The Forum Chit-Chat Thread

Pet supply shops are officially on the list of essential retailers that can stay open.

Mine arrived yesterday too, got a mega box of dreamies, absolutely essential of course :-D I could only get poultry flavour smilla, Freya only eats turkey flavour so I'm hoping poultry includes a high proportion of turkey

Have enough food for a good 8 or 9 weeks, I may end up taking on a foster so happier to have a bit extra

I don't really want to start a new thread for this but has anyone any tips for trying to catch and pick up a very very scared skittish cat?

We've noticed that new (I say new, but we've had her since last July) cat Síonna seems to be favouring her front right paw and isn't putting any pressure on it. We're gonna take her to the vet but she HATES being picked up. We cornered her in the kitchen earlier in the week to have a look at the paw and see if there was anything obviously wrong with it. It took ages to catch her and she badly scraped me trying to get out of my arms while my husband inspected the paw. We've no idea how to get her into a cat carrier to get her to the vet though! She's normally quite affectionate and is happy to sit and get petted by us (not on our laps) but is incredibly skittish and nervous and gets spooked and bolts really easily.

My Aunt is 70's so I'm walking her dog for her. It's a massive relief for her. I assume it's ok. They're lucky to have you Budgese.

I've had an upsetting morning. Had my two up the field at the back of our house earlier. General etiquette is if someone is there with a dog you go in the opposite direction. Most people do it that way but there are always going to be a few. There's a couple in particular who between them have 6 dogs. All lovely, friendly dogs but 2 of them are extremely friendly (fab, gorgeous dogs) and one is quite big and Kobi is terrified of them as they bounce all over him.

So this morning I'm heading back out of the field and they come in so I stop, hoping they'll move a little over in the other direction but they just stood there waiting for me to pass. It makes absolutely no difference which direction you go in, but there's only one way in or out so I waited it out but then they decided to wait no more and came right towards me so I had to move or I was hemmed in. Of course one of their crew ran towards mine and Kobi got the fright of his life and bolted. I was so upset and shouted at them why didn't you use your bloody head like everyone else and give me space to get out of the way, now my dog had gone etc. They said I should have had them on leads, even though theirs were off lead too. I left mine off as when theirs approach, mine are then fairly trapped. We had a shouting match, they basically didn't give a sh1t.

I couldn't find poor Kobi (deserter!) and was so bloody upset as I hate confrontation and was terrified something would happen to him but when I got home he was there. So relieved!!

I just wanted to vent really. I know it's not a big deal in our current, weird situation. I should just forget it now but I'm the type to mull over things.

Is it too early for a sip of something strong?

Anyway, I hope you're all safe and well.x

Dogs are loving us home all the time, how's everyone doing?
I have enough gardening to do to last at least a month, possibly 2, depends how sore I get digging and moving stuff.

I've just noticed graces7 hasn't posted in a few weeks, hope she's OK

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A poster on another thread was chatting with her and she's grand. Just taking a break for a while.

Thank you, I was going to pm her, good to know she's OK.

Mollyb60 wrote: »

I think the skittish new cat has worms. Caught her dragging her bum on the carpet earlier. Gonna have to try catch her now to get her to the vet (assuming they'll see us, not sure what the situation is with vets these days). I may get all my heaviest clothes on in preparation.

Procedure with our local vet is you phone first, make the appointment, ring when you arrive outside and they call you in, or possibly just take your cat in and you wait outside.
If it's just meds you want, you ring, order what you want, pay by card on the phone, ring when you're ouside and they hand you out the meds.

First hand experience on Saturday... we needed flea treatments!

SillyMangoX wrote: »

I heard a fox yelling outside this evening for the first time in years. If you don’t know what it is, it sounds terrifying but nice to know there’s a bit of wildlife around! Hopefully they won’t get too near my neighbours hens

Loads of urban foxes around our area with the botanics, convents etc. People have had them in the gardens sunning themselves lol

aonb wrote: »

Cat Experts - is there any product I can buy that I can give to a very very neglected long haired cat, that lives outdoors and is semi-feral - to help improve its coat. Its not my cat - its an elderly neighbours - its sole purpose is for vermin control - so just about fed, nothing else. Its coat is in a state - Ive been feeding it while neighbour in hospital, and have managed to cut most of the revolting mats off. Its skin underneath isnt great looking. Its always had a very bad coat - mats and clumps hanging off etc. Im feeding it up as I say, and its letting me pet it now. But need to help coat condition if at all possible?

There is a Royal Canin cat food specifically for hair and skin care that you could feed it but really the best course of action is what auspicious suggested, a vet visit is what's needed.

aonb wrote: »

Thank you both.
Taking this cat, which is not mine, to a vet for grooming is not on unfortunately. Im taking care of it 'on the quiet' as I hate to see it looking so bedraggled. My elderly neighbour would NOT be happy if I intrude with her cat...
Ive already cut all of the mats off, its remaining coat is very thin/wispy, and completely bare in places - Im putting a little oil in its food once/day, and feeding it x3/day. Is there any product I can add to her food to improve her coat, or put on her skin??

More oil imo, like a can of sardines IN OIL 2/3 times a week.

Her coat has always been very inclined to be matted/felted. She is very very long haired (ginger/tabby type) Because she is semi-feral, it used to be hard to get close to her, but Ive always noticed that her fur was in bad shape. Im not quite sure how old she is - maybe 3 or 6 years old. Zero chance of me inspecting her mouth/teeth She lets me stroke her a tiny bit now, but is VERY skittish. She is outdoors only, and seems to sleep in a wrecked shed, so has had a pretty tough life, poor cat.