Auri Is a Cat Burglar!

Today Susan was making herself meatballs for lunch. She heated them up and put the plate down on the counter while heading to the refrigerator for some tomato sauce.

Up jumped Auri, who stuck out a claw and flipped one of the meatballs off the plate! She then played meatball hockey for quite a while after finding out it was too hot for her to eat!

Auri Found To Be Member Of Two Gangs!

We are devastated!

Our dear little Auri...the sweet little tuxedo kitten that we just wrote about the other day...we now have evidence that she's criminally inclined!

I guess it's true what they say about Saturday night being reserved for wild behavior. I woke up early Sunday morning when I heard some odd scratching. I followed my ears to the closet. I opened the door. And what did I see?

Auri, Agile, and Charger, guiltily looking up at me with their beautiful eyes, imploring me not to turn them in to my wife Susan ("The Furminator")! Together, they had broken into the locked closet and had been greedily wolfing down Panther's special prescription diet food (40 bucks a bag, thank you very much!). Because it's prescription food, this may be a federal offense!

But wait, there's more! Google News reported that Auri was also identified as a member of the notorious Tuxedo Gang! They even have a known hideout!

We've tried to raise her right, but she just wants to raise hell (or maybe just raise heck, after all, she's still a kitten!). Where did we go wrong?

Auri, Auri, Aurikins!

One of our readers gently reminded us that we haven't written about Auri, our newest kitten, since we first got her way back in October. So here I am to correct this serious oversight.

Auri is such a joy to have around. Really, she's so adorable and happy that every once in awhile I check her belly to see if maybe there's a battery compartment in there!

When we first got her from the Folsom Carl's Jr. (no, she wasn't in a bun, she was begging outside) she was all fire and brimstone, hissing and growling at all our other cats -- even Charger, who back then was easily five times her size! But a good dose of our patented Unconditional Love eventually solved that problem, and now she mostly just annoys Aurum for some reason.

Auri is still a kitten, although she's grown quite quickly, and she can always be counted on to flip her little toy wolf in the air, or fly down the hall in pursuit of a laser dot. She is quite an expert at sleeping, and when sleeping next to one of us will stretch out, turn into a little black-and-white ball, or assume any other reasonable shape in order to stay asleep and stay next to us while we toss and turn.

Having grown to kittenhood on the kindness of Carl's Jr. patrons, she is also one of the first to the feeding bowls, which is no doubt part of how she has grown so quickly! Here she is in her current sundae best, looking delectable enough to kiss and kiss and kiss some more:

She is a sweetness.

Experiencing the Miracle of Kitten Birth

Not for the squeamish, this video was taken of a somewhat difficult birthing process. From the You Tube description:

"One of the common excuses for allowing a pet cat to give birth is "I want my children to experience the miracle of birth." This woman has done exactly that, and videotaped the occasion for the world to see. In all fairness, she may be a foster to this cat, or it could have shown up at her door, as pregnant strays often do.

If you want your own children to witness the miracle of birth, please get your female cat spayed, and have your children watch this video instead. It would be best to preview it first, though. I found myself holding my breath for fear the last kitten wasn't going to make it."

Much of these two lists I adapted from several adoption center and humane society web sites.

The Low Cost Spay and Neuter web site allows you to search their database for places in the US, Canada and Europe that provide this important service.

Ten important reasons you ought not to breed your cat (or dog)

1. This is not a good way to teach your children about life. If you want them to see live births, try fish such as guppies, mollies or platys. Cat births usually occur at night and in secluded places and the mother will be hostile to intruders (this means YOU!) If you still want them to see mammalian birth, the video above, or others sponsored by National Geographic or Animal Planet should suffice.
   
2. Females in estrus (heat) are noisy, irritable and her cries and pheromone scent will attract males from all over to your home, where they will give chorus and may even fight. We got Glory shortly after she had been neutered. Upon arrival in our home, she began to sing her songs and soon after we had the local feral toms crooning noisily outside our home at all hours. When we bought her great granddaughter (a newly retired queen), Aurum, she went into heat before we could get her spayed and the tension around here from all our neutered males was amazing and annoying, too. One neutered male cat even started spraying urine which he had never done before!
   
