Archive for April, 2008
Posted by Jane
For the first time in her life, Minnie had to have a dental clean-up at the vet’s this week. This, of course, involved a genreal anaesthetic and we were warned that she may have to have an extraction or two if her teeth were too badly affected by the build up of tartar.
Fair enough. Quite a few of our cats have had teeth extracted over the years. But what isn’t fair is the charges different vets make for the same procedure.
Our regular vet quoted $600 (£300) to carry out the dental work but recommended that Minnie should have a heart ultrasound scan beforehand - both for her and their protection they said - as the vet had detected a small heart murmur. The additional cost for that would be $400 (£200). In total, we would be looking at a massive $1000 bill for a dental clean and tooth extraction. Wow!
I complained long and loud to all my cat-owning friends and it’s a jolly good thing I did, too. One of my long-suffering chums told me about her vet who seemed to be considerably cheaper. One phone call later, I had managed to ’save’ myself $700 on the deal as this new vet only charged $300 for the same procedure.
Editor’s Note: For those of you who read the Cat Owners Confidential Newsletter, you’ll notice a small discrepency in the sums quoted there and in this blog - well, I did warn you that my maths could be described as ‘freestyle’ ! I actually saved myself more than I thought……
Minnie had her operation successfully, no teeth required extraction and she certainly hadn’t required an ultrasound scan of her heart beforehand. Apart from Charm hissing at her every time she caught a whiff of lingering ’vet smell’, everything has been fine.
But the whole issue of fees has left a very nasty taste in my mouth. I feel ripped off by a vet who has had our regular business for some considerable time and on whose expert guidence pet owners rely. Is it fair to exploit the love and care pet owners have for their animals at a time when they are open to following any advice and recommendations their vet gives them? What pet owner would not want to do the very best they could for their sick animal? And how many times would an owner turn to their vet and ask, ‘what would you do in my situation?’ - and then follow their advice to the letter?
You might guess that I am not going back to my old vet and, in spite of a considerably longer journey to get to the new one, I shall be taking my business there when ever my two lovely cats need medical care.
Do you have any tales to tell of vet’s putting their financial interests before the health interests of your cat? Are you happy with your vet’s fees? Have you got insurance to cover your financial costs?
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.
Posted by Jane
One of the biggest problems cat owners face is the rather unpleasant one of their beloved cat spraying in their own home. And one of the biggest lies owners will fall for is from the sellers of all those commercial products that promise to remove the odor and stop your cat spraying forever. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on odor and stain removal products each year and the sad fact is, most of it is a complete waste of time and money. Even worse than that - many of the commercial products available actually make the problem worse! But all those ‘experts’ don’t mind at all - after all, it’s not in their interest to solve your problem is it? They would rather be selling you more and more of their product each time your cat re-offends! You may think that the unpleasant smell of your cat’s spray has been eliminated but in reality, many products compel - yes, actually compel, your cat to continue to spray his scent around your home and often with increased frequency. So, if the commercial stuff doesn’t solve the problem, what can you do to reclaim your home? Unfortunately, many owners become so frustrated with their inability to stop this anti social behavior, that they take the drastic step of abandoning their pets to fend for themselves or worse, euthanize them.
And, as a cat lover, this is what makes me so MAD.
