Life sucks ...

There is a delightful short film for children called The Mousehole Cat, made using the lovely illustrations from a childrens' book of the same name by Antonia Barber and Nicola Bayley. How "Mowser" tamed the Storm Cat by singing to it.

It's a lovely little story with beautiful illustrations
 
We got the book! There is a shop in Mousehole, called The Mousehole, tiny, dangerously perched on a corner with foot and car traffic sharing what little road there is. They sell all the Mowser stuff, book, video and little black and white cats made at Babbacombe Pottery. :)

Last time we visited it was for the 23rd of December procession thru the village that is made by children carrying cat and fish shaped lanterns. The tiny bay & all the boats are lit and they ask for donations towards the lights. It is beautiful, really charming. The Ship Inn serve Stargazy pie, pilchards facing upwards, and the landlord dresses up as Old Tom, the legendary fisherman who took his boat out on Christmas Eve with Mowser singing to the Storm Cat to calm the waves so that the village, who were without fish, could eat.

I had thought it was just a story, however he and Mowser are indeed real. You can see the cottage they lived in, and most of the cat population of Mousehole is black anmd white, reportedly descendants of Mowser and her family.

Every cat over, and fish lover ought to visit. The fish and chips we had at The Ship Inn were the best I've tasted for years and years.
 
It's a lovely book, isn't it? They show the parade at the end of the film, with Sian Phillips narrating.

I bought the video, then the DVD for the nephews and nieces, but never got around to actually giving it to them. They only watched it when they came to visit and Auntie somehow kept it.

Mousehole sounds a lovely place, and it certainly seems to be close to your heart Isi.
 
Doubtless a fav of the cats, too!

My poor little Dougal has developed a flea allergy. He has scratched himself bald around his face and neck and looks as though he has been scalded. He has even drawn blood on two places on his face.

I had been treating the wounds with salt water and Vetzyme antibiotic powder, which dries and heals things very quickly, but his bare skin is getting dry and itchy now, so have started putting on aloe vera gel.

He looks like ET now, with huge eyes and a skinny, bald little neck. It hurts to look at him, although he is as full of life as ever.
 
Liver and bacon casserole in the oven.

Little ginger and white cat sitting right in front of oven door watching it bubble, and talking to me over his shoulder to make sure that I don't forget him when serving-up time comes!
 
I love the way they just know when we cook something for them. Of course it is for them!

Poor Dougal has been thru so much. All of this ruins their immune system so that the flea bite reaction is normal in his circumstances. Anyway, I know how he feels, the berludy little fleas have big bites and awful itch. I hate being bitten by them.

I used aloe too on mine and the kitties and it worked, kept it cool, and I combed the cats frantically to catch the buggers. Cats were so grateful they follwed me about the house wanting to be combed. I find fleas bad each year just as winter comes, like they know they need to get in the house.

Be careful if you use any kind of flea killer on him, when immune system is compromised they can have allergic reaction to the pesticide.
 
He sits on my lap while I rub his neck with the gel. He seems to enjoy it because he presses against my hand the way a horse will while its being groomed.

Since I applied the gel, the cuts on his face have healed up very quickly and his itching has stopped.

I think, however, that a lot of the itching was due to new hair growth, as he now has a peachy fuzz on the bare bits of his neck. Hopefully it will start to grow more quickly as the colder weather sets in.

I'll keep an eye on the flea-killer situation, though. I had thought that maybe it had caused a reaction as the fur around where I applied it has gone all dry and stary. May return to old fashioned sprays and powders in future.
 
The hair on the back of his neck is now very sparse and also on top of his head, the rest of his body has a full covering of fur (bar the breeches). He's charging around at the top of the road and - I hate to say it, but it does look funny - looks like a turkey!!
 
Love it! :lol:

He sounds kind of like an old teddy bear, all worn in some places and fuzzy in others, but very much loved. :<3:

We had to build a step system for the cats to get in and out of the cat flap that was installed in our window. Turns out the window ledge was just too narrow, cats slipping off all the time. So, whipped up this wood contraption which allows the critters to jump up, sit and carefully navigate the flap.

The black cat Minnie had kittens when a kitten herself and her back legs are deformed through malnutrition. She has a kind of bow legged stance, so this makes it easy for her. Cute to watch the 3 of them lined up on their 'deck' by their back door.
 
Sweeeet! The things we do for love.

The guy next door has two cats and a small white dog called Maggie. There was a catflap which she learned to use as a puppy, but as she got bigger she just didn't fit anymore, so he installed a flap for cats/small dogs. As she matured, her shape wouldn't allow her to stand on her hind legs and climb in, so big softy Matt scrounged a tractor tyre off a mate, and a large flagstone off another and made her a step up. She skips quite happily in and out now.

