Just because its all gone quiet...
...doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing happening in the Katkin household - especially where barmy bengals and nutty norwegian forest cats are concerned!
Here at the house of fun, things are never 'quiet'.
There's always at least one houseplant being chomped into oblivion in the bathroom, (no matter how hard I try to keep the door shut, it seems bengals and NFCs are adept at breaking and entering...). Note to self- STOP BUYING PLANTS! They all end up going to work to recuperate, anyway.
Or a daft dobermutt decides it's 2:30am in the morning and she simply, positively, absolutely HAS to wake us up so she can go outside, sniff the cold night air, bark at nothing in the darkness then smugly trot back indoors, her work completed. Who needs sleep anyway?
Meanwhile, the 3 NFCs act out their grand- plan to overtake the bedroom, declaring it the new 'Principality of Norwegia' and banishing poor Beauty the rescue bengal to the hifi cupboard (which has its good points, always nice and toasty, if the music's on).
And Alfie, star of this very blog, does his best to wind up the dobermutt if she's spending too long squeaking her annoyingly annoying meowing kittens (yes, she has a veritable pack of them now- I blame it all on eBay). You'd think a dobe would object in the strongest terms to having its ears chomped or a bengal swinging from its neck. but no, Ailsa tolerates Alfie's rough love in a way she'd never put up with from the rest of the gang.
Up in the attic, Minty the sane and sensible senior moggie is enjoying her new surroundings, courtesy of IKEA's BESTA and BENNO flat-packs - being a cat of course, she doesn't care whether its solid wood or MDF - she's more engrossed in the cardboard packaging and wrapping paper anyway.
Aero the inscrutable Havana seems to have adopted both little Aimee the wheelie-bin stray and Beauty the recue Bengal - dealing out plenty of sandpaper-sloppy kisses, whenever she feels they need a bit of TLC. When she's not curled up in a tight little ball stealing someone else's heat, she's bouncing off the footstool to the new armchair downstairs- assuring us it won't look right and properly 'lived in' til it's got at least a half dozen scratches firmly bedded into the top layer of leather.
Mad MaineCoon Amber seems to have developed a whole new character since having her teeth descaled - no more the wall flower, she's often seen (and heard) hurtling up and down stairs chasing invisible 'stuff' We haven't the heart to tell her there's nothing (and nobody) there...
We wonder sometimes if baby NFC Arnie (the 'purrminator') needs counselling. He has some very odd ideas about what cats eat. If its a choice between chicken and green beans or garden peas, the vegetation usually gets the vote. Arnie is partial to his green veg - he'll sit patiently at the table, waiting to be offered a stray pea, but not too patiently - give it five minutes or so before a fat, furry paw hovers over the plate and fishes for the closest portion ... Completely ignoring the meat or fish!
Told you he was odd. He still has a bit of a thing for plastic cutlery too. It's got to the stage where if we're in a cafe and there's plastic cutlery about, we have to 'borrow' the odd spoon or fork to take home for Arnie. He loves to throw then down the stairs, chase them and play 'fetch'. His new nickname is 'Spoon-Bob Squarepants'
The daft dobermutt is 8 years old already - how time flies! This weekend, it will be exactly 8 years since we first brought her home, all paws and ears. All those sleepless nights, the cleaning up, getting up at the crack of daylight to walk her and learning all about the joys and woes of dog ownership...Was it all worth it? ABSOLUTELY. Even if she does drive us nuts at times and STILL gets us up at unearthly hours just to sniff the pavement...
Besides, who else could that barmiest of the bengals, Alfie, torment?
Published Date:
18/11/2009
Modified Date:
18/11/2009
cats are carnivores...aren't they?
Well, that's what I was brought upto understand. Dogs, they'll eat just aboout anything that comes along- meat, fish, veg, old twigs, the occasional duster, you name it, a dog somewhere has probably had a good old chew on it.
But cats... they're much more picky about what they chomp - alledgedly.
Whoever made that claim obviously never met our nutty norwegian forest cat Arnie. Arnie, you may recall is our baby wegie, product of an accidental union between Ashia (pure pedigree but never spayed because her half brother died whilst being neutered and we were worried the same fate could affect Ash - and besides which, she's a housecat and there's absolutely NO WAY she'll ever come into contact with an unneutered tom, right?
