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OriginalGriff wrote: prey on anything that moves (or might have moved once) and raid the neighbours bins
Aaah! One of those responsible cat ownwers... 
If you can't laugh at yourself - ask me and I will do it for you.
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Come on, this is Wales, where "responsible" owners let their cats hunt sheep!
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Personally I like cats very much and generally they reciprocate it by being very friendly or very much into being cuddled etc...
But with cats there is only one thing that is absolutely certain: they are all unpredictable. The instant you think you know all about one or more of them they will prove without a shadow of doubt you got it all wrong. 
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OriginalGriff wrote: Quote: Cats seldom overeat and will regulate their food intake according to their needs.
Riiiight. That's why there are never pictures of obese cats on t'interwebs, and why Furface would eat continually if you let him get a chance ... and still prey on anything that moves (or might have moved once) and raid the neighbours bins ...
This is clearly not the species Felis Catus Domesticus I am familiar with! Or ... some marketeer is lying ... Hmmm ... which is more likely ... 
In my experience, it depends on the cat. Some cats will eat until the food has run out or they can't stand up whereas others will do exactly what the pouch says: Regulate their own food input and stop eating when no longer hungry.
I currently have six cats (one previously totally feral, three of her feral-born kittens (now grown up), one previously-rejected tomcat, and one previously-living-wild-but-human-fed cat) and all of them stop eating when no longer hungry. They really do self-regulate.
I've had many, many cats (mostly walk-ins of various sorts) and I don't recall any that would just eat and eat. They all seemed to self-regulate their food input. I was always more likely to find food left over than unnecessarily eaten. However, I do know of friends whose cats would just eat non-stop if food was available.
Perhaps I've been lucky with my cats. Or perhaps I unwittingly allow them believe that there is no shortage of food and so there is no need to stuff themselves; they 'just know' that food will be available when needed. I don't know which it is. I'd like to believe it's because I'm a fantastic cat owner/herder. 
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Not allowed cats as they tend to hunt the local wildlife so we have a couple of Labradors, while they won't pinch food off the bench (anymore) all other protein is fair game, including the vegie patch I no longer grow tomatoes as they never made it to maturity.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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There's a lab near that my cat likes, but he can't get close due to an electronic pet fence. Doesn't mean he doesn't hunt; I got a 5x5m garden and he still manages to catch mice and bring them inside.
Cats roaming tend to get hurt, mostly by cars. Goedzo is not going outside my garden, ever.
..and Lab's are friendly and curious dogs. If you wanna own both, a lab is your best bet, with any cat.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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Yeah we are on an acreage in a semi rural (jungle) area, the labs are great but we have a 1.5m goanna [^]in the area that would probably find a cat quite tasty. Lots of bird life that would also be in danger from an outside cat and I don't like locking a cat inside the house.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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Mycroft Holmes wrote: Yeah we are on an acreage in a semi rural (jungle) area, the labs are great but we have a 1.5m goanna [^]in the area that would probably find a cat quite tasty.
It prolly would. One more reason to live in a temperate area. Snow is a life-saver.
Mycroft Holmes wrote: Lots of bird life that would also be in danger from an outside cat
On average, 19 mice per year, from a 5x5m area. Some insects, but never a bird, in more than ten years. Cats don't catch that much birds. Still, think the labs would not be pleased if a cat brought them a living mouse, running for its life and bleeding all over the place
Mycroft Holmes wrote: I don't like locking a cat inside the house.
Yeah, I kinda did the first few years. He was a lot happier when he could go into the small garden, eat some veggies and puke. Eating too much snow and getting the sh*ts. And during rain, he goes outside and sits under the garden table, watching the rain not touch him.
Not a real outdoor cat. The garden is all he knows, don't want him shitting in the neighbours bushes. So, a semi-indoor cat. Like a labradoodle.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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OriginalGriff wrote: Cats seldom overeat and will regulate their food intake according to their needs
Aight, first cat I met, Marvin, (not mine), would eat everything. Including bell peppers that are slightly toxic to cats. He'd eat all. Their second cat isn't that hungry, but Marvin would eat until the food gone. Competition eater.
He's like that. None other food, diet or feeding plans changing that. Marvin eats all that is offered.
Goedzo (my cat) eats until full, ignores the rest. Easy with holidays since you overflow the bowl and come back three days later. Now, he is like that with his regular dry food, not with his wet food (ONCE a day, not three times, check calories).
And even if he is full, if I bring in chicken from the local fastfood, he's bloody starving. Could bring in three chickens and share them, he'd still be starving, overeat and puke. But the regular dry catfood, yes, he doesn't binge on that. Taste it and you know why.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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Indeed. Welcome to my world. I have two retired greyhounds, former elite athletes. You'd think they would turn their noses up at just the right time to maintain their magnificent shape.
