When we went to bed, Bobby jumped on board and calmed down – I think her own purring helped her to ease her pain a bit.

Luckily we managed to get a vet’s appointment for today. He told us that symptoms could return, injected an analgesic for her pain (Rimadyl) which should get rid of her pain within 24 hours and he also gave us two tablets to keep just in case. He thinks we are doing all the right things but suggested to change to a prescription food which helps to break down crystals and acidity in the urine. So he prescribed Bobby Royal Canin  – Urinary S/O High Dilution which is specifically formulated for FLUDT. He also generally recommended this brand as their other dry foods also contains the S/O index which helps breaking down crystals and acidity. Which is great, because Bobby loves her crunchies. We have now decided to phase out the other brands she usually eat and replace them with the Royal Canin.

The new food is already a big hit with Bobs – she totally loves it.

Bobby dreaming - copyright Helen White

Yesterday Bobby also somehow managed to get her fur covered with sticky stuff, presumably sap from plants. It took a while and some scissors to get her fur back to normal. God only knows where she got that “glue” from, because we couldn’t find it on our plants.

copyright Paul White

In my last blog I mentioned that we had to take Bobby to the vet on Saturday and now I’d like to tell you why.

When we got home from the craft fair she greeted us as usual with her delightful chirruping voice, but not long after, she started to show some odd behaviour. She went to the litter tray, tried to wee, then stormed outside – squatted again to wee, but couldn’t, then she ran back into the house. This went on for quite some time – her back fur stood up dinosaur-like – until we realised that she obviously couldn’t wee at all. We rang Valley Vets, a surgery which is thankfully not far from where we live, and were advised to bring her in.

The vet was really nice and carefully examined Bobby while gently talking to her –she was quite impressed with her too, because she didn’t hiss or scratch but endured patiently her examination. The vet checked her temperature in a different room and examined her vulva. While Bobby’s temperature was normal, her vulva was inflamed and the vet told us that it could be Cystitis, which is quite common in cats. She was given a painkiller and we were instructed to stop feeding her dry food for while, add water to her wet food and administer some anti-biotics. Not easy when your cat is addicted to her crunchies! And initially we didn’t hide away all her dry food – so the little sod managed to paw some out. Until Monday we made sure that we mashed up her food with a bit of water and then sprinkled her meds over the food. And sat next to her to make sure she ate it! And we also ordered a mini food processor for future cat food mashing purposes.

copyright Paul White

On Monday I rang our own vet Michael from the Cardiff Cat Clinic, whom I can highly recommend, because he takes a lot of time explaining things and never talks talk down to owners. We still had some meds so were advised to bring her in the next day to see how she is doing.

Bobby is surprisingly calm not only in her basket when we are driving, but also when waiting at the vets. Our vet told us first that because of her age she was more likely to be suffering from Feline Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) which covers a range of conditions associated with the feline urinary tract including cystitis and crystalluria / urolithiasis, a condition where crystals or stones are formed in the bladder and Cystitis, the inflammation of the bladder. Cystitis usually affects cats aged 10+. However Bobby is coming up to 6 this year. After he examined her he said that her bladder is fine and obviously the meds and the change in her diet must have helped her getting back to normal.

copyright Helen White

Typical causes of FLUTD are stress (changes in the home and cat’s territory, new cats in the area or home), not enough litter trays, too much dry food high in magnesium and ph and not enough water intake. Obesity is also a risk factor.

FLUDT affects both sexes but can be more dangerous in male cats as they are more susceptible to blockages in their Urethra which is longer than in female cats.

So how do know if your cat is suffering from FLUDT?

If your cat tries to wee in places she normally uses, but can’t, it’s a good sign she/he’s suffering. If your cat goes to the litter box or outside to wee a lot, squats for a some time without  passing urine or  only few drops  (it’s easier to check this with indoor cats) or when she/he  passes blood in the urine. If your cat suffers from urethral obstruction you will notice that your cat becomes very distressed and will howl in pain, because of the bladder filling up with urine which causes painful bladder distension. It’s important to see the vet immediately as this can lead to kidney failure and eventually death if not treated promptly. Other symptoms your cat would show if suffering from urethral obstruction is protrusion and constant licking of penis (in male cats), lethargy, vomiting, avoiding food and water, hiding and eventually it will fall into a coma as a result of toxins passing into the bloodstream.