The "Mattie and Maggie Show" was on this morning. He is a bit deaf, so always talks loudly enough to be heard a couple of doors away. Some mornings, like this one, he has the kitchen door open, forgets and sings "Maggie May" to the dog, who joins in!

Dougal now looks well 'ard. He has a red Mohican!!!

I've told him that if he persists in beating up the neighbourhood, I will have "Love" and "Hate" tatooed on each front paw. He must have liked the idea 'cause he purred and licked my hand.
 
redhead said:
I've told him that if he persists in beating up the neighbourhood, I will have "Love" and "Hate" tatooed on each front paw. He must have liked the idea 'cause he purred and licked my hand.
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Ha ha ha! The Ozzy of cats ..... :p

Love the dog/catflap story. And good to know we are not alone in our devotion to our 4 legged mates. :)

My nutty 3 cats who were not that thrilled about our guests takiong over 'their' bedroom for 3 weeks are now refusing to get out of, or off of the departing ones suitcases. Despite what they think, Cats are just not that useful when it comes to packing. So funny .....
 
Oz always used to get into my bag/case to try to stop me going or hopefully take him with me. He did like travelling, so it would have been fun.

Have you ever come across a book called Travelling Cat by a chap called Frederick Harrison? He took a feline friend (Pugwash) around the country in an old mini traveller. He met a lot of interesting people and Pugs made lots of new friends.

The night they shared a curry is funny if you've ever experienced a cat with bad wind problems.
 
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Thanks, I will look this book up, have not read it. Sounds great! :)

I think some cats like a bit of travel, but not all of them. Some hate being in the car. I had one rescued cat who was used to it from a young age due to vet visits and he loved going anywhere. He sadly was born with a deformed heart valve and only lived just over a year. Otherwise I reckon he would be a travel blogger now!
 
It's only a short read, but lots of nice b/w photo's (mostly of Pugs). The chap who wrote it is/was a scriptwriter/editor for the BBC.

It's funny how some love to travel in a car and others really hate it. Max was a silent kitten until she made her first visit to the vet's then it was "YOOOOOOOWWWWWL". My Dad nearly jumped out of his skin.

Tilly on the other hand is allowed to sit up in the basket with the lid off, as she likes to watch everything go by.

We have a rather unpleasant situation going on a few doors down from us and I am not sure what, if anything I can do about it.

The family who live there have a pet cat, a pretty tabby. She has been spayed and is well looked after.

However, their second cat is the cause for concern.

They always manage to obtain an un-neutered female kitten, let her get into kit and have 3 or 4 litters on the bounce, then suddenly that cat vanishes while still pregnant.

This has happened 4 times in the 6 years that they have been living nearby and the pattern is predictable now. My mother remarked to me on a visit that the little calico cat was in kit again and we worked out that this would have been her fourth litter in 2 years (her age!).

Sure enough, a few days before the kittens were due, the little cat vanished. My neighbour asked the bloke if she had had her kittens and he replied that he didn't know as she had vanished before giving birth.

This has happened to 4 different cats now and they all disappeared before having their 3rd/4th litters.

My mother and I have a theory that they are running a small business as round here you can get £50 for a kitten. Given a healthy litter of 5 with all surviving, that's £250 and nearly £1k from each cat in several litters. Then get rid of the cat when she starts to weaken or is likely to need veterinary care.

There is absolutely no way that all 4 cats got killed/catnapped just days before having their third/fourth litter. I hope that they are being taken to the animal shelter or CPL as "strays" and I hope that they have found good homes for them and their kittens as they have all been strikingly pretty cats with sweet temperaments.
 
3 helicopters have already landed and 2 are circling to land. Some poor souls are in trouble, Heaven help them.

Theatres will be busy tonight.

Hope everyone is okay.
 
Sounds awful about the pregnant cats. Poor things. Sadly my Mother used to do that when I was little, and this is probably what led me to rescue strays. I dreaded coming home from school to find another of my pets gone to who knows where.

Want to smack people who do this. :(

Thunder and lighteneing today really scared my lot, all big tailed and inside.

There was an awful accident in our village main road tonite. One dead, and road blocked off. Not sure what happened, major though, there was a fire as well as at least 3 cars. This is not a really busy road. but people drive far too fast and there is a blind spot coming up a hill. It's terrible and spooked me badly. Only an hour before I drove that exact spot. And I nearly left it later and would have been there just about then.

I don't think they would take them to your hospital, Swindon is near, but cannot be sure.

I think we must always be grateful for just still being here.
 
Sounds like kitten farming, and that ought to be reported to the local RSPCA, which you can do in confidence, I believe. We've just had PUP AID here in Stanmer Park, well supported by a lot of big names in rock 'n' pop, to help stamp out puppy farming - although, as I said before, when I approached the RSPCA about this some years ago, their response was bizarre, to say the least. That they didn't stamp it out, as they'd rather know where the farms were, than have it go underground.

