Product recall of Versifel FeLV Suspension for Injection for Cats Vm 42058/4164

Versifel FeLV Suspension for Injection for Cats is a vaccine against the feline leukemia virus (FeLV). According to the UK government's website there is a current (17th June 2023) quality problem with this product batch 665276 as the side effects are occurring more often than stated on the leaflet.

The reason for the recall is due to an atypically high reporting of the adverse events already defined within the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) following the administration of the above batch of Versifel FeLV. - UK government website.

For further information regarding the recall, please contact Zoetis Customer Support Team on 0345 300 8034 or email CustomersupportUK@Zoetis.com.

The manufacturer is contacting vets about this.

One stated side effect is swelling at the site of the injection that can last for 2 weeks and which is painful.

RELATED: What vaccinations does my cat need in the UK?

Are cats allowed to enter mosques?

A big, loud YES, is the answer to the question in the title based on what I have seen on the internet. Although I am not a Muslim, I know the history of the domestic cat in relation to the Islamic Faith and I've seen cats entering mosques all over the world in videos and still images. They don't just enter mosques but some live in mosques. 

I've seen an imam allow a mother cat bring in her kittens to make a den inside the mosque. There is great tenderness towards cats and an acceptance of their presence. Although the same cannot be said of the general public in Muslim countries where there is the usual amount cruelty towards stray and feral cats of which there are too many.

Cat joins Muslims for prayers in a mosque. Image: Twitter. THIS PICTURE IS FAR FROM BEING UNIQUE. I'VE SEEN MANY WHICH ARE SIMILAR.

I have seen cats participating in prayers and cats on the shoulders of imams while they lead prayers! The domestic cat can almost do anything in a mosque depending on the attitude of the imam but all of them seem to be very accepting of cats because of Prophet Mohammad's love of cats as told in the hadiths.

Islam Faith and cats

Imam loves his kitten and vice versa. Imam Mustafa Efe with a kitten inside his mosque: Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Mosque, Istanbul. Joy in his eyes. Happiness for the kitten. Photo: Facebook

The history of cats in the Islamic Faith is very strong. Imams can't refuse the cat entry to their mosque as it would go against the wishes of the Prophet as I see it.

Dogs get a bad deal and it is very unfair. I wish Muslims were friendlier to dogs as they deserve. For some inexplicable reason (for me) dogs are regarded as unclean. Dirtier than cats when we know that this is not true in reality as dog owners keep their dogs clean with frequent baths!

Although cats are fastidious self-groomers, more so than dogs. Perhaps their attitude comes from that difference.

Huge rise in rip-off veterinary bills in the UK due to equity fund buyouts of independent vets

Huge rise in rip-off veterinary bills in the UK due to equity fund buyouts of independent vets. Image: MikeB

NEWS AND OPINION - UK: There are a number of reasons why veterinary bills have increased quite shockingly recently. But the primary reason is this: the independent veterinarians i.e. those veterinary clinics owned by the partners who are also veterinarians, have been bought up by corporate businesses owned by equity funds.

Young cat and vet. This picture is here for illustrative purposes only. Image: Pixabay.

It is equity funds who ultimately own British veterinarians in large numbers. And they bought them up because they saw an opportunity in the market.

They believed that the independent veterinarians were under-charging. They believed that they could dramatically up their charging rates and turn a huge profit. They saw an opportunity to exploit the veterinary market in the UK. 

It was an old-fashioned business. It suited the British citizen because British citizens like the old-fashioned ways. They were more honest and modest in their monetary aspirations. They weren't exploitative.

The charges were reasonable. And let's not forget that veterinarians provide a private health service. The British are used to the National Health Service which is free at the point of delivery.

If the charges suddenly rise dramatically as they have, they will be shocked and they are.

So, the first reason for the huge rises in veterinary fees is because corporate enterprises have bought up thousands of veterinary clinics and turned them into conglomerates; moneymaking businesses.

The second reason is that more and more people are turning to health insurance and this may be because the prices are going up. It's a kind of self-serving situation, an upward spiral.

Research by Tesco Bank suggests that more than half of pet owners in the UK now have pet health insurance.

Now, when a veterinarian knows that their work is going to be paid for by an insurance company, they feel that they can charge more. Once again, this is a self-serving, upward spiral in costs.

But the bottom line is that big business has got their teeth into the old-fashioned veterinary clinic and your typical cat-owning customer can own longer expect a charming veterinarian who is a partner in his own business charging you modest fees for a consultation and not seeking ways to rip you off.

Because when big business wants to make money out of any clinics they more or less have to rip you off. They will suggest procedures and operations which might not be necessary or borderline necessary.

One of the big providers of veterinary services in the UK is IVC. It is owned by private equity and operates more than a thousand practices.

Up to September 2021, in that year, they had revenues of £885 million which represents a 33% increase on the previous year. And there was an operating profit of £150 million.

One of the brands that IVC operates is Parkview Vets in south-east London. They charge £56.82 p for a consultation and £125 for a same day appointment. The cost of a spaying operation on a female dog varies between £390 and £590. They say that they provide a gold standard service. They should do at that price.

It is the same picture elsewhere. One lady, Abeer Alaydi, 28, adopted a kitten. She named him Charcoal. Charcoal became ill so she took him to a local veterinarian who charged £47 for an initial consultation.

The vet asked her some questions. Charcoal had been eating badly and was lethargic. She confirmed that Charcoal had not eaten a foreign body. The veterinarian suggested an x-ray and some blood tests.

The bill for those two simple procedures amounted to £700. She was shocked and said:

"I was shocked. I had no idea vets cost that much. I felt like I was being exploited. They could have run an external examination or offered him some food to see if it was a blockage or a loss of appetite, but I felt like they wanted to go for the most expensive option. As a first-time pet owner, I was worried and felt responsible for the well-being of my kitten. However, they are experienced vets and should be able to tell when something is serious enough to call for an x-ray. I feel I was emotionally manipulated to agree to any suggestions they offered."