The real and only way,as far as I am concerned, to stop your cat spraying in your home is to fully understand what made them start in the first place and address that trigger. Cats spray to mark their territory - period. They don’t spray to empty their bladder (they are far too fastidious to do that!), they use spraying as a means of communication their ownership of a certain area and if they are spraying indoors, that is the area they are claiming ownership to. The scent that we owners object to so strongly, carries complex messages to other cat noses - primarily ‘Keep Out! This is Mine!’ If other cats enter a territory, they can deposit smelly messages in reply to the territory owner’s message. This might just be saying, ’Hi, I’m just passing through - hey, nice place you’ve got here…’ or it might be, ‘Watch your back, punk, I’m going to beat you to a pulp when I see you and claim your kingdom for my own!’ If your cat receives a challenge along the lines of the one above, he’s going to be pretty unhappy about the situation and it is this upset emotional state that is the root trigger for his spraying indoors. What your cat is doing is retreating to his ‘core’ territory - the absolute center of his world and the part that he feels compelled to protect at all costs. So, he marks his core territory with the strongest message he can manage, in the hope that this alone will be enough to repel any challenge for ownership. Also, a secondary effect of surrounding himself with his own scent is that he will feel reassured and comforted by that familiar smell - just like you or me having a favorite blanket to wrap ourselves in when we feel ill or upset. So, to remove the reason for your cat spraying in your home, you have to turn detective and find out whay had upset his emotional balance. Once you’ve done that and taken steps to remove the cause of the upset, you then need to remove all traces of your cat’s own scent from his core territory.Why? Well, even though it’s your cat’s own scent, if he detects that his message is fading, his instinct motivates him to replenish the weakening odor by laying down fresh scent. And this is why commercial products don’t work - in fact they make the situation worse. Most products simply cover up your cat’s odor by masking it with a more pleasant, stronger scent - to us, that is. Your cat’s sense of smell is far better than ours, so he just thinks that a new, bigger animal has come along to leave a new scent marker. So what is your cat’s response to all this? More spraying and a more fragile emotional state as he is now firm in his belief that he has yet another, strangly scented challenger to deal with!
For much more detailed information, including an effective cleaning solution that you can make yourself for pennies, take a look at the Special Report in the Cat Owners Confidential Products Category.
And when you discover the depths of ‘Stop Your Cat Spraying’ lie, you’ll be mad too.
Posted by Jane
Many of us work full time. And who doesn’t, when life is getting so expensive?
However, the result is that there are hundreds of thousands of solitary pet cats who find themselves left Home Alone between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
Now I know that most cats sleep for a large chunk of the day - but what happens where they wake and don’t find you there? As owners, we need to be as aware of our pet’s mental health as we are of their physical well-being and a bored cat can quickly develop behavioral problems. Problems such as scratching and chewing your prized possessions and furniture, overturning bins in a search for something tasty to eat, soiling outside their litter tray or even in extreme cases, self-harming by pulling their fur out in clumps or by grooming excessively to the point of soreness and infection.
So here are a few tips for making sure that your pampered pet remains happy:
- An acceptable scratching post - one that your cat will actually be happy using!
- Food - use an automatic feeder, leave dried food available or ‘hide’ titbits around the house for him to discover.
- Buy an activity center or a cat tree. Again, hide treats inside from time to time to keep him interested.
- Be imaginative in the toys you buy him. Bouncy ones, dangly ones, ones with noises, furry, feathery, rolling ones.
And once you return home, remember that your cat will be pleased to see you and not just for your can-opening skills - so be sure to make a fuss of him. Spend quality time together watching your favorite TV show.
After all, there’s really nothing better than settling down to relax with your warm, furry and loving companion, is there?
Posted by Jane
So your extremely round cat has been lying around the house for the past two weeks, eating enough food to keep a small donkey alive and generally looking very, very pregnant. For some time now, you’ve been able to see her kittens moving about in her belly quite clearly and you think that you have a fairly good idea of when she is due to give birth.
But if there was just one sign to alert you to the start of her labor, what would it be? For most of us, it would have to be something pretty unmistakable - few of us owners have the experience of overseeing the birth of several litters of kittens..
All the experts will give you a long list of ‘possibles’ to choose from. You can find them all in ‘Hey Mom! Fat Fred’s Having Kittens!’ 
For example, your cat will start calling to you and your first reaction will probably be that she asking for more food. I know that my two cats take the opportunity to hassle me for sustenence every time they hear me in the kitchen!
But with your pregnant cat, you’ll find that she has no interest in the tasty morsels that you put down for her.
Don’t be puzzled by her apparantly unusual behavior. Bide your time and wait for just a short while longer until you see her seek out her chosen birthing place - her nesting box.
