Yesterdays Arrivals! (Kittens)

His day normally goes like:

Out all night, mousing and doing general cat things (fed just before).
Comes in before work, plays in the shower(!) and sleeps all day on the beds (fed again!).
Up again after work and jumping round, in and out all the time before getting fed and going out again for the night.

Wouldn't have it any other way :)
 
Kreeeee said:
It's cruel to keep them indoors imo.
Click to expand...

I would agree if it was a moggie. However, in the case of pedigree cats, its a totally different story. All the breeders I have been in contact with (and I would say they number about 20), allow their cats to roam the streets. They even recommend that their cats should be kept in captivity.

I've lived in London most of my life and maybe its different down here, but I can honestly say that I have never seen a pedigree cat on the street.

Most pedigree cat owners have a done a vast amount of research, spent time and money on bringing the cat to their home and would not risk losing their pride and joy in a car crash or to a bunch of chavs wishing to play football with a cat. This wouldnt apply to a moggie that you got from a shelter for £30, "because it looked alright".

You also have to remember that a pedigree cat is far more likely to catch and become seriously ill from a disease due to the lack of genetic variation (lots of in-breeding, to keep the breed characteristics true to what is required by the cat clubs). Moggies on the other hand have HUGE genetic variation, so are more robust. It would be the equivalent of your father, having kids with his daughter and then with his grand daughter - as the generations continue, the children will be less robust and susceptible to disease.

I for one wouldnt risk letting Reflex outdoors. For those of you who saw my video, you will know that he is very aggressive and the last thing I would want is someone knocking on my door, telling me that my cat has badly injured their cat and they want me to foot the vetinary bills.

These are just a few arguments against letting cats outdoors. But at the end of the day, it is the cat-owner who must decide.
 
Well just to give you guys an update.

Yesterday i noticed that Age was having difficulty breathing through his nose, so i thought id leave it over night and see if it got better or worse. This morning it seemed better so i went out for 2-3 hours for a meeting. When i got back it was quite a bit worse and his breathing was laboured so i made an appointment with the vet.

Apparently he has a form of feline flu, i did get told the name of the virus but i have instantly forgotten it. This diagnosis was apparently made based on the fact that there was ulceration in the mouth and the laboured breathing i reported. The reason i say "apparently" is because as pedigree cats from a registered breeder, they have ofcourse had their full course of vaccinations, and the other cat is fine, no symptoms, which is strange because if one cat had flu they both should. Anyway, im not one to argue with the vet. The vet said watch him for 5 days or so and see if he goes off his food, if he does i should take him back in. To be honest Age is fine, he is still eating and drinking normally and playing the same as before, the only diference is his breathing.

Oh well, i rang the breeder and she said it was almost impossible due to the fact that all her cats have had the vaccinations, so its definately strange.

Apart from that everything is going well, i managed to sleep a full night last night for the first time since Sunday as the kittens have adapted pretty much to my sleep pattern i think, eitgher than or im sleeping through their nocturnal activities better. Ippo is much heavier than Age, probably due to this illness, and they ate a good two thirds of a pack of Sainsburys Lamb Mince between them which they are now sleeping off. Ippo also managed to send an email to my boss via walking on my keyboard which i wasnt so happy about.

Ill post some pictures in a week or so to see how much they have grown.
 
sunama said:
stuff
Click to expand...

Well i agree with what you say, regardless of the stupidity of the last page or so. The reason i feel completely fine letting a cat or dog of mine roam about is because of the totally unique situation. The village has less than 150 people in it, i know them all pretty much by their first names, and they all know me. We are completely surrounded by fields and woods, and although there are obviosuly roads going throuhg my village its only used by villagers as they dont really provide a short cut to anywhere, which is usually why country roads are heavily used.

If i lived in London of course i would let my £300 cat out, and i wouldnt let my dog roam about random children, the fact is my dog knew all the children and got on very well with them, the only danger was that someone might actually ask me to pay for the dogs bar tab at the local pub.
 
sunama said:
I for one wouldnt risk letting Reflex outdoors. For those of you who saw my video, you will know that he is very aggressive and the last thing I would want is someone knocking on my door, telling me that my cat has badly injured their cat and they want me to foot the vetinary bills.

These are just a few arguments against letting cats outdoors. But at the end of the day, it is the cat-owner who must decide.
Click to expand...

For me it's the opposite. My cats are very docile and friendly, I have never seen them take out their claws other than to scratch on their tree. Even people who don't like cats will speak to them when they visit, and everyone comments on how pretty they are or how nice their bright blue eyes are. One of my cats hates being left on his own, whenever I'm at home he is always right beside me, and the other one is pretty much always at least in the same room.

Bearing that in mind, there's a huge chance that they would attach themselves to random people if they were allowed outside, and that the random people may decide just to take them in. I don't live in a great area, and also have two dual carriageways very close by, so it would be extremely dangerous to let my cats out. I don't think they would like being out anyway, as they are very prissy and need constant attention.
 
Vixen said:
...there's a huge chance that they would attach themselves to random people if they were allowed outside, and that the random people may decide just to take them in.
Click to expand...

I think thats the main reason why some people refrain from letting their pedigree cats out.
 
Sunama's thread reminded me ive got to update this, so i snapped some pictures for you all to take a look at.

