Cat Chat Feline Forum

I am so very sorry for your loss. I hope that you were able to take her home and lay her to rest in your garden, where she will always be with you and you can see her and speak with her always. People say that it gets easier with time. I have never found that. All I have found is that you accept it ...

My thoughts are with all of you and my deepest sympathy for your loss, be it animal or person. After I submitted the thread, I did think I should have mentioned about animals grieving for people. There have been many amazing counts of how animals have grieved for people just after those people have ...

I do think it depends on the individual animal and your own circumstances. My Sister lives nearly one hundred miles from us and when she first had her cats, she would bring them with her when she came to stay. My cats were absolutely fine with all of my other animals, and with the animals that I wou...

I think it is important to show your remaining animals the one who has passed away so they can see and understand what has happened to their beloved family member or friend, and they can get to spend some final time with them and say their own goodbyes. I have done this whenever one of my animals ha...

I am so sorry to hear of your loss and my thoughts are with you. Having to say goodbye to a beloved animal is never easy, no matter how or why the reason. Your little boy will be looking to you more for company and they will feel the same loss as you. Be there for each other and spend as much time a...

I can understand how you feel. I have always had animals in my life, most of the time I have had more than one type and multiples of them. The most I had at the same time was 4 dogs, 2 cats, 3 hamsters, 3 rats, different species of fish and of birds. I have also had rabbits, ducks, ferrets,.... the ...

I am so sorry. I know exactly what you are going through. I am pretty sure that the diarrhoea is a sign that her kidney failure is advanced and near the last stage. My gorgeous big ginger Tom cat was diagnosed with advanced kidney failure, and within five weeks I had to make the horrible, but kindes...

No, do not give it to your other cats. Special food will have things taken out that healthy animals need or things put in which healthy animals do not need. When I had to say my last goodbye to my tom cat as he had kidney failure, I was able to pass his unused food to my Sister who has a cat with th...

Cussypat, I totally understand your point. Unfortunately, the enforcing of the law, whether nationally or internationally, comes down to money and the priority that the Government, police, individuals, give it. Simply that. Low on the agenda. Money to have staff, to send them to places, to prosecute...

There seems to be a few main issues here, all of which affect your cats behaviour. The first issue is that he clearly does not seem to have been socialised correctly, in that during the first few months of his life he has not been handled by people in the right way. Secondly he clearly has not had a...

booktigger, I have been involved with animal & environmental rights & welfare all my life. My views have always been the same & trying to adopt indoor cats has just confirmed what I already thought. My briefish history - My Dad's family have land in the country & are lovers of the co...

Maybe I have not explained it very well.... The centralisation would be a 'starting point' which would apply to all rescues, rehoming centres, etc. This would mean that all rescues have the same policies based on the welfare of the animals and on the accepted terms of welfare according to the law, t...

I do apologise for my mistake regarding cats wearing collars. It is not current law for cats in the UK, it is optional, although it is highly recommended by most organisations, and it is looking to be introduced. It is current law for dogs. I was thinking of a few things at once and got ahead of mys...

I am so glad she is in good health and it is nothing serious. Good to know there are no matts and her skin is good. I remember a cat who was a stray and 'belonged' to a neighbour of my Sister's who looked not that much different from Mama Cass in the photo, and on closer inspection he needed a lot o...

Crewella, have you read the post that I did just before you did yours? If gives some points on how you can fund raise without taking people away from your rescue, and also how to use relationships with other rescues to help with fundraising, fosters, etc. Centralisation would be a better way of reho...

booktigger, again I agree with you. I know there are limits on what places can do. I know how hard it is, trust me. I rescued my two cats when they were around one week old. They were found born wild by some boys who mistreated them. A neighbour came and got me and I rescued the kittens. I fed them ...

Crewella, I also completely get your point. I totally understand why rescues have limited resources, spaces, and why they must prioritise. I understand that they cannot simply take every animal that is brought to them. That those in the most need, the worst neglect, have to come first. That the wait...

No matter what orgainisation you volunteer or work for, or if you do it in your own home just because you love animals, you feel for all of the animals that you have, whether they come and stay or are assessed and passed on to someone else to care for. It is natural. It is also incredibly hard. Anyo...

In MHO, it sounds as if these poor cats were not socialised correctly. The optimum time for socialising is between 2 to 8 weeks in order to get them used to being handled. If they do not have that and then if they live feral or are abused, any contact with people is stressful. I think you have all d...

My two cats have been indoor cats since they were rescued at around one week old. I have always given them a wide range of toys and played with them lots! They also loved playing with each other too, and loved playing chase all over the house, and jumping on and off the beds as they chased each othe...

I just wondered how the first day of the fundraising went? Very well I hope! Good luck for tomorrow x

You are more than welcome. Just glad I can help. I am sure more people will offer advice too. I can see why it can be seen as suspicious for someone to want a female, but there are people who find that female cats are more loving and easier to bond with. I personally have no preference either way, I...

From what I can see on the photo she does need a good clip, bless her. One thing to think about is, and I am sorry for adding to the list, is not just the fur she is ingesting, but long fur can also cause terrible ear infections, lots of matted hair in the ears can also cause deafness. I would also ...

I always advise people to check that the organisations they are dealing with are legit. These are a few links that are, IMHO, the best to use: Government Offical Charity Commision https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ...

Just a note to say that when you, and also anyone who helps, has any contact with Mama Cass try to ensure that you wear gloves and your arms, etc., are fully covered. Ringworm can be passed from animals to people. If it does turn out to be ringworm, you may have to take in your own cats to be tested...

It could be as simple as stress. If she is getting a lot of un-wanted attention, that will cause her to look for somewhere high up and out of the way, it could also be playing havoc with her hormones too. One thing I would be concerned of, is the eating of rats. Do you know anyone who is poisoning r...

I personally find that you should not judge places based on the response you get from one person. I recently dealt with a great person who was very helpful and when I called back the next day and asked for the same person again, they were out on a rescue. So the person on the phone insisted she knew...

The type of moulting that you are describing, where the fur matts in clumps and then falls off, sounds like the moulting you see in animals such as camels and llamas. I have not seen it in cats as a rule. Normally due to the type of fur cats have, the matts just get bigger and bigger. And having a b...

I would definately not let her be. I know that trapping is very stressful for the cat and for the people involved. In this situation I would do it sooner rather than later. I groom and clip animals of all types. I taught myself clipping when I had my first dog and it went from there. People do not k...

I am in favour of indoor cats - which is something that I know has a lot of myths surrounding it, which causes some people seeing it as a complete no no. I have had my cats as indoor cats from very young kittens. I have spoken to many experts in cat behaviour, vets, animal inspectors, etc., and they...