Happy Monday Fluffies
Meowing on Mondays ~ In The Sandbox with The B Team
Welcome to the sandbox for a quick chat session, and today we're sharing a popular post as we've had a number of requests for what it's like living in a multi-cat household and what's involved. By the way, no hissing, no spitting, no smacky paws or swiping, no flicking sand and definitely no widdling or pooping in the sandbox either! MOL
Living In A Multi-Cat Household
Now we know that some hoomans may have only one kitty. Some have two or maybe even three. But how does having even more kitties work in today's fast-paced world?
At BBHQ, we usually run at six cats constantly. That seems to be the magic number for us, our Goldilocks number—not too many and not too little, the 'just right' ratio. However, we have had times when we've been down to only three, and we've also been as high as eight indoors, plus feeding several strays that visited our garden daily.
So, how does this work for us?
Having six cats is quite a bit of work, and here's why:
Everypawdy needs to have one-to-one time with the P.A. and Cat Dad. It's very impawtant that all B Team memfurs have this time daily. So if we each get only 10 minutes, that's an hour minimum.
Plus we like to have playtime and outside time too. We're only allowed outside if the P.A. or Cat Dad are on paw to snoopervise us. Usually, the P.A. will do some gardening while she keeps an eye on us, and as she and Cat Dad work Mon - Fri, this means we only get outdoor time when they get back from work.
So kitty entertaining takes up a lot of free time.
Next, there's the grooming/brushing.
Now, some of us like being brushed and pampered, while others do not so much. For instance, Parsley will let mew brush him 24/7. There is never enough brush for him; he will sit, stand or lay down and take as much as mew can give.
Pandora, our hairy little Ewok/Sasquatch cat, used to hate being brushed, and the P.A. had to literally walk around the house while trying to brush her. She gets mats in her fur because she's such a hairy beast, and we have every type of grooming implement to try and combat this issue. The one she likes the best and tolerates better than anything is actually the P.A.'s Tangle Teaser brush, which is now Pandora's.
Pandora's Tangle TeezerPandora, as just previously mentioned, was tough to brush. However, after much perseverance and a lot of dedication, guess what? She now loves to be brushed, which the P.A. is thrilled about, as it means fewer mats, and Pandora doesn't look like she's just spent a week in the wilds or been dragged through a hedge backwards anymore! MOL
If mew would like to purchase one of these brushes, a Google search will bring up a selection for you.
Smooch likes a bit of brushing, as does Melyvn, and as time goes on, Melvyn is becoming more like Parsley. Amber also doesn't mind, although Fudge has never really been keen, though he is getting used to the pet mitt, and he doesn't mind the Tangle Teaser, either.
None of us like ear cleaning, eye cleaning or nail clipping and will do anything to avoid these activities.
Feeding Time At BBHQ and Watering Holes
We're very lucky to have our own kitty kitchen, aka the laundry, and we all know which bowl is ours. This is our regular line-up.
From the top:
PandoraSmoochFudge
[a bowl of dry food stationed between Parsley and Fudge]
ParsleyAmber
And young Melvyn, who is more like his Great Uncle Basil than we could have ever imagined, eats his on the countertop to the right, just out of shot. We all eat together and have a couple of snacks daily. Plus, if we get hungry, we go and put in a request for an extra meal; this entails finding the P.A. meowing a lot and then leading her towards the kitty kitchen. This method works 90% of the time.
We also have dry food available 24/7, which is topped up as needed and stationed around the house in various locations, along with clean water.
We use stainless steel bowls because they are more hygienic. Plastic dishes are a no-go here and can cause chin acne in some kitties, so be careful. We have clean bowls for morning and evening meals, so that means lots of washing up. Also, all our bowls are on placemats, and we use kitchen roll, too, so clean up is easy if there are any spills or some heathen decides to start throwing their food about.
Our water bowls are many and stationed around the house. These all need changing/cleaning daily, as food debris and dust can collect. We have Brita-filtered water, too, as our tap water is hard and doesn't taste that nice. Plus, we use a couple of water fountains.
Click here to see the water fountains we use and have reviewed.
The P.A. also grows us fresh cat grass weekly, and she grows us catnip too, so we've got an endless supply of fresh greens.
Kitty Bathroom
The B Teams Bathroom Habits: We currently have several trays that get changed daily for a completely clean one. This system works for us due to Smooch's inappropriate widdling issues. Some days, a tray may last a little longer, but generally, it's all changed once a day.
We used to use Bob Martins Cat Litter—non-clumping. It was like the Catsan white litter, but the dust was getting quite intense, and the ever-escalating price made the P.A. look for an alternative. She decided to revert back to recycled newspaper litter, which she buys at Amazon and has delivered to the house. There's no dust and minimum odour when soiled.
We have our trays in various locations downstairs so that everyone can use a tray somewhere without being bothered by another kitty or feeling vulnerable.
Amber, our elderly matriarch, suffers from arthritis and finds it difficult to squat fully, so she sometimes accidentally widdles over the side. To try and combat multiple widdle rivers, the P.A. has employed an extra tactic to keep them to a minimum. She places our regular tray on a grow-bag tray. A widdle river is inevitable if Amber gets on a corner angle, but it does stop a lot.
To eliminate widdle rivers altogether, we need a tray like the one above, but a square one! MOL
Beds and Scratch Posts/Cat Trees
We have multiple sleeping places around the house and several tall scratch posts/cat trees.
We love windowsills, and each one upstairs has one of our funky Snuggle mats on, as they're our favourite. The P.A. has spent a fortune on funky cat beds over the years, only to discover that we don't like them. What we do like sleeping on is the bed, the cat beds that she has made, and sofas.
So, at no time is there any need to squabble for space.
We are also exceptionally lucky to have a catservatory with some really high cat shelves accessible from our tallest cat tree.
There's somewhere for everypawdy, and nopawdy gets in anyone's space unless they're invited! MOL
Parsley and Fudge sharing one of the Snuggle Mats on the P.A.'s desk.
In summary, The B Team live a most harmonious life. There are very few spats, as everyone seems to get along, so we are incredibly fortunate in that respect.
Looking after six kitties does take a lot of work, and planning is vital to running a smooth oppurration, but as the P.A. says, she wouldn't have it any other way.
**Top Tip**
Get a really good cordless vacuum for your daily clean, as there's a lot of cat hair which mew won't want building up, and a regular brush is useless as it just makes everything airborne. We use a Dyson stick vacuum and find it works great; before that, we tried other brands, but they didn't have the power.
If mew have any questions about how we organise things, cleaning, routines, etc., feel free to ask.
Many of our epic blogging furiends have as many if not a lot more kitties than us, so for all those that exceed our number of kitties per household, purrhaps mew could tell us about your experiences and top tips?
Join us again on Wednesday when we're here with more Midweek News.
In the meantime
Keep calm, and snooze on, and don't forget to...
Wing Commander Basil and The B Team
Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com
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