Wrong.
Enter: Charlie the rescue wegie who'd apparently 'never shown any interest in other females' but who took immediate advantage of the situation when introduced to Ashia, hence we now have Arnie: bear of little brain but the biggest, fluffiest tail you've ever seen on a cat and a whopping purrsonality.
But not much in the way of brain cells...
Arnie is the cat who chewed through my brand new laptop power cable and cost us another £30 for a replacement, bless his furry little snowshoes.
Arnie is the cat who steals the heavy plunger plug out of the bathroom sink and chews on razor blades- when he's not polishing his molars on my toothbrush.
Arnie is the cat with a curious obsession with plastic cutlery - happiest when he's carrying a plastic spoon around the house or tucking one away under the doormat for 'ron...
and Arnie is the cat who keeps wedging himself in the doorway of our latest project (a scale model of our tiny terraced house). It looks a bit like the 'attack of the 50foot forest cat' when he does it and I wince when I think what he must be doing to my miniature corbusier lounger...
There's no doubting - he is a bit of a pudding.
Especially when it comes to food.
His mum was 'brung up proper' and happily munches on fish, chicken, most cat foods and the occasionalbit of steak.
His dad has a more limited preference - cat food, cat food - or, just for a change: cat food.
Uncle Alfie the barmy bengal - he's partial to the trimmings from chicken or turkey- raw preferably.
and little feral moggie Aimee is grateful for ANYTHING as long as it contains protein.
But Arnie... he's just ...odd.
I mean - when given a choice - what kind of a cat turns its nose up at meat but makes straight for the green beans or cauliflower? Better still, the steamed broccolli!
That's just not right, is it? But to a bear of little brain, hooking a crafty left paw over a stray scrap of steamed veg is his idea of heaven.
Each to his own, I suppose.
Published Date:
11/08/2009
Modified Date:
11/08/2009
B*th...don't say that word...
Ailsa the daft dobermutt had a bath on Monday.
Shock, horror: hold the front page!
OK, maybe not all that newsworthy on first glance, but this was a special occasion, even if the dobermutt probably didn't appreciate it, at first.
I'd volunteered her services to give an up-n-coming new pet groomer the chance to pamper a larger than average pooch, after seeing her ad on the Sheffield Pets Forum http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=478566 and whilst I recognise the doberman is hardly what you might call ' labour intensive' when it comes to grooming compared with say, an Afghan or a Poodle, it's always handy to have experience of a range of dogs, since you never know what you're going to get once business hots up. I was also interested to see how the dobermutt would respond to being handled by another, more capable dog-lover - I knew she wouldn't be aggressive or fearful, but I did expect a bit of drama, particularly at the point the dreaded B*A*T*H appeared...
So, arrangements were made and in the hope that for once the weather forecasters might actually have got it right, we opted for an outdoor beauty parlour, seeing as our bathroom is barely wide enough to swing a cat (sorry Alfie), let alone a damp dog.
Anita arrived good and early on a lovely, sunny bank holiday morning (thanks mr weather man!) and set up stall in our backyard, observed by Alfie the barmy bengal who was first to meet and greet,followed dutifully by his daft dobe buddy. It was hard to say who was being the most noisy - yowls were definitely audible above the booming barks, but the dobermutt became strangely silent after the initial canine cocophony... Was this a good start or a warning of things to come?
As the doggie bath was being erected, Ailsa sniffed suspiciously at the grooming equipment and the interesting new person who was telling her how much she was going to enjoy her ordeal. Beauty the rescue bengal meanwhile had woken from her slumbers and suddenly sussed that the backdoor was a) open and b) not being policed by an over-exhuberant dobermutt for a change and saw this as her chance to make a bid for freedom.
Now, bengals may be bright but they're also incredibly noisy and someone needs to explain to our two that sneaking out of the backdoor whilst yowling at the top of their lungs is NOT going to be a great success, especially as neither of them has mastered the fine art of volume control, so even though she managed to make a swift exit, she didn't get very far. (Darn, curses, foiled again). Didn't stop her trying to repeat the trick about a dozen times though.
