Not mentioning the T word at all

Mrs_Chip

Seakay - not much choice about living with the rats - at least they are staying up there for the moment! I have put some plastic trays of cat litter (used:eek:) up in the loft as I have read that rats don't like the smell of a potential predator. I am going to get some moth balls, peppermint and citronella oils tomorrow as it seems they don't like those smells either. Having had a look at the loft today, it would be a nightmare trying to get in to find out their runs, there is so much insulating fleece.

Does anyone know if the new poster with a name beginning with 'C' is just a coincidence? Looking at her posts, it would be a feat of fiction to have created such a new life! Do not wish to stir anything, just don't want to ignore someone who is innocent!

Ceirdwyn

Seakay wrote: »

I know I've missed a lot recently but why is Ceridwen spelling her name differently?

Hi, I guess you mean me? I'm new, not anyone called Ceridwen. Ceirdwyn is my internet name on nearly all the forums I'm on and I didn't realise someone had such a similar name until I had already signed up. Sorry to cause confusion, it's usually a fairly unique name.

(If anyone's interested, Ceirdwyn was a Iceni warrior-ess in the Highlander series, one of my favourite TV programs of all time.)

Bitsy_Beans

short_bird wrote: »

I'm sure I've said this before on another board but my mate's cat bought in half a slug once and deposited it on someone's lap. He was so proud of himself:rotfl:

ETA: the slow cooked shredded beef chili is the preferred method in Mexico and the best burrito shops are the ones building your burrito in front of you like an assembly line. Nom!

My killer cat presented me with a pigeon wing on the the bedroom floor. How kind :rotfl: she has also tried to squeeze in through them cat flat with a whole and very much alive pigeon :eek::eek: needless to say she couldn't work out how to get it through the flap with it still in her mouth as the blooming thing was too long for the gap :rotfl: And then there was the live frog she brought into the house and sat screeching at the poor thing on the half landing as it played dead :rotfl:

Kaz doesn't JUstamums recipe use sugar too? I thought sugar was needed to feed the yeast.....or maybe I made that up

lizzyb1812

Many years ago I actually missed my cat's most spectacular effort. I used to leave a small kitchen window open for him during the day. I came home one evening to find my kitchen full of feathers - a neighbour reported that the cat had spent ten minutes dragging a pigeon up to the window - 8 feet from the ground - and into the house - he must have dragged the remains out again as all I found was the feathers. He didn't bother with his tea that night!

My current cat is less inclined to present giving nowadays, but there has been the odd rat delivered to the doorstep before now - my house backs on to open fields and an old stream bed. I'm just hoping she never finds the grass snakes that I've seen down there!

Fruball

I hope these cats who are bringing 'gifts' into the house are fitted with bells on their collars. I hate nature being attacked by cats.

OK Rats are an exception, but what if they caught a rare dormous, or our lovely garden birds

CCP

Mine doesn't have a collar on, I'm afraid - he's a rescue cat and I was told not to put a collar on him as someone once tried to strangle him and he goes crazy if you try to touch his neck (not surprisingly, really). Luckily his hunting days are long past, and garden birds are quite safe - I've seen him lying out in the garden with sparrows hopping around literally inches from his paws! :shocked:

I spent part of this afternoon making a cereal cake, using a recipe for weetabix cake but substituting some flakey cereal which I received for a product trial but didn't like. I was hoping it would use up lots of cereal, but I've still got over half a box left: I'll have to go back to the 'using up cereal' thread I've got bookmarked to look for more ideas.

Ceirdwyn

All this talk of cats catching things reminded me of my Mum's cats most impressive feat.
My mum came in and saw the cat with something small and furry in her mouth. Mum managed to rescue it and took it onto the green infront of the house to release it. It was small, had a furry body and ears, but as Mum put it down on the grass, it flew off! The cat had managed to catch a bat!:eek:

crumblepie

Frugal wrote: »

I hope these cats who are bringing 'gifts' into the house are fitted with bells on their collars. I hate nature being attacked by cats.

OK Rats are an exception, but what if they caught a rare dormous, or our lovely garden birds

My moggie refuses to have a collar. When I tried putting a collar on him I would put it on quite loose and he'd run away and only come back with the collar removed. I had a theory there was a tree somewhere with the 30 or so collars I'd tried to put on him.

In his defense he brings in mice alive as he like to play with them but I am quite good at setting them free. He sits on the patio and watches the birds at the bird table - oddly never really been interested in them.

Oddest thing he brought back was some prime slices of ham and beef - I think there was a barbeque somewhere - he was very pleased with himself.

On a more 'tough' theme I've been thinking christmas presents and all that. In tesco at the moment there's some buy one get two free offers on toiletries, so I bought some. I'm just going to put them into gift bags. Then I looked at how much they were in a christmas gift box.:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:The adidas deo and shower gel on a B1G2F would cost less than one gift box!:eek: I paid £4.48 for 3 shower gel and 3 deo. One gift set with one shower gel and one deo £5 . Offer end on Tuesday night if it's useful for someone.

lizzyb1812

No bell on my cat's collar and no birds in the back garden despite having an apple tree. The local bird populace seems to have caught on that there will always be a cat here. The only bird the current cat has brought in was a baby starling that almost certainly had fallen out of a nest - it happens quite a bit (the falling out not the bringing it home). Not the right habitat for dormice either. The sparrows - I do know they are declining nationally - live in a big gang along the front of my row of houses where the cats won't go because of the traffic. They have hedges and lots of bushes to hide and nest in and there are about 20 -30 of them - they are really noisy and active and a complete delight.

Pink.

Frugal wrote: »

I hope these cats who are bringing 'gifts' into the house are fitted with bells on their collars. I hate nature being attacked by cats.

OK Rats are an exception, but what if they caught a rare dormous, or our lovely garden birds

Hi Frugal,

I too hate to see birds and other animals attacked by cats, and mine does wear a collar with bells but sometimes they still manage it.

Last week when we had horrendous rain the cat was mewing at the front door. I was on the phone so Mr Pink let her in. I could hear the expletives from the living room and jumped up to see what was wrong....the cat had a mouse in her mouth. Unfortunately it was a live mouse. The pair of us chased her down to the kitchen and locked her in.

Mr Pink hates the thought of mice in the house and isn't mad about cats in general so has a sort of love/hate relationship with our cat. I on the other hand having downed a glass of wine, found the situation and his increasing annoyance very funny, which of course didn't help matters at all.

Eventually we managed to get her to drop the mouse which scuttled across the floor towards my feet. That soon wiped the smile of my face! :eek: I leapt into the air, uttered my own expletives, and the poor little thing dived into the pile of packed school bags and sports bags prepared for the morning. We had a good search as we've managed to rescue and release them in the past, but we just couldn't find it. After a while, as it was after midnight, we gave up looking for it and hoped the mouse might find a way to escape. Sadly we were woken after 2.00 am by a lot of banging and scuffling from the kitchen. The cat had finally managed to catch the poor thing again and she seemed mortally offended that it wouldn't 'play' anymore.

Unfortunately that's the way nature works. Despite wearing a collar with bells, our cat does catch wildlife. I'd rather that she didn't (especially birds) and will do my best to prevent it but sadly, it's not always possible.

Pink