Chaos Reading discussion

All cat lovers are good people. And all good people read books. Ergo....... the cat thread is inevitable.

I have a clip and a question. The clip: Dodgy Back End (feat. Swanky)

My question: Has anyone else ever had a cat that adds fibre to their own food? My kitten (who turned 4months old yesterday) has been putting sisal threads from the cat furniture into her bowl of wet food. Also, I've noticed her adding bits of dried up grass (or just eating it straight from the floor of the semi-outdoor laundry). Cobwebs are a popular snack, along with any bug she sees (dead or alive) - although that's not so unusual for a cat.
But what is UP with the sisal in her bowl? Is my kitten really a middle-aged man concerned about his fibre intake?

Ha, you do end up with interesting cats!

Some cats do get mild pica in response to nutritional or fiber deficits. And it seems some just like eating weird things. If her poop is normal, you can try adding a little fiber to her food, either by purchasing a higher fiber food, or by adding 1/4 tsp of metamucil, benefiber, or psyillium to her existing food. You can also try a probiotic like 'Forti-flora' for a couple weeks and see if that changes anything.

You're probably already doing this, but make sure Swanky doesn't have access to any longer threads or fibers, as swallowing these frequently leads to intestinal problems and surgery. Finally, I would have some appropriate rye grass / cat grass growing for her to munch on. And if she goes outdoors, there's a danger of her eating lawns that have been chemically treated.

Kathy wrote: "Ruby wrote: "All cat lovers are good people. And all good people read books. Ergo....... the cat thread is inevitable.
"

Love it!

Threads of any kind are very dangerous for cats as they cat tang..." Also small rubber bands, those wire ties that you find at the grocery store or almost anything small they can bat around and try to kill--by eating. Grass is good.

Oh man, I have been waiting for this. Can we just all post pictures of our cats all day long?

My cat is a super weird eater. She's really picky when it comes to cat food (one day she'll like one flavor, the next day she decides she doesn't like that flavor anymore), and doesn't really like most human food either. The thing she does like? Leaves. Both lettuce-type stuff and flowers/houseplants. She will seriously jump up on the table during dinner, ignore the roast chicken or steak, and go straight for the salad bowl. It's bizarre.

My aforementioned cat. She is very petite, probably because all she eats is salad.

Oh! She is gorgeous! Such a princess :)
Pingu had similar eating habits, except she loved aromatics - herbs, fruits and flowers. No human food interested her, except for freshly squeezed carrot/ginger juice.

I am a bit concerned with Swanky though. A lot of dried weeds & grasses blow in to the laundry (the houses here have their laundries outside, then usually enclosed in mesh/wooden palings, so anything can get in) & she eats it all. She was up all night hunting the giant bush cockroaches that burrow into the dirt around the edges. I'm really alarmed that she'll bite the first cane toad she sees too, and their skin is highly poisonous. She just "leads with the mouth" - chomps first, instead of batting around with her paw.
And right now, the litter tray is....... quite unpleasant. I'm keeping an eye on it, and I'll take her to the vet if need be. I'm hoping these are just bad habits she picked up at the animal shelter. She's never really had a home until now.

Thanks, guys!

That little kitty with the paws and squinty eyes is so cute! I just want to smush his face in.

Adam wrote: "Ruby, most grasses and weeds shouldn't be a problem, but poison toads are another story. Do you have screen doors there?
..."

We have screened EVERYTHING here - the laundry doors and walls are all screens. The critters just tunnel under the screens and squeeze between the palings etc. I've had cane toads get in a number of times before. At least the screens have kept the big goannas out...... so far.

Whitney wrote: "Finally, I would have some appropriate rye grass / cat grass growing for her to munch on. ..."

That's one thing I do miss up here - garden stores that stock herbs! I usually have catnip and cat grass in pots, but they all got dumped in Canberra. And the locals consider herbs to be "weird city stuff" apparently.

Whoo cat thread! Let me bore you to death with some short videos off my audrey hepburn of cats! :D

Gatarina helps me study - or not

Gatarina giving a little bath to one of my dogs

Gatarina displeased with being Santas elf

Yippee a cat thread!
Tinka is into Asian fusion. She loves lemongrass which we have growing. We also have some cat grass and she likes to nibble on our 1 square metre of lawn we have in our inner west backyard.

Tinka looks a bit like my Maggie. Maggie was a blood donor at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital until her retirement 3 years ago. She just swiped my poor, peace-loving dog in the face 5 minutes ago. He seems okay. She is showing no remorse.

Not my cat (I already showed her!) but I just came across this series of youtube videos today and I am dying.

Henri, Le Chat Noir

Frozenwaffle wrote: "Whoo cat thread! Let me bore you to death with some short videos off my audrey hepburn of cats! :D
..."

Oooooh - Gatarina! So gorgeous! How did you get her into that elf suit?!

Swanky Cat just went outside for the very first time ever. I'm just now realising what a different worldview a kitten has to an adult cat, and when the kitten has spent her whole life to date in shelters..... *sigh*

Swanky spent the first hour patrolling the dirt under the house, with no concept that she could actually *BE* in the lush green garden, as opposed to looking out at it from a window or screen. She did great though in the end - didn't stray outside the fence even once, and came back in by herself. Even made a couple of little runs through the bushes.

