Cat Chit Chat

Stray cat and kittens. Photo in public domain. It is a point that needs to be made and I'll make it briefly. You'll never see bad people involved in caring for feral cats in TNR programs or simply feeding them. They are all good people with good hearts. However, you will see bad people trying to kill feral cats or harassing volunteers involved in TNR programs. There is a notable divide in human personality traits. I am not saying that all people who dislike feral cats and TNR are bad people; far from it. However, there is quite a lot of bad human behaviour surrounding feral and stray cats such as throwing them against walls or into lakes, or kicking them, or shooting them, or poisoning them or making the lives of cat lovers intolerable. These are all crimes. They are bad ignorant people who commit them. This is significant. It confirms to me that treating feral cats humanely is the only way going forward and that means TNR . It would be wrong to dismiss the actions

Frostbitten cat. This is an interesting law. The Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 states that the Humane Care for Animals Act has been amended to make provision for a law enforcement officer to take temporary custody of a cat or dog exposed to heat or cold which places the animal's life at risk or which can cause injury through hyperthermia, frostbite or hypothermia. I can think of one situation where heat could kill a cat: in the back of a car with the windows closed on a warm or hot day. This would allow an officer to break the window and rescue the cat it seems. If a cat or dog is in the custody of law enforcement under these circumstances the officer has an obligation to attempt to contact the owner and seek emergency veterinary care. Comment : This is the first time I have seen such an animal welfare law. Stories of cats suffering in extreme weather are not infrequently encountered on the internet so this law is useful I'd say. Frostbite in cats is not that rar

Should cat rescue centre staff wear plastic gloves, aprons, foot covers and arm protectors and throw them away each time they leave one of the cat's pens? The intention must be to reduce the transmission of contagious diseases from cat to cat via humans but the downside is (a) expense and (b) more plastic to be thrown away and is it recycled? Evesham Cats Protection Cats Protection in Wickhamford near Evesham have introduced this new anti-contagion regime and the staff are up in arms against it. They say the cat charity has 'lost sight of its main purpose' and is wasting donated money. I'd imagine that is is very expensive to throw away these plastic items every time a staff member moves from one pen to another and it must slow down the work at hand too. Cats Protection defend the method by saying that they adhere to strict disease control measures. They say that the prevention of disease is a way of reducing environmental hazards. They said this because th

There are three aspects to a cat being hit by a car on the road, (a) the owner has arguably been irresponsible in letting their cat wander onto roads and (b) the cat is badly injured or killed and suffering great pain and (c) the driver of the vehicle is or should be upset and there is a moral burden on the driver to stop and help. This moral burden might become a legal one in the UK. Cat on side of road. The last item is rarely discussed. Hitting a cat on the road is very upsetting to a large section of society. Not everyone will care but millions will and through no fault of their own they find themselves in a very difficult position. The driver is morally obliged to stop the car, check the cat, take the cat to the nearest veterinarian as a matter of urgency, make sure the cat is scanned for a microchip and make sure the vet contacts the cat's owner if she has one. If not there is the added complication of what to do next. Who pays the vet's bills? Do you authorise e

Belle likes the outdoors and lives in an outbuilding in the grounds of the cat owner. This is an audio recording in which I discuss a solution to an allergy to cats. In this example the mother is allergic to cats while her son is not. He wanted a cat. She could not comply with the request. Cats Protection advised a novel way of dealing with this. Please listen to the file. Thanks. It's a bit raw but I hope the message is conveyed. Reload the page if the player does not start. Thanks .

This is a very informal interview by me of a British couple on the subject of cat ownership. They own a tortoiseshell cat. The objective is to see if visitors can obtain some insights into cat ownership and to give a feel for how the Brits look after their cats. It is a bit different to Americans. The citizens of each country have their own ways on cat ownership. The audio player is loading...... The couple are Barry and Kammy (who is a Thai). Their cat is Piedie and she is about 7 years old. They live in the suburbs of Kingston Upon Thames in Surrey, England. Their house is situated in a cul de sac (a dead end road) and they have a large garden by British standards. I won't write anymore as it is all on the audio file except to say that part of the discussion is on indoor/outdoor cats. Ninety-nine percent of Brits allow their cat to roam freely outside. It's the culture. Nearly all UK citizens don't think about keeping cats inside but I do and so does my neighbo

"Cat shaking back legs when walking" is a cat behaviour trait which I have seen in one of my cats (now deceased). However, before I say why my cat did it you'll have to think of health issues because 'cat shaking back legs' can mean a lot of things. The description does not say for how long the cat shakes her back legs or how vigorously. I don't want to be facetious but I think this topic concerns a behavioural trait signifying mild irritation and not a health issue It could be a nervous system health problem for instance. I am not qualified to provide advice of feline health matters so it's up to your veterinarian to clear up any possible health issues but I mention a couple of possibilities below. Having got that out of the way my experience tells me that when a cat shakes her back legs, or more accurately shakes one of her back legs while walking, she'll do it very briefly and it is a deliberate act. Moreover, the action of shaking a back