Of course, as a well-prepared owner, you have already constructed a suitable nesting box, haven’t you? If not, you may have to give up your bed for awhile, if your cat has decided that this is where she will be giving birth!
But wherever your cat has chosen to have her kittens, she will make a bee-line for it and begin to ‘tread’ on her bedding. Once you witness this behavior, you can be 100% certain that her kittens are on their way.
I can just about guarantee that any owner, however inexperienced, will certainly recognise this unmistakable behavior as looks like a cross between digging in her litter box and the kneading action you see when she is relaxed and purring.
Why does a cat do it? Well, even the experts don’t really know why cats tread their bedding immediately prior to the onset of their labor. But if you ask me, it’s probably no more complicated than a desire to arrange their immediate environment to their liking.
After all, your cat will be putting in a lot of hard work over the coming few hours and it’s just common sense that she will want to make herself as comfortable as possible!
Whatever the reason, treading on her bedding is a major sign that your cat’s labor is about to begin and it’s one that you simply miss.
She’s telling you ready - are you?
Posted by Jane
Cat birth can occur at any time after 58 days gestation. Before that, kittens are unlikly to be born alive and your vet will class the birth as a miscarriage. However, cat birth is generally a straightforward and trouble-free process as long as you are aware of what is considered a normal course of events and remain alert to any problems that may arise.
Should you be anxious about any aspect of your cat’s birth, it is always advisable to consult your vet.
The first stage of any cat birth can last as long as six hours and contractions will be building up during this time. Your cat will instinctively go to her chosen place of birth, panting and purring. Her rapid breathing might give you the impression that she is stressed but after a closer look you’ll see that she’s not in any distress.
During this stage of cat birth You will also see a clear, vaginal discharge which may become bloodier as the second stage of cat birth approaches.
The second stage is much shorter than the first and a normal cat birth should not last more than 90 minutes for the emergence of each kitten. In fact, this stage of cat birth can be over in as little as 10 minutes! Your cat will be ‘bearing down’ as she strives to give birth to her kitten. She will be licking her vulva and her contractions will be coming closer together. You will see the sac surrounding the kitten emerge and grow in size and finally her kitten will be pushed out.
Following the birth of her kitten, the third stage of cat birth is the expulsion of the placenta. Your cat will bite off the umbilical cord, lick her newborn kitten to stimulate breathing and may eat the placenta. All this is quite normal and should not be cause for concern.
The birth of each kitten follows these three stages of cat birth but don’t be surprised at the length of time between the birth of each. A period of between five minutes and two hours is considered to be normal and a female cat can even suspend the delivery of some of her kittens for up to 24 hours before re-starting the stages of cat birth.
Should you suspect that this is the case, if your mother cat is alert, relaxed and nursing her new kittens without problems there should be no cause for concern. If, however, she seems disinterested and fatigued, call your vet immediately as he will need to intervene to save the remaining kittens and their mother.
Cat birth is a truly wonderful event! As long as you are fully prepared and know what to expect, there is no reason why your cat shouldn’t give birth to a beautiful litter of healthy kittens easily, swiftly and successfully.
Posted by Jane
Could you save an orphaned kitten’s life?
It is a sad fact that many newborn kittens face life without their mother, either through abandonment or by being orphaned. And as tragic as this fact is, it also means that you may be presented with a pressing problem.
So what should you do if you find yourself needing to be a surrogate mother to a small and fragile orphaned kitten?
Firstly, you need to know that, with a little guidance, it is fairly straightforward to care for your orphaned or abandoned kitten successfully. The most burdensome aspect of the whole process is the amount of time you will need to invest in the care of this newborn bundle of fur.
‘Hey Mom! Fat Fred’s Having Kittens!’ shows you all you’ll need to know if you find yourself faced with such a desperate situation.
Next, you will need to equip yourself with seven essential pieces of kit that will be required to help you with your task.
• A suitably sized cardboard box.
• A hot water bottle.
• Nesting material.
• An eye dropper.
• 2ml hypodermic syringe fitted with 5cm plastic tubing.
• Baby bottle sterilizing solution.