3. Pregnancy is much like that for humans: balanced diet, vitamins, mood swings, potential dangers, expenses and all.
4. Not all females make good mothers. Ask any cat shelter volunteer.
   
5. You will be bottle feeding every two hours 24/7, and massaging their stomachs and wiping their rear ends to make them urinate and defaecate after every feeding for weeks if the mom rejects them -- just like a human baby, they will be totally helpless and dependent on you.
   
6. You will be potty training them, too.
7. Unneutered males are more likely to spray urine around your home.
   
8. Cats (and dogs) are more likely to develop a host of medical conditions if they are not spayed or neutered-- see #3 and #4 below.
9. Keeping a cat intact will not make him or her more kitten-like. So you don't need kittens to have playful cats. I have seen incredibly playful 14 year old cats!
10. You may not be able to find good homes for the kittens or puppies -- that is why so many get dropped off in boxes at shelters and pet stores, or abandoned in empty lots, or chained to a post in the rain, or thrown in bag and tossed off a walkway bridge, or a hundred other worse stories I could tell you.
    

Six excellent reasons why you should spay or neuter your cat (or dog)

1. It's a lot cheaper than pregnancy and the 4 months of care after birth -- there are many low cost clinics offered by shelters, vets and adoption groups We paid only $60 for Agile to be neutered, and this also included 3 nights at the shelter, his first vaccinations, rabies shot and deworming.
   
2. Spaying or neutering will teach your children that each life is precious -- a very important lesson in this day and age.
   
3. Spaying before a female's first heat (estrus) will prevent uterine or ovarian cancer and greatly reduce the possibility of breast cancer. She doesn't need an estrus cycle to become full grown either!
   
4. Neutered males will not develop testicular cancer and the chances of prostate disease is decreased.
5. Fat cats happen because of too much food and not enough exercise, not from being neutered or spayed.
   
6. Spaying or neutering will make your cat (or dog) less likely to run away or get into fights with other cats that require trips to your vet for stitches and antibiotics.

Cat-Related Children's Toys

I was in the family room to see what my younger son was watching on TV this Saturday morning. The usual run of commercials showed up. One was pleasantly surprising: a veterinary hospital play set! I remember the LEGO zoo and farm play sets we bought when the boys were younger. Not much else was available, except for stuffed animals of varying quality.

I was intrigued. We like toys that stimulate the imagination and allow for role playing, while teaching our children to think. So I went on a short hunt for other pet-related play sets and toys. These toys can also be used to stimulate family discussions about nurturing, being responsible for a pet's life, etc. Or just for fun.

Fisher Price has Sonya Lee and Her Pet Salon and Chutes and Ladders with a pet twist: Rescue Hero's Pet Rescue

FurReal Friends: Jungle Cat (Leopard Cub) or the tamer Calico or Marmalade

Gund My Little Kitty Playset

A few of Hasbro's Pet Shop play set and add-ons:
Littlest Pet Shop Little Lovin' Pet Playhouse
Cat & Dog
Persian Cat with Carrier

Even the venerable toy icon Barbie has Barbie Pet Doctor Kit with Cat

Then there are these imagination prompting play sets, too:
Deluxe Complete Little Kitten Care Set for Children

Learning Resources: Pretend and Play Animal Hospital

Parents' Animal Hospital
Step2's Village Veterinarian Accessory Set

Take Your Cat on Vacation

While not the easiest to navigate, Pets Welcome.com is a great place to visit. They present detailed information on pet friendly Hotels and Motels in the U.S. and Canada, describing their site as having over 25,000 pet friendly hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, ski resorts, campgrounds, and beaches listed.

Search under Country, then by state or province, then by city. Many hotels/motels charge fees for pets ranging from $10 to $100 (not exactly pet-friendly). Some say dogs only, or that no pet must be left alone, or crated only. Once you find a hotel you like, you can click through for more information. Pets Welcome says they even have negotiated rates with some of these places.

I am amazed at how many hotel/motel chains accept pets these days!

