What do you make of the recent spate of cruelty to cats? In the paper today a horrible story of two kittens whose left hind feet were cut off by two children, both under 10 years old, with scissors. Almost too horrible to contemplate.

The children and their parents brought the  kittens to the an animal foster home and giggled as they left it saying "their feet fell off". They did not give their names so theh parents can't be prosecuted.

The newspaper then gave a roundup of other recent cruelties by children - one had cut a kittens tail off- but you do n not want to hear about any more I am sure.

How can small children behave like this ? It seems so unnatural as most children love animals and especially baby animals. What on earth can be going wrong for them to be so incredibly lacking in empathy? I don't know what the background of these children is of course. Perhaps they have been ill treated themselves. If these children behave like this now  what kind of adults will they be?  It is frightening to imagine how they will treat their own children one day.

I feel really drepressed about this case.

Dont forget to watch the cat videos. I post them all on one page here: Cat videos.

I like this one!

A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour.

When a cat falls a short distance, it often twists itself around to right itself and land on its feet. However, falls from heights can cause severe injury or death.

The hearing of the average cat is at least five times keener than that of a human adult.

Humans and cats have a similar range of hearing when it comes to low-pitched sounds, but cats have a much greater ability to hear very high notes-better, even, than dogs.

If cats could read, they would need reading glasses. That's because their close-up vision directly in front of them is fuzzy. Instead, they have super peripheral vision, and can detect the slightest movement in prey that’s yards away.

Cats can make more than 100 different vocal sounds. Dogs can make about 10.

Cats purr at about 26 cycles per second, which is the same frequency as an idling diesel engine.

Big cats can roar, but they cannot continuously purr. Small cats can purr, but they cannot roar.

One female cat and her offspring, left to breed at will, can produce 420,000 kittens in just seven years.

Book Cat Whisperer

cat care

I was loaned a book recently called "The Cat Whisperer or The Secret of How to Talk to Your Cat" by Claire Bessant. If you haven't read it you should, you can pick it up at Amazon.com for less than $10 .

Its full of stuff I didn't know about my favorite animal, the cat. For example do you know how to approach a cat that doesn't know you? She says cats should not be touched or spoken to at close quarters immediately. You should let the cat come to you rather than going to it, because the cat needs to know you are safe. If you stand away from it and speak to it it will come to you. If it doesn't it is a shy cat and you should let it be. No wonder Alfie bolts when my friends arrive. They all bend down and try to make friends too fast!

She also tells you how to interpret cat body language and cat vocalization and how to understand the way your cat communicates via sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste. This makes it much easier to learn how to train your cat. Another new one on me was that cats can't hear low pitched voices easily. That's why when you call your cat you should use a higher pitch. I think it might also be why cats often ignore men. With their low voices cats can't really hear men very well.

One idea you can put to immediate use is how to tell your cat what it must not do, such as scratching your furniture or carpet. I always shout at my cat, but according to Bessant I should hiss. Cats understand a hiss but are simply scared by a shout. This is also why, unlike horses, they hate you blowing in their faces, it feels like a hiss. I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it. You can purchase this book here:  The Cat Whisperer

A friend of my daughter has had to go overseas and before she left, two weeks ago, she found a new home for her beloved cat with another friend of theirs. The following day he was missing and his new owner couldn't find him anywhere.

Then his old owner emailed her to say that her former neighbour had written to say that her cat was back in his old home garden. This seemed impossible since it was a 10 k journey through a city and the cat had not seen where he was going. He had been transported by car inside a cat carrier covered over with a towel!. But it was true.

He was found in the garden of his old home looking a bit thinner and rather scruffy! After eating about a lb of food he settled down for a good sleep. Hopefully he will stay put now.

I wondered how they find their way home and found this online info:

Cats can judge within three inches the location of a sound being made one yard away. This is an essential skill for a predator that needs to catch a mouse hiding in tall grass.

Cats rank high up on the intelligence scale, and one of their greatest assets is memory. Studies at the University of Michigan and the American Museum of Natural History show that cats can remember problem-solving strategies for as long as 16 hours.

The phenomenon of cats finding their owners in a place where they have never been before is scientifically known as Psi-trailing. Many well-documented stories tell of cats that have walked hundreds, even thousands of miles to find their owners.

Cats seem to have an instinctive ability to find their way home; tests have shown that they use the earth’s magnetic fields to navigate.

 

 

Cats Like To Graze

Did you know that cats like to nibble on their food and if left to their own devices will have little meals throughout the day? Most people including me are used to feeding their cats two meals a day.