It’s very important to know your cat and his/her habits well, so you can act as soon as possible when you notice unusual behaviour.

You can read more about FLUDT here :

copyright Helen White

Bobby in bay window in our conservatory - copyright Helen White

Time to write another more cat related blog entry.

Those of you who follow my blog know about our cat Bobby. She has developed a few cute and quirky habits over the years and some not so cute habits, which I’d like to share with you.

Bobby as a kitten being cuddly - copyright Helen White

First the not so cute habits:

1. Ripping the shit out of our sofa and carpets – a habit we unfortunately can’t control much and in a way encouraged –because it is cute when she actually grips the underside of the sofa and slides across the carpet. Needless to say we won’t ever buy fancy furniture. Ikea has to suffice and the next sofa we invest in will be hopefully a sofa-bed for guests.
2. Stopping in the middle of stairs when I try to go down – I swear one day I will fall down the stairs.
3. Getting in your way without saying a word and you accidentally trod on her. She then runs away in shock and we run after her to let her know how sorry we are.
4. Waking up way too early (between 4 and 5 am) and ripping the carpet in order to get us up – works a treat for her – though I have taken to throwing  a pillow at her – that often stops her and she decides to jump on bed for a cuddle and snooze- which leads me directly to….

The day we met Bobby - copyright Helen White

Bobby’s cute and quirky habits:

1. She has an incredibly cute and endearing chirruping greeting noise she makes in the mornings when she wakes us, or when she wants something from us.
2. In the evening between 5 and 6 she often tends to sit in front of the front door and is clearly waiting for hubby to come home. When I used to work in the NHS and come home she often waited in the window and still sometimes does this – and gets very excited when she sees us.
3. Bobby will only play rough with hubby and is clearly daddy’s girl in that respect. She loves sock fights, which supposed to protect my hubby’s hands from scratches – doesn’t always work though.
4. Ever since she was a kitten she needs reassurance when she’s eating. She wants whoever is available to cuddle her backside, while she eats. This also entails her asking me to go downstairs – when I am actually busy in my office-  to proceed with the cuddles.
5. She tends to follow us around and seeks our company a lot.
6. When she is tired and ready for a snooze during the day Bobby loves to get onto the bed underneath the blanket which is just a general cover. She loves her little “tent” – when it’s not on the bed she will come to us and asks us to follow her and then we quite quickly twig what she wants and make her little tent.
7. She loves watching me cook – and should have her own cookery show
8. When she was a kitten her favourite game was to take cat food pouches out of their box and carry them one by one into the living room. She still sometimes does this and it’s very funny.
9. She loves cat nip and behaves like an aggressive drunk when she’s had some.
10. In the evening when she’s tired and wants us to go to bed she clearly lets us know.
11. She loves prawns – her favourite treat and she knows exactly when we go shopping. Back from the shops she will inspect all items and sniff around until we get out the prawns. It’s very cute when she tries to grab hold of them with her paws when we feed her.
12. When she meets other cats she often sticks her face right in their space and is often surprised when she gets hissed at or gets a whack with a paw.
13. Since we came back from our honeymoon in 2007 she likes to share the bed with us – and usually on the duvet between my legs. This is not comfortable for me, but clearly comfortable for her. She loves to purr and knead with her paws until she’s super relaxed. Then she stretches her front paws out like “supercat” and goes to sleep. While she is sleeping she makes some funny and cute snuffling noises – almost like snoring – but endearing.
14. She often inspects our faces in the morning to see if we are awake.
15. She is very communicative and talks a lot.

Bobby dreaming - copyright Helen White

I am sure there are even more cute and quirky habits I could list but at the moment I can’t think of any more. And here are:

Bobby’s bizarre habits:

1. Every time she has a crap in our garden (it used to be the litter tray, but she doesn’t use it any more) she storms in like a Banshee and goes bananas. We have no idea why – maybe it’s sheer relief?
2. Every time we go into our loft to take up things or get down stuff she starts to meow very persistently – after a while that sound can get grating – even for our tolerant ears! So we tend to put her leash on and let her have a nose around upstairs. We don’t know why she feels the need to go up – maybe because it’s full of clutter.