They also list pet sitters and lots of other useful information for those who won't leave home without their furry friends.

Enjoy exploring...and vacationing!

A Tail of Two Kitties

Today at work one of the pet groomers came to me and said she had a small kitten that needed a home, would I like to see her?

I was on lunch break, so I asked her to bring the kitten (who was kenneled in our grooming salon). Everyone at work knows I have cats. OK, read "sucker for hard luck cases" :-) But where did you get her and why can't you keep her...? Questions and more questions.

The groomer had been eating at a local fast food restaurant. The kitten came up to her, meowing, and then when she opened the door to leave, the kitten followed and jumped/scrabbled into her car. This was three days earlier. Kitten was very skinny. The groomer is renting an apartment; the lease says two pets only and the kitten makes three. Kitten has been sleeping with her small dogs. She has trimmed claws and freshly washed and groomed fur (hey, she's a groomer...).

I am holding the kitten who is a cute, cuddly, black and white tuxedo cat. I feel her belly and she gets squirmy. Suddenly I asked about if she had a litter box in the kennel. No, she does not. So I quickly improvise one. Kitten steps in and immediately "does her business". She must have been holding it in because after that she wasn't squirmy.

Sigh. Oh, BTW, all the local no-kill shelters we know of are full. And even the kill shelters have too many kittens this year (as if we'd leave any animal for one of those).

So I am able to borrow the groomer's carrier to take her home. I am sort of dreading the trip home. Sundays at work are exhausting, plus I have to persuade my family that taking this little girl in is the reasonable thing to do.

Worries For Nothing, And the Kits For Free

My husband knows me. He makes no fuss, neither does my 13 year old son. We set her up in our bedroom, quarantined until she has shots, etc. I gave her a kitten dose of Revolution, which I just happened to have handy, since she'll be sleeping with us. She gobbles down almost a full can of canned kitten food. Sniffs the kibble. Drinks water. Explores the room and plays with the toys. Purrrrs!! After a quick dinner, she meows when she sees us and greets us at the door, tail held high.

She hisses and growls at our other cats as they come to the gated door to sniff around. Standing her ground, saying she has the right to be here. No hostility really, just a declaration of belonging.

Oh, did I mention I dreamt of a tuxedo kitten recently?

Based on her personality, we think she is a "keeper".

What a contrast to this other kitten I'll tell you about.

About 3-4 months ago someone dumped a pregnant black and orange tabby in our area. Like all the other strays in the past, we began feeding her, seeing if we can approach her. No good. Eventually she turned up with three tiny orange furballs. We fed and watered them, too. Their den is very close by, as they come soon after we open the back door to put out food. The kittens grew.

Keep in mind we have foxes, skunks, racoons, possums, deer, neighbors dogs, etc. Keep in mind that of all the many abandoned cats we have seen here, only Agile's parents survived even one winter in our area. Right now, Agile is snuggled up near me on the cat shelf by the window as I type this. He is the first feral kitten we were able to catch, born of two feral parents, whom we called Eager and White Paws. They lived for about three years here and both died before last winter.

We started setting out our trap, using canned kitten food as "bait".

Amazingly we caught one just three days ago and took her to our vet. She bit me -- through a heavy towel -- when I grabbed her to put her in the carrier (we used a lot of antiseptics at the vet's office). She is FIV and FLV negative, about 9 weeks old, and weighs 2 lbs 13 oz. She was covered in fleas, so the vet gave her a dose of Revolution and her first vaccinations. She was so terrified, hissing, scratching, and trying to bite that the vet had to give her a dose of ketamine and valium before he could safely examine her. I helped clean her ears, all the while asking questions. The final bill was well over $200, not something we can afford to repeat if we catch her two siblings and mother. We took her there because getting an appointment with Animal Outreach (a local non-profit low cost spay/neuter cats only health clinic) can be problematic and well, we had a wild cat on our hands.

So if we catch them, we will take them to Animal Outreach which does the medical workup and spay/neuter really inexpensively. Our marvelous Agile's 3 day stay with Animal Outreach plus vaccines, deworming and neutering cost us only about $60. He is the sweetest, calmest cat we have, and always has a friendly greeting.