But results of feeding studies show that given the choice cats will eat up to 20 times during a 24 hour period.

It has been suggested that since a mouse, a cat's natural prey, gives about 10% of a cat's energy needs this would require them to catch and eat several times a day.

I have found that since feeding Alfie a raw food diet to which I add a vitamin supplement called MyBeau, he needs fewer meals a day. I think this must be because he is getting the right nutrients which keeps him satisfied with a smaller amount of food.

He doesn't eat it all at once and does like to have a little nibble several times a day. I still put it out twice a day though and leave him to do the rationing of it.

"4 month old kitten passed away today

I'm sad to say our sweet [kitten] 4 month old kitten passed away today 48 hours after the following procedures at her Veterinary visit:

• OHE Cat w/laser (spayed)
• Declaw <1yr:laser
• Annual RCP Vaccine
• Rabbies 1 Yr.
• Nemex/strongid - Kitten/Puppy
• Buprinex/Post pain

My concerns about Veterinarian procedures:

*She was diagnosed with Pulmonary Edema 30 hours after surgery.
*Lasix was gini to her for the fluid in lungs

Was this to much at one time for a 4 month old kitten to handle? I trust this Vet as they have been great for all of our pets. However, I cant help but feel that our kitten went from very healthy to "this is very unusual"…"I have never seen this type of reaction in my 15 years"
She died minutes at the Vets under oxygen following my visit to see here.

Isn't that a sorry story? The edema was from the anaesthetic, (UK spelling) better post surgery care may have prevented it.

I think the vet was grossly negligent to do all this work at once. How could anyone subject a tiny kitten to all this in one visit. Declawing is a cruel painful treatment in itself and certainly should not have been done at all.

Hi I just posted a new cat video- sent to me by my daughter. Its a cute one of a cat that has rats for friends!

I hope you like it.

A cat lover's life.

Cat Vaccinations – Protecting Your Cat

One of the most important things you can do for your cat is to be sure its health is protected. Cat vaccinations can protect your cat from many common cat ailments.

You should begin vaccinating your kitten when he is six to eight weeks old. Before this time, his mother's antibodies have been protecting him from many of the diseases that vaccinations protect against. However, now that he is weaned, he will need to develop his own antibodies.

On your kitten's first veterinarian visit, your veterinarian will give him a physical examination. He should also complete a fecal exam to be sure your kitten doesn't have worms. Before your veterinarian vaccinates your kitten, he should do a blood test to be sure the kitten is not already infected with Feline Leukemia. He may also test for Feline Infectious Peritonitis. The tests do not take long. Your veterinarian will have preliminary results in minutes. If your kitten is not already infected with one of these diseases, your veterinarian will give your kitten his first Feline Leukemia and FIP vaccines if he is at risk for these diseases. An only cat who never leaves his home may not need these two vaccines and your veterinarian may recommend against giving them.

However, your kitten should receive his first FVRCPC vaccine whether he leaves the house or not. This vaccine is actually a combination of several vaccines. FVRCPC protects kittens from rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, panleudopenia and chlamydia.

Your kitten should visit your veterinarian again in two to four weeks, when he is eight to twelve weeks old. At this time, he will get a second FVRCPC vaccine and a second FIP and Feline Leukemia vaccine. If he was wormed during his first visit, he will also receive his second worming. Kittens who are twelve weeks old and spend time outdoors should also receive their first Rabies vaccine at this time.

The third visit to your kitten's veterinarian should occur when he is ten to sixteen weeks old. During this visit, he will receive his third FVRCPC vaccine. Kittens who were too young to receive their first Rabies vaccine on their second visit should be given the vaccine this time.

Once your kitten has completed his third set of FVRCPC vaccines, he will not need any more injections until he is one year old. At that time, he will need a Rabies and FVRCPC vaccine. As long as the Rabies shot is given within one year of the first Rabies vaccine, it will be good for three years. However, your cat will need to return for a FVRCPC vaccine each year. If your cat received FIP and Feline Leukemia vaccines as a kitten, he will also receive boosters for these shots when he is one year of age.

While vaccines are usually safe, some of them do occasionally have side effects. Feline Leukemia vaccines can actually cause a form of cancer at the injection site. This is the reason most veterinarians do not recommend giving the vaccine to cats who are not at risk. Other vaccines can also occasionally cause tumors at the vaccination site. Many times, the tumor can be removed before it spreads. This side effect is rare enough that the risk of catching a disease without vaccinations is much higher. If you notice a lump develop at the injection site, tell your veterinarian, as these lumps usually are a simple reaction to the injection, but can develop into a tumor.