Fire Works
Posted: Thu 7 November, 2013 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Getting Old(er) Leave a comment »This year, the cats have been OK (in general) with fireworks again. There seem to have been more of them in the village than last year – although it’s still nothing like the warzone that Bracknell became throughout October to January. Still, at least I don’t have a moronic and hyper Hound to deal with.
Personally, I don’t mind fireworks. I like seeing them – not really surprised, with a birthday of November 5th. I know that animals aren’t overly keen, but my lot have been OK. They stay inside more – which is fine with me, considering how vile the weather’s been – and can crowd me a bit for security (and yes, I do think that might be why the Bengal is sleeping on my bed at night) but it’s all good.
Driving home from work on Tuesday I even got to see some of the fireworks from local displays, which is always pleasant.
Life really is a much more peaceful experience without Hound, it has to be said.
A Warm Resting Place
Posted: Wed 6 November, 2013 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Sleep - or lack thereof Leave a comment »Over the last couple of weeks, the Bengal cat has been very strange – even by her standards. For the first time in three years, she’s been sleeping on my bed – without attacking my feet.
I don’t mind (too much) in general – it’s probably a good sign that the autistic little twatbag is feeling quite settled and trusting. Or alternatively that she’s not feeling settled, but trusts me enough to use me for comfort.
Mind you, last night she spent most of it sleeping on me as if I were a tree-branch. Very cat, very Bengal, and not at all comfortable for the two-legs. But of course that’s not important in cat-world, it’s about finding a warm resting place that doesn’t move too much.
She’s also been sitting on me more during the evening, and if not fully asleep then enough that she’s comfortable and relaxed. (By “not fully asleep” I mean that if I move too much, she’ll either open her eyes and glare at me, or get off in a huff)
Regardless, it’s quite weird and noteworthy. I’ve always been aware that Bengals can be quite a handful to live with – and she’s shown that on *many* occasions – but also that once they’ve decided that the two-legs is “OK”, things relax a bit. I’m not counting my chickens just yet – we’ve had too many ups and downs over the years for me to do that – but right now I’m pretty sure she’s feeling settled though – and it’s only taken 18 months in the new house to get to this point.
Carnage – or Gift of “Love” part 2
Posted: Mon 20 May, 2013 Filed under: Animals, Domestic 2 Comments »Following on from my post the other day regarding being greeted on my return home by a pile of feathers, this morning I came downstairs to this…
Three bird corpses on a doormat
Yeah, thanks for that, cats.
The thing that pisses me off the most with this is related to the great lie about “Only humans kill things for fun”. It’s so blatantly untrue. In this case, the cats aren’t hungry, they just wanted to kill things. There was plenty of meat etc. remaining. Foxes do the same – they don’t kill one chicken because they’re hungry – they kill all of them, because it’s fun.
I know, they’re cats. Blah blah blah. But still, a totally pointless piece of killing.
Fuckers.
Naming Conventions
Posted: Mon 20 May, 2013 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Introspective, Weirdness 1 Comment »This weekend I realised something really odd, which is this…
Even though all three cats have names , I never call them by those names – and I don’t know why. Even when talking about them to others, I usually identify them by breed rather than name.
I really can’t explain why I do it, it’s certainly not been a conscious decision.
All very odd. But it’s going to be a nightmare if I ever do lose one of them, because there’s little to no chance they’ll respond to their name…
A Gift of “Love”
Posted: Sun 19 May, 2013 Filed under: Animals, Domestic Leave a comment »Last night, I’d been out at the cinema, and came home to what can only be described as a load of feathers in the front room.
I’m not sure which cat had brought in the bird. From the state of the feathers, it was only a young one, so I’m assuming it had fallen out of a nest somewhere and been brought home.
Far, far more worrying is that I can’t find any sign of the remains. I’ve checked through the living room (including behind the sofa, under book cases etc.) and the rest of the house, but there’s nothing. Not even the “beak and feet” option, which I’ve seen with other cats in the past.
So it’s either a) escaped, b) been wholly eaten or c) the remains are very well hidden. B currently seems far more likely, and I’ll only find out about c if/when it starts to smell…
Giving In
Posted: Sun 24 March, 2013 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Introspective Leave a comment »A while back – mid-October, to be exact – I adopted a new cat, Cleo, the Egyptian Mau.
In general, she’s settled in to the house well, and handled getting spayed etc. just fine. But I’m coming to the point where I have to admit that I simply can’t give her the life she wants/needs. I hate it, and it’s the first time I’ve ever had to admit defeat with an animal. Even with Psycho Cat (and the Bengal) I’ve been able to sort them out.
But at the end of the day, yeah, I can’t give her the time and space she needs. She needs fields and gardens to roam, which I don’t have. I think she needs someone ideally who’s at home all the time, and can feed and fuss her on her timescales. Additionally, she’s a stomach-on-legs – I’ve never seen a cat that eats so much, and I know it’s not worms as she’s been checked for that.
I’m researching options, talking to people I know in the cat-rehoming world, and finding out what’s going to be best.
I don’t like giving up on things like this, but sometimes you have to acknowledge that whatever you’re doing just isn’t right, isn’t good enough. I think this might just be one of those times.