Why my bed ?

[Didi]

Bilbo my 4 year old is getting over a blocked urethra - slowly it seems to me- he is a semi long haired domestic who has always had a very furry rear end. This had to be shaved of when the vet was unblocking him and then washing out his bladder to prevent mats so now he is home he has taken to sleeping during the day on my bed which of course has a pale cream duvet on it he has always slept on a quilt runner before but no now he wants the duvet, of course he still has a LOT of fur which is now all over the duvet . I wonder if it's because the duvet is feather and he can bury his bottom in it it must be very strange for him having a bald bottom after always having a very furry one ! Think I am going to need a LOT of sticky rollers

[MarySkater]

Try to find something softer than your duvet. (Feather pillow, maybe?) And put that on one corner of your bed. Maybe you can tempt him off your duvet if you offer him something better!

[Ruth B]

We have a wine coloured fleece bed throw, which of cause is a firm favourite with the cats. When we had the Ragdoll he always slept down on one bottom corner which we accepted was more pink than wine coloured. When he finally had to be put to sleep I brushed and rollered and taped the fleece and then washed it and repeated until most of Blue's fur was gone.

Then I get Freyja, a mostly white short haired cat. Her white fur is incredibly short (the black is quite long which gives her a rather odd appearance when startled and she puffs herself up), however it seems that this short hair is even more adherent to the fleece than Blue's long fur was, and she will happily sleep on what ever bit of the bed the other two cats aren't using.

Instead of one pink corner I know have a bed fleece that is a mosaic of various pink shades.

[Didi]

I have a quilt I made folded up as a runner at the bottom he has always lay on that but wasn't keen on the duvet -until now mind you as soon as the heating came on he was on the chair next to the radiator so I can only assume he has a cold bottom ! Must be strange after having fur that covered right over your legs for 4 years then nothing.
When he came home my daughter ( he is actually her cat but has been living with me for 2 years) was convinced he had something wrong with his legs because he was "walking funny" until I pointed out he was walking like a cat we had just never seen his back legs !

[Lilith]

Ah you're having to deFUR to him are you?

Poor chap, he must be chilly; pity he can't slip into a little pair of fleecy-lined sweatpants, and duck quilts ARE cosy; with a duck mattress topping and one of those quilts you don't need an electric blanket, very eco. Mine fair snuggle into their (my) duvet, and they've still got their trousers on!

Have you got an old sheet you can spread over the bed for the duration? The warmth and cosiness will still come through but the fur won't stick to your nice duvet. You could also leave a t shirt or something that you've worn as an added invitation, if he's the sort of cat who likes to sleep on your clothes.

Also there are those very good heated pads, but these often stipulate a flat surface, but one might lure him off the duvet and on to the pad. You could pull the duvet aside and place the pad on the mattress.

All the very best to the old chap, fusses too

ps edit - the finest way I've found of getting rid of cat fur is tumbledrying - if an article can be tumble dried, and if you have a drier of course. All sails off into the filter.

[catslave16]

Hmm, Lilith, is there a gap in the market for little fleecy sweat pants for male cats who have had 'the chop' or have had to be de-furred for other reasons? I can visualise a whole range in snazzy patterns, from elasticated-wasted to dungarees with shoulder straps for post-op girl cats to others whose flank has had to be shaved... I'm good at design; are you any good at business?

[Lilith]

You what? You're talking to the most un-business-minded person ever! Thatcherism left me cold.

I once knitted a 'Dennis the Menace' striped dog coat for one of my Jack Russells; among a load of serious ailments she had intractable eczema and was almost bald with bits of fur sticking out here and there. She was also a right little sod so I planned another that would look like tattered denim held together with safety pins, so she could be 'Tank Bitch' lol but sadly she was pts before that happened.

I have an old book on Siamese which suggests, seriously, a design for 'stud pants', held together with press-studs and holding a folded tissue, to be worn round the house when the lad gets tired of his stud quarters, but any cat worth his salt would have those off in a matter of seconds, same with trousers, no matter how cosy.

Poor old Bilbo though - hope he's going on ok, Didi

[Didi]

I wonder how long trousers would last on him ?? I suspect not very long
He has found that the chair in one of the other bedrooms is very close to the radiator so once the heating comes on he lies on there warming his bare bottom, he does look a bit of a mess at the moment bare patches on both his front legs under his chin and his eintire back end and a tail that now looks like a cat tail instead of the foxes brush it was but the fur is growing back much more quickly on his front legs no under his chin it seems.
I do wonder though what he feels like to him to have his rear end exposed and uncovered after 4 years of being so furry I remember getting my hair cut short a few years ago and how cold my neck was so I guess it's a bit like that

[Didi]

Ironically he also looks to be incredibly fat ! His tummy is still covered in fur which is just a couple of inches of the ground but because his rear is now all but bald it accentuates this and makes him look as if he has the biggest tummy in the world !!

[Lilith]

Aww! Poor lad! I'd want to buy him a nether-regions toupee - but if such a thing existed he'd probably rip it off and scrag it

[catslave16]

Poor old Bilbo! My best wishes to him - he's probably feeling mortified by his bare bottom...

[Mayday21]

Hi Folks re: the pants/clothing designs (Catslave) me thinks we could tie (pun intended) this idea in with our previous post about a soap opera on cats - Lilith's title "One Flew Over the Litter Tray" (our wordsmith extrodinaire) . We now have someone who can do wardrobe. Bobby's Girl has networks with the BBC & Mrs Kane & Skater editing & creative skills I believe & then there's Joe Danger with his video/artistic gaming skills. I'm good with business processes we just need a business plan guru! Vivian

[Didi]

Thought I should show you what his bare rear end looks like, not the best picture in the world but he doesn't like having his picture taken. This was just after he came back from the hospital he looks slightly less scruffy now he has been brushed

[MarySkater]

Poor cat! He looks rather funny, but... I must not laugh, I must not laugh, they don't like being laughed at...

[Didi]

Poor cat! He looks rather funny, but... I must not laugh, I must not laugh, they don't like being laughed at...

It's very hard not to though he does look very strange

[Lilith]

Aww Mayday, you made me blush

Hey Didi I missed this pic - oh poor chap, he must feel so undignified.

Just read your update thread, hope he goes on ok now, paws crossed here and Shahi the royal python is crossing his tail x

[Mayday21]

Hi Didi poor Bilbo - the pic doesn't do the poor boy justice. And they do so like to look their best. Vivian