Give a Cat a Pill

Well this is about how to Give a Cat a Pill", but it is a spoof type video on how it all goes wrong. And I can understand this. All the procedures provided by our vet, in great seriousness, can be for nought sometimes. Sometimes, we just have to struggle with this. Some cats are eazy peazy lemon squeazy, when presented with a cat pill.



I made a post ages ago about Giving Cat Medicine. This is the classic way to give a cat a pill, by gently forcing the mouth open and placing the pill at the back of the mouth. When the pill is a powdered pill (in a shell) it can be broken and the contents sprinkled on much loved food. The food has to be very desirable as cats are very sensitive to the smell of food and will turn down even the best and most loved unless it is well disguised. This leads to the point that a solid pill can be crushed and turned into powder. If the powder is placed in food in very small quantities even the most intransigent cat should eat the powder and food. Patience and diligence is required, it seems. However it is important to give the dosage as recommended and grinding up the pill leads us away from this target.

Here is one person's experience:

"1. Hold cat and pill in left hand with cat on lap or floor or preferably holding cat like a baby with belly up.

2. Open mouth of cat with thumb and forefinger of right hand by pressing on sides of mouth.

3. Place pill with left hand at back of mouth.

4. Retrieve and discard wet pill from floor.

5. Retrieve cat and restart from 1 to 3 and add:

6. Hold cat's mouth shut for 3 seconds.

7. Go back to 4.

8. Call neighbors. Get blankets. In a team effort all hold cat down while husband/partner forces pill down throat with gloved hand. Pray."

To give a cat a pill is not easy. The best way is the powdered route or an injection if you've got the dosh and the vet approves.



How To Give Your Cat a Pill to Home Page

Cats Snore

Well, I am sure that we know that cats snore. Here is the proof for those who don't live with companion cats. Cats also dream - see this post: Do Cats Dream. It is only people who have a jaundiced idea about cats who don't understand that there are a million things about the humble domestic cat that we share.



We, who have lived with cats for a long time know that cats snore. Some cat lovers and owners comment on the fact that cats snore:

"Yes, my cat was a silent sleeper until she was a 7 year old, when he began to gently snore much to my amusement. The vet said all was normal. Quite funny".

"One of my cats (I have three), a ten year old orange boy tabby (he is huge at 20+ pounds) snores so loudly that sometimes I have to wake him up, gently, to stop him. He starts up about 10 minutes later but I normally get off to sleep myself in the meantime!"

"I've got a massive cat at 20 lbs and he snores sometimes. His whiskers twitch like mad and his legs jerk around aswell. I am sure he is chasing a mouse as he has brought them in (when he is awake!). He is big enough to reach up to the kitchen counter. He's a bit lazy so he prefers to reach up rather than jump!"

"I think that cats snore because there is something wrong or different with their nasal passages. It's normal and cute....."

Snoring in humans is caused by these factors (src: http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk):

• Overeating and/or Lack of Exercise
• Alcohol and Sleeping Pills
• Smoking
• Sleeping Position
• Allergy
• Nasal Stuffiness
• Mouth Breather
• Small or Collapsing Nostrils
• Tongue Base Snorer
• Multifactoral Snoring

I am sure there are similar causes in cat companions. It might be that the cats who are overweight mentioned above may snore because of overeating an/or lack of exercise. But there are many causes.

Cats Snore to Home Page

International Enforcement is Needed for the Tiger

International Enforcement is Needed for the Tiger. I constantly see good intentions to save the tiger in Asia (remember the tiger is only found in Asia) thwarted by a failure to execute a plan. I made a posting recently about poisoning tigers and another about The Tiger is Doomed? In both the cases I feel that the Indian authorities could have achieved more and saved tiger lives if they had executed their plans to conserve the tiger more effectively. Another "failure to execute" has come to light. This is a saying commonly used by sportsmen like Tiger Woods. He plans a strategy but if he hits the ball badly by his standards that day he will have failed to execute the plan.

Another country manifesting a lack of proper execution of its plan is Indonesia. Whereas in China tiger parts are considered good for health when put into medicine, in Indonesia tiger body parts are thought to bring good luck (not for the tiger, obviously). This means that parts like whiskers, teeth, claws and skin, which is worn, bring the wearer good luck. And they also protect from black magic. Look I don't and won't criticize the people who wear these parts of the tiger but to believe in black magic is rather old fashioned, isn't it. That kind of thing went out of fashion 400 years ago, I thought. And I am not knocking some cultural thing. I am just making a comment about the archaic practice of black magic. Education would certainly play a role in drying up demand from the consumer. Another critical problem for the Sumatran tiger's survival is habitat destruction due to the timber trade. Habitat destruction for commercial reasons is a massive problem for the tiger in Asia generally.

