Hello Fellow Cat Lover,
Here's what's in this issue:
Recap of 2009 and a thank you...
Your free thank you gift...
Pet food info...
Web sites to explore...
A smile for you...
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THANKS TO ALL MY CAT LOVER FRIENDS
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This is the last Kitty Times newsletter for 2009,
and I want to thank you for subscribing and staying
with me this year. If you are new to the Kitty
Times, that's great. Thank you for signing up.
Glad to have everyone here, and I appreciate all
the information sent in by a number of readers
this past year, and in some cases, years before.
You have helped by sending in some very interesting
stories and valuable information to share with everyone.
With the holidays upon us and everyone exchanging
gifts, I'd like to give you something, too. I'll put a link
below, so watch for that.
But first, I'd like to review a little of what this past
year has been like.
As you know, I run a rescue sanctuary here on
the prairie, on our farm, far from town. We like it
that way. When we were in town, we had become
the "animal dump" for people to abandon their no-longer
wanted pets. Often, they were literally dumped in our
yard during the night. We quickly became overwhelmed.
Now we only rescue animals we know we can support.
The irresponsibility had to stop, and the financial drain
had to be plugged. We literally ran out of money, trying
to care for more animals than we could manage. So we
are no longer a public shelter, but a private sanctuary.
We still need donations and help with the cats, but it's
more manageable, and the results are better. The
animals are healthier and happier, and so are we.
You can see the cats (and 3 dogs) we have on our
website, here: http://www.hipaws.com.
These are the animals we rescued this year:
We got a cat out of a high-kill shelter in Georgia
this autumn, and another one from a popular discount
store parking lot. They are shown on our website here:
http://www.hipaws.com/aboutcats3.html (Look for Ebony
and Georgia.)
Two more cats came in this past summer from a farm
where the cats were being shot to "clean up the place,"
and we got those two out just in time. Look for Mattie
and Punkin on that page, too.
Earlier in the year, we accepted an older cat from a
family who lost their mother and didn't want the cat she
left behind. http://www.hipaws.com/aboutcats2.html
Look for Callie.
We struggled to get eye surgery and after-care for Lucky
Girl this summer, our gray stray we acquired several years
ago, but she really did get lucky, as she got adopted! You can
read about her here: http://www.hipaws.com/Luckygirl.html
We also took in an older dog, and he's on the website
too, in case you want to look at the dogs. We only have 3.
http://www.hipaws.com/aboutdogs.html
(Look for Buck, second one down.)
Our other dogs are doing well, as you can see on the
dogs page. However, we did lose one dog this past
summer during a severe electrical storm. Dolly's story
is on the page, too.
We are now stable at 47 cats and 3 dogs. It's more than
enough work and still costs more than $100 a week for
food and kitty litter. That does not include veterinary needs.
Luckily, everyone is healthy right now, although we are
still paying off a recent neuter (Ebony) and ear surgery (Buck).
Thanks to everyone who donated to help Lucky Girl get
her eye socket repair surgery, too.
OK, here is the free gift link for you as a holiday thank you.
These are for sale on several of my web sites, but for you
this month, no charge!
"7 Steps to 9 Lives" and "Moving With Pets"
Sold on my websites at $12 each. Get them here, free:
http://www.everypetmatters.com/4u/gift.html
Please note: This is a special page just for you and just
for the rest of this month. It will come down on January 1.
If you miss the download opportunity, please email me
and I'll send them to you as attachments (only until the end
of January).
As always, feel free to download any of the free items
on my website, on the Catalog page, in the center column:
http://www.theproblemcat.com/catalog.html
Also, please look over the other items for sale, as all
proceeds are used to help support the animals here.
Donations are always welcome, too, and can be made
on the front page at http://www.hipaws.com.
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CAT FOOD NEWS
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Just a quick article about one of the issues in a recent
petfood recall. Remember when one brand was recalled
because it had too little thiamine in it? I can't remember
the name of the company right now, but it doesn't matter, as
they rectified the matter and no one is having this problem
currently, that I know of.
However, thiamine is difficult to control, because
it's one of the volatile B vitamins (B1 in this case). And
thiamine happens to be one of the vitamins that is absolutely
critical to cat health.
It vaporizes rather easily and is quite the challenge to
maintain proper levels during processing. This is another
reason to buy good quality petfood, as the processing is
minimal, and thus less likely to be so damaging to the nutrients.
It's also a good reason to think about feeding your cat
some raw meat, at least now and then, if not as a mainstay.
Thiamine is in high supply in chicken meat, and that's what
I use here for my kitties. If you worry about safety issues in
using raw meats, here's an article on that:
http://bit.ly/rawmeat
The types of processing that deplete or destroy thiamine include
high heat, high pressure, alkaline pH, being combined with other
ingredients that have been preserved with sulfites, oxidation,
bacteria, being combined with certain kinds of fish (especially
the guts), and some shellfish. Freezing has little effect on
the presence of thiamine, so buying fresh-frozen foods should
be no problem.
One remedy being suggested by scientists is to fortify the
foods with 50 to 100 times the amount of thiamine required
by feline physiology, so that any losses would only drop to
acceptable levels. Excess amounts in the food are not
harmful, as the body sheds what's not needed, just as it does
with humans. Currently, thiamine can be lost during processing
by up to 90% of what's needed by cats for their health.
Personally, I like the remedy of just using good quality food
to begin with and not worry about processing losses.
Source: www.petfoodindustry.com
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Help Feed Shelter Animals
Don't forget to visit these sites as often as you can
to click on the shelter-feed links. There is no cost to you
to do this, but it can only be done once per day.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ (Just click to donate)
http://pets.care2.com/i?p=868775137 (click to donate)
http://www.freekibblekat.com/ (Answer a trivia question...
even a wrong answer gives a donation.)
You can sign up for their daily reminders, too, if you need
a little nudge, like I do.
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WEB SITES to explore
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Flea Control Secrets
http://451f4xodu61fjns0ucg0iydp7l.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=FLEAS
Pet Poison Helpline
http://urbanpawsmagazine.com/archives/1137
http://www.thebestcatfurniture.com
(Because every cat deserves to be comfortable!)
http://www.everypetmatters.com
(Information about getting pet insurance)
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A SMILE FOR YOU
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Play with these virtual pets on your computer:
http://www.foopets.com
-------- LATEST VIDEO -----------
Check out the video on my website, at the bottom of the page.
http://www.theproblemcat.com
It has a Christmas theme and is fairly cute.
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TAKE ACTION TO HELP ANIMALS IN NEED
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http://www.dosomething.org/whatsyourthing/Animal+Welfare
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5 quick, easy ways to help rescue pets NOW! http://bit.ly/1YfBeo
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Do you have any interesting stories to share about
cats? Send them in and I'll put them here in
this newsletter. (Include your name and website
if you have one, and I'll give you a "plug" for
your website. Or, anonymous is OK, too. It's
up to you.)
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Are you on Twitter yet? Anyone want to "follow" me?
Just go here, get an account (free, easy, fast), then
click on the Follow button under my picture!
http://twitter.com/drbert
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If you ever want to review past issues, here is where
they are stored:
https://www.ymlp.com/pubarchive.php?catsgalore
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