• An old towel
These seven essentials will enable you to provide your orphaned kitten with the basics of life — warmth and nourishment.
Newborn kittens will usually get all the warmth they need from their mother’s body and it is vitally important to ensure that your orphan doesn’t become chilled. If you are not careful, this can happen easily and the best way of maintaining the necessary temperature required is to place a suitably sized cardboard box close to a heat source.
When selecting a suitable a nursery box, make sure that your kitten is unable to climb out of it unaided. If your kitten manages to escape its warm home it will rapidly become chilled once outside its secure environment.
Be certain to check that the box is big enough for the kitten to move around in freely with enough room to play in, whilst remaining enclosed enough to provide security and retain sufficient warmth. Partially covering the box with an old towel will help retain heat.
Once you have made sure that your kitten’s warmth and security have been adequately provided for you will need to address the problem of feeding.
Here, patience and persistence are what is required as you learn to effectively administer each milk feed via an eye dropper or, as your kitten grows, a hypodermic syringe fitted with an appropriately sized tube attached in place of a needle.
Your vet will be able to supply you with the kitten formula milk that you will need and will also have the equipment necessary to feed it with.
Alternatively, good pet stores will sell specialist feeding bottles for use with orphaned or abandoned kittens. Always make sure that the feeding equipment is sterilized after each use, just as you would for a baby’s feeding bottle.
Follow your vet’s advice on the amount of formula to feed your kitten and always remain alert to the general health of your small orphan. If you are at all worried or concerned about any aspect of your kitten’s health don’t hesitate to call in the professionals and consult your vet without delay.
Each year many cat owners find themselves faced with being responsible for the life (or death) of an orphaned, newborn kitten and the majority manage to raise them successfully.
Tragically, that still means that far too many kittens die needlessly.
So to be certain of the best chance of success, you need to be prepared with all the step-by-step details of what you need to know about the essentials required to save your kitten’s life.
‘Hey Mom! Fat Fred’s Having Kittens!’ contains all the essential steps you need to take - from the most effective way of feeding a newborn kitten, to how best to construct a nursery that will provide just the right environment to help your kitten thrive.
And don’t forget, becuase you will have to take the place of a Mother Cat, you’ll even need to know what you need to teach him as he grows.
It’s a mammoth but very rewarding undertaking. But to make this task so much easier I’ve put all the essential information in one handy guide.
In ‘Hey Mom! Fat Fred’s Having Kittens!’ you’ll find everything you need to know in order to take the place of a Mother Cat successfully, easily and confidently - no worrying required!
To get your copy, follow the link below:
www.HowToDeliverKittens.com
Posted by Jane
As you know, one of my cats is called Charm. It’s a silly name but one that she came with from the rescue centre. I was overruled by my husband and daughter, when I suggested changing it.
(I wanted Flossie….)
However, four years later, I can see that it suits her beautifully, as she is one of the most ‘charming’ and good-natured cats I have ever known.
And why?
Well, she is the eternal kitten and very endearing in her wide-eyed innocence.
But there is a downside to all this kitten-like lovliness. The reason that she has never grown up is that we strongly suspect that she was brain-damaged at birth - probably due to oxygen starvation.
Our vet has confirmed that she is ‘not quite right’ - she has an odd, barrel shape to her body and her legs and tail are definitely shorter and stubbier than you would normally expect to see in a cat. However, she has a beautifully symmetrical face and big, trusting eyes to compensate.
We very quickly learned that poor Charm has double vision, as she will consistently try to catch any toy or ball by pouncing two inches to its left and simply cannot following a moving object with any accuracy at all. It is quite obvious that Charm needs minutes (yes, minutes, not seconds…) to process data as it enters her not-frightfully-efficient brain and if something hasn’t ‘clicked’ in the first 60 seconds or so, she simply forgets what she was trying to do and wanders off to find somewhere soft to settle down and sleep.
Another side effect of poor Charm’s brain damage is that she doesn’t seem to have much of a sense of smell.