Bobby on bay window - copyright Helen White

If you have a cat I’d love to hear about your cat’s cute and quirky habits.

Bobby on living room climber - copyright Helen Kaut 2010

Bobby is not keen on the wet and windy November weather and therefore it’s nice to see that she loves her tall climber in the living room. When she gets high on cat nip she gets really wild and loves chasing her fishing rod toy. It’s now very thin at the tip of its tail. Despite the weather though she still goes out – not only to watch birds and to have a pee (she prefers outdoors to her litter tray) but  it looks like she has found herself a little pet mouse (well that’s pure assumption) in the garden under all the plants and she spends ages just watching that particular spot. So far we couldn’t make out in the dark (cause it’s only in the evenings she watches whatever it is) what animal she is observing, but we have this image of a cute mouse just hovering there, eating, while Bobby looks at it trying to befriend it. I don’t see why it is not possible. After all the animal world is full of stories of unusual friendships like this one between lion baby Zinzi and meerkat Bob who live Predator World Zoo and Game Farm in South Africa. Check out these cute images at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/8008923/Best-of-furry-friends-lion-and-meerkat-strike-up-friendship-that-echoes-The-Lion-King-story.html?image=6

Bobby on living room climber - copyright Helen Kaut 2010

Our cat is incredibly peaceful, nosey and friendly. The only animals she kills are moths and flies. It’s not only that she really doesn’t need to supplement her diet with extra prey, it’s just every time she hunts and almost manages to catch something – she is not sure what to do with it. It seems like she is more interested in the thrill of the hunt than eating her prey. She had many chances to kill small birds but she didn’t.

The pigeons love her – mainly because they associate her with food. My husband feeds them every morning before he heads off to work – mainly to entertain Bobby. Which means she gives me some extra minutes of sleep too. The pigeons make an awful racket on the conservatory roof though when they are picking up the seeds though.

When they don’t get fed they are rather disappointed and look to Bobby as if to say: where’s the food?

Bobby on living room climber - copyright Helen Kaut 2010

Yesterday I had to drive him out of the kitchen and noticed an awful smell in the garden. That’s the thing about toms – I am not sure if he’s neutered- they spray everywhere and it’s the worst smell in the universe – (maybe lions and tigers are worse).  And unfortunately some owners of male cats don’t see that it’s their responsibility to get them neutered.

I was glad he didn’t spray in the house. This happened a lot in my parents’ flat when Freddy was still alive. As they don’t have a cat flap, they used to leave the balcony door open and often uninvited toms would come in and harass poor Freddy, especially when she was older. And they would leave awful scent marks on things like my rucksack (my most embarrassing trip home on the tram), the video recorder, the piano (!) and walls. My mum was not amused. Now my dad makes sure the door is always shut and Dusty has to wait until someone lets her in. My dad doesn’t want to invest in a flap as the doors are not designed for one.

We will have to find a way to stop the intruder from coming in. I don’t like it but next time it’s time for the hose!

Bobby watches a wildlife documentary

Our cat is full of surprises and the latest is that after 4 years with us she finally has discovered the joys of watching  television. Usually she doesn’t care much about it when it’s on and often  just snoozes, but for a couple of days now she is transfixed by it. She responds to noises and on Monday she spent an hour watching a wildlife documentary about the Yellowstone River in Canada. At some point they showed how the snow came down and she started touching the screen. So I am wondering what cats actually can see when they watch telly. They usually do respond to sounds, certainly animal sounds and of course other cats, but what can they actually see and recognise on the flat screen? So I googled to find out.

 Here some links that shed some light on the question:

http://www.pawnation.com/2009/07/23/what-dogs-and-cats-really-see-on-tv-and-elsewhere/

 http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081221171729AAPq4kU

What do you think? If you own a cat, does she/he  also stare intently at the telly? Does she/he prefer specific programmes?

Bobby watches a wildlife documentary