The supply of raw product (the tiger) is drying up as a consequence of this ridiculously unacceptable trade. The latest plan (there must have been earlier failed plans) declared by the President of the Republic of Indonesia would seem to be the "Conservation Strategy and Action Plan of Sumatran Tiger 2007–2017" and made during the 2007 Climate Change Convention in Bali.

Yet in a press release by the World Conservation Union, Traffic and WWF dated 13th Feb 2008 (see report) it was declared that the laws of Indonesia have failed to protect the critically endangered (IUCN Red List status CR) Sumatran tiger. Body parts are on open sale in shops in Indonesia. The shop keepers don't even have to hide what they are doing. Any plan is going to fail under those circumstances. There cannot be any enforcement at all or very, very little. The survey estimated that tiger part sale had dropped between 2000 and 2006 due to less tigers being available for slaughter!:

Date	Number tiger estimated to supply shops with parts
2000	56
2006	23
10% of the 326 shops surveyed were selling Sumatran tiger parts

I hope that they don't mind me quoting them (I provide a link in exchange: IUCN Red List) "Despite TRAFFIC providing authorities with details of traders involved, apart from awareness-raising activities, it is not clear whether any serious enforcement action has been taken." This points to lack of execution.

What I want to suggest is that when it comes to people in need of help to save people under dire circumstances, the world communities' assistance is more often than not requested and accepted. Isn't there a market for an international force of wildcat or wildlife enforcement officers who can provide a neutral and independent enforcement task force in countries such as Indonesia to save a fantastic wild animal? And this really is about saving a species from extinction in the wild for ever - the Javan and Bali tigers have already disappeared. I say that international enforcement is needed for the tiger survival in the wild bearing in mind the failed enforcement of plans throughout Asia. International Enforcement is needed for the tiger's protection in relation to habitat loss too, provided the governments enact the laws and are behind an international force.

Heather Sohl of WWF says that if people need help in enforcement they only need ask.



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International Enforcement is Needed for the Tiger - Photo of a Sumatran tiger at London Zoo, UK by by TGIGreeny and published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License (this wesbite is for charitable purposes - cat rescue).

Tiger of Mysore

The Tiger of Mysore is in the news and for me India is a very important place for the world. It is the front line in the battle to save the tiger so I would like to link a story about the sale of the Tiger of Mysore and the tiger itself. This is a golden tiger's head encrusted with precious stones from the throne of Tipu Sultan, who was known as the "Tiger of Mysore" and who was, in effect, the ruler of the Indian Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 until shot by the British in 1799. So we are talking about 2 tigers both of which are not actual tigers! I mention a third below.

Mysore is in Southern India (see map below). Tipu Sultan is considered India's first freedom fighter. The golden tiger's head is the last remaining from the Sultan's throne, which was broken up by the British East India Company's forces in 1799 when the Tipu Sultan was also shot dead.

The object was taken by the person who oversaw the East India Company, Baron Wallace of Knarsdale and has remained with the family, forgotten, it seems, in a bank vault for the past 100 years or so. It is estimated to be worth about £800,000. It may well fetch more if an Indian gentlemen wants to bid for it, which will, I am sure, be the case as this object has a very fine pedigree indeed. I don't know the history of the East India Company but clearly they upset this ruler as he gave his life in the cause to kick them out of India. It could it seems be argued that the Tiger of Mysore was stolen. Perhaps it was considered to be one of the spoils of war. I wonder if there is an argument that it should be returned to India. And if returned or bought by an Indian it should either symbolise the revival of the protection of the real tiger populations or help to fund tiger conservation.


The clockwork tiger automaton depicting a the death of a European soldier by a tiger, a gift (or made for) Tipu Sultan.

Tipu Sultan was a scholar, poet and soldier. A devout Muslim his subjects were Hindus. He practiced all the things a devout Muslim should. Tipu Sultan liked inventions and it seems, boys toys. One such toy is famous and it is a tiger automaton (clockwork tiger - see above). It was made for him personally and no doubt pleased him very much as it portrayed a tiger attacking a European soldier. Tipu Sultan was at war with the British. It is said that the clockwork tiger was made to show the killing of Hugo Monro a senior army officer who had defeated Tipu but who had been killed by a tiger on 22nd December, 1792 on Saugor Island.

