Eggheads

My boy on Eggheads

Keep smiling

Finally we managed to see Tom on TV. Around a year ago he and his quizzing friends had taken part in the television programme "EGGHEADS" on the BBC.

Is this the way he revised at Uni?

Waiting to be seen

Proof that they read Newspapers

Hard at work with the important bit

It had been a long process, whilst at Uni he and a few mates used to go down to the pub to do their quizzes then one bright spark suggested going in for Eggheads!!!!!!! and started the process. They had to go to Birmingham initially to be interviewed and have questions given to them, as a result they suddenly found themselves actually chosen to go for filming!!!! all too real. They actually got a stay at a hotel and quite an experience out of it but unfortunately they didn't win any money!!

Meeting everyone

Handshakes with the presenter

My son has strengths in science and geography but certainly not SPORT which was the subject he ended up with. Seriously he is the most disinterested person in sport, never watching it and has not even a residual interest. He did himself proud and he scrubbed up really nicely on the TV.


When it came on I was of course very proud, I think he couldn't of cared less!! or he puts on a good front!!
This is the third time he's been on TV. What next? Only joking…..  The first being "Hell's Kitchen: School reunion,"( a one of programme visiting Gordon Ramsey old high school to improve their lunches) the other "Don't get done get Dom."

Nerves

Instructions

Sunshine to hail in minutes

Well as it was nice I thought I would go out for a walk, blue sky and some warmish sunshine plus a moody cat that wanted a walk!

Out we went  then it proceeded to get darker and darker, cold drops of rain came down so we made our way in an ever increasing hurry back home. Just as we got in the flash of lightening and the sky darkened dramatically to a hit of thunder and a massive downpour of hailstones. The cats shot in to us as the conservatory roof sounded as if it was going to impload.

My eldest stepped outside to the pain of hailstones on his back and regretted it. I on the other hand have a cruel sense of humour and laughed.

How to de stress a cat? Possibly!!! Pills, potions or actions

I've just been reading an entry on a cousins Facebook page where they have just got the most beautiful new puppy, who is just perfect, however the resident cat has just taken to sitting in her litter tray!!

She is used to dogs so it is only the fact that the puppy is new and probably somewhat more active than she has been used to for many years. She has probably taken to her tray as this is where her smell is and she feels safe but as cats are so fastidious she obviously won't want to be there.

So I wondered what could be done!!

Options - Actions

A bouncing puppy full of energy is probably frightening to an older slower cat so to open up physical escape routes where she can watch but not get approached
may help. Bring some height into her world where the puppy cannot reach, easy access to shelves, tops of units, backs of settees, across mantlepieces, and up cat trees. Here she has gained a whole new level of a world where he cannot get her but she can watch him. It might affect the aesthetics of the room but it can be done.

Place the litter tray where she can use it without fear of an approach, she is feeling insecure. Also add one more litter tray and if it can be given some height or turn it, if it is hooded, so access is restricted for the puppy.

Use a feather rod toy to get her to play AROUND the new puppy but not necessarily with ( Da bird or Frenzy rods, great flying action and most likely to get a response than the short ones in the shops 

http://www.da-bird.co.uk).

It will pull her out of the litter tray, she will see him as nothing to be scared of. Play with him at the same time but with something else, a game where he is not prancing around, maybe a training session of sit and down etc.

Potions and Pills


Zylkene can be bought from the vets or online as it is non-prescription. Online is far far cheaper. Its use is to calm and destress animals such as dogs, cats and horses. Most people I have known use it when moving, when fireworks are going to be about and when introducing new cats, dogs or babies to a household. Unless your cat is an angel at taking pills I have found the best way to use it is in food or treats, I use Webbox lick e lix tubes, a yoghurt like liquid which I break the capsule into. Expect it to  take a couple of weeks to work and does not work on all animals. However our household now does include five cats and so far so good!!! because of the cost I am sneaky I buy the ones for dogs and divide the capsule contents up as it is the same product for all animals just in different quantities and the capsules are not time release. This should just calm her.

Also Feliway ( http://www.feliway.com/uk/ )can be used or Pet Remedy diffusers ( http://www.petremedy.co.uk ). Feliway comes as a spray to be used in travel boxes or where a plugin cannot be used or a plug in diffuser. The evidence for success is anecdotal, some people swear of its success others say it hasn't done a thing!! Whereas Feliway is a pheromone Pet Remedy is herbal i.e. it includes Valerian etc, it smells like old socks a bit but I have to say if I spray this around their beds they do seem to use them, this also comes as a diffuser as well.



Time to use the vets!

Cystitis is horrible and cats are prone to getting it when stressed, just keep a check on the litter tray for blood or even straining by her. Cats are very, very good at hiding pain. She maybe in there NOT to hide but has the need to go. If  she has got cystitis the vets may recommend Cystaid

( http://www.vetuk.co.uk/pet-cystitis-cat-cystitis-c-5_7_1280/cystaid-plus-cystitis-glucosamine-capsules-for-cats-240-pack-p-41 )

 be added to her diet and a specific expensive dry cat food. I personally would add a water fountain to encourage fluid drinking, withdraw normal dry food and only feed wet tinned or RAW. Even add more water to the tinned if you can. If she is  a kibble only cat try buying "Fortiflora" this is a powder which you can dust over the tinned food to encourage eating and tastes similar to the stuff they blast the kibble with.

