Pets' Corner

Mike1

My Vixen will ONLY eat Felix Good as it Looks Chicken in Jelly, she will NOT eat any other type or brand of cat food, believe me I have tried over the years and it has cost a packet to do so. Anyway I have been getting boxes of 20 sachets of the stuff she likes delivered; initially I had a monthly order with Amazon until the first lock-down when for some reason the cost almost doubled overnight; I then found a specialist pet food supplier with whom I placed a monthly order which turned out to be slightly cheaper than I had been paying. Anyway, this month they let me down; after sending me an email to say that the delivery was on its way I then had an email 2 days later saying that their supplier had not sent enough supplies to be able to fulfil my order. This was devastating news as I was down to my last couple of packets and, being virtually housebound, I had no way of getting some for her. After a couple of emails to and from the pet food supplier I decided to email Purina who make Felix to find out where the food is made and whether they have been having any difficulties in despatching supplies to their outlets. I received a reply within a couple of hours stating that they are not having distribution problems and also pointing out that I could purchase it direct from them which I was unaware of. I checked out their website and sure enough I can buy a box of 20 sachets direct from the manufacturer for about £6.50 instead of the £10.50 I had been paying, the only problem is that a minimum order is 6 boxes but as Vixen gets through 4-5 boxes a month that is not an issue and besides it still represents a huge saving. I am not trying to advertise Felix but just pointing out that it may be possible for pet owners on here to save a lot of money (especially those of us on benefits) on their pet food, presumably other manufacturers will also sell direct to the public, give it a try.

stellabean

Thanks Mike did you also know that if you have a pet on long term medication it is possible to get a prescription from your vet my horse one costs £13 but Sandy's tablets are £1.04 each and he is on 2.5 per day that is half what the vet charges and the script covers 6 months. You just buy a month at a time. We had a dog on Metacam for his arthritis and his drugs were nearly 50% cheaper that way too It is amazing how people quickly tried to profit from the first lockdown I noticed that with bread flour as I make my own bread. A shop near me started to sell it and was charging nearly 3 times what I was paying from the same miller ( needless to say I was ordering for people in village at the same price I paid and still order for some families now )

Mike1

Thanks, I will bear that in mind if she ever needs long term treatment, I do have her insured though so that should cover any such costs anyway.

Sandie

IMG_20210202_165717.jpg

Mai and Arnie on squirrel watch! I can hear them thinking... you fat little hairy tailed git . Lol I foster for a sml charity and Arnie is adopted .

Mike1

This is why I have been unable to use my wheelchair since the weather turned colder, it is kept next to the radiator in my bedroom - need I say more!!

Good job I have not been anywhere, just hobbling around my bungalow on crutches. Mind you Vixen does look cute and whenever I go in the bedroom she asks for her tummy to be tickled. For those that know you can see that the bite that she had on her right leg is healing well and her hair is growing back.

wazz42

Here are 2 of the 3 siblings we have Sam, the one lookiing at the camera and sister Bandit with the softest fur - called mittens on occasion! Sadly Sam was put to sleep very recently - he had a growth in his tummy. He was wonderful, he trained the grandchildren in how to behave around cats very well xx

frogmorton

Gosh Mike Vixen's paw looks really good now if you didn't know......! She does indeed to exceptionally cute in your chair. Cheeky madam! You have to love them 😻

Wazz42 I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved Sam. I hope your other cats are looking after you/each other ((()))

Mike1

My Sister is a mad dog lady and visits occasionally with her Biwer Yorkie Daisy, Vixen looks forward to her coming as she chases her, hides then pounces on her, and then sits the other side of the back door daring the dog to try to go out! It is quite funny at times.

frogmorton

Hah! Katz Rool!!!

Seriously though Daisy does look very very cute 🤗

Mike1

It is quite warm down here this morning, indeed I am sat in the lounge with the front door wide open for some fresh air, I certainly did not think that it was cold enough for Vixen to sprawl on my wheelchair in front of the radiator but I was wrong:

frogmorton

Of course it's cold Dad she says!

Mike1

I have bird feeding stations in both my back garden and in front of my lounge window so I have something other than the TV to look at. They are costing me a fortune in meal worms as they get through both meal worm feeders in the front and back every day! I had to order another £50 of bird food yesterday, I don't begrudge them though. The funny thing is that Vixen accompanies me when I top up the feeders each day, here is a photo of her hanging around the feeder out the front after I topped it up (I don't call it a front garden as being in sheltered housing we are not allowed to put hedges up or dig up the grass for flower beds).