As for the rest of the feline crew, well, they weren't too far away. Alfie was determined to be outside and in the end it was easier just to let him out as long as I could see him (and hear him), I knew he wasn't going to get very far, unlike Beauty, who still has that insistent urge to explore farther afield. Then Aero demanded to join him and the ear-shattering howl encouraged me to let her, but strangely, all other feline life decided to stay tucked inside, once the bathwater appeared... One by one, the curious felines ventured downstairs to investigate what was going on outdoors, but stayed just far enough out of reach in case the wet stuff was intended for any of them. Maybe next time...
By now, the dobermutt had resigned herself to her fate, understanding full well that she was the intended victim, but happy to take the treat bribes the nice kind lady was offering to get her to hop into the bath.
She was having none of it though, as far as hopping in the bath was concerned. Everytime we gently persuaded her INTO it, she took two steps back and made darned sure she was OUT of it. Fair enough, it was a bit of a step up and in the absence of a ramp, we resorted to getting the other half to pick her up and place her in the bath. It took several attempts and we could barely keep hold of her for laughing, but finally, she found herself tethered and ready to be titivated. More treats, duly welcomed and the show began, watched by an audience of bengals (the inscutible havana was otherwise engaged chomping on next door's ornamental grasses, oops).
We were expecting drama, struggles or at least the usual shivering and dithering, but Anita's soothing manner and gentle massage techniques seemed to cast a spell over the dobermutt: she was actually enjoying it! The water, the soapy stuff, the fluffy white towels (especially the fluffy white towels!). It was amazing. Even Alfie was struck silent by the spectacle, for a whole few seconds, at least, then it was back to trying to climb into the recue cat pen to say hello to the latest resident, or some other such mischief.
Meanwhile, we were onto the hairdrying stage. Hmmm, knowing how Ailsa still runs a mile as soon as she sees the vacuum cleaner, I didn't think she was going to cope very well with this, but cope she did. In fact, THIS was going down rather well - she closed her eyes and made the most of the attention. I half expected her to start sighing.
After an aborted attempt at nail clipping (one thing the dobermutt won't tolerate)and a bout of ear cleaning (ahh bliss!), we were on to the final stretch: the smelly stuff. Baby powder cologne: the dobermutt had never smelled this good!
More treats for being a good girl, even a few kisses for the groomer (from Ailsa, I hasten to add) and it was time to step out of the grooming parlour and back inside. A job well done, a shiny, sleek and scented doberman and the least stressful bathing session I have ever witnessed. Anita had worked magic. OK, there's barely enough fur on a doberman to make for a miracle 'before and after' type transformation, but magic had definitely been made, in terms of how chilled out the dobermutt was from almost the moment she met her.
Definitely a job well done and I'm sure Anita will be a success in her new career. I'm very happy to recommend her services.
Knowing how much bengals love water, I'm surprised Alfie didn'try to get in the bath with Ailsa, not that he ever needs the grooming treatment. Amber, the mad mainecoon on the other hand...
Published Date:
27/05/2009
Modified Date:
27/05/2009
Normal service has resumed
We're still here! (just in case you were wondering) and as soon as the other half reminds me where he's tidied the photo files, I'll be posting links to photos of little Aimee the wheelie-bin kitten, http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/ImportedPhotos00001.jpg as well as Alfie the barmy Bengal and his furry, feathered and finned friends.
We had to say goodbye to Larry the Loach this week, as he swam off to that great fishtank in the sky... We have no idea how old he was: he came to us as a 'rescue' a few years ago but he was full-sized even then and according to the various articles and discussion threads I've found on the 'web, Weather Loaches can live for anything between 6 and 22 years - I'd like to think Larry had a long and happy life (in so much as fish can percieve happiness!).
What a pity he didn't live long enough to appreciate our new Biube tank - our other two rescue fish Goldie (fancy fantailed goldfish) and Gus (Shubunkin) are really loving it.
As is Arnie the 'purrminator', who spends hours wrapped around the base gawping at 'Fish TV', http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/ImportedPhotos00192.jpg mesmerised by four fish (we bought a couple of 'tiddlers' too), all swimming in circles... We will have to find a new 'Larry' to add to Arnie's viewing pleasure.
The daft Dobermutt http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/ImportedPhotos00049.jpg still stands in the gun turret (bay window), keeping guard and warding off would-be assassins, murders and thieves, not to mention the occasional delivery man, pizza-leafleteer and small child coming home from school. She went hiking with us around Tideswell and the Five Dales at Easter.