Now, smell is vitally important to a cat and their sense is much more highly developed than ours, but Charm seems to have missed out there too.
As a consequence, Minnie will eat all her own food and then pinch Charms as Charms simply hasn’t ‘computed’ the information that her meal is in front of her and needs eating. Poor cat!
Life with an intellectually challenged cat is both a frustration and a joy - just like having a kitten to care for but without ever getting to the time when, as an adult cat, independence and aloofness set in.
Is anyone else blessed with a brain damaged cat? Leave a comment letting me know what the best and worst things are about dealing with this particular affliction - I’d love to know that Charm isn’t alone in her less-than-perfect world.
Posted by Jane
As you approach the end of your cat’s pregnancy, you need to be fully aware of the cat labor signs to watch out for. These will signal the beginning of the birth of your new kittens and will enable you to swing into action with your prepared cat birth plan!
You will have seen your lovely cat getting rounder and rounder over the last three or four weeks of her pregnancy and the excitement of the approaching birth of her kittens will be mounting.
Fortunately, there are a number of cat labor signs that will alert you to the fact that the big day has arrived.
The earliest indication that you will see is in the week immediately prior to the birth. Your cat will begin searching for a warm and secure place in which to deliver her kittens. Now, if you have taken the opportunity to learn all about what to expect during your cat’s pregnancy beforehand, you will already have prepared a suitable nesting box for her to use. This also enables you to steer her away from an inappropriate choice - inappropriate for you, that is - such as in the middle of your bed!
In the 24 hours immediately before going into labor, your cat may go off her food completely and become very clingy - following you around and calling to you repeatedly. These classic cat labor signs will probably be accompanied by her going in and out of her nesting box again and again and treading on the bedding, seemingly trying to arrange it to her liking.
The final cat labor sign to watch for is often that of your cat appearing to be uneasy whilst purring loudly at the same time. These are not conflicting signs, as many owners think, but just part of the overall preparations for labor that any female cat will normally go through.
When the first stage of cat labor is about to begin, your cat will have settled in her chosen birthing place and will be experiencing her first contractions. Her apparant unease will give way to rapid breathing or panting and you will know by these cat labor signs that the delivery will have begun.
Now will be the time that you have to be at your most vigilant. Cats giving birth in the wild generally do so during the hours of darkness and your domestic cat will probably do the same. You may lose some sleep but the end result of having a healthy litter of newborn kittens will be well worth the sacrifice!
Posted by Jane
Cat pregnancy signs can be easy to spot - if you know what you are looking for.
The trouble is, your female cat might just want to make the task a little more difficult for you than it might otherwise be.
Unless you are looking to breed from your female cat, it is likely that your cat’s pregnancy will be unplanned and will come as a complete surprise to you.
Your lovely pet will have made her own arrangements with the local tom cats when she came into season and will have played her flirtacious games with them without you even knowing.
But at some point, you will doubtless begin to think that there is something ‘not quite right’ with her and it is at this point, your knowledge of cat pregnancy signs will stand you in good stead.
Maybe the earliest cat pregnancy sign is a pinking up of her nipples. This generally occurs around week three of her nine week pregnancy. Most owners won’t notice this and probably wouldn’t immediately suspect pregnancy at all.
Naturally, you will expect to see a gradual weight gain of between 1-2kgs, depending on how many kittens your cat is carrying but this pregnancy sign will only become apparant in the last third of her kitten’s gestation.
Your cat may become fussy about her food during weeks three - four and this is another cat pregnancy sign that many owners miss. After all, whose cat isn’t picky about their food from time to time?
Maybe your cat experiences morning sickness, just as we do!
Things go quiet for for awhile now as the kittens continue to grow and it is not unitl week five or six that things start to change noticeably.
As you reach week six life begins to become more interesting. You will certainly begin to see your cat’s tummy becoming rounder and her milk glands will start to become enlarged in readyness for feeding her newborn kittens.
Cat pregnancy signs appear in droves during weeks seven, eight and nine as you will be left in no doubt at all that your lovely cat is expecting a litter of kittens! Her increasing size will make grooming physically difficult and you will be able to see the kittens moving around inide her when she is lying, relaxed.
