Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[gooner.girl]

Wonder if anyone has some advice - knowing that a lot of you have other animals as well as . My male cat Alfie (3 years old, bit dopey but very lovable) has developed an interesting new hobby of chasing his tail.

 

Has anyone elses cat done this and is it a cause for concern? He seems perfectly well in all other ways although is going out less then usual (though that might be a. cos its getting colder and b. cos there are scary in the garden!) He has a sister to play with, plenty of toys, access to outside if he wants it, nice food, plenty of cosy beds to lie on. It just makes me feel a bit uneasy when he does it. He doesn't really bite it or draw blood or anything though does leave a lot of fur on the floor (though he is a fluffy cat!)

 

Please? Any advice greatfully recieved!

 

Helen

[Guest]

My kitten Hartley spends many a happy hour chasing, catching and chewing both her tail and Tiggers tail. I don;t think it's anything to worry about!

 

[theherd123]

Have you tried using a water pistol???

 

Each time your cat chases its tail squish him with a water pistol - but it must be like 'an act of God' - dont look him in the eye then fire!

 

Hopefully the cat will associate the chasing tail with the negative experience of being sprayed with water so the cat should stop.

 

This technique works with some dogs so its worth a try!

Hope this helps!

[bellekatz]

Hopefully the cat will associate the chasing tail with the negative experience of being sprayed with water so the cat should stop.

Unless you have one of mine in which case they just lick the water and come back for more!!!

[theherd123]

You know sometimes you just cant win 'em all!

[gooner.girl]

Yes. Good idea Emma, however Alfie rather likes water - he will try and join me in the bath if he can! He will sit on the edge and swirl the water with his paw and lap it up. He has even been known to use my husbands chest as an island occasionally! (mind boggles! ) I might give it a go anyway though - worth a try. Do you think i can train Milo (the dog) to squirt him when i'm at work!?

 

He did chase his sisters tail as a kitten (which is fair enough as kittens are suposed to be playful) but i thought he had grown out of it. Oh well i will mention it to the vets next time we go but i won't hurry him there!

[divinggatita]

Arwen goes through phases of chasing her tail, she's 2 now she just suddenly seems to notice it when she's in wild wide eyed mode and is quite savage with it.

 

My last cat Heidi also chased her tail but never really caught up with it very often. Arwen's is bent over at the end 90 degrees so its easier to catch.

[The Dogmother]

Biscuit does it until he disappears into a cream coloured blur Hence my post about the tiger changing into butter. he's just mad as a bag of frogs though!

[Cinnamon]

Yep,Chilli is into the tail thing too.

The funniest is when he is laying down & trying to catch it to nibble it,but it keeps flickering out of the way

[gooner.girl]

Thanks girls you've reassured me theres nothing to worry about but onto my next worrying (theres always another one when it comes to my pets) and i know i should post this in chicken clinic but can't be bothered!

 

Bluebell sounded really chesty just now. Quite raspy. I had put them away for the night but bought her into the house to show my sister. Could it be the shock of coming inside and being held - she is the most nervous/unfriendly of the 3. Theres no sign of a cold and she seems aok otherwise. Is it just one of those things to keep an eye on?

 

Helen

[The Dogmother]

Yup, see how she is in the morning. They sometimes 'pant' nervously like dogs do. The thing to look for is whether she just has a bunged up nose, or whether she sounds like she has a wheezy or bubbly chest - just hold her up to your ear for a listen. If it sounds like it's on her chest, then it's best to get her to the vet.

[red]

She hasn't been smoking fags behind the shed has she?

 

Seriously though, Doris is the same - all raspsy with the occasionaly coughy sneezy type thing but no runny nose and otherwise seems okay. The other girls are both fine. Doris does seem a bit better now than earlier in the week. I put it down to the stress of the journey and sitting in a box for an hour during the drive home last Saturday (when we got her). I have put some citradel in her water - which she is drinking plentifully though not excessively - and some poultry spice in with their pellets. She did attempt to make some traditional gentle chickeny clucking noises this morning for the first time since we've had her. I'll review/monitor for another few days. I'm off to London at the start of next week for work but I'll get hubby to keep a close eye on her and I'll take her to the vets at the end of the week if she hasn't improved.

[gooner.girl]

I will get the hubby to keep an eye on her tomorrow and see if shes still making the chesty noise.

 

Ironically enough, i'm out on a chicken keeping course so i may ask the person taking it, about her as well!

[red]

You should definately ask her - if she's running a course she will have a certain amount of expertise and you should make best use of what (I presume) you are paying for.

 

Let us know how the course goes because there are probably quite a few people who have thought about going on a course so it will be useful to know how well it goes/how helpful you find it.

[gooner.girl]

Well i'm back from my course, run by a man called David Bland (a bit of a chicken legend in the south east apparantly - but i'd never heard of him! ) So here's what i learnt that i didn't know already!

 

- Chickens are attracted to red

 

- Always have your hen house facing south in the winter (to keep the chickens warmer)

 

- The best thing to treat scaley leg is vaseline

 

- Chickens take half an hour to eat days allowance of layers pellets but if you feed them mash they eat the same amount in 3 and a half hours so its good for their boredom levels!