She felt that she was exploited and, to me, the charges look high to put it mildly. I'm not used to these prices either. But what is behind it is ultimately greed because equity funds only buy businesses to exploit them, to squeeze out as much profit as they can from them and to do so ruthlessly.

The Competition and Markets Authority is actively monitoring competition in the veterinary industry. They are receiving complaints about higher prices or lower quality services because too many vets in a similar area are under the control of the same business. This is stifling competition.

This is a very bad development for British cat and dog owners. Watch this space. What is happening is that some cat and dog owners are going abroad to countries like Turkey or France where they can obtain prices which are much reduced to those in Britain. They go on a holiday and have their cattle dog checked out and treated at the same time. A consultation in France costs £30 compared to more than twice that at £70 in the UK. Rip-off Britain is at it again.

The problem here is that there are pet passport issues to contend with and of course after-care issues as well. It's impossible to deliver proper after-care if you are living in Britain and the operation took place in Turkey.

Pets really ARE fur babies! We love our pets because they remind us of infants, expert says

 We all know it and we don't care! Most of us who are cat and dog caregivers have a relationship with our companion animal which bears a resemblance to the parent-baby/infant relationship. There are some distinct similarities, some of which are listed below in the infographic. 

There are some slightly controversial aspects. The psychopathic tendency argument about cats is understandable but they more often show the opposite; a real connection and warmth.

This is not necessarily comprehensive. Cats and infants make a nice comparison in terms of parental relationships and the cat owner often feels like a parent to a child and it is nice.

People want to be nurturing. It is within most of us. That evolutionary impulse is increasingly be discharged on our pets and not on babies and infants as in the West having babies seems to be going out of fashion among the non-ethnic minorities. Germany has a falling human population as I recall except for immigration which props it up and Russia certainly has a falling human population (no surprise there!).

Pope Francis is concerned that Italians are having pets and not kids. He sees the development as slightly ungodly.

Substituting Dogs and Cats for Children

Dr Burnett, a neuroscientist, said: 'Dogs and cats are small with big heads and eyes, they can't speak, they are often playful, but they depend on us rather a lot.

'We are emotionally sensitive to these traits, because they are just like those of babies, so we want to protect them.'

To a large extent this is a bit of fun. There is one slightly serious side to this topic. There is no harm in treating a cat or dog as a child but caregivers should really respect the animal for what they are to ensure that they have the correct expectations and administer appropriate care.

Message to Taylor Swift: please don’t think your cat is a baby.

10 best cats for apartments??

You are going to see lots of articles on the Internet about the best cat breeds for apartment living. They are all baloney if we are honest. It's all mumbo-jumbo. Believe me. Don't believe them. There might be one or two cat breeds which are slightly better predisposed to living in a confined space for their lives such as the Ragdoll or British Shorthair but by-and-large the confident statements by these authors are simply misplaced.

Young British Shorthair. Photo: atquintessence.

Here is a cat breed selector I made years ago. My research then pointed to the British Shorthair as the best for apartment living but that's not to say they are fine with apartment living. I don't think any domestic cat is, purebred or non-purebred. It is too unnatural. Too confined. I am not criticising. Just saying it the way I see it.

Cat breeders don't create cats for apartment living. They create domestic cats of a certain breed. And all domestic cats have the same fundamental attributes. They are a barely domesticated wildcat. The wildcat persona is just below the surface.

Selective breeding for character??

Certainly, selective breeding over many generations can create cats with a predisposition to a certain sort of character. But that said, cat breeders focus on the appearance of their cats not their character.

The character is somewhat incidental in their breeding programs. Authors who write about cat breeds like to try and distinguish the personalities of the cat breeds, one from another. But they struggle to do this. Their language is rather gray and vague because what they are describing is a domestic cat.

One of the great difficulties in creating new cat breeds is creating one which can be distinguished visually clearly from another. There is not enough space left in the spectrum of cat breeds to create a new one!

The Persian is another cat which might be somewhat suited to apartment living because they been described as bits of furniture. They are kind of decorative. But they are nervous and can sometimes have litter box problems. I don't see them as any more suitable to apartment living as any other breed of cat or non-purebred cat.

Adaptable

In fact, you might do better with a non-purebred cat, a rescue cat, a moggy who has adapted to apartment living. This is the point. Domestic cats are adaptable. If they are forced to live in an apartment, they will object to it initially. They will meow and complain but eventually they will give up and learn to live within this confined space.

They will entertain themselves by looking out of the window. They will snooze and sleep most of the time. That's why you read another improbability which is that domestic cats sleep for 20 hours a day and this sort of thing. If they do snooze but not sleep for long periods it is because they are bored and have nothing to do.

They are snoozing for survival. Some cat caregivers think that domestic cats like to snooze all day long but they don't. They would rather be out exploring, hunting, chasing wildlife. Yes, I know that's not particularly popular and we can't condone the hunting of small mammals by domestic cats but that is what we have achieved in domesticating the wildcat.

Rescue cat adapted to apartment living

If you want to adopt a cat for apartment dwelling you will have to adopt a cat with a suitable personality. Each cat is different. If you are fortunate enough to find a rescue cat adapted to apartment dwelling and who has a personality suited to apartment dwelling then you've got your cat. I would ask your local cat shelter about this. Seek their advice.

But I don't think you can with great confidence say that that a particular breed such as an American Shorthair or Burmese or Birman will be great for apartment living. You can't. Don't be fooled by these authors and these websites. Be more critical. Dig around. But be critical and inquisitive. Find a good rescue cat who has lived in an apartment before. That's my advice.