So if you remember Age had feline influenza, which still hasn't properly cleared up, and its left him unable to meow or purr properly, which is a real sadness because Maine Coons make unique noises in the cat world and the other one (Ippo) is always talking to me. But the worst of the flu seems to have passed, he can breathe normally now after running about, and he has put on more weight about the same as the other one.

Ippo is fine, he has actually gotten quite fat, but i still dont want to limit their food at this stage as i want them to fufill their growth potential as much as possible. he is definately the alpha male and is quite a bit bigger than Age, he is also the more affectionate of the two.

They are now eating a mixture of Wiskers kitten pouches food and Royal Canin Maine **** dry food which has a high protein value. Ive also been leaving the back doors open for the past 2 weeks so they can have use of the back garden which has been totally fine. They mainly stay near to the house and close to me but they have been off for 10-15 minutes on their own a few times. After worrying about wether or not to let them out im really pleased I did, they have put on more muscle weight and looks healthier for the outdoor exercise, and it means i dont have to feel guilty about not having time to play with them enough, and it means they fight less although they never did it much and it was always play fighting which ended in a long session of licking each other.

Anyway, pictures, i really like the look or their front leg stripes, it makes them look like tigers :) :

Heres Age, the one who had flu:
94943330zb2.jpg

Heres the bigger one Ippo:
98034376je3.jpg

And heres both of them together:
11487324zo9.jpg
 
Last edited:
platypus said:
I really want a Norwegian Forest Cat when I've a place of my own.
Click to expand...

That was actually the breed i was originally looking at getting, because they have a lot of Maine **** characteristics and i know someone who breeds them, but unfortunately she stopped breeding before i asked so i went with Maine Coons which is better for me anyway as they grow to a larger size.

(Maine Coons also make much better vocalisations than NFC's)
 
My word. They are large. I like big cats, as it brings them closer to the size of their wild cousins.

Are they shedding much hair, ie. if you wear a black top and handle them, will there be lots of hair left on your top? The hair shedding was the only reason why I chose to get an Egyptian Mau instead of a Maine ****.
 
Oh. Another question.

How did you recognise that your cat had the flu?

My Bengal sneezes a lot, but his apetite is unaffected and he is very very active.
 
Yeah to be honest with you they do shed a fair bit but its not really that bad, its not like ive got a second carpet of hair in my house or anything. And im the kind of person that wears one set of old clothes round the house and then i change to go out, so no one would ever notice cat hair on me anyway.

They currently weigh in at 3.2Kg's abd 3Kg's, so the flu did take a toll on the lighter one, but not by much.


Edit: it was pretty obvious when it happened, i could hear it was having trouble breathing properly, and it was coughing and sneezing and it was basically snoring all the time even when awake. Eating habits werent affected at any time though so i wouldnt use that as an indicator. Ill be honest with you, if you suspect it has flu just take it to the vet, i wouldnt hang about, its really nasty stuff. Oh and if you feel up to it you can hold its mouth open and look for nodules/lesions, thats one of the main symptoms.
 
Last edited:
hehe cuties the lot of 'em.
Here's one of mine, a maine **** lookalike/moggy.

Blimm (snoozing on the back of the sofa)
dsc00073le0.jpg


I refer to him as the 'prodigal son' as he went walkabout for almost 6 months some years ago; he came back with his left eye damaged so we had to have the vet remove it, poor fella. Always makes me sad to look at him and think he ought to have two peepers to view the world with :( Doesn't seem to bother him much now though. He doesn't like being blind-sided, but he's never been an angry cat, he's just too damn lazy for that :p
 
Makunouchi said:
They currently weigh in at 3.2Kg's abd 3Kg's, so the flu did take a toll on the lighter one, but not by much.
Click to expand...

Thats heavy.
Bengal@3 months = 2kg
Reflex@4 months = 1.9KG.

So the breed characteristic of being large definitely holds true for the Maine ****.

Makunouchi said:
Edit: it was pretty obvious when it happened, i could hear it was having trouble breathing properly, and it was coughing and sneezing and it was basically snoring all the time even when awake. Eating habits werent affected at any time though so i wouldnt use that as an indicator. Ill be honest with you, if you suspect it has flu just take it to the vet, i wouldnt hang about, its really nasty stuff. Oh and if you feel up to it you can hold its mouth open and look for nodules/lesions, thats one of the main symptoms.
Click to expand...

What was the cure BTW? Is it like humans, just let the immune system fight it or does the cat flu work in a different way?

My Bengal does sneeze a bit, but there is no coughing or legions in his throat. He doesnt have any difficult breathing. My suspicion is that he goes in dusty areas of the house and when he comes out, he starts sneezing. Either that or he has hayfever.
 
sunama said:
What was the cure BTW? Is it like humans, just let the immune system fight it or does the cat flu work in a different way?
Click to expand...

No its the same with cats, theres no cure to common flu, they just have to get over it. Vets do however proscribe antibiotics, but mine didnt untill the second time i took them in, which im angry about because i reckon that if he'd had the antibiotics sooner he might still have his meow/purr. So if you think your cat needs it just hassle the vet to prescribe the pills, although they are a pain in the arse to feed to the cat.
 
Makunouchi said:
...because i reckon that if he'd had the antibiotics sooner he might still have his meow/purr.
Click to expand...

Hang on. Are you saying your cat has lost his vocal ability? If so is this temporary or permanent?

Makunouchi said:
So if you think your cat needs it just hassle the vet to prescribe the pills, although they are a pain in the arse to feed to the cat.
Click to expand...

Will do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom