Welcome to Octobers edition of the Happy Cat Ezine
October is Upon us and the nights are drawing in. Hallowwen is
just a few week away and so I thought that for this month our
monthly caption competion picture should have a spooky but amusing
twist to it, don't forget to enter below.
Thanks you for all your continued support of the site it is most
appreciated and thank you for all your submissions to the cat
gallery, names section etc. All your entries help make the site
a fun and informative place for all cat lovers.
For all of you that are the owners of one of the CAT HUTS for
your cat, please remember that you can add pictures to your Hut
at any time by simply using the form on your own cat hut page.
We would love to see more of your what your cat gets up to, you
can never see too many cat pictures you know, its very good for
the blood pressure, teehee.
I hope you enjoy this Ezine and if you would like me to include
anything on the site i have missed out, simply drop me a line.
i am always happy to hear from you all.
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 - What are the symptoms and how can
you help your pet.
5. Special E-zine subscribers offer
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1. What's new on Our Happy Cat.Com
The cat gallery continues to grow and I have had to spilt the
gallery into two just to accomodate all your entries. Every week
I receive lost of votes for CAT
OF THE WEEK with nominations from these galleries, so thats
proof that a lot of people love to see all your cat pictures.
A specail thank you goes to the Author of a book entitled Tatianna
Tales and Teachings of My Feline Friend, who submitted
one of the chapters for everyone to read, see it Here
, to our cat Stories Page. Don't forget if you have a cat
story or Poem, we would love to read it. You can submit your entries
to our Cat
stories page here.
The cat breeds area has increased by four more pages this month
with Burmese, Javanese, Maine Coon and Manx cats added this month.
Every month four more will be added.
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 buttom on the blog page Here.
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2. Competition Number Oct08
Here is Octobers Caption Competition. This month with Halloween
approaching I thought it would be fun to have a spooky theme to
this months competition.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 October 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 six peice cat stationary set which contains
two pencils, a glittery sharpener, a eraser, a ruler, a note book
and writing pad.
GOOD Luck
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3. Little Mo's Diary Update Happy Cat Diary
 22nd
september 2008
It's getting a bit nippy in the evenings lately and mum and dad
are wrapping up warm in blankets when they sit on the sofa in
the evening, so I have started to demand that i also sit on the
sofa with them. well i don't want to miss out on Blanket time,
now do I?
All I have to do is give them my big sad eyes and they lift my
cushion with me on it in the midddle of them both, where I can
keep an eye on both of them. we sit there the whole evening, with
me getting tickles behind the ye from both Mum and dad. Oh this
is the life.
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.
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