Of course, Ailsa being Ailsa, she cannot simply hike in a straight line and for every step us humans take, the dobermutt must take at least four, so she was ready to sleep for a week by the time we got back to the car. Just as well really: she'd trampled all over me in the back of the car when we were going to Tideswell but was thankfully fast asleep and using 'Auntie Donna' as a cushion all the way back home! We have a photo somewhere of the little darling wearing her trendy hiking satchel (we are told it is a good idea to give a working dog a job to do if s/he is known to be somewhat 'exciteable' and we'll try anything once), so the dobermutt was charged with the dual tasks of
a) carrying a tennis ball and
b) wearing her rucksack so she could carry her own pooh bags, drinking water and paraphenalia for a change!
It worked and attracted plenty of attention from fellow walkers: whereas we normally get people giving us a wide berth because of our 'big scary dober-beast', most people that day thought she looked fab and wanted to say hello!
Alfie the barmy one is in full voice now that Spring is in the air. Our latest foster cat Lovely Lily is also quite vocal and Alfie yowls at Lily in her Kat-pen. I've tried telling them both that it's a fruitless exercise - he's neutered and she's recently been spayed, but they don't listen.
Young love! http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080713_47.jpg Wish Alfie felt the same way about his fellow 'bungle' Beauty.
Most of the time, they ignore one another http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080713_107.jpg - or can actually be sprawled out fast asleep side-by-side, http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/ImportedPhotos00125.jpg but for no reason at all, all hell occasionally breaks loose and the air is thick with Bungle yowls and threats for a few seconds until we intervene and gently prise them apart... Funny how it's only the pair of them that do that, wonder if it's a bungle thing?
The Norwegians are as daft as ever but Charlie, (Arnie's dad) has finally come out of his shell and shows no fear when he spots the Dobermutt now. OK, he still legs it just in case, but he's more likely to creep onto the sofa for a cuddle when the Dobermutt is snoozing beside him...
Aero the inscrutible Havana has decided to become a fussy eater and refuses to eat normal cat food - she prefers Hills Sensitive Diet food or Royal Canin's version at a push, at a time when standard pet food is expensive enough, but she knows we'll always pander to her whims and after the scare we had with her at Christmas, she'll keep on getting the Hills as long as she wants it. Ashia the female 'Wegie (Arnie's mum) also tucks in to this rather than any other food as well, so it never seems to last as long as the month...
Amber the mad MaineCoon went through a quiet stage when she contracted whatever lurgey Aimee gave them all and in spite of her being fully vaccinated (as are they all). Once in a while she gets the snuffles still and so does Aimee.
Senior sensible moggie Minty still enjoys snoozing in the attic listening to cool sounds from the other half's mounting hifi collection (that reminds me - another 2 LP-shaped parcels arrived this morning...)
And little Aimee http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/ImportedPhotos00010.jpg goes for the big snip next week.
She is still so small http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/ImportedPhotos00168.jpg she doesn't look old enough to be spayed but must be around 8 months old already. Wish her well, she is a little sweetheart, even if she does thump the dobermutt once in a while!
Published Date:
25/04/2009
Modified Date:
25/04/2009
Happy New Year (better late than never!)
I'm thinking of hanging a sign from the back door and ringing a bell shouting 'unclean, unclean!'...
We've been quiet on the blog and various forums for the past 2 months due to illness in the Katkin household- human AND animal!
It started in November when I succumbed to the seasonal lurgey - a rotten cold and irritating cough that refused to go away and eventually turned into a chest infection - by which time, the other half contracted it too and being asthmatic, he really suffered - we're not just talking 'man-flu' here, her was really poorly!
Meanwhile, Aimee the little feral rescue kitten was also suffering with Cat Flu - by Christmas, she'd had two courses of antibiotics, eye drops, anti-inflammatories and lots of TLC. Despite her weakness, she bounced about as all kittens do and generally went about her business, unlike the humans who whined pathetically for more hot lemon and paracetamol every 2 hours...
But then Aero the Havana started to come down with something. Now, all our cats have been fully vaccinated, (except Aimee, who has not been classed as fit enough yet), so, in theory, they shouldn't get Cat Flu and at first, we were'nt sure what she did have but she was showing signs of Jaundice, which suggested kidney or liver disease - so two lots of blood tests had to be taken and various treatments administered. So close to Christmas, my wallet was feeling decidedly thin...