This is where Mysore is:


View Larger Map

Tipu Sultans got his title, "Tiger of Mysore", because it is claimed he killed a tiger with his knife, his gun having failed to go offf. His life in brief:

1750	Born at Devanahalli in Karnataka
1756	Aged 15, accompanied father in 1st Anglo-Mysore War
1792	3rd Anglo-Mysore War ended with defeat for Tipu Sultan and he was forced to give up half his kingdom and 2 sons as hostages
1799	Shot dead by the British

From Tiger of Mysore to Home Page

Photos are published under under Wikimedia® creative commons license license = Attribution-ShareAlike License -see Wikipedia license

Zoonotic Disease Carried by Cats

In some parts of the world there is a fear of transmission of disease from the cat (usually the feral cat) to people. Diseases that can pass from animal to people are called zoonotic disease. A zoonosis or zoonose is any infectious disease that can be transmitted from other animals (wild and domestic) to humans. Diseases can travel in the other direction, from humans to animals. These diseases are sometimes called reverse zoonosis.

For me, however, I do not consider them zoonotic as I consider us all animals. That said, there is concern about zoonotic diseases carried by cats. What are they and what is the risk?

Zoonotic Disease Carried by Cats - Rabies

Rabies is by far the most serious. As I understand it, rabies is eliminated in the UK so their is almost no risk (except rabies that is carried to the UK by people or quarantined animals). That is not the case on mainland Europe nor in America. I made a post about feline rabies in Asia where they eat dogs and cats. In Asia there is a much higher incidence of human rabies in part because of catching the disease from stray cats and dogs killed for meat for human consumption (and preparation at home). Worldwide, the incidences of human rabies stands at 40,000 to 70,000, the majority in Asia. You can read about the symptoms of rabies: Cat Rabies Symptoms. This post discusses a person who caught rabies from a domestic cat in Gainsville, America.

Because rabies invariably kills, it is feared. There is a very low incidence of human rabies in the West but not as explained above in Asia. The main animal carriers are raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes (in the USA). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that in 1989 0.4% of the cases of human rabies were transmitted from domestic cats (presume that this is in the USA). The website http://www.feralcat.com, says that any cat that bites a person should be quarantined for 10 days and vaccinated. This presumably refers to a real bite by an unnaturally aggressive cat. Cats nibble or even bite in play, often, and I for one would not take my cat to the vet for that unless there are other symptoms of rabies or general illness present.

Cats can be vaccinated against rabies but vaccinations themselves carry health risks. Vaccinations are about risk prevention and if the incidence of rabies is low and the chances of a cat getting it very low for various reasons then vaccination should not be carried out. See Cat Vaccination Recommendations.

Bacterial Diseases

The bacteria on and in cats can cause infection resulting in pain and swelling:

• Cat Scratch Fever - see Cat Scratch Fever Symptoms and Cat Scratch Fever.
  
• Bites - bites by a normal well domestic cat will usually be our fault e.g. rough play or forcing the cat to do something against her will (I would never try this as failure is certain!) -see cat aggression and Referred Cat Aggression and Cat Bite Symptoms.
  
• Chlamydiosis - feline clamyidia is specific to the cat. The organism Chlamydophila felis is adapted to the cat. However, it has been suggested that this can be transferred to humans, very rarely. In the cat the disease causes conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the membranes or conjunctiva covering the inner surface of the eyelids and the white part of the eye.
• Lyme Disease - this is carried by ticks, nasty looking parasites that cling onto animals and suck blood. They are quite large. See Sarah Hartwell's discussion on Lyme Disease in Cats. Lyme disease (see Wikipedia article) is serious but rare in the UK, less so in the USA and elsewhere it seems. See Cat and Dog Parasite Pictures to see the tick.
• Campylobacter - this means "twisted bacteria". It is normal in cats. Transmission is usually from undercooked poultry. The bacteria is transmitted from cat feces (say from litter box cleaning) to the food that is undercooked (not killed) and thence to human.

Fungal Diseases

This refers to ringworm. Ringworm affects cats and people and other animals. It can be transmitted from cat to us, typically, when our cat rubs against us to deposit scent (to feel at home - see Cat Headbutting). It is easily treatable with anti-fungal cream but takes time to go away. I should know, I got it from my stray Timmy. See Three Stray Cats and Cat Ringworm.

Parasites

This refers to Toxoplasmosis and in a nutshell the subject of cat feces and whether a pregnant women is at risk. What are the risks to an embryo by a cat in the home? It is about that and I discuss it here: Cat Feces and Pregnancy.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list or discussion. I don't think we want or need that. The risk of catching a disease from our cat is very small indeed and if we do it is not a serious disease except for the rare rabies.

Update: Do you sleep with your cat or dog? An expert Bruno Chomel of the University of California-Davis has said that it is unhealthy to do this. Pets should sleep separately but not in or on the person's bed. My cat sleeps with me and I really don't understand this comment. There is a chance of transmission of disease from pet to person - yes, but it is so remote that we can and should ignore it.



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Zoonotic Disease Carried by Cats -- Photo of Campylobacter bacteria: published under Wikimedia® creative commons license license = Attribution-ShareAlike License - Zoonotic Disease Carried by Cats