Hamish was adorable:kitty: Really would love a kitten, but my nearly 10 year old cats are so jealous of each other, they would never tolerate a newcomer:(
I have always said that my two had different fathers despite being part of the same litter, Pumpkin is shorthaired, whereas Magic is VERY fluffy, with a bushy tail, we think his father could have been a Maine **** as he portrays many of their characteristics including not being able to miaow, he just squeaks:kitty:
Really enjoyed the programme and some great true life stories about truly amazing cats.
I was hoping they might have featured the true story about James Bowen and his cat Bob, I've read the books and it's an inspirational story about a guy whose luckless life is turned round when he befriends a stray ginger cat, or it may have been the other way round
There's also a story about a cat in Plymouth who commutes alone by bus, taking the Hamish way of life a step further. I've still to read the book, think he's called Casper.
My two cats are spoiled rotten and it's the best feeling in the world when I arrive home after being out for several hours to see them safe and sound.
This is quite interesting. Not everyones cup of tea but its good to see a documentary that isn't all tense music and shouty
I'll say, it was practically a lullaby. What a gorgeous documentary and I found Martin Clunes' dulcet tones very soothing. I was mesmerised by the big fluffy cat falling in slow motion with all its fur moving around in all directions.
.
So much i could say about this show. It was brilliant , i really enjoyed it.
I love cats in such a way i actually cry sometimes when i see them , i was blubbing for zero reason throughout the show other than the fact they were so cute the little kittens.
I just melted & was such a squealing mess throughout i have to say.
Loved all the stories as well featuring the cats - all top cats and that shows cold cat haters how intelligent they can be.
I also learned a lot of new things as well. Though my cat will still not do the slow blink when i do it to him
Cats are amazing and just the cutest things so i can never understand how people can't love them. My cat is random & funny. By no means 'boring' and such a loving cat. I just don't get it.
I want more shows like these , more cats on our TV. And i could have watched the kittens in the show all day long.
Additionally regarding neutering mentioned in the thread , i agree. My cat Jessie was spayed and she went missing and if she is still out there i am safe in the knowledge she won't have lots of stray kittens. Best for the cat population and also the cat shelters/charities. My cat Salem is a house cat & we got him neutered. So if he ever escapes & never returns again he can't get lots of lady cats pregnant. I feel content knowing that i have done something to help.
Really enjoyed the programme and some great true life stories about truly amazing cats.
I was hoping they might have featured the true story about James Bowen and his cat Bob, I've read the books and it's an inspirational story about a guy whose luckless life is turned round when he befriends a stray ginger cat, or it may have been the other way round
There's also a story about a cat in Plymouth who commutes alone by bus, taking the Hamish way of life a step further. I've still to read the book, think he's called Casper.
My two cats are spoiled rotten and it's the best feeling in the world when I arrive home after being out for several hours to see them safe and sound.
I've read both those books too. Both inspirational stories like you say, although I was crying after reading about Casper dying.
One of our cats had been run over shortly before reading that book & it brought it all flooding back.
When my father was terminally ill this same cat refused to leave his sad throughout the last week of his life. Before that she'd always be first in the kitchen for food and last out. But during this period she'd gobble her food down and be back at Dad's side in minutes. In fact he actually asked if we'd stopped feeding her as she never seemed to be away from him.
The night after Dad had died our cat sat on mum's bed all night, patting mum's face (as thought to reassure her that everything would be okay).
When animals can be so sensitive to us and display such loyalty I find it just mind boggling that people can either dislike or hurt them.
Similar story to when my Mum was terminally ill. Out of her 3 cats one in particular would never leave her side. My Mum would call her her little nurse. When we came home from the hospital after my Mum had died me & my stepdad both picked up the cats to tell them there 'Mummy had died'. I swear they could sense it. My Mum had a cat run outside that Amy & Charlie like to both sleep in the kennel part together, Ginger never bothered but that night for the first time he decided to go in there & cuddled up to the other two. It's like they needed each other for comfort.
Also just before my Mums funeral we'd have family round visiting, as we were all sat in the living room talking Amy walked in & noticed my Stepdad sitting where my mum always sat and after looking at him ended up scratching him which shocked him as she's never gone for him before & I said 'maybe it's because you're sat where my Mum always sat & she'd sit next to her 'nursing her'. Since then she's never done it again and I've noticed now she now clings to my Stepdad all the time & doesn't like leaving his side much.
They know.
Then you'd be wrong to raise issue with those points... white cats are well know for being deaf, they often suffer from albinism as well.
.
The programme said the majority of white cats are deaf. We have 2 white cats and neither of them are deaf, they can hear their treats being opened from a mile off!
Blue-eyed, white cats are not more prone to blindness - either hereditary or acquired - than other cats. Your friends may be confusing blindness with deafness: here, the situation is completely different. Hereditary deafness is a major concern in white cats, and even more so if one or both irises are blue in color.