Thankfully, her blood count increased and she was much improved by the New Year - she's still due a further check up and her annual boosters are due this month, so no doubt more expense to come but we're relieved she is feeling better - for a scary moment, we thought she had been poisoned - having realised our Dracaena house plant had been chomped to the stem and that it is toxic to cats!
Just as Aero started to recover and all houseplants had been removed (just in case), Alfie the barmy bengal developed a raging temperature and glassy eyes - and refused to eat or drink - so off we dashed again to the the vets - this time, it was diagnosed as a viral infection, the source of which could have been: any of the cats we've fostered, or little Aimee - or even something we might have picvked up from one of the cat shows we've recently attended!
More drugs and TLC and Alfie made a swift recovery. Then on Monday, little Aimee went down with it, so she is probably the primary source. Poor little thing was treated and then put in isolation in the bathroom - she's feeling fine again now but try telling her that when she's climbing the wallpaper in her desperation to escape and rejoin her feline buddies!
Lots of disinfecting was carried out and its hoped the lurgey is back under control now - my bank balance couldnt stand much more of this. Thankfully, the dobermutt hasnt been poorly (but has sulked an awful lot because her humans haven't been able to exercise her as much as they promised over the Christmas break). Still, once the other half is feeling more sprightly, things should improve...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Published Date:
09/01/2009
Modified Date:
09/01/2009
Because we just can't say no...
It’s been a busy few weeks here with the Katkin menagerie. Early in October, Solo’s mum rang us one morning to say a neighbour had found a little scrap of a kitten huddled behind her wheelie bin, wheezing and sneezing and generally looking out of sorts. Donna had nowhere to keep this little mite as she has her own cats and a small apartment, but we were happy to help out.
The poor little thing looked in a bad way, but ate heartily and purred whilst we bathed her sticky eyes and wiped her snotty nose. A scrawny little white and tabby shorthaired moggie, she was so small and we could only wonder how she’d come to be outside. The area is renowned for having unwanted cats (and kittens), so we knew we would probably never find her mum, litter-mates or an owner…
After whisking her over to the vets, (Vets4pets at Millhouses - absolutely fantastic), cat flu and an ulcerated eye were diagnosed and antibiotics and eye drops prescribed. We were told she was probably between five and six weeks old, maybe has a little oriental in her make-up which explains her long gangly legs and skinny frame - and was very lucky to have survived the cold and damp… With plenty of TLC, the drugs, a warm bed and good quality food, she would make a good recovery, but would probably always be a carrier for cat flu and her eye would always have some scar tissue.
We christened her LUCKY and assumed we would foster her until she was well enough for someone else to adopt.
Well, almost six weeks on, little LUCKY has been renamed AIMEE and has joined the Katkin menagerie for keeps. She is such a little sweetheart, we simply could not imagine her ever leaving us!
She now weighs 1.29kg, is beefing up a little and she seems to be over cat flu. She still has the scarred eye, but it doesn’t seem to bother her and is expected to mend well. She’s not quite fit enough to be vaccinated yet, but you wouldn’t think that if you saw her climbing over furniture, people, other cats…and the dobermutt. Yes, even Ailsa has adopted her!
She still retreats to the bathroom for privacy when the bigger boys n girls are too much for her (they are all fully vaccinated and never go outside so Aimee’s flu-carrier status is not an issue for them.
It took a little while for her to learn to be fussy with people and she always wants to be off causing mischief, but she does like to settle down on a friendly shoulder when she’s feeling sleepy – and woe betide if the owner happens to be standing at the kitchen sink when she does – a tiny tabby and white tearaway is likely to launch itself from ground level and scurry all the way up to neck-level!
But we love her all the same (I know, we’re too soft). Photos to follow.
Published Date:
30/10/2008
Modified Date:
30/10/2008
Back in the madhouse again
The blog's been quiet for a few weeks, but the feline/canine occupants of the katkin household have been anything but, just for a change. The battling and ever-barmy Bengals continue to stalk one another and attempt to take chunks out of each other once in a while (although, to be fair, most of the time, they tend to ignore and even tolerate each other).
Beauty the bunny-boiler still doesn't know when to give up stalking Alfie the bonkers spotted-dude, but the daft Dobermutt has made it her job to act as referee, and can often be found nudging one or the other bungle away from confrontation.