Your soon-to-be mother cat will be eating around double the amount of food she normally does at this stage, as she supports her growing litter.
Finally, in the last week of pregnancy, the last cat pregnancy sign is really a sign of impending labor. Your cat will be looking for a suitable place in which to give birth and it is at this point that you need to take a little control. Being aware of each stage of your cat’s pregnancy, you will be able to prepare in such a way as to retain contol of the whole process. This will enable you to remain calm because you know what to expect and how to deal with any unexpected turns and your cat will be given the very best care by her owner - that’s you!
Posted by Jane
This has to be the number one question owners ask. After all, you need to know how long it’s going to be before you need to start panicking!
Do you have any idea at all? Maybe you’ve done this before and your cat has already had a litter of kittens.
One thing is for certain, knowing how long a cat’s pregnancy lasts from start to finish won’t be of much use to you unless you know the approximate date when she conceived her kittens.
Generally speaking, your cat keeps that information to herself.
Just when you think that your life is running smoothly, your pet cat comes home with more than she went out with…..
All that affectionate behavior and cute rolling around she’s been doing for the past week or so hasn’t been for your benefit after all – she’s been in season and has been anxious to get outside and call for any Tom, Dick or fur-covered Harry to mate with.
And now, out of the blue, you strongly suspect that you’re going to be a grandparent to a litter of kittens and you have no idea when that might be.
So, how long will you have to wait to see your newly born, cute and fluffy kittens?
On average, feline pregnancy lasts for 63-65 days but can be anywhere from 58 days to 70 days long - about nine weeks.
But as a midwife-in-waiting, it’s up to you to make the best guess at the delivery date that you can and unless you happened to see (or hear) your promiscuous puss-cat in action with the local toms, you’re likely to be a day or two out.
It’s more likely that you won’t have any idea that your lovely, pregnant cat is ‘with kittens’ until she is five or six weeks into her pregnancy and starts to show certain signs.
By the time you begin to suspect that you need to know how long feline pregnancy lasts, more than half of it will have passed by.
At the fifth or sixth week of your cat’s pregnancy you will be able to see that her belly is becoming larger and more rounded as she takes on the distinctive pregnant shape. At this point you will begin to be certain that your beautiful pet is carrying kittens and you will only have 21-28 days to go before her kittens are born.
This isn’t a long time to gather all the information that you’ll need to make sure that everything goes smoothly during the birth. You’ll need to be able to recognise when your cat’s labor is about to start and you will have had to put all the necessary preparations in place, ready to go at a moments notice.
Subtle changes in behavior will signal the last phase of pregnancy and at this point, correct nutrition will be of great importance, as will the choice of birthing place.
Will you be prepared?
Your cat and kitten’s lives may depend on you should problems arise. Fortunately, the better informed and prepared you are, the less the liklihood is that a developing problem will become a crisis - or even a tragedy.
That’s why I’ve put together all the information you’ll need to see your cat safely through the birth of her kittens in ‘Hey Mom! Fat Fred’s Having Kittens!’
Written in an easy to follow style, ‘Hey Mom! Fat Fred’s Having Kittens!’ contains all you need to know about caring for your pregnant cat, how to recognise the signs that labor is starting, step-by-step instruction on the best way to prepare for the birth, what to expect and what to watch out for during delivery and how to give the best care to your newborn kittens - right up until they are weaned.
You won’t have to worry at all as you will have all the details of what to expect at each stage of your cat’s pregnancy, labor, birth and beyond - all in one place. So no rushing around trying to search for a particular answer in the heat of the moment and when you are under high stress.
And as many cat owners are likely to be experiencing the home birth of kittens for the very first time, at each stage you’ll find a yes/no troubleshooting section specifically designed to let you know if a certain worry is something that you need to act fast on or whether things are really ok.
Follow the link to www.HowToDeliverKittens.com for more information and make sure that you are the one who could make the difference between a successful birth for your cat or a tragic one.