Frozenwaffle wrote: "Whoo cat thread! Let me bore you to death with some short videos off my audrey hepburn of cats! :D "

She may be Audrey Hepburn, but I'm afraid Hepburn usually had better people behind the camera - it was hard to make her out while washing the dog. The dog is extremely understanding! Her dismount in the last clip is beautiful.

Susan wrote: "Tinka is into Asian fusion. She loves lemongrass which we have growing. We also have some cat grass and she likes to nibble on our 1 square metre of lawn we have in our inner w..."

Saves you from having to buy a sheep!

Mark wrote: "Riona wrote: "Not my cat (I already showed her!) but I just came across this series of youtube videos today and I am dying.

Henri, Le Chat Noir"

That is hilarious."

Henri - Politique even references our local mayoral candidate, Tuxedo Stan.

Whitney: is Maggie a Maine Coon? Tinka is a bit Maine Coonish (really just moggy). She quite likes dogs so hasn't to date swiped any, but she is a sole pet (keeps her two humans quite busy) and so doesn't really get much opportunity.
Riona: Henri le Chat Noir is hilarious - I'm now going to watch them all

Derek wrote: "Mark wrote: "Riona wrote: "Not my cat (I already showed her!) but I just came across this series of youtube videos today and I am dying.

Henri, Le Chat Noir"

That is hilarious."

Henri - Politiqu..." Henri - my hero! Also a major Tuxedo Stan fan and following his health issues. And lets not forget Hank, who ran for a Senate seat in Virginia.

Been taking care of my recovering cat and just now checking out all the new entries. Some very handsome cats here and lots of good comments. Here is a picture of my cat Lance before his surgery. Sorry, I don't know how to pull it in without the link. http://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/3...

Lance is a handsome boy! Hope his recovery is going well.

Maggie doesn't have any Maine Coon as far as I know. She definitely doesn't have that Maine Coon mellowness :-)

I'm also a big Henri fan (I voted for him in the first Internet cat video film festival:-) Proud to say he is a Seattleite, along with the inimitable Colonel Meow.

Derek wrote: "Henri - Politique even references our local mayoral candidate, Tuxedo Stan...."

That's wonderful. Swanky approves.

Didn't get much further with the group read last night. Thanks to Swanky. She's quite territorial over DFW apparently..

My cats like vegan "meat and dairy". I know, you're all thinking "does anyone like vegan meat and dairy?" Well, yeah, it's some good shit these days (just ask my scale).

But cats liking it... it's just weird.

Karen wrote: "Been taking care of my recovering cat and just now checking out all the new entries. Some very handsome cats here and lots of good comments. Here is a picture of my cat Lance before his surgery. So..."

What a lovely boy. I hope he's doing better now.

Whitney wrote: "Maggie was a blood donor at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital until her retirement 3 years ago. She just swiped my poor, peace-loving dog in the face 5 minutes ago. He seems okay. She is showing no remorse."

I swear they believe that any good deed, such as being a blood donor, requires an equal and oppposite reaction - like drawing blood from the dog.

My dog is a rescue, with serious behavioral problems, and I honestly thought she'd kill the cat if left alone with him, but Mojo torments her mercilessly (with teeth and claws), and she takes it. I still wouldn't leave them alone together, but I'm amazed at what the cat can get away with.

Derek wrote: "My dog is a rescue, with serious behavioral problems, and I honestly thought she'd kill the cat if left alone with him, but Mojo torments her mercilessly (with teeth and claws), and she takes it. I still wouldn't leave them alone together, but I'm amazed at what the cat can get away with. ..."

In my experience, it's almost always the cat that ends up terrorizing the dog. When I brought my guy home from the shelter I was worried for the cat, but as I said it turned out he was a pacifist when it comes to cats. There have even been a few neighborhood cats who come running over to say hi to him when we're out on our walks.

Normally there is peaceful coexistence in my home, but occasionally Maggie gets a bug and has to assert her superiority.

Despite her background, Swanky has some behavioural quirks but nothing I'd call a real problem. She's had to be taught what a human is and how to cuddle one, but she's a very quick learner. So polite though - still asks permission to jump on the couch with me, then looks at me as if to say "Is that okay? Did I do it right?" No such qualms about bedroom doors though..

nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah

Mucho cuteness in this thread :D

Ruby, getting Gatarina in that elf suit earned me some well deserved scars. I regret nothing.

I'm a lousy camera-girl, its true Derek. But still, its so cute when you don't really see whats going on in that video and then she turns her sweet eyes to you *.* Gaarh, I could EAT her.

Tinka and Maggie are just like little tigers!
And Daphne is very glamorous in her muzzleshot ^___^

Swanky is a little book nerd already, bless her :P
Thats an awesome excuse for some pet photos: Lets all capture moments of our pets with our books! :D

I have another cat, Hinata I picked her up in front of my store - she was run over by a car and had her left hindpaw broken in 2 places. A baby! And they left her there! :/

So I took her to the vet and then brought her home to take care of her while I put her up for adoption - But Gatarina adopted her at first site, and they became such good friends that I just had to face divorce and keep her too xD 2 cats wresling is the funniest thing, they look like baby bears!