Hell no!
They're both pigs and would eat their own body weight in kibble, people food, leavings from the trash, used facial tissue, and even more disgusting things every day if they could get away with it. They had to go on a diet last summer after their annual well-check showed the male 4 lbs over and the female 8 lbs over their ideal weight. You'd think I beat them with chains the way they act when they reach the bottom of their food bowls. I've timed it; the female takes about 45-50 seconds, and the male about 50-60 seconds to eat a meal. They both turn and look at me with that Oliver-esque "More please?" expression.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Yep, had a lurcher that was mostly greyhound (3 out of 4 grandparents was the vet's guess) and he would eat anything, any time and not stop until he made himself sick, which would simply make room for some more food.
(I should point out we wouldn't give him that much food, this would be when he found something he shouldn't have, including once a whole cooked ham which we'd thought was well out of reach ...)
He was also very good at spotting a pill concealed in something nice e.g. a sausage and would "wolf down" the nice bit at lightning speed then casually spit the pill back into his bowl. Little sod.
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Rich Leyshon wrote: I should point out we wouldn't give him that much food, this would be when he found something he shouldn't have, including once a whole cooked ham
Ye gods. I thought mine were bad with their ability to scarf down an entire loaf of bread.Rich Leyshon wrote: He was also very good at spotting a pill
Now that's not a problem I have. Medicating my greys is easy, given their long mouths (lots of easy leverage). My hand gets pretty slimy, but I know they took the pill.
I got really good at medicating animals when one of our cats developed congestive heart failure and needed pills every day. He was an easy cat, but I learned how to do it quickly enough he didn't get upset.
Software Zen: delete this;
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The loaf of bread reminds me of the time we'd blocked off access to the dining table by leaning chairs inwards against it. He climbed up the back of a settee to get onto the table and fled upstairs with an artisan loaf before we (in the kitchen) heard the scream from the person in the lounge as they noticed his antics.
When I cornered him on the landing he was still trying to force the whole load down his gob!
Another time, I'd made a not-so-successful quiche. So, for fun, I left it at the back of the kitchen worktop then left a phone to video proceedings as I left the room. It certainly removed any doubts about him not knowing he was doing wrong as having investigated, he then made two trips to peer around around the kitchen door to make sure nobody was too close before he devoured the whole thing.
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Looks like it made it
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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It took a while, but it kept at it.
// TODO: Insert something here Top ten reasons why I'm lazy
1.
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Insurance - looks like I need it 
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...and had enough to retire comfortably, would you?
I have often thought that the job I am doing is sufficiently interesting in its own right that I might not give it up straight away.
On the other hand I am developing other software for fun so would have more time for that.
I had also always wanted to travel the world (difficult at the moment) and have done a fair amount already having been to places as different as Tunisia, Hong Kong, Barbados, Crete, Corfu, Great Britain, most of Europe and a fair amount of the USA and some of Canada. Could I fit this in with sticking to my existing job?
What would you do, money no object? (Within reason, no Moon or Mars trips, etc.)
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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I'm retired, have traveled the world and still enjoy coding...but at my own pace!
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Quote: still enjoy coding...but at my own pace!
I'm in the same boat. Coding just for fun. 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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yep, if you go to my site that's the byline; "Coding for the fun of it"
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That's one of my measures of how good a job is. If I won the lottery would I keep doing it? If so, it's a pretty good job. My current one is has about a 70% chance of me keeping it after a lottery win because I really like what I'm doing.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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I'm retired and have visited quite a few parts of the world; but there are still places I would like to see. I, and SWMBO, are fairly comfortable financially, but our children less so. If I won a lot of money it would mostly be shared out amongst them.
Oh, and coding I still learn and do for fun. One day I might even be good at it.
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Curious question... What is the difference in how you value money and how your children value money?
I often find that people like you think of money in terms of effort required to acquire it, and people who can't seem to hold onto it seem to think of it as "a medium of exchange", meaning "something I must give up, in order to get what I want".
I say all of this, because throughout my life, I can say that this seems VERY TRUE to me:
The last thing a person with financial problems needs is more money!
This is why most people who do win the lottery are worse off 5+ years later.
The problem is usually their value system... That must be fixed first.
I am proud to say my daughter values money like I do. "A storehouse of prior work effort", and at a young age has a retirement plan, owns a little BITCOIN, and only has a car payment to develop her credit after college. While using Covid as an excuse to live in as many states as possible, willing to pay that rent vs. staying at home for free (so, not being stingy, but extracting maximum value)...
I hope your children find their footing. Dave Ramsey, The Wealthy Barber, FIRE are all things I would share with them. (I usually start by explaining Net Worth vs Monthly Expenses, LOL)
modified 22-Feb-21 11:32am.
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