Halifax Cat Fest

The first cat fest held in Halifax, Nova Scotia took place at the Natural History Museum on Saturday, 8 August 2015 and was reported to be a great success with cat lovers of all ages. I wish I could have been there to experience it, but I was otherwise occupied with work. It was international cat day on that Saturday which made the event very apropos. There were 17 organizations taking part in the event including vendors, exhibiters and charities. Education about cats was the focus of the event. People could learn about the catch-neuter-release program, and learn about the big cats of the wild. As well, displays of the stuffed big wild cats and small furry cats could be enjoyed. These displays are set up until 27 September. Let's hope that this becomes an annual event to entertain, educate and enable cat lovers.

Book Review: Complete Cat Care, DK Books

Complete Cat Care is about how to keep your cat healthy and happy from kittenhood through to old age according to the back cover this comprehensive guide is packed with expert advise on feeding and grooming, exercise, play and understanding cat behavior. Detailed information on feline health helps you to identify problems quickly and provide first aid in an emergency. With expert tips, step-by-step techniques, and handy checklists, this is a perfect reference for every cat lover.
Well, nothing is perfect, except God, but I won't look for errors in this book.
The five sections rounding out this 96 page book are:
1 Your New Cat
2 Everyday Care
3 Your Cat's Health
4 Feline Emergencies
5 Breeding
You'll also find a glossary and an index.

This book is full of colorful, helpful photographs printed on high quality glossy paper. The print is large and clear and the language used is easy to understand by the lay person even though it covers a range of topics concerning veterinary care, feline disorders, reproduction, and behavior; although, the authors do not dumb it down too much.
One lesson in the book that I found hilarious was when the author stated that if a cat became burned you should flood the affected area with cold water for 10 minutes. I don't think that I would possibly be able to do this without looking like I was given a Roman flogging afterwards. My best course of action I'm thinking is to get my furry friend to the animal emergency ASAP.
This book picks up where Cat World by Desmond Morris leaves off and is a great addition to my reference library.

Book Review: Cat People

Cat People, A Hilariously Entertaining Look At The World Of Cat Lovers And Their Obsessive Devotion to Their Pets, by Michael Korda and Margaret Korda is entertaining but it was not rolling on the floor, laughing out loud, unable to stand, brain in abandoned overdrive, unable to think hilarious as the subtitle states; although it was funny, and touching, and interesting, and well written. The writing style is full of wit and charm - enough to make me want to buy this book that I borrowed from our wonderful new library on Spring Garden Road. Between the pages are some insightful thoughts about cat lovers in general, the authors and their friends specifically. The authors discuss the behaviors of the cats they've come to know; almost all of them rescues from certain demise. In chapter 8 a diagram of part of their home shows where the different cats they owned made their beds. At the end of the book the authors gave us two chapters that are certainly delightful. Chapter 9 talks to us about cat cloning, bringing animals into restaurants in France and some more stuff international. Chapter 10 gives us a portrayal of a book that was attempted to be published in which the premise consisted of being able to speak cat and have the cat speak back. It was turned down for a reason that I will not give away in this critique. It was not by this author.

Alone at Home

Don't you wish you could see what your feline companions do when you're not home. When we pull in the driveway, there he is sitting in the window faithfully keeping his vigil. Does he sleep most of the time? Does he sit in the window all day? Does he chase imaginary mice around the rooms. Does he have separation anxiety? Cameras all around the house connected to my computer might give me an insight into his behavior, but then every person in the house would lose their sense of privacy.

Maybe some things should remain a mystery. Cats are a mystery anyway. So, if you must leave them home alone, never for a long time, and make sure they have plenty of water and some food to tie them over, and a clean litter box. Common sense eh? But when you're in a panic to go out the door to catch a bus, or to get to that important church meeting, take a deep breath and ask yourself, "Have I forgotten anything, especially those little critters that depend on me so much?"

Cats need us more than we need them. They like to put on airs of independence, but in reality they are so dependent on us. They'll never admit it, and don't tell them.

Book Review: Cat World by Desmond Morris

Cat World Copyright Desmond Morris 1996 is a 496 page A to Z Feline Encyclopedia of almost everything interesting, exciting and unique about cats except veteranarian information. I even learned that an ailurophile is a cat lover. The book covers 80 breeds of domestic cat and 36 species of wild cats. The book has so much useful information it is hard to list it all. Every aspect of cat behaviour, every feline term, and famous cat owners are but a few of the bits of information you will glean from this book. I didn't know that Alexander the Great and Napoleon were afraid of cats. Also that Florence Nightengale and Bridget Bardot loved them.
The text includes famous pet cats, fictional cats, legendary cats, important cat owners. Entries on anatomy, behaviour, biology, folklore, history, literature, and art help round out this wonerful work.
The book contains many illustrations and over 150 colour photographs and nearly a thousand entries. This is an indespensible reference for people who are serious about cats.

Bloody Tussle

Recently our cat, Nigel, got in a scrap with another cat, or least we think it was a cat. The vet said that the bite marks were too small for a raccoon. Three raccoons were spotted that morning near our home. Nigel was really beat up. He could hardly walk. There were wounds an his tail, his back, his belly and both hind legs. He required 10 stitches, pain killers, antibiotics, and lots of rest. He had to be fed soft cat food exclusively because his anise needed stitches too. It took him 2 weeks to recover from the ordeal. He needed a special cream to put on his wounds every day. He oozed blood for a week all over a special blanket we used for the purpose. All this was going on while we were remodeling our house. Not so purrrfect timing in that way.
This begs the question that is asked over and over. Should we let the cats outside? And the answer is - Yes.  How would you like to not be able to go outside? A house becomes a cage. A home becomes a trap. We all need to connect with the outdoor environment and cats are no different.

Cats are Stressed Too

One of our cats, Nigel, was peeing and pooping in odd places, for various reasons; like our schedule; he didn't get to go outside. I wanted to put him down because it seemed like the easy way out, but my wife would have none of it. We took him to the vets to see if there was some physical reason for him to do this, but blood tests and a good physical proved otherwise. They told us that the unwanted urination was most likely behavioral due to stress caused by our other three felines. We think part of it is because he was de-clawed by a previous owner.
They like to bully him, he is so afraid of the other ones that he won't use the litter box, and we have three boxes. If there is a piece of clothing laying on the floor, he will go there. More than once he has urinated on our shoes. A couple of times in the past month he has pooped in front of our toilet. That was nice to wake up to at 5 AM. He was also hiding behind a certain love seat in the rec-room for lengthy periods.
The veterinarian suggested that we try a couple of things to ease his stress: One - we tried a diffuser that has some compounds in it that relax cats. It covers about 750 sqft. when it is plugged into an electrical outlet. The other thing we tried was canned cat food, called CD Stress. It contains some drugs that relax cats and give them a sense of well being. It is also very expensive. I give him a can in the morning when I get up and a can in the evening when I go down.
Nigel seems a lot more relaxed now; he doesn't hide all day, he sits in rooms with the other cats and his bad toilet habits have decreased considerably.
This hasn't come cheap. A case of the CD stress is over $50 and lasts 12 days. The diffuser with the first refill is over $50 and a refill is about $35 and will last about a month. Time will tell if this is a permanent solution but Nigel seems a lot happier and this is cause to celebrate.