She is noisy! She yells when she knows her siblings are nearby...calls for them mostly at night, when we are trying to sleep. She is calling right now! So we have white noise generators running and doors closed so we can sleep. When we go into the bathroom she is in, she runs and hides behind the commode or in the carrier, hisses and tries to swat if we get too close. She eats wet food and kibble. We tried to give her some commercial kitten milk in a dish but she ignored it. Won't play with toys. At least she uses the litter box.

We are fostering her, and any other members of her family we can catch. If necessary, we will spay and release the mom cat. I already have a lead on one family that wants an orange kitten. But we will screen people. No kittens in a box at a supermarket for us. Thinking about her getting abandoned while pregnant gets me angry. I may have to write a blog entry about that, too.

Adorable Holiday Cat and Dog Cards -- And a Worthy Cause, too!

I found these kitten and puppy holiday cards on the American Humane Association's home page (right side of the web page in the middle).

The AHA's Shopping Page has children's books and other fun things. They also have two catalogs: one for animal welfare professionals and another for child welfare professionals. Both catalogs can be downloaded as.pdf files.

As they describe themselves: "Since 1877, the American Humane Association has been protecting children and animals from cruelty and mistreatment. From the Adopt-a-Cat Month to conferences on Family Group Decision Making (FGDM), the American Humane Association has a variety of outreach programs that promote healthy family relationships and animal care. You can help make a real difference in a child's or animal's life."

Buying and Safely Storing Pet Food

With 8 cats to feed, plus the strays that other people discard in my area, I buy our high quality cat food in 20 lb. bags where possible to save money. Then we transfer it to special air tight food safe containers. I also check the expiration date before buying. Eight cats go through a 20 lb. sack in about one and a half months. Overall, buying high quality cat food such as Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Hills, Purina Pro Plan, Nutro, Blue Buffalo, Wysong, etc. can save you money -- your cats will eat less and be healthier (thus saving on vet bills).

We are also supplementing with more canned food, especially for our diabetic cat Panther. The canned foods we chose are higher protein, fewer carbohydrates, thus straining his metabolism less.
When you are shopping be sure to check the expiration dates before you buy any pet food or treats.

To read the ingredients on some canned food bring your magnifying glasses (only half joking) -- until someone pointed it out -- I did not see that Wellness brand foods contains small amounts of garlic which damage the red blood cells of cats and dogs. The label print is tiny!

Be sure that taurine is in the cat food you buy, until it was intentionally added to cat foods, cats were having heart problems from a lack of taurine. The Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research's article explains this better than I can.

The article "Cats Are Different"by T. J. Dunn, Jr. DVM subtitled "Find Out How A Cat's Nutritional Needs Are Different From A Dog" is a terrific layman's level explanation of our pet's nutritional needs. Read and learn!

Lastly, I found this article and thought you might find it interesting, too: Pet Food Storage Tips, Part One: Dry Food

Kitten Tales!

Today Steven went outside to get the mail. On the way, he saw one of Darkly's kittens (who are still quite small and fluffy). He put some food in his hand and the kitten came over and ate out of his hand! He carefully reached over and pet him/her on the head and s/he finished eating and cutely ran away.

But wait, there's more!

After getting the mail, he noticed Darkly sitting on one of our cars watching a bird on the ground. The bird, meanwhile, was watching another one of the kittens. Darkly stalked, the bird got nervous and took off, but Darkly landed on it in midair!

She walked off very proudly with her catch.

Morris the Cat, 9Lives Icon and Spokescat

We have seen the commercials and ads for years...but did you know Del Monte 9Lives company was helping abandoned cats, too?

From their Business Wire Press Release:

Celebrate the 500,000 Adoptions Milestone for Morris' Million Cat Rescue campaign

A shocking 3 out of every 4 cats that enter shelters do not leave alive. The reality is that 5.5 million cats are euthanized each year, representing 71% of all cats that enter animal shelters. Many don?t know that there are tremendous advantages for the entire family in owning a pet ? for adults, pet ownership can decrease the risk of having a heart attack by up to 6%. Pet ownership can teach children about responsibility, compassion and loyalty ? in addition, positive self-esteem is enhanced in children with pets. And pet ownership has been shown anecdotally to help children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to focus and concentrate.