The Wegies seem to think they own the place now- with Ashia playing every inch the 'Queen of Norwegia', sprawled in pole-position on the sofa or the bed, assuming the daft dobermutt hasn't claimed it first; whilst her chief consort and daddy-bear Charlie sleeps at her feet and baby-bear Arnie stretches across the floor, swishing that huge fluffy tail of his, as if it has a mind of its own.
Amber the mad MaineCoon has finally twigged that the others will give her a quiet life if she stays close by the dobermutt, so has become her feline shadow...Slinking in the shadows.
Aero the inscrutible Havana-Oriental still thinks she's a dog- we have to throw her a few doggie treats (or cat ones disguised in a doggie treat jar) everytime weleave the house, otherwise she pinches the dog's!.
Minty the sensible senior moggie still lives in the attic and refuses to come downstairs in case she sees the dog - but is happy to chill out to whatever infuritating music the other half is into at the moment.
and the daft Dobermutt has just returned from a holiday in South Wales (we only got a tad damp and avoided most of the floods. Curiously, the bad weather was almost always either just ahead of us or behind us- not counting every time we turned up in Tenby...)
Ailsa loves the seaside and we made the mistake of reminding her where we were heading the night before we set off, so she was like an excited child for most of the night and the first 238 miles of the journey (if a dog could speak she would have been barking 'are we there yet?' every 5 minutes, which she probably was but all we could hear full blast for 5 hours was 'WOOF!)'. She'll be 7 at the end of this month and travelling has never got any better- she ALWAYS barks.
But at least we know she appreciates her time away. Every beach she sampled was bliss and it was a joy to watch her run, chase and paddle. Of course, the moment we tried to put her back in the car, she whinged and whined because she thought she'd never see another beach, but soon shut up when she spotted the next one along (and boy did we take her to a grand old selection of them, over the course of our trip - Tenby, Pendine, the Gower Peninsualr, Marloes, Broad Haven, Little Haven, St Govans, to name but a few...)
Meanwhile, our wonderful friend Donna (aka 'auntie Donna' to the beasties and mum to Arnie's brother Solo plus 3 older mogs who come to stay when Donna goes away), was charged with cat/fish and bird-sitting duties, back at the ranch, a role she carried out admirably, as she has done many times before.
The felines where thoroughly spoiled and fussed over and so were we, returning as we did to a well-stocked fridge and a homemade cottage pie and fresh veg - a veritable feast compared with the takeawy and snack foods we'd been eating all week (one of the pitfalls of holidaying with a dog who hates being left in the car - we have to eat on the hoof).
I think the furries have just about forgiven us for abandoning them, but did not object too much to being fed cooked chicken, tuna and whatever other tasty treats they may have received from their second mum... It's the first time we've left Arnie and Beauty - this time last year, Arnie was still only a bump in his mum's tum (and one we were unaware of), whilst Beauty only entered our lives in November.
They're all pretty quiet this evening- even the dobermutt is snoring on the sofa, so either it's the change in the weather, or they've all exhausted themselves tearing around whilst we were at work.
One thing is for sure, the madhouse will resume normal service soon - same time, same place,same usual suspects...
Published Date:
12/09/2008
Modified Date:
12/09/2008
Arnie's big adventure & battling bengals Pt2
A couple of weeks back, Arnie and his kid brother Solo
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/ArnieNSoloSizeUpMay08.jpg had an afternoon out together...
I'd booked myself on a microchipping course with http://www.pet-detect.com/TrainingCourse.php (thought it might be a handy skill to have, what with me being involved in animal welfare) and I needed to take a 'guinea pig' or two (or even three), to test my new skills on. I booked it a while back, knowing I could take Arnie and then managed to persuade my friend Donna to let me do Solo as well. Donna came along as my 'observer' and we had an interesting afternoon. (Eyeing up the vet for one thing - he was a bit fit).
We had to keep Arnie and Solo in their carriers during the training, but kept checking on them at the back of the room. What they must have thought about the strange smells and sounds, we can only guess, but they seemed pretty chilled by it all. The car journey to the venue had been a whole different ball-game, with Arnie spending the entire drive going 'WAH!', but as soon as the car stopped, so did he, bless him - obviously another who motion sickness sufferer, like me (except I don't go 'WAH!').