You will all be pleased to know that she has not had any birds although a neighbour did tell me that he laughed himself silly last week when she chased after a Magpie and missed it. She prefers mice anyway, yesterday she left a dead one on the back step for me and brought a live one inside for herself, luckily I trapped it in a long handled dustpan and put it over the hedge into the field.

Lilymary

So sweet, I bet Vixen loves hunting in those hedgerows. I think all money on bird feed is well spent. I had a blind cat who used to sit under the feeder waiting for the birds to show and brighten his day, the only thing he ever caught was a peacock butterfly.

But well done catching the live mouse! It’s utter chaos in this house whenever Toby brings one in! If we’re feeling lazy or if the mouse is too quick we bait humane traps with peanut butter, which works quite well. Mind you, there were a few that eluded us and we never did work out what happened to them. (Had they died, we would have known about it, the smell is eye watering after a few days, as I learnt with one of my previous cats).

stellabean

My friends cats brought in a live grey squirrel and spent the afternoon chasing it around the house, the squirrel left a trail of poop over whole house. It is amazing just how much one squirrel can leave behind, we managed to released it from the house. Cleaning up took several hours, the cats were exhausted, so were we but the squirrel took to sitting on the fence and egging the cats on!

Lilymary

One of my cats brought a jackdaw home while I was on holiday and my poor non-cat-owning neighbours, who were cat sitting, had to catch and release it. Now jackdaws are big and intelligent birds (so I have no idea how my cat caught it, nor how he muscled it in via two cat flaps). Said bird did what all startled birds do, all over the house, my lovely neighbours did their best at cleaning up, but I still used to find little mementoes from time to time in books and crannies, for years after.

Mike1

My previous cat, Fluffy, once brought a live rabbit home and managed to get it through the cat flap, I found it in the kitchen one morning just sitting there!

Lilymary

She’s gorgeous! And proof that pretty cats don't let their self-image stop them being, well, cats. My jackdaw hunter brought a couple of baby rabbits home one year, which I delighted in presenting to my (then) townie boyfriend, much to his horror. I released them unharmed back to the field. The only thing that defeated that cat was a pheasant, but you had to admire his ambition.

frogmorton

Aww look at Fluffy"

Mine brings in and catches baby bunnies a lot not many last year, we'd had myxomatosis the year before, I hate it they scream like human babies😣

We have a pheasant (Kenny) and his wives who live in our hedges our pussk doesn't bother with them but has managed to catch 2 moles over the years here. The local pest control man wants to employ her!

Lilymary

The only mole I’ve ever seen (live) is one my hunter puss (Mo) caught and trotted across the field to where we’d gathered for a bbq in a neighbour’s garden, as if to say “slap this on the barbie guys!”. He was mortified when I released it.

Mike1

Not really Pets Corner, although I would have one as a pet as long as they behaved themselves, but in the ongoing tale of big cats in Cornwall someone out running near St Austell took this photo of a suspected Lynx going across a field. It has been reported down here and people are out and about trying to verify the sighting.

Lilymary

Wow, of all the “alleged big cat” sightings I’ve seen reported, I have to say that looks pretty convincing

frogmorton

scary! I would not be trying to verify it I would be hiding!

Mike1

This is exactly what my Vixen does, she comes into the lounge and just sits and stares at me; I then have to get out of my recliner, stroke her and follow her into the kitchen. I have to empty her bowl, wash it and refill it with fresh food and then she actually rubs her head into my hand. Luckily I have taught her (or rather she has decided) to jump up onto the worktop for her food to negate me having to try to get her bowl up and down with my grabber.

Madmactouche

Good morning everyone, my first cat as a adult was when I was 18, I got him after my partner was diagnosed with leukemia in 1988 I had 2 small children, after the kids were put to bed, he was my shadow, he slept with me, followed me around everywhere, was great with the kids, and whenever I came back from the hospital, he would curl up on me and give me love, I had him for 19 years, when he passed I could never get another cat to replace him, until I was presented with jojo, he was being abused by one of my children's friends of a friend, and my youngest just took the cat, told them if they stopped her taking it she would call the police, and that's how we got jojo, as much as I love him, he is very much a loner, will only allow me to touch him on his terms, but he is such a lovely looking cat, if not a bit aloof, and the bond he has with my daughter is wonderful to see, Wouldn't have him any other way.

Mike1

Nice to have yet another cat lover on board 😀