Happy Pets

An Open Window: An Opportunity to Escape?

Within a few hours of his arrival in his new home, Caspar the kitten went missing. Certain that he couldn’t have ventured outside, but baffled as to what sort of hiding place he could have found in a modestly sized flat, we searched high and low, to no avail. Something eventually led us into the kitchen, and then to the upright fridge-freezer. There was a small gap between the back of the appliance and the wall … he couldn’t have, could he? Sure enough, on pulling out the unit, we discovered our new kitten curled up in a space within the backless freezer, its electrical innards all the while buzzing away ominously. This cautionary tale goes to show that you should take the same stringent precautions to make your home safe for a new kitten or cat that you would for a toddler — even more so, since toddlers lack the advanced escapology skills of a cat. (more…)

If you are bringing home a kitten, it is important that you provide it with some toys to play with: play is a vital part of a kitten’s development, whereby it practises its chasing and pouncing skills. Playing with your kitten will also strengthen the bond between you, as well as being great fun for all of the game’s participants, be they human or feline. The imaginations of older cats, too, are often stimulated by a toy mouse to ‘hunt’, particularly if they are indoor cats who neither have access to the real thing nor much opportunity to exercise. Although, for example, our pair of twelve-year-olds have reached the age when they no longer always spring into action when a thing-on-a-string is dangled in front of their noses, toy mice materialise overnight in spots where once there were none, evidence that our felines are not too old to indulge in nocturnal games of cat and mouse. (more…)

Unless you welcome the idea of sharing your bed with your cat and suffering the consequences in terms of sleep-deprivation (a cat will rarely stay co-operatively prone at the bottom of the bed all night), start as you mean to go on and prepare a bed for it. The day on which it arrives in its new home will be bewildering and tiring for your kitten or cat, and after the adrenaline rush has subsided it will welcome a comfortable bed in which to sleep to enable it to recover from the upheaval that it has experienced. (more…)

Unless you are about to become the proud owner of a Sphynx, which has no hair at all, if you buy nothing else in the way of grooming equipment, you should at least invest in a comb that has been specially designed for felines (not a human one) to help your cat to keep its coat tangle-free. Human-assisted grooming is vital for longhaired cats to prevent their coats from becoming so drastically matted that the only solution is a trip to the vet’s to have the solid clumps of fur shaved away. (more…)

The characteristic ‘head-down’ attitude adopted by these fishes when resting is probably an extension of the swimming position when searching for food, or a protective camouflage among plants.

Marbled Headstander

Abramites microcephalus 130 mm 5 in. South America : slow-moving waters. A larger, stockier fish than its relatives. Seven or eight broad dark bands cross the body vertically, the central band continuing across the dorsal and ventral fins. The other fins are yellow-brown. The head is very small, and a dark band crosses the eye obliquely. A shy fish, but has a reputation of being a fin-nipper and eater of soft-leaved plants. Temperature: 24^°C (75^°F). Diet: worms preferred, and greenstuffs. Breeding: no details available. (more…)

These are South American fishes distinguished from the Characidae by the lack of teeth in the lower jaw. In America, this group is known as Lebiasinidae.

Half-lined Hemiodus; Silver Hemiodus; Flying Swallow

Hemiodopsis (formerly Hemiodus) semitaeniatus 200 mm 71 in. South America : various waters. A very streamlined, silver fish. A dark spot is situated on the flank between the dorsal and adipose fins. After a gap, a dark line runs into the caudal fin, following a downward direction midway through the lower lobe. A fast swimmer, and loves a shoaling existence. Very attractive when young but grows rapidly. Temperature: 24°C (75°F), or slightly lower. Diet: all foods. Breeding: not yet bred in the aquarium. (more…)

Even if your new feline is going to be an outdoor cat, you’ll still need to buy a litter tray for it to use while it settles into your household, when you should keep it house-bound until you are certain that knows where home is. Once you have given it permission to roam, your cat will regard your garden as a giant litter tray, but there will nevertheless be occasions when you’ll have to resurrect the real thing: (more…)

If you intend your feline to be an outdoor cat, think about how it is going to gain access to the great outdoors.

With your special skill as a door-opener, are you prepared to be miaowed at every time, day or night that your cat wants to be let in or out? If not, and you don’t want to restrict your cat’s movements, fitting a cat flap into a wall or door (for which some DIY expertise will be required) is probably the answer. (more…)

Members of this family are bottom-dwelling fishes, and may be recognized as such by their flat ventral profile and underslung mouths, complete with barbels. In the aquarium, Loaches may be nocturnal, although some soon lose their shyness and venture around the tank during its illuminated periods. The fishes often make hiding places themselves by burrowing under rocks or into a tangle of aquarium plants. Most prefer to live in a community rather than as solitary specimens. The majority of Loaches have erectile spines, a defence weapon mainly, and these may catch in the aquarist’s net. There are many varieties to choose from, each with a differing colour pattern or body form, but they are all difficult to catch with a net. (more…)

Short-bodied Catfish

Brochis splendens (coeruleus) 76 mm 3 in. South America : slow-moving waters. Has a flat ventral profile and an arched back. The dorsal fin is long- based. The fins are brownish, and the body colour bronze/green. Very similar to the Corydoras genus but generally larger; the length of the dorsal fin is conclusive evidence. Temperature: 24^°C (75^°F). Diet: all foods; worms relished. Breeding: has been bred ; probably follows Corydoras pattern. (more…)