The course was meant to last 3 hours, but actually ran over slightly, due to the numbers of pets being chipped (mainly dogs). No rabbits or ferrets though... It was very informative and thorough, and I came away confident I could chip with confidence. I might not get the chance to use my new found skills for a while, but at least I'm certified to do so, when the time comes.
One of the other plus-points to attending the course was the chance to fuss various dogs, amongst them, two rottie pups, 2 bernese mountain dogs, a staffie, 2 french bulldogs and various other terriers and working dogs. Both Donna and I had come prepared with kitchen roll and other emergency supplies, just in case our two had any little 'accidents', but they were so chilled out, we needn't have bothered - but just as well we did come armed with wet wipes and mopping up materials really - there were one of two puddles from the pups, during the course of the afternoon!
At the end of the training, the dogs were first up to be chipped by their owners. A crocodile line of canines, all on their best behaviour. No scraps, just the occasional grumble (or puddle). I wondered how the dobermutt would have reacted to it all (but she's already chipped and so are the rest of the katkin beasties). I can't imagine her waiting patiently in line, she's such an attention-seeker.
There were only 7 cats, but interestingly, on the feline front, they were all pedigrees: 2 norwegian forest cats (Arnie and Solo), 2 baby bengals (and boy were they noisy - the minute they came into the room in their carrier, I knew EXACTLY what they were!), 2 baby Sphynxs and a rather crotchety Siamese who almost didn't get chipped because she was so distressed by the whole experience.
Our two were the very last to be chipped and I was feeling a little apprehensive when my time came to perform in front of an audience, but all went well- Arnie was first up and after being prised from the carrier where he had settled comfortably and had no intention of coming out, he let me plunge the needle into his 'scruff' without uttering a sound. It felt a bit like sticking a meat thermometer into a raw chicken, to be honest, but was soon over and the fluffy dude was checked to make sure the chip had found its mark. Finally, out came Solo for his 5 minutes of showtime and again, he was totally unfazed by the ordeal. Given that every other cat and some of the dogs had either howled, whimpered or wet itself (dogs) at some stage during the afternoon, this was pretty good going.
And once Arnie was back home again, he calmly trotted out of the carrier to be inspected by the daft dobermutt and several cats and with a swagger of his basil brush tail, went off in search of food, tired out but none the worst for his ordeal. http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080713_34.jpg then it was off to find mum n dad for some family bonding http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080713_109.jpg
Solo was fine too - although it doesnt seem to have quietened him down at all, nor has his previous trauma- a couple of weeks prior to being chipped, he'd leapt onto to eye level grill whilst it was on and ended up at the vets with burnt paw pads (ouch). Then last week, he was caught swinging from Donna's favorite painting in the lounge before moving to the curtain tie-backs to dangle from one until it was wrenched out of the wall (all at 3am, when sane moggies should be fast asleep). Donna is beginning to wonder whether he's got 666 tattooed somewhere under all that fur... and to think I almost chose to keep the little demon myself! Remember what a cutie he was http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/IMGP2480.jpg (Love him really).
...and I promised part 2 of the battling bengals. As the title suggests, Beauty and Alfie are still having their moments...
Most of the time, they ignore one another, or perhaps I should use the word tolerate
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080713_3.jpg but occasionally, Beauty gets it into her head to object to Alfie's presence and she literally stalks him - we've taken to calling her the 'bunny boiler'. http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080713_21.jpg
Yesterday, they decided to have a little altercation on the stairs - with the daft dobermutt trying to referee. This resulted in a tussle of bengal fur and dobermutt and more than a little barking and yowling, followed by a sulking Alfie skulking off upstairs in a huff and a grumbling Beauty slinking off under the cooker (followed by nursemaid Arnie, who wanted to check she was OK).
Daft dobermutt decided her job was done and trotted back upstairs to bed. Other half went to check on barmy bengal 1 upstairs whilst I coaxed Beauty out to check for damage. Sure enough- another bite on the top of her head. Fortunately, I was able to bathe this one before it became infected, but they never seem to learn, do they?
All is peaceful again now, http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080713_107.jpg but it's all part of having a houseful of house cats, I guess. Always something getting broken or broken into...and never a dull moment!
Published Date:
15/07/2008
Modified Date:
15/07/2008