!
We don't want photos of the young ladies hidey-hole, we want photos of her!

I did consider posting a photo of the cat yesterday, but then, in the end, I decided against it.

Her overnight occupations of the house have included subjecting me to a steady programme of nocturnal socialisation. Initially, she would sleep on the duvet, above the locations of my calves. Then, I would sometimes wake up with her sleeping on the duvet, next to my ear, with her head on the pillow.

During the colder spells, she would get under the duvet. But, now, on frosty mornings, I have twice woken up with her under the duvet, curled up on my nether regions, for the additional warmth.

I did think that a picture of this arrangement might be just too exciting for the more delicate lady followers of this thread.