 

- When chicks hatch they have 2 ovaries but within 7 days one of them shrivels and dies so they are left with one.

 

- Don't feed oyster shell

 

- Vermex and poultry guard are useless (in his opinion) - poultry guard had only been tested on pheasents

 

- Ignore the warnings about to many eggs causing cholestrol - they also contain lycine (sp?) which breaks down cholestrol. The folic acid in eggs is the best source of folic acid your body can get from any other food source or vitamins.

 

 

He also said some rather (to my mind) controversial things such as you are not doing battery hens favours by rehoming them cos the conditions are so different its to much of a shock and that battery barns are not really that bad (hummm. Not convinced) and also that even if eggs are called free range it usually means that 2000 odd chickens are kept in a barn with a couple of pot holes for the outside and only the ones nearest can get through to the outside.

 

It was very interesting one the whole - more people there then i thought and nice to meet other poultry keepers (none of them that i spoke to had an eglu though )

[AnnieP]

Well done. Sounds like you had a really interesting day. Not sure at all about some of these things, but everyone's got a right to their opinion. Not sure Buffie or many of the rest of us would be happy about the views expressed about rehoming batteries though... he'd better watch his back..... Buffie, out crusader, can be very scary you know!

 

by the way.... never heard of him either?

[Cate in NZ]

I have heard of David Bland, he's written some books about chicken keeping I think, and, I'm not sure here but I seem to think that he has a connection with one of the big poultry goods suppliers in the South East.... I think I'm associating him with the SPR centre in Chichester, but I might be wrong there Easily confused.... 'tis the wine I'm currently drinking, not the age or lack of little grey cells lest anyone starts casting Mel's nasturtiums

Katie Thear voiced similar comments about rescued batteries in an article that I read in Country Smallholder a couple of months ago (I took umbrage and haven't bought it since )

Maybe they have a point about ex batts not always finding the adaptation to freedom easy, there does seem sadly to be a significant minority who don't survive for a very long time after rescue..... my lovely Dolly only enjoyed about 5 weeks freedom with us..... but she had 5 weeks of scratching, pecking, sunshine on her feathers and freedom. Thank goodness for that

[gooner.girl]

Yes you've got the right David. He has a big shop/place near Chichester - SPR poultry - well done - the wine can't have had that much effect yet! Yes he's written 3 books i think (though not read them myself.) Ones called Practical Poultry keeping if my memory serves me right.

 

I don't think i agree with his view on battery hens - or maybe i don't want to as i want to keep some myself however he's quite old and has been working in poultry for 50 plus years whereas i am only a beginner, having kept hens for just over 3 months! so he knows a lot more about chicken keeping then i do!

 

Like i say these opinions aren't my own its just some of the stuff he said today.

[Laura & CTB]

- Don't feed oyster shell

 

 

why???

[gooner.girl]

He said its something to do with the calcium and phospherous(?) in the chickens bones and it destroys the balance of them both and can use their supplies up quicker producing soft shelled eggs as they get older?! I don't really know having not used it myself and i can't quite remember what he said. Its different to grit though - which obviously is fine. I'm only quoting what he said though i don't know if its true! I'm sure lots of people use it and their eggs are fine!

 

 

????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[red]

Well i'm back from my course, run by a man called David Bland (a bit of a chicken legend in the south east apparantly - but i'd never heard of him! ) So here's what i learnt that i didn't know already!

 

- Chickens are attracted to red

 

Tell me about it!

[gooner.girl]

hahahaha!!!!!!!!!

[buffie]

Well it's rather late for me to post so I'll come back to this but they aren't battery barns but battery caged hen units, different. The hens do adjust very well to free range life, really . Jane recently lost a rescued sweetie of 10 years old!

 

There are some very old fashioned views but I can assure anyone that a caged hen can have a long and happy retirement once rescued and given a second chance. You can't remove a hens need to carry out it's natural behaviour , just ask anyone who's rescued ex batteries!

 

So much to say about free range chooks but need more time, watch out on monday morning. Only can say, look at your own chooks behaviour in the pecking order!

 

Thanks Annie

 

BBx

[gooner.girl]

Buffie, I'm all for rescuing some - i wasn't at all convinced by this guys arguments and nor was an american sounding lady who had 3 rescue hens but what do people do when they rehome them in winter? - is the shock of an eglu and outside being so cold to much for them? Do you have to ease them in gently? Would it be easier to wait until spring when the weather gets warmer again? We can't all keep them in our houses unlike the lucky some! BTW How is Flump? Emma?!

[buffie]

Hi Helen, last nights was a quick post and sorry if I sounded sharp, not meant to at all. With winter rescues we tend to put a halt to them if it's really awful weather but obviously want to carry on as long as poss. The eglu is so well insulated I think that's a plus but obviously TLC is required. They are strong girls, they have to be to live in thier confined cage. I lost my lovely Pekin recently 'Buff', she had the best start in life and hadn't endured a cage but we still lost her. It's one of those things. The rescue girls have a lot of fight but as with any you will have some with a short retirement.

 

Personal choice really as to time of year to do it but lovely that you want to

 

BBx