Researchers found that only 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf. The percentage rises to 40 percent if the cat has one blue eye, while upwards of 65 to 85 percent of all-white cats with both eyes blue are deaf. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear. Interestingly, if a white cat with one blue eye is deaf in only one ear, that ear will invariably be on the same side of the head as the blue eye.
Cats with just one deaf ear may appear perfectly normal, and their problem may never become known to their human companions. Even cats that are totally deaf from birth can make perfectly satisfactory companions as long as a few precautions are heeded. Try to keep them out of situations where their safety depends upon their ability to pick up auditory cues. Don't let them go outside where they can be killed or injured by threats they cannot hear, like from roaming dogs and speeding cars. There is no treatment for hereditary deafness.
I adored this programme. I found it fascinating and (obviously) adorable.
My cat purrs all the time, but it's a very different purr - it's very low and quiet if she thinks someone is coming up to our flat, then she goes to hide if someone is coming to see us. When it's because she's happy it's very very loud - I can hear it from the other side of the room. And when she wants attention, she knows that she just has to it's like a happy little buzzing purr with a few miaows thrown in before she's getting cuddles.
She's not a very trusting cat, we're her 4th owners and she was only 18 months when we got her. She's still scared of most things and I'm not allowed to pick her up - but she comes to me for comfort when at the vet for example. The slow blinking doesn't work with her but she's much more calm now than she was back then.
I saw a comment about house cats. There is a cat behaviourist in the US called Jackson Galaxy, he has a TV show on animal planet. He believes in a "catio" or house cats if you've no outside space as he doesn't think cats should be allowed to roam all over, he's also a very staunch believer in neutering strays to stop creating more feral strays. Also my cat is a house cat - she likes to sit on the window sill in the sun, but she's not missing anything by not being able to go out. She has toys, areas to run and play, we play with her. She's very happy, she's in very good health. My friend's cat goes out all the time and she's actually spent more time in the vet with his various injuries from night wandering and fights than we've spent there with ours.
The programme said the majority of white cats are deaf. We have 2 white cats and neither of them are deaf, they can hear their treats being opened from a mile off!
majority not equal to all
So, as I and several others have said, white cats are well known for being deaf and that was the only claim the show made.
majority not equal to all
So, as I and several others have said, white cats are well known for being deaf and that was the only claim the show made.
Yes I know. Someone said they didn't know white cats are deaf and I was just pointing out the programme didn't say all white cats but I quoted the wrong person.
I was about to post that Foreign Whites are Siamese with white points and are therefore a different mutation from other blue-eyed white cats and not deaf. Just as well I checked on Wikipedia first. The article is in French, but ancient O-levels came to the rescue and revealed:
"In crosses between Foreign Whites, deafness and decreased fertility tend to quickly reappear. In the Netherlands, out of twenty-two births to Foreign White crosses, two kittens were stillborn, three were deaf, three had a cleft palate, one was sterile, and one both hermaphrodite and deaf. "
Hamish was adorable:kitty: Really would love a kitten, but my nearly 10 year old cats are so jealous of each other, they would never tolerate a newcomer:(
I have always said that my two had different fathers despite being part of the same litter, Pumpkin is shorthaired, whereas Magic is VERY fluffy, with a bushy tail, we think his father could have been a Maine **** as he portrays many of their characteristics including not being able to miaow, he just squeaks:kitty:
I have an Imperial Grand Champion Maine **** at home (furry blighter) and he has a good solid miaow on him when he thinks food is late!
Comments
I wish there had been more of that - cats with character and their stories , the science stuff was a bit iffy .
.
I have always said that my two had different fathers despite being part of the same litter, Pumpkin is shorthaired, whereas Magic is VERY fluffy, with a bushy tail, we think his father could have been a Maine **** as he portrays many of their characteristics including not being able to miaow, he just squeaks:kitty:
I was hoping they might have featured the true story about James Bowen and his cat Bob, I've read the books and it's an inspirational story about a guy whose luckless life is turned round when he befriends a stray ginger cat, or it may have been the other way round
There's also a story about a cat in Plymouth who commutes alone by bus, taking the Hamish way of life a step further. I've still to read the book, think he's called Casper.
My two cats are spoiled rotten and it's the best feeling in the world when I arrive home after being out for several hours to see them safe and sound.
I'll say, it was practically a lullaby.
.
I love cats in such a way i actually cry sometimes when i see them , i was blubbing for zero reason throughout the show other than the fact they were so cute the little kittens.
I just melted & was such a squealing mess throughout i have to say.
Loved all the stories as well featuring the cats - all top cats
I also learned a lot of new things as well. Though my cat will still not do the slow blink when i do it to him
Cats are amazing and just the cutest things so i can never understand how people can't love them. My cat is random & funny. By no means 'boring' and such a loving cat. I just don't get it.
I want more shows like these , more cats on our TV. And i could have watched the kittens in the show all day long.
