Monday 11 March 2013

Inventive recycling

Cats are not bothered where they puke up. They don't rush outside when they feel the need, and they don't rush to the litter box to discharge their slimey mess. No, it's just anywhere they happen to be. What causes them to be sick? Bugsy has fur balls and they get jettisoned onto the carpet. Sometimes he pigs out and scoffs his food so fast that he immediately brings it back up again. Sometimes he eats grass and that emerges again quite quickly followed by some snot, often on the kitchen floor. I haven't seen the other two be sick, maybe that's because they are ladies and are more refined than a fat and lazy ginger tom, ha ha.
Garcia was in last week, he said, c'mon gimmee some food, so I did. Five minutes later he jumped up on the worktop in the kitchen and the chuffin lot came back up again, all over my plastic worktop protector mat. Yuk. Only one thing for it, chuck the whole lot in the dustbin. The mat had seen better days anyway, and was due for changing. 
The easiest thing would be to buy a new one when I was next in town. Could probably pick one up from the £1 shop, but no, my mind doesn't work like that. If I can save a pound I will. So I had a look around to see what I already had in the house, which could be adapted or modified to do the job. 
I seem to have more plastic lids than I have plastic boxes, don't know how that happened. Never mind, I now have a use for a spare lid.  
I put a piece of hardboard on the dining room table to protect it, got a stanley knife with a sharp blade, and cut the edge off the lid.  
Look at that. It makes a perfect mat, and £1 saved. I like it when I can think of other uses for things. It reduces the amount of stuff I have in my house, stops me spending money, and stops me from robbing the planet of raw materials.
Don't buy new, adapt and modify. Anybody got any more ideas for inventive recycling? Toodle pip.

21 comments:

  1. I was worried about where your post was going to when I read the title then the first part of the post! :o

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  2. That is a really good idea!

    My cats chuck up as well, especially Tom Cat.

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  3. You have a most inventive mind.

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  4. H ha, trust you to be so inventive. Brilliant work.

    Sarah x

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  5. Well done! Very neat job. Oh, and I can explain your excess number of lids: I've got the excess number of containers.

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  6. Why do they throw up on a freshly vacuumed carpet....why do they throw up on carpet not the wood floor? I'll never really understand cats!!
    Jane x

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  7. We've actually managed to train our cat to go out if she needs to throw up. I think it's because it takes quite a while for her to do that churning thing (hard to describe, but cat owners will know what I mean), so if one of us spots her doing that, we'd quickly scoop her up and put her on the patio outside. So now whenever Madame feels poorly, she'd actually wait by the door and do the regurgitation once she's out.

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  8. Replies
    1. I wouldn't say that, I can be extremely dumb at times, ha ha.

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  9. My cats seem to save that wonderful part of their repetoire for while they are outside......the Pug on the other hand usually chooses to throw up on the sofa, right above where the two cushions meet, it's a good job it's leather but still.....YUK!!

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    1. My old cat B used to burrow under the throw on the sofa, behind the scatter cushions, and once, changing the throw, I found he had been sick...sometime. (((SHUDDER)))

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  10. Our dining table is a wooden frame and legs made from timber from an old she we pulled down and the top is a shower screen. Big glass table. Great! Cost nothing!

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  11. Good idea, and one I can put to good use right away. Thanks!

    jesinalbuquerque

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  12. Good idea, I have lots of odd lids. Can you come up with something clever to do with odd socks now please. I think they breed in the washbasket;) Over to you Einstein.

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    1. Odd socks - one brilliant idea I saw a while ago was to make a 'soft' ball for a dog to play with. You just roll up the first one and fold the others round that, the last 'layer' being secured (to tidy it up). The one I saw had been made for a puppy who still had soft teeth, it was perfect and she absolutely loved it. You also see patterns for 'sock toys'. Not sure what other ideas Ilona (or other readers) have, but I am sure they will have some.

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  13. Spot on! Our cats throw up on the throws we put on the chairs to protect them from throwing up pussies!
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  14. Hi Ilona,
    Cheryl here. Your "new" tray is great. I reuse my glass jars to store dry goods, olive oil, buttons, and lots of other things. I believe that glass is much safer for food storage and keeps the food fresher than plastic. Empty cardboard rolls e.g. toilet rolls are great to fill with potting mix and sprinkle seed over to raise seedlings. Then when the seedlings are tall enough, the whole lot can be planted straight into the garden, with no transplant shock to the little plant.
    AussieCherylx

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  15. One use for odd socks and for holey socks is to put your hand in them and use them for dusting. Kind of glad I don't have any cats after this post!

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