What do you think these people are doing with the queens, Redhead? Killing them themselves? Or abandoning them? I can't see vets putting down healthy cats, and I'd imagine a local shelter might have suspicions by now. There are various cat rescues which might help you, but some form of action would be good.
 
It does sound very like kitten farming and now that this is the fifth or sixth queen to go missing after having several litters, my suspicions have been confirmed, so something must be done.

It's such a pity as they don't get to grow to proper cat size and always remains at 3/4 the size they should be because they get into kit as soon as they come into season the first time. Poor little things.

I'm not sure what happens to the queens, whether they pass them on to other people, or to various animal charities.

I remember about 3 years ago they had an adorable little black cocker spaniel puppy, went on holiday and gave it away rather than pay for kennelling (or so it seemed, looking on from the outside). Someone came to the house the night before they went on holiday and took the kitten and the puppy, I thought to look after while away, but never saw either again.

Just hope they all go to decent homes - including the "redundant" queens.
 
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There are a lot of cat charities now and it would be pretty easy to take a queen to one and say she had 'happened' upon your home and was not yours. A friend of mine takes in a lot this way, knowing full well the person does own them. But she would rather just get the cat than argue and lose the chance to help it. People can be so devious and cruel at times.

Trouble is that although this helps the kitten get a good start, often the queen is not found a home. Sad truth is that many of them are pts. I had one, she was stunted, unhealthy and very wary of people. Heartbreaking.

I have never found the RSPCA that helpful in these cases. Their hands are tied unless cruelty can be proven, and they are reluctant to investigate a case unless the cat is half dead or harmed. However it is worth a try I reckon, see what they say about this. Maybe if one of them was even willing to visit the people and warn them there have been complaints. Trouble is that they may realise it was you and this could create very bad relations.

Sadly it is also not actually against the law to use a cat to sell kittens and then to discard her to a shelter - no law prevents this!

I have been a volunteer a long time, and admit that sometimes I have not conducted myself exactly according to the law. When I worked at Battersea we had repeat dogs returning whose owners threw them out while on hols. After 3 strikes a few of these dogs found new kinder homes and when the owners came calling we suffered severe memory losses. ;)

I'd be tempted to pre-empt the situ if possible by 'helping' the queen find a better home. Cats disappear all the time .....
 
I suppose an alternative is to put up a big sign outside their house in the dead of night, saying:

CAT FARM - WE BREED 'EM - YOU NEED 'EM - WHEN THEY'RE NO USE, WE WEED 'EM! DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHERE THEY COME FROM, BECAUSE WE DON'T CARE WHERE THEY'RE GOING!!
 
Had a worrying day with Dougal on Thursday. He had his chemo on Wednesday and the vet told me that he hadn't wanted to take his pills. He does get a bit stressed and depressed when he has been to the vet, so recently I have been getting my mum to kittysit the following day, just to make sure that he has company while I am out at work.

I got home on Thursday to be met by my mother at the door looking worried and tearful. Dougal hadn't eaten a thing and had spent all day in a cardboard box shivering, after wandering around trying to get comfortable on various seats and chairs. She had been so worried that she had taken one of his small rugs off a chair and put it over him to keep him warm and he had been asleep there all afternoon.

When I went in he was barely able to open his eyes and just let me stroke him before closing them again. The Ma and I had a cup of tea and a chat for 1/2 an hour or so, then headed into the kitchen as she had brought some stuff in for me to make a liver and bacon casserole. She then kindly offered to make it while I sat with Dougal for a few minutes.

He lay in his box with his chin propped on the edge. He looked so poorly that I was really quite worried. Mum started to open kitchen draws and one ear flickered. Then she opened the fridge and both ears flickered; then to the vegetable rack and both hears pricked up. Chopping sounds next and the nose began to quiver; strong smell of onion wafted in and the eyes opened. Then came the sound of rustling bags being opened. I went into the kitchen to suggest that we try him on a tiny bit of raw liver - and nearly tripped over cat who got there before me.

Tried him on a tiny bit of raw liver - didn't touch the sides. He then spent the next 10 minutes wrapped around Mum's ankles until she gave him a bit more. When the casserole went into the oven, Dougal sat in front of the door watching it cook.

He had a bowl of cooked liver with plenty of juice on it, ate half and went back to finish it a couple of hours later. He looked so much better. Very relieved Redhead.
 
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:lol: well if you arent going to feed him what he wants, what do you expect??!!

Very glad hes feeling better now,its amazing what rustling can do!! it must be horrible for him - how much longer is he having chemo for??
 
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