How I cured a fox of mange by hand feeding

This is another cross-post. It was an event in my life about five years ago. A lot foxes where I lived had mange. Mange is an awful parasitic disease which causes hair loss and great irritation in foxes. There are many urban foxes in London.

I used to fed this female fox and she got mange. I could easily tell because her tail lost its fur. And then other parts of her body. It was distressing.

I sourced a homeopathic cure in liquid form which I poured over chicken slices. In the early hours of the morning I offered them to her and she took the chicken from my hand tenderly in her mouth. There was never any chance of a bite. She was a gentle, trusting fox.

Over many weeks her mange disappeared and her fur came back. One day under the bright sun on the manicured lawn she rolled onto her back and wriggled around in delight. She was pain free. I could tell.

From that day on I have not seen her again. I believed she had been shot by a government employed hunter who I believe cull urban foxes. This might be incorrect.

I am happy I helped her. It is horrible to see a fox suffer with mange. It kills many urban foxes quite quickly because of exposure (loss of body temperature) and diseases caused by self-mutilation in biting and scratching the irritated skin.

If you click on the link at the top of the page you'll see another picture of her in reasonable shape and another video. She came into the flat one day! Here is the video:

UAE's destructive fascination with exotic animals

Rich arabs in the UAE tend to be fascinated with possessing exotic animals and a favourite is the cheetah. Why the cheetah? Because it is quite a shy, retiring large wild cat species which is fairly easy to handle and which has been employed for centuries to go hunting with their human 'master'.

The big problem is the rich arabs of the UAE circumvent regulations and treaties such as CITES to smuggle these animals into their country to populate their private zoos whereupon, through gross ignorance and a lack of sensitivity, they gradually starve the animal to death via neurological disorders. Some UAE residents haven't a clue how to care for a large cat. It will please and amuse them for a while and then it will die at which point, I suppose, they smuggle in another. They are disposable, you know, even if they are endangered.

Only this month a post-mortem on a cheetah revealed carpet in it stomach. It must have been so hungry it ate carpet.

These arrogant, exotic cat owners don't kill their 'pets' deliberately. God forbid. They kill through ignorance. The buyers of these animals act on a whim. It shows. No doubt they like the status of possessing an exotic wild cat. It is pathetic and sad.

And we have to criticise the people who are meant to enforce CITES. This treaty is meant to stop illegal trade in wild species but it has to be enforced if it is to be useful. Money circumvents enforcement.

Cheetahs and other large wild cat species are in the UAE for the sole purpose of entertaining the rich with connections.

There are no laws in UAE regulating private zoos. There should be. The rich arabs of UAE are contributing to the extinction of wild cat species in the wild. Something must be done. People in authority need to take steps. They need to take responsibility. They are not concerned. They are too involved with how to spend their petro-dollars.

Three Siamese Cats on the Rampage

This is a nice picture:

It tells us that claws are useful so don't declaw! It tells us that cats can be a bit destructive sometimes but it isn't their fault. They are only behaving naturally in an abnormal environment that contains our possessions. If it was outside it wouldn't matter.

This is cat play. Ideally there should be specific places in the home where it can happen with a minimum of destruction but that may be somewhat far fetched.

Check out the bacteria in your cat's digestive tract

The bacteria in our digestive tract and the digestive tract of our cats is an important facet of our health. I believe that IBD in cats is caused by damaging stomach flora. Certainly this is the case with humans.

Four scientists at University of California, Davis are offering cat owners the chance to find out about their cat's digestive system microbiome.

I think this is an important study because, for example, if we say that dry cat food is far from ideal and caused health problems, studying the bacterial contents of the gut will tell us how that type of food affects a cat and whether that affect damages health and in what way.

Very little is known about a cat's gut bacteria. It would nice to discover that dry cat food causes problems because it would put pressure in the manufacturers to up their game.

Participants have to collect their cat's poop and send it to the scientists who will provide a analysis in return.

This is a ten year project. I don't have details of who to send the poop to! But a bit more research or a phone call might prove fruitful.

Certainly cat owners whose cats have known digestive tract problems or chronic health problems linked to the digestive tract should consider getting involved.

Holly Ganz is one of the scientists at UC Davis so she could be a good starting point.

Source: Kitty Kickstarter: See the Microbes That Live in Your Cat

It is almost impossible to catch cat abusers and murders

To a loving cat caretaker/guardian the death of your cat at the hands of brutal abusers is like murder. But when this happens it is all but impossible to find the murderer because outdoor cats wander sufficiently and at dusk or in the night. There are no witnesses. Even when the cat survives it is no good because cats can't be a witness.

Tabitha

I am indirectly referring to a cat decapitation in the UK. A vet certified that two knives were used to cut off the head of a 13-year-old calico cat whose name was Tabitha.

She was found outside in a puddle without her head. The head has not been retrieved. She was much loved. Tom Whitfield, the owner, feels it was a trophy killing. It may be. It may also be some sort black magic coven. Witchcraft is hidden in the UK but that does not mean it is rare.

The RSPCA are investigating, as usual. The vet who made clear that the killing was deliberate and by humans rather than another animal has cleared the way for the RSPCA to try and find the perpetrators.

Such macabre acts of brutality against companion animals are rare in the UK and often it is not a person but another predator who is the killer.

Condolences

Tabitha was well-known and loved in the community.

Tom said:

"We have just all got so many happy memories of Tabby that it is horrible to think of her going this way. People should have have to go through what we have been through."

The people who did this are heartless, callous thugs because to decapitate a living cat is impossible for any decent, human with an ounce of sensitivity.