The Giddy Kipper

Being indoor cats, the opportunity for stimulation is vastly reduced, a fact every indoor owner MUST take seriously. One of the things that help to fill that gap are toys, which I rotate so they don't lose their appeal, and all the cats have their preferences.

Ava, I must admit, doesn't really engage with toys, although she does occasionally go and have a sleep in the crinkle tunnel. Theo likes a good mouse to bat around, as well as the more complicated circular things with balls to bat around. Sofia likes a mouse too, but whilst Theo prefers the chunky sisal type, Sofia likes the fur covered plastic/ stuffed variety- she dismembers the plastic/ stuffing and carries the limp fur casing proudly about the house.

Indigo's favourite toy is a big plush and hessian fish called the Giddy Kipper- so called I suspect because it is catnip impregnated. Indigo likes nothing more than bashing seven bells out of her kipper and then rolling around on it getting a hit of the nip. Junkie.

Sofia likes the kipper too- she has a seperate one otherwise you KNOW Indie would be weeing on it- but she isn't nearly so enamoured of it as Indigo is. Sofia merely rubs her head all over it and drools a bit. Indigo is much funnier to watch, she leaps about the place like she has firecrackers down her cataloons.

As ever, I've not been paid by the makers of the Giddy Kipper to plug the toy! But my cats like it :) I did buy another toy the other day though, from Pets at home, and all four are completely nonplussed. I'll keep it for the kittens, they might enjoy it, but as far as my cats were concerned, it was a total waste of money :( Here it is! My advice? Do not buy!



Mere Pence, Really...

Gah!!!!! Just paid nearly £200 at the pet website Zooplus for some cat necessities- food, litter and ok, maybe a few toys. A roller ball thing, and a spinny thing and a waggly glove. I have a cat toy addiction... I'm always bringing this and that home for the cats, and they usually treat it with a most feline disdain! Still I live in hope.

That reminds me of a post I want to write actually... but for now I'll just sit down and recover from the shock- or rather 'shock' as it's always that much- of the bill!

Two Seperate Households...

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

Indigo and Theo, taken this morning. They cuddle, groom, sleep peacefully together and are genuinely fond of each other... the picture of cat harmony. And...

Ava, Sofia and Theo, taken last night, again all coexisting peacefully in the same space. They groom each other, cuddle up together, again having a close knit relationship.

So why do Sofia and Indigo hate each other so much???? It's baffling. Neither cat is simply an antisocial cat, (I could understand it if they were!) both have close relationships with at least one other cat in the household, they just don't like each other. At all.

Currently, I am maintaining two seperate households of cats, with Theo flitting between the two. At nighttime, Indigo is shut in the living room and Ava, Sofia and Theo have the run of the bedroom, long hallway, kitchen and bathroom. The morning sees the bedroom door shut, and Indigo (and Theo, usually) has the hall and bathroom and kitchen as well as the living room. The afternoon sees Ava and Sofia taking another turn, and the evening it's Indigo's time again. And so we go on. Both rooms have food, water and litter, cat furniture, soft spaces to sleep, high places to climb and plenty of toys, so even when restricted to the one room the cats have all that they need.

Re-integration of the cats takes a lot of hard work, here... and the smallest thing takes us back to the start again. Indigo going off to stud, for example. We were just starting to re-integrate, when Indie developed her allergy, and because of the concern over what it might be, I kept her seperate from the other cats. Well by the time the lab tests came back clear she was quite far along in her pregnancy anyway and it wasn't worth integrating them only to seperate again in a couple of weeks- it takes longer than that to do so anyway!

I'm starting to feel that it isn't worth 'forcing' the cats to integrate. It's a pain in the butt having to keep them seperate, but it's a good deal more peaceful, and the cats don't seem to mind. Moreover, Indigo has not had any incidences of inappropriate urination at all since keeping them seperate. I did forget to scoop her box one night (I scoop them twice a day, usually) and she did a big steaming turd on my nice clean washing, (sorry, potential cat owners... they do gross things occasionally!) but then she's always been finicky about not using a dirty box. My fault for forgetting to scoop. But the 'marking' has all but stopped since she 's had her own territory that her rival does not access.

So perhaps that's what's going to work for us- two seperate households, so that both my dominant, clashing girls have a space they can call their own. We'll see.

Cats In High Places

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

When you have indoor cats (as I do) and when space is kind of limited (as it is here) then you have to give very careful consideration to the needs of your cats. It's simply not good enough to confine a cat, or multiple cats, in a small space and not to make sure the environment is cat friendly.

Cats like to be high up, and they like to hide and have privacy and they like to scratch, and so no indoor home is complete without a cat 'tree' or two... or in our case, five! It's well worth making room in your house for one of these, and really, the bigger the better. All of my trees are well used by my feline family and they are an important part of enriching the environment for an indoor cat.

Above is a picture of Sofia on the top third of our biggest tree, her favourite. This giant has a 60x60 cm base and almost reaches the ceiling and it is FABULOUS. The cats can also reach the top of the wardrobe from it, complete with cat beds. Theo likes to be up high on this post, whilst Ava prefers the cubby hole, she feels nice and secure in there whilst still being able to see all around her. It IS a big piece of kit when space is limited, but I've never regretted buying it. If you really don't have the room, there are lots of smaller ones available.

We have a slightly smaller floor to ceiling tree in another room, which leads to 4m of bookshelves to stalk about on, Theo and Indigo are big fans of this one. In the same room is a medium sized tree with cubbyholes. We also have a small tree that the cats mainly use as a scratching post, although all the trees have sisal posts for claw sharpening.

The last tree is in storage at the moment but I will soon get it out- it's a diddly little kitten sized tree that's seen all my cats through kittenhood and they have all loved it. Can't wait to see it used by our own kittens!

Of course cat trees are only a part of enrichment for an indoor cat, but I have found them invaluable. It's well worth getting one (or two, or... er... five)