I know this is focussed on only the cat, when such a lovely puppy has entered the house, however she is confused and stressed.

I hope this helps a little, just a few ideas.

A Rant - Don't criticise me!! Pedigree cats, Raw Pet food and Catproofing

This week I have had to defend the choices I have made over certain things even when I have not requested the conversation.

Harvey BSH Cream Colourpoint

Reuben, BSH Lilacpoint

Monty, Selkirk Rex Curly Shorthair

Bertie, Selkirk Rex Curly Longhair

Luna, Selkirk Rex Variant

 Firstly, I find it interesting that if you have a hobby no one will criticise you if you spend a bit on equipment. No one will comment. If you choose to own horses or dogs no one will comment should you get a specific breed, if fact you would be deemed to be sensible. Yes indeed, if you are buying a horse for a child you want a breed of horse with a specific temperament and whose adult size you will be able to accommodate. Similarly if you wanted a dog to be family companion you would not choose a dog bred for guarding or with a suspect nervous temperament, you would choose a dog that would fit your house and your household. However even though I have done a similar thing and chosen 5 pedigree cats that are my own hobby and fit into my house I have been criticised for not having taken on rescues and insisting that I have added to the cats that have been abandoned in shelters. No mention that only 7 percent of all cats in the UK are pedigree hardly hitting the heady heights of pedigree dogs!! No mention that responsible breeders have invested so much time and cost into their cats i.e. paying for yearly tests for genetic and other diseases for each of their cats, investing in vaccinations, treatments and costs of feeding that they would do their best to ensure their cats would never find themselves in a shelter, in fact most have a clause in their contract stating that if the cat needs to be rehomed to tell the breeder first and they will take them back. I chose pedigree cats because I wanted to know their temperament, their health and their size. Nobody asked if I also supported/adopted a cat in Cat Protection!!! All I got was someone trying to demean me. Why? I never started the conversation and why do they not question pedigree dogs and specific breed ownership of horses.

Pheasant and Mallard  

Coarse mince 

Chicken hearts left whole

Separately grind chicken liver and kidney coarsely 

To the fine grind add eggs

Supplements, TC feline and Felini Complete

Add supplements

Mix together, supplement fine grind and offal

Add all the good chunked meat i.e. over shot breast

Mix together with lots of additional water

That was my first rant but  in the same week I have had to justify what I feed to the cats and explain the costs. I feel as though I am the odd one out. We are constantly informed that we are what we eat, Jamie Oliver has managed to get the dross of school meals sorted out however when I choose not to feed my cats artificially extruded carcass meat, boiled and dehydrated with sugars and carbohydrates added kibble I am the one who is criticised! Apart from the fact our original cat years ago died at the age of three due to a blocked urethra caused by stones created in urine which was so artificially concentrated due to the permanent dehydration he was in as he could not drink enough to hydrate his body from all the dry kibble!!!

Basics of feline nutrition    http://www.catinfo.org

The pet food manufacturers do not have to follow great standards, there is a base level which they pride themselves on exceeding sometimes. No long term studies. Now we have exploding rates of obesity, diabetes, cystitis and urethral blockage - now where have we seen exploding rates of obesity and diabetes in our society maybe those who have a poor diet. I am happy to feed them a healthy diet to ensure I don't see them in pain at the vets because of the convenience  of dry food. Also I would prefer to use human grade meat and prepare it in a pristine home environment not having to worry about the pet food recalls due to salmonella contamination plus other items such as plastic etc due to the meat having been bought through a Pet food meat broker.

Petfood brokers     http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/sellyourrottenspoiledwastefoodto-pet-food

Petfood recalls       http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/?s=recalls

I then had to argue the costs on top of the health benefit, why? Yes I can feed my cats cheaper than Sheba tins at £5.00kg although my general amount I work on is £5.50kg. I feed five DOCs or 5 mice daily( some will go uggh but that is what we can get closest to their natural diet), the DOCs are 6.5p each and the mice 22p each. Meat can be trimmings or cheap cuts i.e. lamb breast, beef skirt, over shot pheasant, in season game ( rabbit), or special offer super market meat ( Morrisons pork £3.59kg, Beef £5.59kg). All game is frozen for two to three weeks before feeding. The heart, kidney and liver is all offal and really cheap, heart making up around 20% of the meat , liver 5% and kidney another 5%. Cost on top of this are the supplements. So there is my justification, I'm not preaching I did not bring it up but these are my reasons.

