Cats on tables or work surfaces! [Archive]

Diane Grant-Salmon

22-08-2005, 11:16 AM

I'm already in a 'moody' after reading the British Census thread about the 1901 Census and GenesReunited, so I thought I'd have another grump! :(

I'm a dog lover and do not care for cats very much, but I'm appalled by TV adverts showing a cat on a kitchen work surface ........ walking all over it! We all know where cats go during their daily walkabouts, so straight from there onto these surfaces, an area which should be spotlessly clean!

Before anybody asks, although our dogs were loved a lot and were considered as part of the family, they were never allowed on beds or furniture, they laid on the carpets during the day and had their own bed to sleep in overnight.

We also always cleaned up 'their mess' most of this was on gravel behind our garden pond where they were trained to go, but if one had an accident whilst out walking, we picked it up using a poly-bag before pooper-scoopers were invented ...... pity some cat owners don't do the same.

Chasing Caseys

22-08-2005, 11:32 AM

I agree with you totally........ and what i find even more discusting is that i have never known anyone i know with a cat to give it a bath ! ( can you bath cats ?) Even my parrot has a shower !

eli08

22-08-2005, 11:33 AM

eli08

22-08-2005, 11:46 AM

Yes you can bathe cats they generally keep them themselves clean but on the odd occassion it has to be done I have been a dog owner ,bird owner ,donkey owner,hedgehog owner to name but a few and I have found they can be trained equally to do as you wish,I find them equally as intelligent as eachother and kindness is always better than force.
I agree with you totally........ and what i find even more discusting is that i have never known anyone i know with a cat to give it a bath ! ( can you bath cats ?) Even my parrot has a shower !

Copper

22-08-2005, 12:36 PM

My cat is not allowed on any suface in the kitchen. I refused to even consider putting an offer in for a house when I saw a cat walking all over the work surface in the kitchen! My cat sleeps on a bed during the day in winter but I have a special blanket which he sleeps on.

I have been known to bath my cat when he has come in with paint? on him but it was a right battle. If you don't bath cats they smell fine but if you don't bath dogs they smell doggy. We used to have a poodle and she was bathed on a regular basis.

Chasing Caseys

22-08-2005, 12:54 PM

I cant ever imagine owning a cat unless one decided to own me as has happened to friends of mine when a one turned up at their door and stayed !
But my experience of cats 1. when i was small (for no reason, really !) one swipped my face with claws out and just missed my eye. 2. my aunt had a very spoilt Burmese that wore a gold chain round its neck that used to dive bomb anyone walking under the open plan stairs ! so i havent trusted them since !

Patrisia

22-08-2005, 1:15 PM

Diane, you have hit on two of my pet grumps!|rant|
I have had cats in the past, as many as four at one time, and they were never allowed on tables or anywhere else they shouldn't have been, it was just a matter of firm but kind training. I certainly bathed them if they needed it, one had a pechant for rifling through rubbish bins and needed de-ponging on a regular basis! Cats do clean themselves but you never know where they have been, so I cannot understand people who let them go anywhere near food areas.
My dog never 'dumps' until she is taken for her daily walk, she will even wait until she can find two blades of grass, and we always pick up after her. So I get absolutely incensed when dogs are allowed to roam, dump outside my door, and even when taken out, their owners can't be bothered to clean up their mess.
Grrrrrr!
Which reminds me, she needs a bath!

Diane Grant-Salmon

22-08-2005, 3:10 PM

being a animal lover in general "all living creature`s in fact"I felt I had to reply to your opinion with my opinion,fortunately or unfortunately cats do tend to bury the waste product so are you suggesting cat owners dig everyone`s garden up ,although the thought of it does amuse me Dog owners carrying bags,Cat owners carrying shovel`s !!!
Well, being an avid gardener and wild-life lover, I prefer to garden without wearing gloves, to get the feel of the soil, but owing to cats 'going' in other peoples' gardens, I have to wear gloves to protect myself.

I have two neighbours with different views on their cats. One is a responsible owner and although her two cats are aged about ten, they always go indoors to use their litter tray, so never any mess from them!

My next door neighbour has four cats, not one of them buries their mess ..... I have seen this with all four of them and my husband has to clear the mess up, before he cuts the two lawns of the gardens we look after for neighbours, as these four cats do it on top of the lawn, no attempt to bury it! :(

eli08

22-08-2005, 3:36 PM

I think it`s the same all over cats dogs people rabbits they`ll do whatever you let them get away with is my experience,training them all is easy if you know how,cats will come to you if they want to be friends dogs are more sociable with regard to cats on worktops i cannot think why they would be up there unless they are being fed on the work top. I too have been scratched by a cat as a child i was being too familiar with it and foolishly hugged it to my face,I have also been bitten many times by dogs needing stitches to my face again not knowing the dog my own fault and him not knowing me ,I wouldn`t be so familiar with people so i learnt not to be with animals either.

eli08

22-08-2005, 3:53 PM

Both my cats also come inside to use the cat tray because that`s what i trained them to do,but i did object to my neighbour`s cat coming into my house and twice using my lounge as a toilet so 2 carpets later we solved the problem thats a long story,I also have the problem gardening I am however trying something to stop it ,I`ll let you know how I get on ,when I lived in Germany my ex-husband and myself worked as greenkeepers at many golf clubs and the problem there was moles and wild boar digging the greens and fairways up we stumbled accross a old remedy of placing human hair from the local hairdressers in the mole run plus we mixed it in with the soil it kept them at bay,I have toyed with the idea of trying it along my boarders being a retired hairdresser it looks like i`ll be taking a few more customers on to keep up my supplies that`s if it works.

