Spotted Cat Designs

Last year our beloved first cat, Panther developed diabetes. So we learned about injecting insulin and glucose curves. Last fall, he vomited violently 3 times, and we rushed him to the pet emergency clinic on a Saturday night. We learned about pancreatitus (again) and giving subcutaneous fluids.

Panther has had several more episodes of pancreatitus. So we keep an I/V unit with a pouch of Ringers Lactate ready in the closet. We already had one cat chew through the tubing, so the closed closet is safest. When his fur looks bad and I tent his scruff which doesn’t go down quickly — with Steven’s help I give him subQ fluids from 50 to 150ccs at a time. Sometimes once a week, sometimes twice a day.

When Panther meows and makes me follow him, then jumps on the “insulin perch” I know to give him his 1/4 unit of Lantus/Glargine. But only after he eats!

We learned that Panther has a “sensitive” pancreas. That’s the organ that produces insulin and various digestive enzymes. So he eats prescription Hills Science Diet I/D and canned Purina Proplan salmon/fish or turkey and giblets. The canned food is amongst those recommended for diabetic cats.

During this time Panther has willfully downgraded himself socially from top male cat to the bottom of the social scale. So no more energy expended in boxing matches with Charger.

Panther is wise enough to direct us in what he needs and when. And we have become wise enough to listen. That is why he is still alive and experiencing a decent quality of life.

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.

Some random useful information:

Perdue Veterinary School lists plants that are toxic to animals, and especially pets. Click on each link for the plant photo, description, symptoms, first aid and more.

See my basic article called How NOT to Poison Your Cat for some general ideas on cat proofing — hint: it is a a lot like toddler-proofing your home — and for the same reasons!

One of our cats was chewing on an electrical cord. Not good. It turns out her gums were bothering her. Nipped in the bud so to speak. More intensive at home dental care was begun.

With the holidays coming:

Keep wrapping paper, ribbon, scissors and tape away from cats. Clean up any bits leftover from wrapping gifts. Your cat may try to eat some of it!

No traditional holiday plants are safe for cats!!!
If you can reach the plant, so can your cat.

If you use a wood or pellet stove as many of our neighbors do, protect your cats from getting burned paws or singed fur.

Some Possibilities:

• Keep your cats out of the room the stove is in
• Don’t use your the stove
• Clicker train your cats to avoid the area
• Buy tall fireplace safe un-tippable three wall barriers to keep your cats at least 2 feet from the stove

None of these is actually foolproof, except not using the stove. Jennifur was taught to avoid the wood stove. Two winters ago, after one of her more exuberant mad dashes around the family room, we smelled singed fur. Haven’t used our wood stove since.

At their annual checkup we found that both Charger and Agile are overweight. We take them in to our vet at the same time, as this saves us one office visit basic fee. When you have as many cats as we do, saving money in this way can be a Good Thing.

We are giving them high protein canned food to replace some of the kibble they eat (similar to what Panther is getting). Charger is a large male Bengal at 19 lb 12 oz. Agile is a broad chested formerly feral feline at 15 lbs. Our goal for the next two years is to get them down to about 18 lbs and 13 lbs respectively. So, much more exercise, combined with having to jump up to platforms for smaller quantities of food is in store for both cats.

There are numerous advantages to having an automatic feeder

• less anxious or annoyed cats (and dogs)
• regulated portioned feeding can help prevent or reverse obesity (versus free feeding out of a bowl)
• feeding times can be specified with some models
• your cat can be fed without you being there — good for short trips away from home or long days at work

A few disadvantages:

• you have to keep it very clean
• prevent ants or other insects from inhabiting the feeder
• set the times correctly
• with most models it dispenses only enough to be feeding one or two pets
• each model presents varying degrees of difficulty being programmed — some are less intuitive than others

Notable for techies in Korea and Japan: Korean mobile operator SK Telecom has created a way to feed your pet using their cell phone feature. I wonder when someone will bring capability to the US…

Then there is the futuristic looking coffee maker sized automated and programmable Perfect PetFeeder is available in the US — for about $499.00US

Or the gravity fed elevated wheeled food or watering stations by Critter Cooler. For about $95.00US.

Having said all that, here are a few less costly models I have seen that you might want to consider:

Petmate’s Bistro Electronic Portion Control automatic feeder

Synchronic’s Lentek PD06G 6 Day Automatic Feeder

Radio Systems’ Petsafe PF5-11 5-Meal Electronic Pet Feeder

Blitz’ 11899 25lb Automatic Feeder

Plus there are a large number of gravity fed kibble feeders by Petmate that you can find in almost any pet store.

For any of these feeders look at:

• the sturdiness of the construction
• warranty
• ease of cleaning
• ease of emptying and refilling
• food capacity
• will it hold and dispense the type of food your cat likes to eat
• anticipate a trial period for any new feeder
• be sure the construction does not allow an industrious cat from pawing out additional kibble, or breaking the mechanism!
• if you return the feeder, let the seller (and manufacturer!) know what went wrong — the pet food industry is a billion dollar market — the best way to bring about change is to provide consumer feedback!

Go to BeyondFleas.com!

They cover everything you could possible want to know including:

• Identifying if your cat or dog actually has fleas
• How to use each of the over the counter or prescription medications
• How to control and exterminate fleas inside and outside your home — using professionals or as a DIYer
• Life cycle of the flea
• How to treat flea bites
• Natural remedies for controlling fleas
• “Bombing” (fumigating) your home for insects and spiders

So stop scratching — and visit BeyondFleas.com!

Not sure what to get? You need a gift for “someone who has everything”? Your friend said no gift this year? How about donating in their honor to one of these worthy causes.

Petfinder.com you can donate in Honor of or in Memory of someone (human or feline), or sponsor an unadopted pet waiting for a home. They also accept donations for their Disaster Relief Fund and the Animal Shelter Fund (Purina is the corporate co-sponsor).

Purebred Cat Breed Rescue not all abandoned cats are mixed breeds.

Operation Nobel Foster every time reservists and others in the armed forces are called upon to serve overseas, the drop off rate at shelters sky rockets. This group was formed to help prevent such heart wrenching events. Volunteers foster the cats of military personnel so that when they come home, their cats are waiting for them. No matter what your political leanings may be, please consider helping this worthy cause.

Consider your Local Shelter or volunteer adoption groups. Not sure how to find them? See my blog entry on how to find them in your area. They can always use: money, cat food, litter, beds, blankets, paper towels, coupons to pet stores, pet food coupons. Call and ask what they need. then make a donation in someone’s honor. A gift that serves more than one!

Pet Care Trust U.K.

Pet Health Council U.K.

We always keep our cats indoors. But every year at this time we remind our friends to keep their cats, especially their black cats, indoors for the rest of the month, no matter what.

And we hate to even think about why. Even though many people think it’s just an urban legend, it’s indubitably true: there are emotionally and mentally sick people out there who enjoy doing unspeakable things to cats, especially black ones, and especially at Halloween.

Susan reminded me that we were once sitting in the waiting room of a local veterinarian when a Goth-dressed girl came in and asked the people sitting there if they “wanted to get rid of any cats”. We all stared at her until she left.

It was October 29.

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