About Morris the Cat

In 1968, a street-wise orange tabby from a Hinsdale, Illinois shelter was languishing for a loving home after being abandoned by his owner when the shelter staff noticed something special about the cat ? a certain star quality. They quickly contacted Bob Martwick, a professional animal handler who quickly adopted him on the spot, and ? 20 minutes from death ? Morris the Cat got a second chance. Recognizing his charisma, 9Lives cat food quickly signed him up, and the entire nation took notice of this new star of their television commercials."

"Morris' Million Cat Rescue mobile adoption bus will visit Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade between Santa Monica Boulevard and Arizona Street from 12:00 p.m. - 5 p.m. PDT to mark the momentous occasion and to promote pet adoption. The 500,000^th cat will be officially adopted by Audrina Patridge of MTV?s ?The Hills,? who will also participate in an exclusive check-donation ceremony. A grand total of $10,000 will be donated in her name to a local area shelter, Feline and Friends, to help them continue in their mission of finding loving homes for homeless cats.

According to Thomas, the Morris' Million Cat Rescue tour will be making additional stops this year in San Francisco (9/27), Sacramento (10/03), Portland (10/11), Seattle (10/18), and Denver (10/27) before going on winter hiatus. For more information about Morris? Million Cat Rescue Campaign, bus or van stops, visit www.9Lives.com."

Free Cat Health Brochures and Information

I can cruise the net with the best of them :-) Anecdotal stories are often interesting. However, when it comes to caring for our precious family members -- that includes my sons as well as our cats :-) I prefer to get my medical advice and information from those whose jobs involve staying at the forefront of medical knowledge.

Cornell University Veterinary School's Feline Health Center has quite a few free online brochures related to various health and behavioral concerns. You can read them as an article or download as a .pdf file. Where appropriate they cross reference their own videos. From the link above, you can also access a glossary of feline medical terms, articles from their newsletter CatWatch.

At this writing there are 8 articles about general health issues ranging from what to do if your cat is "going outside the box" to dealing with aggression. There are four brochures about feline infectious diseases including zoonotic (transferable to humans) disease. And there are six about specific feline health diseases.

The American Veterinary Medical Association has lots of feline health brochures in English and Spanish; printable .pdf files and online readable files. Veterinary clinics can order mix and match packages of 50 brochures to give to clients. They also have a huge number of .pdf files concerned with disaster preparedness, mostly for veterinary practices and state organizations, however there are a few that are of use to pet owners such as Saving the Family (including pets!).

Go and see for yourself!

Official Source of Pet Food Recall Information - Cat Health

The US Food and Drug Administration has a section comprised of many web pages devoted to the Pet Food Recall that started in March 2007. From the main page, you can get an RSS feed for any new alerts, as well as get on their Recalls Email Mailing List.

I have seen misleading information on blogs and private email lists -- check here before panicking.

Nutro Products Addresses Confusion Surrounding FDA Imports Web Site

OK, we feed our cats Nutro Natural Indoors cat food. There was an notice on an email rescue group I subscribe to that more Nutro foods had been recalled, so I did some research. First I went to the FDA Website on Pet Food Recalls. Then I checked my email in which I receive alerts from Google about pet food. No information on any such a new recall. I even checked the FDA Import Refusal section. Then I went to the Nutro Products web site. Here is their press release:

City of Industry, CA (August 22, 2007) ? It has been brought to our attention that confusion has been caused by the Food and Drug Administration's (?FDA?) Import Refusal report. We wish to assure our customers that this report is in no way a cause for concern about the quality and safety of Nutro pet foods currently on store shelves. This report lists recalled product that has been returned to Nutro from overseas. This product is not intended for sale.

Immediately upon being notified of the Menu Foods recalls in March and April 2007, Nutro ordered the discontinuation of all sales of the involved products, removal of these products from retail stores, and the isolation of product in warehouses and distribution centers. Nutro also ordered recalled product to be shipped back to the U.S. from overseas for proper handling. Some of this product is the subject of the FDA report.

