Spotted Cat Designs

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.

For some reason, a lot of our friends like cats, too. So I was recently browsing for gift ideas and thought I would share a few of the more unusual cat-related books I found.

The Sneeze-Free Cat Owner: Allergy Management & Breed Selection for the Allergic Cat Lover

100 Cats Who Changed Civilization: History’s Most Influential Felines

101 Best Businesses for Pet Lovers

Angel Cats: Divine Messengers of Comfort

The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and 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!

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!

Pet Care Trust U.K.

Pet Health Council U.K.

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.
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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.“

Whether you support the military activities of our government or not is not the point here.

This group organizes the fostering of pets for those humans who are mobilized overseas. If not for this group, the pets of military personnel often end up in shelters, with no hope of either the human or pet ever seeing each other again. Please consider either fostering a pet, or at least making a donation to help support their activities. Thank you!

A very worthy cause…I have not yet found one for cats. Please donate to help them spread the word, or better yet adopt a dog if you can. Thank you.

As they say about themselves:

“DogsInDanger.com is owned and operated by The Buddy Fund, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)3 animal welfare organization dedicated to helping dogs in need.

DogsInDanger.com is a national shelter outreach program…It may be uncomfortable for some to see lists of names and photos of dogs scheduled to be euthanized, but, the truth is uncomfortable. By making it personal, we believe more people will be compelled to help these dogs. Thus dogsindanger.com refuses to present a sanitized version of the truth. Our ultimate goal is to see a day where healthy and treatable animals are no longer killed by their most trusted friends.“

They have an Education Page listing a number of sites for more information about no kill ethics, solving pet behavior problems, and dog adoptions.

The Guardian Campaign addresses topics including how to start a humane education program in your community (i.e. a grassroots effort to raise public awareness, a club, etc.) Towards this end they offer free downloads of lesson plans and materials for educators, homeschoolers, and others who want to teach anyone from grades 2 through college age and beyond.

Their philosophy:

• Make a lifetime commitment to my animal companion
• Adopt animals only through responsible rescues and ethical breeders
• Spay or neuter my animal companion for their health and to prevent overpopulation
• Provide nutritious food, fresh water and daily exercise for my animal companion
• Care for the emotional needs of my animal companion
• Understand and work through my animal companion’s behavioral issues
• Treat my animal companion with compassion and gentleness
• Report suspected animal abuse or neglect
• Call myself and others “guardians” rather than “owner”
• Encourage others to embrace guardianship

Some of their first suggestions:

“Know your community. Each community has different animal-related problems. Talk to community leaders to get a grasp of issues and priorities and possibilities. Meet with members of the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the Junior League, and other influential organizations to set goals and plan programs that have their support.