An article on costs of kibble, tinned premium, commercial raw and homemade raw -

http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and-food/raw-feeding/how-much-does-it-cost-to-feed-my-cat-or-i-can-afford-to-feed-commercial-raw/

Catproofing

Secure side path

Last of all I even had to stand up for the reasons why I don't let my cats out to roam the streets and have a cat proof garden. Again someone bringing up the subject then almost mocking me as if I was weird. This is a very cultural thing, it seems to be the norm here to let cats roam but not elsewhere. There are many reasons why I don't want them out to roam, we had a cat called Louis who dragged himself back through the cat flap with his whole stomach having been slashed down. I don't want my cat to get involved in an accident with a car either for the injuries he will sustain nor the horror which an accident would cause the person who was involved in it. I do not wish to have to treat abbesses on my cats for when they have been involved in cat fights. Nor see them poisoned with sweet antifreeze that seems to entice them, I don't want hormonal matcho men try to torture my cats nor do I want my pretty cats being picked up and nicked. Also pedigree cats are not bred to have the best car awareness!! None of my cats know what it is to roam so they do not miss it. They have access to a reasonable sized garden which has a variety of plants, shelves and objects to keep them investigating, they have free access through a cat flap and the run of the whole house. They are not terrorised by cats as none have ever got in and none of ours have ever got out. As a result we have the most amazing relaxed cats around.

Comparing indoor and outdoor issues -

http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/caring-for-your-pet/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats.html

Cat proofing hardly obvious in the background

So this is my rant for now, I don't mention or force my opinions on anyone, what I do is research and do what I feel is best for my circumstances if you disagree keep it to yourself.

All change - Meant to post this last week, whoops

Well today was a wake up call and not a nice one. Taking hubby to Heathrow to fly to America is never fun, remembering everything including stuff to cope with a minus 50 C chill from the Arctic vortex around his location is complex.

As I drove back I found that his plane was an hour and a half late so his connection is missed and he goes into another airport, which has only just reopened due to the weather and is in chaos, to connect and end up flying to a completely different airport destination. Hence frantic cancellations of a car at the other airport and a long long day for him.

Decorations are down : ( from Christmas although the outside ones have been left as each time I go outside it starts to rain AGAIN. Youngest kindly saws up the tree however we did have a mass needle frenzy. Usually it is horrible  but this tree has been magnificent, huge, rounded, well balanced and looked good the whole time. I salute you.

Bertie our Longhaired Curly Selkirk Rex is our issue at the moment. He is at a time of kitten fluff and adult hair the combination of which is matting. None of the other cats are or have been like this. Hence getting matt cutters, the furminator and talc plus scissors.

Well, the furminator is a revelation - you stroke it through the coat and it removes the fluffy undercoat, aaghhhhh. However before this matt removal is the order of the day. Using the cutting blade brushes we get through some and with others the scissors have to come out. I have to say he is not the keenest. Talc or cornstarch I have read is good for teasing out the matt and preventing new ones so poor Bertie fell under a cloud of talc being rubbed in at root level - we shall see if it works. I am hoping this is just temporary as we didn't touch his coat in summer and hopefully as it matures the downy coat will disappear.

Pasta making

Adding whole eggs to a flour well

For our 25th Anniversary last year I bought my OH a pasta maker!! It was the closest thing I could find that was silver!!

I honestly thought it maybe used once or twice, however I am pleased to announce that we have become keen pasta makers.

Failures have included the basic spaghetti!! however linguine we have down pat and is our favoured form, as is filled ravioli.

Agggh a photo was here until LUNA walked over the  keyboard and I can't be bothered to find it again : )) sorry guys.

Gradually combining the flour into the egg

I have to say I have never been involved in the mixing of the pasta, someone guards that job!!!

It is is a bit like when he is in charge of pastry making as well!!!

 The eggs are slowly mixed in with the flour from the well. It is combined to form a drying ball.

Finally when it comes together then it is placed in the fridge.

Today it was going to be linguine. Using the pasta maker we went up to 6 on thickness which proved about right.



The pasta maker has to integral cutting areas one of which cuts the linguine size. We just have to make sure the pasta is pretty dry to go through the machine without sticking.

An oiled clothes drier makes a good pasta drier

As you can see we have a patented dryer for our pasta, yes a clothes dryer!!

Chef at work, or Gordon Ramsey by another name!!!

With our chicken and pesto linguine we also had roasted courgette and cherry tomatoes.

Bertie watching

Bertie watching his master cook, waiting for some samples!!

Frying the coated chicken with even more seasoning and garlic!!

The OH was a  bit grumpy about showing this as there was no colour on the plates as this was to come from the roasted cherry tomatoes and courgette. However these were served at the table if they were wanted.

Well I thought it was a bit of fun to post this. Whilst the OH has been back the kitchen has been fully used - Belly of Pork, the Gordon Ramsey recipe, Risotto - prawn made by me when the OH tool toooooo long bird watching so ravioli making was going to take to long, and even the humble but comforting Liver, bacon and mash potato option plus all the other quiches etc made. Back now to having my tidy kitchen however at least two of the kids think they need to stretch their culinary skills!!! shame about their washing up skills : ))