Asymmetric cats

Naughty and Kiki are now 11 months old, and my pair of nutball,
hyperactive hellspawn have matured into *larger* nutball, hyperactive
hellspawn. They've picked up a few new behaviours along the way.
Naughty is now a shoulder-cat, and spends much of her time keeping my
neck warm. My already-bad computer desk posture is aggravated; this is
how hunchbacks happen. Kiki has designated herself official destroyer
of the water greeblings, and has to stand in the bathroom sink beating
hell out of a trickle of cold water whenever she gets the opportunity.

A couple of days ago the girls were sardined into their window sill
bed-with-a-view, and while I was admiring their ability to sleep with
their limbs tangled like an old hosepipe, I noticed that Kiki was
clearly bigger than Naughty. So later on, I weighed them. Sure enough,
Kiki's turning into the Hardy to Naughty's Laurel.

Being of a logical frame of mind, I hypothesised that this was due to
food intake. Since they first arrived, they've been eating out of a
communal gooshyfood bowl, but as an experiment, I divided the last few
feeds into exact halves and served it in two separate bowls. Evidence
showed that Kiki proceeded consistently to omnomnomnom faster than
Naughty, and then start on Naughty's food when her own food ran out.
That'd be the problem right there.

For now, they're eating in separate rooms, and I'm hoping they'll be
back to identical sizes soon. A matching pair is so much more
aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?

For now, they're eating in separate rooms, and I'm hoping they'll be
back to identical sizes soon. A matching pair is so much more
aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?

Not necessarily, unless you're planning on using them as matching bookends?

Lily & her mama



--
Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time.

wrote:
snippety

For now, they're eating in separate rooms, and I'm hoping they'll be
back to identical sizes soon. A matching pair is so much more
aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?

Or you can go with two cats who are the exact opposite of each other,
like I did.

Good luck with Kiki's diet.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

On Jan 31, 8:01*am, wrote:
Naughty and Kiki are now 11 months old, and my pair of nutball,
hyperactive hellspawn have matured into *larger* nutball, hyperactive
hellspawn. They've picked up a few new behaviours along the way.
Naughty is now a shoulder-cat, and spends much of her time keeping my
neck warm. My already-bad computer desk posture is aggravated; this is
how hunchbacks happen. Kiki has designated herself official destroyer
of the water greeblings, and has to stand in the bathroom sink beating
hell out of a trickle of cold water whenever she gets the opportunity.

A couple of days ago the girls were sardined into their window sill
bed-with-a-view, and while I was admiring their ability to sleep with
their limbs tangled like an old hosepipe, I noticed that Kiki was
clearly bigger than Naughty. So later on, I weighed them. Sure enough,
Kiki's turning into the Hardy to Naughty's Laurel.

Being of a logical frame of mind, I hypothesised that this was due to
food intake. Since they first arrived, they've been eating out of a
communal gooshyfood bowl, but as an experiment, I divided the last few
feeds into exact halves and served it in two separate bowls. Evidence
showed that Kiki proceeded consistently to omnomnomnom faster than
Naughty, and then start on Naughty's food when her own food ran out.
That'd be the problem right there.

For now, they're eating in separate rooms, and I'm hoping they'll be
back to identical sizes soon. A matching pair is so much more
aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?

That doesn't seem at all important to me. However, I would think it a
good idea to keep Kiki's weight from getting out of hand. Also, making
sure Naughty gets enough to eat might be a concern.

--
Will in New Haven

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:01:50 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Naughty and Kiki are now 11 months old, and my pair of nutball,
hyperactive hellspawn have matured into *larger* nutball, hyperactive
hellspawn. They've picked up a few new behaviours along the way.
Naughty is now a shoulder-cat, and spends much of her time keeping my
neck warm. My already-bad computer desk posture is aggravated; this is
how hunchbacks happen. Kiki has designated herself official destroyer
of the water greeblings, and has to stand in the bathroom sink beating
hell out of a trickle of cold water whenever she gets the opportunity.

A couple of days ago the girls were sardined into their window sill
bed-with-a-view, and while I was admiring their ability to sleep with
their limbs tangled like an old hosepipe, I noticed that Kiki was
clearly bigger than Naughty. So later on, I weighed them. Sure enough,
Kiki's turning into the Hardy to Naughty's Laurel.

Being of a logical frame of mind, I hypothesised that this was due to
food intake. Since they first arrived, they've been eating out of a
communal gooshyfood bowl, but as an experiment, I divided the last few
feeds into exact halves and served it in two separate bowls. Evidence
showed that Kiki proceeded consistently to omnomnomnom faster than
Naughty, and then start on Naughty's food when her own food ran out.
That'd be the problem right there.

For now, they're eating in separate rooms, and I'm hoping they'll be
back to identical sizes soon. A matching pair is so much more
aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?


From a health standpoint, it is of course important not to let a cat get
overweight.

But a relatively small difference in skeleton size can make for a
'bigger' cat, too.

Does Kiki look noticeably pudgy? I can't find the link (of course) but I
remember see drawings of cat as seen from above, to help judge if your
cat was overweight. You should see a 'waistline' in front of their hips,
for one thing.

And I learned, much to my dismay, that my cat fit the 'overweight'
profile. This was confirmed by a vet visit not too long after that. I
heard words like feline diabetes, and other things I can't recall. I
resolved to slim my kitty down to a 'good weight'.

I couldn't get my cat to exercise, no matter what I did; this made
weight loss more difficult, of course. I had to carefully measured her
food, for each meal.

I spent a year very slowly starving my poor kitty (just ask her!) and
she lost 1 1/2 lbs. Enough for my vet to comment that she was at a much
better weight, for her size, at her next checkup.

I still carefully measure her food, and take into account treats she is
given.

Weight loss must be approached carefully in a cat, as you may know
already. Hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) can result from too
rapid weight loss, and can be a serious health problem, or even fatal,
to a cat.

Good luck with your weight loss program. I hope Kiki likes to chase a
laser pointer, or a toy on a wand, for exercise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein