Groom The Cat

A kitty story by my friend Velvet.

I had two female cats. One black, one white…about 10 years ago. (still have the white one) Spooky and Starla. Well, they get out, from someone leaving the door open and bam, get pregnant.

On Mother’s day, May of 1999….I get up to get ready for work. Open my closet door and there is both cats, together on a blanket, with about 13 kittens between them. It was too funny. They would nurse each other’s kittens. Spooky would go out of the closet and be gone for awhile, while Starla would stay with all the kittens and nurse them. Then Spooky would return and it would be Starla’s turn to go out and have some ‘alone’ time….lol

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Is your Cat Healthy?

From fur balls to fleas, many things can bring our cats under the weather; but do we really know if our pet is healthy? Follow the guidelines to see if you’re cat is as healthy as it should be.

Balance

Does your cat seem a little off balance? If your cat is having problems balancing and landing on it’s paws, then see your vet as it’s a clear indication of health problems.

Fur

Your cats fur should be clean and shiny. Dry or rough coats with bald patches indicate health problems, such as a lack of nutrients. Remember to check your cat for flees too as they present a huge problem and can spread easily from pet to pet around your house. If your cat seems to have any of these problems, again take it to the vet.
Character

As the owner of the cat or kitten, you know your pet best. Some cats are affectionate and loving, whilst others are playful and outgoing, every cats characteristics vary; yet you know it best. If your cat has seemed a bit under the weather for an ongoing period of time, then perhaps something more serious than the lack of mice around is getting it down. If your cat seems to be sleeping for long periods of time, refusing food and meowing constantly then take your cat to the vet as soon as possible.

Bodily Functions

As well as having a healthy coat you should frequently check other body parts of your cat to make sure everything is fine. Your cat or kittens eyes should be clean and shiny, if the eyelids are showing it’s an indication your cat is under stress. It’s nose should be moist and soft to touch, not excessively wet or dried out. It’s also important to check your cats ears, as cats are prone to getting ear mites. Your cats ears should be pink and clean, however if a dark crusty material or discharge has built up, it’s a clear indication that your cat has ear mites. Other signs of ear mites include constant scratching of the ears, and shaking of the head. Take your cat to the vet if any of these symptoms show, but don’t worry ear mites are common and can be easily treated.

Like your cats ears, its mouth should be pink and clean. Make sure to frequently check your cats teeth as these often go unchecked. Your cats breath should be odourless, or almost and its teeth should be white with the help of frequent oral cleaning. If your cats coat seems unkempt, then check its oral health as drooling or odour could have contributed to this.

As the owner, it’s up to you to notice when your pet isn’t feeling its best, if anything seems a little strange, then take your cat or kitten along to the vet and get it checked out. It’s best to be safe than sorry, and if your cat isn’t feeling that great, it’s best to nip it in the butt in order to get your cat back to its usual self as soon as possible!

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Feline Diabetes Symptoms

Feline diabetes symptoms can vary from cat to cat and they will not all be seen in all cats with diabetes. Many of the symptoms of diabetes in cats (also known as feline diabetes mellitus) could equally be caused by some other health problem.

A feature of diabetes is an imbalance in blood sugar levels. In a normal human or animal, blood glucose is controlled by the production of insulin in the pancreas. In a diabetic human or animal, either the pancreas is not producing enough insulin to control sugar levels, or the cells have become insulin-resistant so a normal amount of insulin is not sufficient.

Diabetes most commonly develops in older cats. As with humans, there is a greater risk if the cat is overweight. Neutered male cats have a higher than average tendency to develop diabetes.

Here are some common symptoms of diabetes that you may notice in your cat:

- increased thirst

- increased urination

- weight loss

- loss of appetite

- dull coat

- walking on hocks instead of paws

- cataracts forming in the eyes

Increased thirst may be what you notice first. Most cats that are fed on canned foods do not drink much from their water bowl because of the high water content of their food. So you are likely to become aware if the level of water in your cat’s bowl is dropping much faster than usual.

Keep in mind that some of these symptoms may have other causes. For example there are many conditions that may cause loss of appetite, including viruses. But if your cat is displaying several of these symptoms you should have him or her checked by a veterinarian.

Cats can have temporary imbalances in blood glucose levels due to stress or other illnesses, so a veterinarian will run several tests on the cat’s blood and urine before diagnosing diabetes, and will probably check your cat for other problems too.

If diabetes is discovered early, your cat has a good chance of living a normal healthy life. However, he will need regular checks at the veterinarian’s office, and twice daily shots of insulin that you can give him at home. The veterinarian will show you how to do this. You will need to establish a regular routine of giving the cat an insulin shot morning and evening after he has eaten. In some cases the amount of insulin can be reduced once the diabetes is under control.

Your veterinarian may also recommend special diabetic pet food and if so, you will need to keep your cat in the house so that you can control his diet. There is no point you buying special food for your cat if he is sneaking food or treats from a neighbor every day!

If diabetes goes untreated it will eventually be fatal. The cat becomes inactive, falls into a coma and dies. So the most important point is to act on any feline diabetes symptoms immediately by having tests run on your cat.

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Choosing your cat
As a wise woman once told me, ‘you won’t pick the cat, the cat will pick you’. Bewildered at the time I didn’t exactly know what she meant by the phrase, but now as I look back I understand.

I collected my kitten from a rescue centre, abandoned at only a few weeks old she was taken into care with her sisters and brothers. Of course the womans advice was strange, I’d never picked a kitten before as my previous cat showed up on my doorstep one day and that was that for seven years. Faced with the task of picking one kitten out of the dozens the sanctuary offered was tricky; I didn’t know what one to pick.
All the kittens were timid, they looked at me with their huge fixating eyes wondering who I was. As I peeked into each of the baskets, one kitten popped out and began playfully staring at me. I asked the lady to let this kitten out, as she did she let out several other kittens. Most of the kittens ran away from me as if I was some sort of cat repellent which was a change given I seem to attract every breed of cat. I wondered if any of them would let me approach them, to my surprise the playful kitten popped out of nowhere and approached me slowly allowing me to pick her up. The lady then ranted off in some philosophical rant about cats senses, although her advice was amusing at the time, it was right; I chose the playful kitten and a year down the line I still have her.

So, the moral of the story? When picking your kitten or cat, don’t go by gender or breed unless you already have cats or wish to breed them, but instead go by their characteristics. There’s no point picking the timid cute cat if you want an affectionate outgoing cat, if the cat you like is missing an eye, take pity on it and give it the loving home it deserves. Love your cat and treat it well and I guarantee it will return the favour.
Welcoming your cat

Now you’ve adopted your kitten or cat, you need to prepare your home! See here for more information on the basics to buy before your cat arrives.
For the first two months or so it’s highly advised to keep your cat indoors, kittens are curious and playful and tend to get lost in areas they don’t know well especially when they’re surrounded by people they’ve yet to grow close to. Adult cats will have previously been homed, or they may have lived in a sanctuary all their life meaning they may take longer to get use to the area as it’s entirely new to them.
Once your cat or kitten arrives, they may be very scared and as a result of this will hide behind, below and above furniture; or anywhere that’s possible. Due to the cats fear, it’s best to keep it one room, perhaps the kitchen or a room that people will always be in meaning your cat will feel as if it’s not alone. Try to keep noise levels down, as it may scare the cat even more and every time the cat wonders around the area, let it smell it’s surroundings. Once you feel the cat is happy enough, begin to introduce it to the rest of the house keeping an eye on it and then in due course let it wonder around outside.

It’s best to let your cat outside for the first time on an empty stomach. If your cat or kitten is hungry, it won’t wonder far as it knows it will be receiving it’s food soon. Continue to only let your cat out on an empty stomach for a week or two so the cat will get to know the outside area of your house and also so you have peace of mind knowing your cat will return. If necessary leads can be purchased, check your local pet store as they’re not expensive. It’s especially good to walk your cat around your garden for the first time if you feel it’s not ready to go outside on it’s own; especially if you live in a busy urban area.

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Cats are mischievous animals, they enjoy lurking around corners preying on anything that moves. As they say, ‘curiosity killed the cat’, even a piece of thread blowing in the wind could set your cat off in a wild playful frenzy; it just depends on your cats nature. Kittens in particular are prone to this playful sort of nature. We always seem to associate them with yarns of wool, unfortunately it’s not quite like that. If offered a sofa to pluck or a yarn of wool to play with, I’m sure most kittens would opt for the sofa. So, if your cat does the dirty in the wrong place, prowls around on your kitchen table or attempts to rip your furniture to shreds; how do we go about scolding them?

Some think it’s best to ’slap’ the kitten or cat on its side, however this is highly unadvised. If your cat has done something wrong, instead of attempting to cause your cat any pain (which you shouldn’t do!), lightly tap your cat or kitten on the nose and warn the cat in a low angry voice. Pointing the finger often works too, but remember you should gently tap your cat on the nose, not hit or beat as the cats mother once patted the kitten gently on the nose as this was a sign of wrongdoing.

Others suggest spraying the cat with water, whilst others advise diluting the water with a cheap fragrance. From my experience, a combination of tapping the nose and a low loud angry voice seems to work. Spraying your cat with water usually means having to lift out a spray bottle, and as time passes the cat will see the bottle and run a mile; meaning no punishment can be given. However, each cat is different and each will respond to punishments differently. I guess it’s best to prevent as opposed to curing the problem, if you bring your kitten up to learn what’s wrong and right i.e. use the litter tray and not the carpet, then most problems should be avoided early and very little scolding should need to be done.

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Before you purchase any cat health insurance for your cat or kitten there are some very important points to consider. If you choose the wrong plan or do not take out pet health insurance at all, you may yourself unable to afford a treatment that your cat needs later in its life.

There is no pet health insurance plan that will be perfect for every pet and owner. You will need to consider each of these questions depending on where you live, whether you have other pets and a trusted veterinary service already, and your financial circumstances.

Firstly, if you are already using a veterinarian or have a recommendation and do not want to switch, you will need to check what pet health insurance companies they will accept. Most veterinarians prefer to only deal with a small number of companies or even just one. There are many reasons for this but as an example, a veterinarian who is familiar with the policies of your pet health insurance company can usually recommend treatment that he knows will be covered.

Keep in mind too that sometimes your family veterinarian may not have the equipment or specialist skill to carry out some treatments himself. This could result in a referral to a specialist animal hospital or the veterinary school of your State University. Check whether the company you plan to use is approved there.

Then you will want to look at the different options available. Most companies offer several different levels of cover and some are much more comprehensive than others. Usually they will cover expensive surgical procedures after an accident, for example, but they may or may not include cover for hereditary conditions or pre-existing conditions (problems that your cat already had before you took out the insurance).

They will often also give you a choice of deductible, that is the amount that you pay from each claim. For example you might have 90% cover where you paid 10% of each claim, or 70% cover where you paid 30%. Of course the higher the deductible, the lower the monthly premium that you pay, but you cannot know whether this would work out cheaper over the lifetime of the cat. Some operations and follow-up can cost a couple thousand dollars or more, so the 30% that you would have to pay could be a large sum.

Many plans do not cover prescribed medications, or they offer this option at an additional cost. Prescription medication can be expensive if your cat develops a chronic condition such as feline diabetes. Some plans do not cover the cost of the visit to the veterinarian’s office, but only the treatment that is prescribed.

The more expensive plans often include a certain amount for wellness treatments such as vaccination shots and may cover spaying or neutering the cat if this has not already been done before you got him. Wellness treatments are predictable costs and the insurance will probably not save you any money here but it will spread the cost so that your budgeting is easier.

In the end, as with any insurance plan, it is a gamble. If your cat is perfectly healthy every day of its life, then you do not need insurance. But if it turns out to develop something that requires expensive surgery or frequent visits to the veterinarian, you could save a lot of money by having good insurance cover. You cannot know this ahead of time. The best thing to do is read all the papers carefully, look at what is covered in all of the different options, think about how much you can afford to pay each month and consider how you would manage financially if your cat required something that was not fully covered in the plan. This will help you to make an informed choice to find the best cat health insurance for you and your pet.

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To us humans, cat behavior can seem very strange and impossible to understand. Of course they want food and water and a clean litter tray and will try to get our attention when they have a need, but why do they do so many other weird things? For example, why does your cat always want to jump up on the lap of your friend who hates cats, even when there are lots of cat lovers in the room who would just adore for him to go be fussed by them?

The reason is linked to another typical aspect of cat behavior. You have probably noticed your cat rubbing up against furniture and pushing its head inside things like cartons and spaces. When cats go into a new place for the first time, or into a room that you have just redecorated, they will brush along the walls and go all around behind and under everything as if they are curious to see what is in all the hidden spaces in your room.

In fact this is not curiosity at all. What the cat is doing is putting his saliva on the objects in the room, so that his scent is on them. This makes it clear to him and any other cats that the room is your cat’s territory and those objects are part of it. In cat terms, your whole house and everything in it belongs to him. So why don’t you see the cat licking everything? Because he doesn’t need to. A cat spends so much time licking his fur, that rubbing his body against something is enough to transfer saliva and scent.

For the same reason it will rub against any strangers who come into your house, and do the same to you if you have been out any place where there were other cats. It seems like he is welcoming you home, and he is, in a way. He is making you his property again. You may sometimes feel that your cat owns you instead of the other way around. Your cat would agree!

This is why cats seem to target people who have pet allergies or don’t like cats. Your cat wants to make all of your visitors belong in his house by giving them his scent. Most people will happily let him rub around their legs as soon as they walk in the door, or stroke him or let him lick their fingers, and his job is done. Those people have been accepted and he can ignore them for the rest of their visit, unless they wash or change their clothes. But people who are allergic will avoid the cat, and so the laws of cat behavior require that he keeps on trying to get close to them!

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