Siamese Cat Cartoon

Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese cat is a Canadian-American animated television series.   It is also educational.  It aired with PBS Kids.  In this television series the action is set in about 1840 during the Quing Dynasty.   The series is about family obligations and loyalty.


Sagwa lives in the palace of a magistrate in Hong Kong before it was colonised.  Sagwa is part of a colony of cats living in the Palace who have the ability to write with their tails.

The Siamese cats are involved in adventures incorporating moral lessons to educate children which is typical of children's shows.  Chinese culture is also on display which helps to raise awareness of an alternative culture.

See cartoon cats for stuff.

Choupette Lagerfeld's Cat is Not a Siamese

Choupette is described as a Siamese cat.  She is arguably the most spoilt cat in the world. Apparently, her blue eyes inspired Karl Lagerfeld (her owner) to use sapphire blue in his collections for Chanel.  The blue eyes of a Siamese cat should be sapphire blue.

However, the coat of the Siamese cat is described by the breed standard as as short, fine textured, glossy.  Lying close to body (Cat Fanciers' Association - CFA).

It is clear from the photographs of this darling flame pointed cat that her coat is too long and too dense and in fact too upright to be the coat of the Siamese cat. Her coat is more that of a Balinese cat which is the long-haired version of the Siamese cat.

The picture on this page clearly indicates the type of coat that this cat has and it is completely different to what the breed standard states. The Siamese cat coat is very silky and close lying to the body. This is noticeable and quite a feature of this popular cat breed.

What An Animal Gas Chamber Looks Like

What An Animal Gas Chamber Looks Like

This is a cross-post to an article I wrote a while ago but Google is not picking it up.

"..During this process the animals are put into a small box with many other animals (sometimes up to 30. The gas is turned on they are scared and cramped as this gas fills their lungs it starts burning their insides and eyes. They then begin to panic and cry for help as they bleed from their cavities, vomit and defecate all over (literally) and finally after enduring this for several minutes they take their last breath... As all of this is going on they are usually fully conscious." (Olga's email to me - thank you Olga)

To think that animal shelter volunteers and staff deliberately place dogs and cats into these horror machines to kill them in a way that is for me reminiscent of the Holocaust.

Sorry to mention that but it has the same flavour about it and I don't see why we can't mention it in relation to animals as well as people. I don't know how widespread gas chambers are at shelters today in 2014 but at one time they were not that uncommon in the USA.

There has been a cutback in their numbers towards more humane methods but very late in the day because after all gas chambers are cheaper. You just stuff the animals into the chamber, let them writhe around in fear and terror in their own vomit and faeces and when it is all over you drag out the corpses and stick them in a bin and hose down the gas chamber, I guess.

That's the human race and their relationship with domestic animals at the dirty end, the end you don't want to see and don't get told about -- the end of the operation that is brushed under the carpet and conveniently forgotten.

Fish Pets Cat Health Care Tips

If you are one of many thousands of people who has typed the above words into a Google search, I presume that you are looking for tips about general pet healthcare while focusing on fish and cats.  I don't know much about fish but I do know a lot about cats.

I also know that the most important aspect of pet healthcare and looking after a companion animal is the preparation that a person does before making the adoption.

The preparation is about ensuring that the person has sufficient knowledge about the companion animal they wish to adopt and, as importantly, sufficient funding to care for the companion animal throughout the life of the animal.  Abandonments should be ruled out.  Abandoning a companion animal to a shelter for example is obviously very bad for the health and welfare of that animal on a number of levels. Giving up on a pet through abandonment or relinquishment can end up with the death of that pet which is the worst kind of animal welfare.

I don't think enough people research what looking after cat entails before making the adoption.  The casual adoption of a domestic cat is the one which most often leads to a casual abandonment.  The committed and careful adopter is far more likely to look after their pet throughout the life of the pet.

If you want to find out about cats who can go to the main website.  It is full of pages about cat welfare.  Please consider things carefully.  There is a page on cat health facts which is written in a simplified style targeted at children but adults can read it to and I think it explains the point that I wish to make.

One of the greatest issues is the cost of looking after a pet.  It may surprise people to read that it can cost around $15,000 (USD) over the lifetime of a cat to look after her properly.  Do you have the projected funds to support that expense?

People who do not work out the cost before adopting are often the people most likely to resist taking their cat to a veterinarian.  This is counter to good cat welfare.  It is the exact opposite.  It causes a lot of suffering in a cat at least potentially.  A lot of cat owners spend a lot of time searching the Internet for answers about cat health.  Looking for a free service when to be honest the only way to ensure a cat is healthy is through good observation backed up by some cat health knowledge together with a willingness to take your cat to the veterinarian promptly when required.

What about fish?  Those who know, say that the most important thing to do before setting up your aquarium is to make sure that you are prepared.  Once again this is about ensuring that you have at least some sound, basic knowledge about caring for fish in an aquarium before embarking on the project.  It means making sure that you have all the equipment and the tools you need to set up the tank.  There are many websites which can assist a person.

One interesting aspect of this search term is that fish and cats are in the same term.  It may be inappropriate to keep both fish and cats as pets because for the obvious reason that fish are prey to a cat or a least potentially they are prey.

Even if the cat cannot get at the finish you are not sure whether the fish are going to feel anxious about the presence of a cat.  That may sound absurd to some people but scientists are gradually learning that fish have a higher intelligence than once thought.  They have decent memories for example.  How do you know they don't have emotions?  They may become stressed and anxious.  I would certainly research that subject.  Stress in any animal can seriously affect health.