Pet owners can feel confident in our products and contact us directly with questions. For more information about Nutro's pet foods or for answers to any questions you may have, please contact Nutro's Customer Service representatives at 1-800-833-5330, or visit our Web site at www.nutroproducts.com .

Cat Theme Scrapbooking Products

Thinking about scrapbooking, I started to wander the internet. Dangerous....very dangerous, especially for my purse :-)

The Canadian CAT-a-Log.com

Pet Page Memories

The Fabulous Scrapstore

Pages in Time

"Diecuts with a View" Cat Theme Scrapbook Kit

Lots of others out there, just use Google and search under "scrapbooking cats".

The nice thing about these supplies is that you can use the papers to create gift tags, gift cards, and to paper small craft projects. The stickers and appliqués can be used to decorate notebooks, chore charts, craft projects, clothing (the appliqués you can sew or glue), picture frames, chalk boards, bulletin boards, electric switch plates, even you computer monitor or file cabinet. The possibilities for fun are endless!

More Free Cat Theme Crafts for the Family

I recently wrote about free cat related craft activities for children (and parents!). Here are a few more good places to go.

Some sites with preschool age crafts:

Pre-school cat related lesson plan

Cat theme nursery rhymes, printable paper crafts, puzzles, mazes and word searches

Some sites with crafts for more than one age group:

Cat theme party favor

Free craft projects and patterns

Gifts to make for your cat

Listing of places for free crochet, knitting or sewing cat beds, toys, coats

Teen and adult level instructions for making cat usable beds, tents, toys and for drawing cats

For scrappy scrapbookers :-) a few themes all built around the Karen Foster Designs Themed Kits:

Purrfectly Playful
Kitty Layout
The Cats Meow
Cat Nap Layout
Little Tiger Layout

Or try Diecuts with a View: Cat Theme Scrapbook Kit in a stack 8''X8'' Pad) for something completely different

Cat Themes in Crafts: Idea Books for Year Round Fun

September is when I start my holiday gift shopping. I make handmade gifts year round (when I'm not sleeping, eating, blogging or at work... :-) )

I bead, sew, embroider, needlepoint, macramé, decorate cakes, bake, cook and write. I use my bread machine to make a sweet bread dough that I then shape into a cat face. Bake and decorate with a chocolate kiss smile and frosting eyes and licorice whiskers. Yummy! Next time I make one I'll put a picture up. Did I mention I have a creative streak? :-)

Here are some more interesting books for multi-media crafty cat lovers:

Sassy Cats: Purr-fect Craft Projects interesting ideas

Cat Crafts (Kids Can Do It) Elementary school age cat theme crafts

Pet Crafts: 28 Great Toys, Gifts and Accessories for Your Favorite Dog or Cat some are child friendly. Toys or useful gifts for for your furry friend, or gifts of a feline theme.

A Year of Cats...in Hats: Crafts to Make You Smile a little cutesy, but interesting and fun

Cat Purr-sonalities in Cross Stitch I prefer needlepoint and embroidery, but the patterns in here are nice

For woodworkers and carpenters you can buy inexpensive plans for making cat trees from Cat Furniture Plans.

Or try these two patterns:

Scardy Cats Paper Woodworking Full Sized Plans Great for Halloween!

Cat's Meow Scrollsaw Plaque Woodworking Plan a multi-depth pattern of jigsaw like cat silhouettes

For Quilters:

Two by the same author, I really like her realistic cats

Cats in Quilts: 14 Purrfect Projects

Kitty Capers: 15 Quilt Projects with Purrsonality

Also take a look at The Cat's Meow: Purr-fect Quilts for Cat Lovers, 10th Anniversary Special Edition for lots of great ideas!

Cats On Quilts is quite different from some of the static feline representations in quilting. These cats are shown being cats!

Crafts, Kids and Cats

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is coming. So less playtime outside, and more creativity on the part of us parents to keep our children (and cats) amused inside. Here are some places that can help:

If you register (free) at Crayola.com, you can access their crafting ideas with cat themes. There were 51 such projects as of today.

