The Perfect Pet

[davidc4430]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJWsdC9Kuqc

[zanadoo_56]

Unfortunately I probably don't trim my cat's claws as often as I should.  It's funny though.  She struggles and PURRS at the same time as I'm attempting to clip them.  It's as though she is thinking: 'I don't like getting my claws clipped but I enjoy making it as difficult as possible for my slave.'

As you know from my posts I know Burmese cats very well.  It wasn't the claws I was thinking of, but the fact that Burmese (especially the males) can be surprisingly heavier than they look.  Their fondness for standing on sleeping humans and staring down at you face to face can be like plonking a small but heavy wooden side table on your chest....then the cat jumps on top of it for good measure.  Yikes!

Many years ago in a local cat show one of my Burmese (a blue cream) lost points for 'being too light'.  I was very green when it came to cat shows in those days and thought it referred to a fault in her colouring.  What the judge meant was that given her age and robust health, she seemed underweight.  Funny, to the end of her days (and she lived to a very good age) she was never as heavy as the other Burmese cats in the family, but from my experience she certainly seemed the exception to the rule. 🙂

[davidc4430]

i have allways made food available all the time for my cats and none have ever gotten 'fat'

i get told a lot by people if you feed them all the time and being indoors only they will get overweight and have helth problems.

well i can only say for my experience this has never happened and my cats have all lived very long lives. between 16 and 20 years.

they have all been desexed females, 1 moggie, 2 burmese and 2 scottish folds, over the past 35 years or so.

not counting rosie the latest to join the gang.

the moggie was my first cat, i found her in a dump prolly only 6 weeks old. she was tiny, fitted in a teacup. she lived to 19 years old.

good food, regular vet checks and lots of TLC is my recipe.

being indoors means no getting into fights but i do have to run several litter trays and change the litter daily.

[zanadoo_56]

My cats have never been fat either.  The point I was making about Burmese is they might feel very heavy but they never look it.  It's a characteristic of the breed.  I assume it is all muscle.  You really notice the difference between expecting to hold a fairly light perhaps skinny looking cat (well you know the oriental cat look) and discovering it's heavier than you expected.  I owned a male Burmese and I used to wonrder where he put it..there was no fat on him gosh he was a heavy cat.

Good food, regular vet checks and lots of TLC is my philosophy as well.  My first cat was a stripey tabby with white paws who was an indoor/outdoor cat.  Mind you kitty litter wasn't a common thing to buy then.  Most of my cats have been female. 

It's only with my current cat that I've had a small outdoor run built.  I wish I'd had it for the Burmese - they would have loved it, but quick installation modular units complete with viewing platforms and hammock beds were just not available in those days.

[davidc4430]

rosie has the ability to be light or heavy, sometimes you think shes swallowed a pile of lead weights and other times she feels so light.

living out here in the country sometimes getting kitty litter is a problem, the stores every now and then run out of stock and can take weeks to get it in.

so ive got an old 60litre drum out in the shed and have it filled, took a lot of bags.

i keep it topped up so when the stores have none i can go weeks without it.

[zanadoo_56]

Good thinking!

I buy the clay / fuller's earth cat litter (Chandlers brand) which is pretty much like the original kitty litter that first came on the market in the 50s and 60s.  The cat prefers it, it's odour reducing and it doesn't cost a fortune.  I never buy the supermarket versions as their litter is a mix of coarse pebbles and inferior clay reduced to the consistency of talcum powder.  Awful stuff.

When the supermarkets stopped selling Chandlers for a time I found an online pet company I could order it from.  Sadly they seem to have gone out of business so I sure hope Coles and Woolies continue to sell Chandlers.

[davidc4430]

i buy woolies and foodland and i mix it together to get a good mixture that rosie seems to like.

the things we do for our furry friends huh? lol

[davidc4430]

getting warm today, FOO had a bath yesterday and clean beds.

[davidc4430]

greyhound rescue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ1LC3PwEYQ

a little dated but still true to this day, too many dogs being bred and not enough homes after their usefulness is over.

i would love to believe no dogs are being dumped dead in the bush without ears, but i know its bound to be going on still.

[davidc4430]

[davidc4430]

greyhound loves cats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geoGfiUi2iU