Laser Declawing (the truth)

By Kirsten Doub, DVM State Director of the Paw Project-Utah.

Paw Project-Utah has been doing paw surgery on cats with fragments. Clearly these cats with “pebbles in their shoes”, fragments of a mutilated bone that they have to walk on, and nails regrowing under the skin are in pain. The P3 fragments are left behind when the declaw is performed with a pair of unsterile Resco nail trimmers. A very imprecise, quick and dirty way to do 8 amputations in a few minutes. Proponents of declawing tout the laser declaw as a humane alternative. We are here today to show you why the laser is just as bad. It may not leave behind P3 fragments in as high numbers as the Rescos but it can cause thermal injury to P2 and set up these cats for painful osteomyelitis.

What is osteomyelitis?

Osteomyelitis is inflammation and destruction of bone caused by bacteria, mycobacteria, or fungi. Common symptoms are localized bone pain and tenderness with constitutional symptoms (in acute osteomyelitis) or without constitutional symptoms (in chronic osteomyelitis). Diagnosis is by imaging studies and cultures. Treatment is with antibiotics and sometimes surgery. Osteomyelitis is caused by:

• Contiguous spread from infected tissue or an infected/non sterile instrument.
• Bloodborne organisms (hematogenous osteomyelitis)-not common with declaw unless cutting instrument is dirty. 
• Open wounds (from contaminated open fractures or bone surgery).

This is what declawing is all about! Declawing is an amputation; a bone is being removed. Most declaw surgery sites are not sutured shut. They are just glued shut with non sterile surgical glue. Trauma, ischemia, and foreign bodies predispose the paw to osteomyelitis. Osteomyelitis may also form under deep pressure ulcers. This is how it works:

• Declawing = Osteomyelitis waiting to happen.
• Trauma = The amputation, trauma to the P2/P3 joint space
• Ischemia = A restriction in blood supply to tissues, causing a shortage of oxygen and glucose needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems with blood vessels, with resultant damage to or dysfunction of tissue. Proponents of the laser declaw technique talk about how it is more humane because there is less bleeding post op. With the laser declaw the tissue is burned and cauterized making it less likely to become inflamed and bleed. Any good surgeon knows that blood supply is essential to wound healing. So without that blood supply, ischemia can easily result.
• Foreign bodies = The GLUE that they use during the amputation does not belong in a cat paw. It is a foreign body. It isn't sterile and can migrate from the incision site and attach to the surface of P2 or into the joint space where it can incite a foreign body response.
• Pressure ulcers = Those paw pad abscesses and callouses we are always talking about! P2 is not a bone designed to bear weight. The paw pad if cut during the declaw will not be able to function as a perfect cushion for P2. Even if not cut, the paw pad over time can callous and abscess from having to cushion a pointy bone (P2) instead of a flat one (P3).

Pathophysiology

Osteomyelitis tends to occlude local blood vessels, which causes bone necrosis and local spread of infection. Infection may expand through the bone cortex and spread under the periosteum, with formation of subcutaneous abscesses that may drain spontaneously through the skin. If treatment of acute osteomyelitis is only partially successful, low-grade chronic osteomyelitis develops. It is common for most cats to go home post declaw without pain meds, let alone antibiotics. When a joint space has been compromised, as it is in EVERY declaw, antibiotics are warranted to prevent osteomyelitis. Additionally, a one time injectable antibiotic is not acceptable to treat infections in the joint space. Bone infections require aggressive antibiotics that are administered until the infection has cleared.

How do I know if my cat has osteomyelitis?

Patients with acute osteomyelitis of peripheral bones usually experience:

• Weight loss.
• Fatigue fever
• Localized warmth, swelling, erythema, and tenderness.

Radiographs of the declawed paws are the only way to definitively diagnose osteomyelitis. Reminder: declawing is not a nail trim! It is an amputation!!! Declawing ALWAYS involves trauma to the joint space, no matter the surgical technique used.

So what does this mean for a declawed cat?

Well, we aren't talking about pressures sustained for 3-4 hours. We are talking about pressures sustained for the ENTIRE CATS LIFE! Additionally, when we show images of paw pads that are abscessing or callousing that look painful, that is only the beginning of the damage that is going on below the surface of the skin. The deeper tissues surrounding P2 are also like it's inflamed and infected as well as the periosteum of P2. Thus, we can assume that any declawed cat with a paw pad callous or abscess is likely to get osteomyelitis from the deep pressure sore as some point if that pressure is not relieved.

How can we relieve the pressure?

Rochelle - declawed cat

We can’t put P3 back! So we have to treat these cats medically.....and some of these cats may need treatment for life. Which brings us to the PPU cat we want to highlight this week:

Meet Rochelle. She is a victim of declaw surgery. She doesn't have bone fragments, but she has painful osteomyelitis. For her to live as pain free and comfortable as possible, this is her medical plan:

• Royal Canin Mobility support diet.
• Therapeutic Laser once a week. This deep penetrating infrared laser addresses bacteria, inflammation, and infection deep in the tissues.
• Cosequin on food once a day. This supplement helps in maintaining the joint health in the paws.
• Clindamycin by mouth twice a day for 20 days minimum (needs to be continuous), then recheck x-rays. This is an antibiotic that will help clear up the infection in her paws.
• Torb/Val syrup and gabapentin regimen for pain. The torb/val syrup is an opioid painkiller. The gabapentin is a prescription pain medication that helps with extremity pain. Give both as needed.
• TriCOX UC II joint supplement soft chews, 1/2 a chew a day.