Hello Cat Lover,
Well, today I have sad news. Of course, running a rescue
shelter brings this kind of news all too often anyway.
I lost 4 kittens this week. The last one died in my arms
yesterday afternoon.
They came in quite young, rescued by a kind neighbor from
the street. We captured the mama and got her spayed and
vaccinated, then released her back to her old neighborhood.
She was not tame and would not make a good pet. But at least
now she will not produce any more kittens. It's part of our
Trap-Neuter-Release program.
Every community has its strays. But just killing them, or
even ignoring them, is the worst way to handle the problem.
They will not go away, for one thing, and the risk of
health problems only increases as they reproduce, fight,
and upset trash containers, etc. The risks are not just
for the cats, but for people, too.
When we come into contact with a sick cat, we can acquire
diseases, too.
So it's important to help them be healthy. And spay-neuter
cuts down on the overpopulation problem significantly,
leaving the remaining cats in better shape, so they can
defend their territory and keep new strays OUT.
Anyway, back to the kittens... we don't know why they died.
Our veterinarian wasn't able to tell either.
But being born under porches, cars and woodpiles provides
no assurance of a healthy start in life, and often such
litters come to us with some inborn disease we can't see
until it claims their tiny lives. It's extremely sad and
disturbing. It's not their fault... why should they suffer so?
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TIP OF THE MONTH - Grooming
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Grooming isn't just for long-haired cats. We brush all
our cats, since we learned this, and have been astonished
to find quite a lot of loose hair in the comb or brush from
the short-haired ones, too.
But brushing and combing do more than remove loose hair.
It helps distribute natural skin oils, and stimulates the
circulation, too. An added, often overlooked, benefit is the
fact that this activity can help you and kitty bond with each
other, if done with consideration for her preferences.
Don't forget to clip kitty's nails, too. If the grooming session
is too long for some cats to do too many things at once, try
breaking up the groomings into several sessions.
Does your cat have acne?
You can tell by looking at her chin. If she has pimples, they
will show up as little black dots. These are usually the result
of oils and crumbs from their food getting trapped in their pores.
The best way to prevent that is to use only metal or glass bowls.
Plastic tends to hold the oily particles of their food, which can
spoil if the bowl is not cleaned often. As kitty eats, the chin
comes into contact with the bowl and picks up this residue.
If, however, you are conscientious about washing their bowls
daily, scrubbing thoroughly to remove this residue, you may be
OK with plastic for a while.
To help get rid of the acne, wipe kitty's chin with hydrogen
peroxide several times a week, use metal or glass bowls, and
clean their eating area often.
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WEB SITES of note
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"Silly Sleeping Pose Olympics"
You'll enjoy this one! Submit your own pictures, too. Two of my
own cats are on this site, at http://www.themoggy.com/duets3.htm
(See Louis and Cortez in a basket).
The main page is here:
http://www.themoggy.com/olympics.htm
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If you've ever heard of Vista Print, you know what great deals
they have on office supplies. I just got a new batch of business
cards for the shelter for free on their last promotion.
Their latest summer promo is almost over -- expires on July 31 --
so I want to share their sale page with you. Lots of freebies
again. But the best part for our shelter is that we get 6.8%
of any sales made, too. Take a look here for business cards:
http://tinyurl.com/eb5pu
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A SMILE FOR YOU
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Feline stealing gardening gloves of Pelham - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/feline_felon
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Do you have any funny stories to share about your cats?
Send them in and I'll share them here in this newsletter.
(Include your name and website if you have one, and I'll give
you a "plug" for your site. Or, anonymous is OK, too. It's
up to you.)
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MY WEB SITES:
http://www.theproblemcat.com
http://www.7stepsto9lives.com
http://www.thebestcatfurniture.com
http://www.loveablecat.com
http://www.hipaws.org
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