National Geographic has a free printable animal coloring book, a kitty condo you can build together, and a very basic plant cat grass starting from seed, although I would get either cat grass or catnip seed from a pet store. Here is one type of kit you can buy, with all the components you need to get started.
This kit is a bit smaller.

National Wildlife Federation's Kid Zone has projects like Kitty Pancakes (yummy!), a dual purpose hummingbird feeder (feed the hummingbirds and provide cat entertainment). You can sign up for a free parent email newsletter with activities and information, too.

Enature.com has fun quizzes to inspire learning about nature.

Enchanted Learning has cat-inspired crafts for young children.

On another note :-) if you want to create and purchase high quality greeting cards from your photos, try Laughing Rhino.

Notice I am NOT including online games from these sites. I prefer hands-on creativity myself. National Wildlife Federation and National Geographic have such games.

Some Medical Reference Sites for Feline Conditions

Not in any particular order, these are some of the web sites that have helped us recognize, understand, and cope with a variety of medical situations and conditions. See also my blog entry on feline asthma, and my older article on cats with allergies. I also wrote a more exhaustive article covering online feline medical and health resources.

These are some of the first places we turn to:

The Pet Web Library by the Mar Vista Medical Center of Los Angeles offers a free alphabetical listing of many diseases and disorders with information to help you understand the condition and what can be done about it. It was one of the first places we found when our beloved Glory was diagnosed with pancreatitus.

American Veterinary Medical Assoc. and their Animal Health section for pet owners

NetVet and the Electronic Zoo Created by Dr. Ken Boschert DVM. While not recently updated, still a great place to browse for information

The British Small Animal Veterinary Assoc.

Canadian Veterinary Medical Assoc has Animal Health Care Information and Advice

Video of a Cat Having an Asthma attack

Whenever I see or hear one of our cats having hairball coughing, I immediately get the Laxatone or Petromalt and give them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) every other day for a week and then weekly. Then I get my family to increase brushing and combing our cats. For more on this subject see Hairball Express or the Fur is Flying.

The problem is that not all coughing means a hairball. Sometimes it can be far more serious. Asthma attacks are an emergency. Asthma can kill. I recommend you watch these videos (links below) so you can recognize the symptoms, and can take appropriate emergency measures. Know where the nearest emergency vet clinic is located. If you think you have seen these symptoms in you cat, talk to your vet ASAP.

As someone who has asthma, I know how scary a sudden onset attack can be. Seeing it in a cat was heartrending. There are medications such as albuterol inhalers, Flovent and steroids to cut inflammation -- how familiar I have used them, too... They even have the aerokat pet inhaler designed as a feline friendly device for using MDI's (metered dose inhalers). This video shows it being used.

Each of the people who took these videos did so in order to educate others.

I found Dave's Feline Asthma attack video while browsing. That is what got me started on this blog entry. The coughing is not like hairball coughs I have heard. Much more labored and tiring for the poor kitty.

This video gives a medical explanation of symptoms associated with feline asthma.

Another video of a cat with labored breathing. As the person who posted this wrote: "The purpose of this video is to give an example of what labored or abdominal breathing looks like. This video was made in order to show our vet what we were seeing. Needless to say, Stinky [their cat] was brought in to the emergency room after capturing this footage. Note: Normal respiration should be between 20-30 [per minute]."

Cats can also have food or environmental allergies, as we found out when Glory repeatedly started scratching the side of her neck until she was bloody. For a more detailed discussion of what we learned, see my article "When Cats Have Allergies".

I had an earlier post on some Online Feline Medical and Health Resources to find reliable medical information regarding feline health issues. Looking it over, I think I will add others in a future blog entry when I can.

Yang's Pet Cat

Today Yang was lounging on a chair when Jennifur sauntered by. He lazily stuck his paw out and managed to pet Jennifur while she passed underneath. Luckily, she didn't notice because she doesn't like Yang much anyway and she would have started a fight, so it ended up just one of those magic moments that us humans can only share with other humans.