Additionally regarding neutering mentioned in the thread , i agree. My cat Jessie was spayed and she went missing and if she is still out there i am safe in the knowledge she won't have lots of stray kittens. Best for the cat population and also the cat shelters/charities. My cat Salem is a house cat & we got him neutered. So if he ever escapes & never returns again he can't get lots of lady cats pregnant. I feel content knowing that i have done something to help.
I've read both those books too. Both inspirational stories like you say, although I was crying after reading about Casper dying.
One of our cats had been run over shortly before reading that book & it brought it all flooding back.
I thought that too:D
Although was hoping it wasn't the same cat I read about who got attacked for looking like Hitler.
Similar story to when my Mum was terminally ill. Out of her 3 cats one in particular would never leave her side. My Mum would call her her little nurse. When we came home from the hospital after my Mum had died me & my stepdad both picked up the cats to tell them there 'Mummy had died'. I swear they could sense it. My Mum had a cat run outside that Amy & Charlie like to both sleep in the kennel part together, Ginger never bothered but that night for the first time he decided to go in there & cuddled up to the other two. It's like they needed each other for comfort.
Also just before my Mums funeral we'd have family round visiting, as we were all sat in the living room talking Amy walked in & noticed my Stepdad sitting where my mum always sat and after looking at him ended up scratching him which shocked him as she's never gone for him before & I said 'maybe it's because you're sat where my Mum always sat & she'd sit next to her 'nursing her'. Since then she's never done it again and I've noticed now she now clings to my Stepdad all the time & doesn't like leaving his side much.
They know.
The programme said the majority of white cats are deaf. We have 2 white cats and neither of them are deaf, they can hear their treats being opened from a mile off!
With regard to white cats and deafness it isn lt a wild claim but not all are deaf .
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_resources/deaf.cfm
Blue-eyed, white cats are not more prone to blindness - either hereditary or acquired - than other cats. Your friends may be confusing blindness with deafness: here, the situation is completely different. Hereditary deafness is a major concern in white cats, and even more so if one or both irises are blue in color.
Researchers found that only 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf. The percentage rises to 40 percent if the cat has one blue eye, while upwards of 65 to 85 percent of all-white cats with both eyes blue are deaf. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear. Interestingly, if a white cat with one blue eye is deaf in only one ear, that ear will invariably be on the same side of the head as the blue eye.
Cats with just one deaf ear may appear perfectly normal, and their problem may never become known to their human companions. Even cats that are totally deaf from birth can make perfectly satisfactory companions as long as a few precautions are heeded. Try to keep them out of situations where their safety depends upon their ability to pick up auditory cues. Don't let them go outside where they can be killed or injured by threats they cannot hear, like from roaming dogs and speeding cars. There is no treatment for hereditary deafness.
Why not start one then
I don't want too! The kittens were much cuter!! :kitty:
My cat purrs all the time, but it's a very different purr - it's very low and quiet if she thinks someone is coming up to our flat, then she goes to hide if someone is coming to see us. When it's because she's happy it's very very loud - I can hear it from the other side of the room. And when she wants attention, she knows that she just has to it's like a happy little buzzing purr with a few miaows thrown in before she's getting cuddles.
She's not a very trusting cat, we're her 4th owners and she was only 18 months when we got her. She's still scared of most things and I'm not allowed to pick her up - but she comes to me for comfort when at the vet for example. The slow blinking doesn't work with her but she's much more calm now than she was back then.
I saw a comment about house cats. There is a cat behaviourist in the US called Jackson Galaxy, he has a TV show on animal planet. He believes in a "catio" or house cats if you've no outside space as he doesn't think cats should be allowed to roam all over, he's also a very staunch believer in neutering strays to stop creating more feral strays. Also my cat is a house cat - she likes to sit on the window sill in the sun, but she's not missing anything by not being able to go out. She has toys, areas to run and play, we play with her. She's very happy, she's in very good health. My friend's cat goes out all the time and she's actually spent more time in the vet with his various injuries from night wandering and fights than we've spent there with ours.
majority not equal to all
So, as I and several others have said, white cats are well known for being deaf and that was the only claim the show made.
Yes I know. Someone said they didn't know white cats are deaf and I was just pointing out the programme didn't say all white cats but I quoted the wrong person.
"In crosses between Foreign Whites, deafness and decreased fertility tend to quickly reappear. In the Netherlands, out of twenty-two births to Foreign White crosses, two kittens were stillborn, three were deaf, three had a cleft palate, one was sterile, and one both hermaphrodite and deaf. "
Poor little kittens.
I might even watch again as I loved it the first time round!
I'm really sorry to say that he died this morning
Here is an obituary for him on the Visit St Andrews site.
And here is an obituary for him in The Independent newspaper.
The people of St Andrews and surrounding areas, and his fans further afield, are very sad.
Oh thats sad news. He was a real character. RIP Hamish
RIP Hamish... A true character....
I have an Imperial Grand Champion Maine **** at home (furry blighter) and he has a good solid miaow on him when he thinks food is late!