Geoffers

22-08-2005, 6:15 PM

I'm appalled by TV adverts showing a cat on a kitchen work surface
Diane, I think this is a little unfair. You must be aware that it does depend on circumstances and what activity is taking place during the relevant advertisement. A work surface in a kitchen is by its nature at a perfect height to carry out all manner of domestic chores without causing injury by bending over, etc.

I therefore ask you, what better surface can be found for stuffing a cat prior to roasting, or lightly basting said animal and turning it, so that it is cooked throughout?

Written whilst thinking of Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' and suddenly realising what I can do with the children for the rest of this summer holiday :)

Geoffers
Keeper of a sensible Border Collie; two Bearded Collies which are as thick as two short planks, and a lazy cat.

Patrisia

22-08-2005, 6:30 PM

Geoffers, can you please give us prior notice when you are posting one of your 'classics'?
I laughed so much, it was touch and go whether I could find my inhaler in time.
I couldn't find a blue-faced smilie! |laugh1|

sandiep

22-08-2005, 7:27 PM

Diane, I think this is a little unfair. You must be aware that it does depend on circumstances and what activity is taking place during the relevant advertisement. A work surface in a kitchen is by its nature at a perfect height to carry out all manner of domestic chores without causing injury by bending over, etc.

I therefore ask you, what better surface can be found for stuffing a cat prior to roasting, or lightly basting said animal and turning it, so that it is cooked throughout?

Written whilst thinking of Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' and suddenly realising what I can do with the children for the rest of this summer holiday :)

Geoffers
Keeper of a sensible Border Collie; two Bearded Collies which are as thick as two short planks, and a lazy cat.

does this mean you are going to stuff the kids???

sandie a 2 cat owner they never go on surfaces use a litter tray mostly apologies to neighbours I did try to train them only to use tray but guess only way is if you dont let them out. They are as soft as butter but I wouldnt leave them alone with any child in case of accidents.

AnnB

22-08-2005, 7:43 PM

Written whilst thinking of Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' and suddenly realising what I can do with the children for the rest of this summer holiday :)

I don't know if you are aware of it, but there is a programme on the box tonight about taxidermy.... :eek:
Best wishes
Ann
(whose cat never ventured onto a work surface in all its 18 years of life :)

Diane Grant-Salmon

22-08-2005, 7:50 PM

Geoffers

22-08-2005, 10:08 PM

does this mean you are going to stuff the kids???
Not exactly. "A Modest Proposal" is one of the greatest pieces of satirical writing and if you haven't already done so, I recommend that you read it. A few years ago, the BBC produced a version which was brilliantly read. So much so, that I had to stop the car I was driving at the time. I've typed below a very small extract from the beginning so that you get the 'flavour' of the essay. The town to which Swift refers is Dublin:

continued.......

Geoffers

22-08-2005, 10:09 PM

"It is a melcancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and the cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants; who as they grow up either turn to thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.

I think it is agreed by all parties that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom a very great additional grievance......."

continued.......

Geoffers

22-08-2005, 10:10 PM

The essay continues to build up the theme until the bombshell;

"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a healthy child well nursed is at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout."

In the words of Blue Peter presenters, "Here's one I prepared earlier......."

:)

Geoffers
(I do really like children, but couldn't eat a whole one).

Geoffers

22-08-2005, 10:15 PM

I laughed so much, it was touch and go whether I could find my inhaler in time. I couldn't find a blue-faced smilie!
Oops!

"Patrisia"........"Patrisia, keep breathing".........."In - out - in - out"............................."Is there a doctor in the house??"

coenmfam

23-08-2005, 1:42 AM

Geoffers said
I therefore ask you, what better surface can be found for stuffing a cat prior to roasting, or lightly basting said animal and turning it, so that it is cooked throughout?

hahahahaha
I thought for a minute you had been reading
"101 uses for a dead cat"
and yes it's a real book
its perfect for cat lovers

Neville

GeoffD

23-08-2005, 3:30 AM

I thought for a minute you had been reading
"101 uses for a dead cat"
and yes it's a real book
its perfect for cat lovers

I just love the oven gloves in that book.
:D

LynA

23-08-2005, 10:01 AM

I just love the oven gloves in that book.
:D...and the pencil sharpener!!:eek:

AnnB

23-08-2005, 11:21 AM

(I do really like children, but couldn't eat a whole one).
Do you do much entertaining at home (and I don't mean card tricks or amateur dramatics ;) ) If so, I sincerely hope Mrs Geoffers does the cooking.... :D
Best wishes
Ann

sandiep

23-08-2005, 11:53 AM

Not exactly. "A Modest Proposal" is one of the greatest pieces of satirical writing and if you haven't already done so, I recommend that you read it. A few years ago, the BBC produced a version which was brilliantly read. So much so, that I had to stop the car I was driving at the time. I've typed below a very small extract from the beginning so that you get the 'flavour' of the essay. The town to which Swift refers is Dublin:

continued.......

Sounds like a great idea for my hubbie for christmas thanks for idea

off to Spain now hope they dont serve roast child I am a vedgetarian

sandie see you 2 weeks