Welcome to February 2009 edition of the Happy Cat Ezine
2009 already. Another year older for Little Mo, but you wouldn't
know she was over 15 years old. She still runs round after her
toys like a kitten.
I hope you all had a good Christmas and are raring to go for
another year.
The last cat caption competition received some great entries
and It was very difficult to chose the winner. In the end I simply
chose the one that was both clever i.e. a play on words, most
relevant to the picture and to be honest made me smile the most.
Well done Ken Wilkinson, your prize is on its way. Thank you everyone
for all your entries and I hope you will enter again this month.
The article this month is about cat arthritis. I wanted to put
this in this month as Little Mo suffers with it, especially during
the colder months. Hopefully it will help you and your cat too.
I hope you enjoy this months Ezine, let me know if there is any
thing you would like me to include on the website that I have
missed and I will do my best to remedy the situation..
I hope you come and visit us soon at Our-Happy-Cat.Com
Until next month
Best Wishes Kate
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CONTENTS
1. What's new on Our Happy Cat.Com
2. Competition
3. Little Mo's Diary Update
4. Article - Cat Arthritis
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1. What's new on Our Happy Cat.Com
Before Christmas I was contacted by Barbara Leigh, the actress,
model. She wanted to add one of her cats "Watermelon"
to the cat gallery and to tell me his fantastic rescue story.
Barbara wrote such a great piece about him that I wanted to highlight
it this month here in the Ezine, just in case you missed it.
To
read Watermelon's story click here
With the close of 2008 the Pet Memorial Quilt has been
closed for that year and new one begun. I really love the pet
quilts as they look so beautiful and also it is so heartwarming
to know that their owners loved them so much to want to remember
them in this way.
To take a look at the two previousCat Memorial Quilts
Click
Here
Sadly we have already had two additions to the 2009 quilt.
As
many of you know I receive a lot of cat questions to the site
every day and one of the biggest problems seems to be out of the
litter tray urination. The causes of this are many I have to answer
each question separately based on the individual circumstances.
However one of the things I always tell everyone is that it is
important to make sure that all the urine is cleared up completely.
Unfortunately cats have a much better sense of smell than us humans
and even the teeniest spot of urine will attract them back to
the area to urinate again.
One of the solutions to knowing if you have got rid of every
last drop is to check with a black light that will show up any
leftover specks. I searched around the Internet and found a
very cheap and handy keyring sized blacklight for this very purpose
and have added the produce to the site
Don't forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for our Whats New cat
Blog. Every time a new submission is made a new entry is added
to the blog and the only sure way of keeping up to day is to be
automatically notified when this happens. Plus you get to see
the new daily Garfield cartoon as well, a sure way to brighten
anyones day. So click on the RSS button on the blog page Here.
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2. Competition Number Feb16
Here is February's Caption Competition. All you have to do is
write a caption for this picture. You are the first to see it
as it doesn't get posted onto the site for a few days, so it gives
you extra time to get your entries in first.
Simply send us your caption to go with this picture.
Click
here to submit Caption
The deadline for this competition is February 24th. The best
caption will be chosen and the winners name and caption will be
posted on the www.our-happy-cat.com competition page.
This
month the prize will be a bag of cat toys, including furry balls,
crinkle balls catnip and soft mouse. Stop your cat from being bored
with these new set of toys.
GOOD Luck
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3. Little Mo's Diary Update Happy Cat Diary
9th December 2008
Every
year around this time a great big tree appears in the lounge.
It has lots of shiny things on it which I like to see my face
in and it smells nice too.
Mum and dad also seem to be doing funny things like wrapping
boxes with paper and writing on little cards. They don't seem
to notice me when they do this, so I have to get back the control
by running madly through the coloured paper on the floor and and
getting tangled in the shiny things on the tree. That soon gets
me the attention I deserve.
Funny things Humans, every year the same old strange behavior.
Little Mo
Click
here to read more of Little Mo’s Diary
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4. Article - Cat Arthritis - What are the symptoms and how can
you help your pet.
Arthritis
in an elderly cat is as common as it is in an elderly person.
Just like humans their cartilage wears out and becomes thin allowing
for bones to rub together causing inflammation and pain.
Knowing if your cat has arthritis is something that only a vet
can accurately diagnose however there are various symptoms that
might lead you to suspect that your cat is feeling their age and
a little creaky. It may become noticeable that your cat starts
to walk with stiff legs and becomes more and more reluctant to
go outside, preferring instead to sleep more and generally be
less active. Picking up your cat may also become something that
you do less as they tend to cry out as they are lifted, this could
be due to pain in their joints.
If your cat is diagnosed with arthritis there is unfortunately
no cure for the condition, but there are medicines that can be
given which will ease the inflammation and pain for your pet.
Your vet is likely to prescribe one of the NSAID (non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs) that are similar to the human drug ibuprofen;
as well reducing pain they will also slow the progression of the
illness.
As a cat owner it can be difficult for us to see our pets in
discomfort and not being able to get around as much as they used
to. The desire to want to provide your cat with as much help and
support to cope with the arthritis and through their old age is
natural and luckily there are a few things that can be done to
make your pets life a little more comfortable.
Making sure that your home is cat friendly and that it is easy
for your arthritic cat to get around is probably one of the easiest
things you can do. Make sure that their bedding is placed on a
low surface and that it is easy to climb into. The bed should
also be well padded to make it as comfortable for old bones as
possible, there are even special orthopaedic cat beds available
that help to distribute body weight so that joints are not under
any pressure.
Make sure that litter trays do not have high sides, which would
be difficult to climb in and out of and place all food, and water
bowls on the floor in a safe area where the cat will not be disturbed.
Even floor surfaces should be made easy to walk on. Polished floors
can be slippy and difficult to walk on with stiff legs; placing
mats down in areas where your cat normally spends their time is
a good solution.
A cat with arthritis will need special food to meet their dietary
needs, which will help support their system to fend off illness
and to keep their bones as strong as possible. If possible home
prepared cat food is the best option as it allows you to only
feed your pet the best food without any of the synthetic preservatives
found in commercial food. The types of food which would help your
pet are fresh meat, raw vegetables with added pet vitamins and
daily supplements, but it is always best to check with your vet
to make sure that certain foods are OK to feed to your cat.
If preparing your own homemade cat food is not for you, there
are plenty of top quality cat foods available on the market that
is suited for the elderly cat. However do check that they do not
contain ethoxyquin preservatives, BHA and BHT nitrates, as these
over time can be harmful to your arthritic cat.
Keeping your cat as active as possible is also to be encouraged
with a cat with arthritis. They will not want to do much and so
will require some gentle persuasion on your part. Keeping them
active is important for two reasons. Firstly an inactive cat is
prone to put weight on which will increase the pressure on their
joints. Secondly it will help to keep the joints mobile and not
to stiffen too much. Even a very gentle game of chase the string
or find the treat once a day may make all the difference for your
cats long term mobility and health.
There are some natural remedies that can be tried like
Only Natural Pet Super Daily Vitamins + Joint Support 10 oz.
or Glucosamine and chrondotin suppliments that are said the help
rebuild cartilage.
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