I just have to share the news - which the cat owners among you probably know anyway - about cat bowls. My recent purchase of a set of whisker friendly bowls have so far been a great success. It would seem that 21st century cats don't like their whiskers to be knocked by the side of a food bowl. These new bowls are shallow and wide and my girls love them.
I've had cats all my life, from when I was a toddler to the present day with only the sad times between getting over a loss and heading for the rescue centre again. All my cats have come from a cat rescue centre. I've never had any trouble with their feeding habits or, indeed, sociability... until Betty and Sophie arrived.
I blogged about them in 2021. The rescue people assured us they were sisters and loved each other... wrong! To this day they will have a hissy fit if they pass too close and they have divided up the house. Betty has the conservatory, Sophie the living room. The dining area and kitchen are tolerated as shared feeding stations to be accessed when the area is vacant. They will never eat together!
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| Sophie on her striped chair in the living room and Betty in the conservatory. |
Betty is rather overweight and tends to plod around. I do try to restrict her diet but she just eats her sister's food whenever I put her on rations. She will now allow me to stroke her when she's hungry. Any other time I'm likely to lose a hand, or at least a pint of blood. She is adorable in that 'only a mother would love her' kind of way.
Sophie will only eat dried food and is quite petite. She has benefitted the most from these new shallow bowls and it's a joy to watch her eating. She is much more loveable than Betty. I can tickle her ear and tummy with no fear of reprisals but if I try to pick her up then blood will be spilt for sure. The vet tells me that she has a heart murmur and possibly was born with it but I'm not going to subject her to tests, not while she is still performing zoomies up and down the stairs and in and out of rooms at record-breaking speed.
With apologies to non-cat-lovers here are two more photographs of the girls:
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| Betty lounging in the conservatory |
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| Sophie on a suitcase under the spare bed |
Ah cats. I love them, grew up with them and had seven of my own all together at one time. But I cannot have a cat now until we've ceased our boating life. Cats and boats, in my experience, do not go together. I have lost a cat myself to the water and many of my friends have too, so I won't risk it again. It's much too painful to lose them that way. But that aside, they are such characters. I'm fascinated by how they will co-habit and still not happily co-exist. Betty and Sophie look so sweet, but I know only too well how cats can dislike each other even when we've been told they are sweet and friendly to all their fellow felines. These bowls sound interesting, though. Would you be able to add a photo? My daughter has a cat and I'm sure she'd be interested.
ReplyDeleteSeven cats, gosh. I can well understand that canal boat life and cats don't go and yes, it must have been heartbreaking to lose a cat that way. To be honest the bowls are rather ordinary.to look at. I got them from Amazon and they're called:
Delete8 Pack Cat Bowls Whisker Friendly, Shallow Wide Pet Food and Water Bowl, Durable Wheat Straw Cat Dishes for Indoor Outdoor Cats
I know I'm easily excited but they're all different colours which is still making me chuckle.
I like that, Ros. I might buy some for Zoe too. She’s a dog, but she thinks she’s a cat.😄
DeleteHi Ros - I love cats ... I hadn't realised that about their whiskers though. My mother ended up with our cats ... and I had a dog in South Africa. My brother and his wife had a brother and sister cat - the boy cat was totally horrible to his sister ... sadly she got run over - and they live in a very rural setting. Their present cat is very unfriendly to other people! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteOh dear. Sorry to hear that you've had some negative experiences with cats. Cats, I guess, are like people - all with different temperaments.
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