Ok, all this to say that I have a new cat to take pictures of, and will smuggle some of my 2 doggies in here two - if there is books in the picture, its on topic! *angel*

Bff sleepover


Bookworm Gatarina


Nala and MiniCooper bedtime story


Total random picture of my beautiful Noobie xD


Hinata takes flight

I'm not even going to pretend I followed all that, but I'm very excited for you! :) xoxo

And they're great shots. I love the bffs.

Just walked into the kitchen to find Swanky standing in the doorway, staring me down like she should be stroking an even smaller cat, saying "Welcome Ms. Tombstone. I've been expecting you..."

Yeah, I was a bit high on caffeine when I wrote that, now that I notice.

Swanky, the vilain!

The Good News: Swanky LOVES to watch telly.
The Bad News: I have barely survived Big Cat Week. No more leopard documentaries for Swanky!

Swanky is hilarious (and gorgeous). Tinka watched a leopard doco avidly when she was a kitten - must be a rite of passage

Susan wrote: "Swanky is hilarious (and gorgeous). Tinka watched a leopard doco avidly when she was a kitten - must be a rite of passage"

I think you're right there. I don't mind them watching the big cat docos, it's just when they try to bring you down like a wounded zebra that I have issues!

Pingu used to have issues with anything leopard print. For a long time, she wouldn't set foot on my leopard print blanket. She'd just jump over it, instead of walking on it!

[image error]

Reading with cats.

Heehee - Is that your cat?

Ruby wrote: "Heehee - Is that your cat?"

Only in spirit :-)

I have three cats right now: Blackie, Siren and Oscar. I lost my beloved Billy to FIV a year ago (it will be on May 31st). I'd love to post photos of them, but I don't know how to do that here on GR. Can someone help me out with that, please?

Hi Nancy
Welcome to the group! This is what the GR help file says about uploading photos:

If you're trying to add a book cover image, the easiest way to do so is:
1. Navigate to the discussion thread in which you would like the post to appear.
2. Scroll down until you see the text field that appears below all of the comments.
3. Click the beige "add book/author" link that appears on top of the text field.
4. A window will pop up. Make sure that you select the radio button for "cover" at the bottom of the window, then search for the book in question.
5. As soon as you find it, click "add". The cover image should automatically appear when you publish your comment.
If you're trying to add an image that isn't a book cover, you will have to use HTML. The image has to be sourced online, so you will need a URL to the picture you want to add. If the picture is on your computer, and not hosted online, I recommend creating a Photobucket account (where they will provide you with URLs to each photo you upload). As soon as you have this URL, insert it between the quotation marks here:
img src=""
then add a bracket to each end (< and >) and paste that into the text field.

Not that simple really but give it a go and someone will help you if you get stuck

Still having tummy issues with 6-month old Swanky. Took her to the vet for blood tests yesterday. Apparently they couldn't find her vein on one side so they had to shave both sides of her neck. They shaved all her fluffy white chest fur off. I cried. :(

Now that she has finally stopped bleeding and now that I'm resigned to it, she actually does look very gorgeous in her new punk haircut. Shows off her muscles!

Swanky Pre-Shave


Swanky Post-Shave

Ha! It's like a reverse beard. She doesn't look too pleased, though.

I hope she feels better soon!

Riona wrote: "Ha! It's like a reverse beard. She doesn't look too pleased, though.

I hope she feels better soon!"

Actually, I think she was less upset then I was! Hey, in the second picture, do you notice something odd? I've just realised she's a polydactyl - 5 fingers and a dewclaw! I should've known she'd have a go at growing her own thumbs..

There are few things more pleasant in this life than coming out of a rather too ambitious yoga stretch to find yourself nose to nose with a very serious looking cat.

Lee wrote: "There are few things more pleasant in this life than coming out of a rather too ambitious yoga stretch to find yourself nose to nose with a very serious looking cat."

hehe. I had the same thing last night when I was doing the physio lumbar exercises. Swanky seemed very confused, but pleased that I was visiting the ground floor. :)

Mouser always does that cat thing of lying on top of whatever is taking your attention away from her - in this case my yoga mat - I spend about half the time gently transferring her to the sofa.

My new roommate. Max showed up at Animal Services with a broken femur, damaged sinuses, all the skin ripped off his lower jaw, and an infected eye. He walks like one of those kids that needs to wear one shoe that's larger than the other. His meow sounds like a rusty hinge and his purr sounds like a broken motorboat. He sneezes a lot.

We figured he sustained his injuries in a post-apocalyptic desert battle with a leather-clad biker gang. Hence his name.

Mad Max


Chillin' with the Big Dawgs

Awwww - he's gorgeous! Yay Mad Max! Does he have an Australian accent? :)

Max is fantastic! Looks a bit like a Tasmanian Devil in the close up - a double Aussie connection!