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Feline Leukemia Virus Disease: A Major Threat to your Cat

Posted on 23 April 2010
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Just like in humans, cats can develop very deadly medical conditions. One of the most common and fatal kinds of disease a cat can contract is feline leukemia virus disease, known as FeLV. Leukemia, which is also found in humans, is a disease of the white blood cells. There are three major types of this leukemia. Today, we can protect our cats for FeLV with a vaccine, so it is important to have your pet up-to-date with medical care at all times.

 With FeLV, there are three disease categories. The first are the leukemias, which are similar to what leukemia is like in humans. This is cancer of the white blood cells. However, not all FeLV diseases are cancer. Lymphosarcoma is the second category. Also cancerous, this disease begins in the lymphoid tissue around the lymph nodes. It affects the intestinal tract, kidneys, liver, spine, brain, blood, and bone marrow. The third category is the non-cancerous diseases that fall under the umbrella of FeLV and include immune suppression, anemia, and arthritis. Some of these medical conditions may also be fatal.

 Cats are most commonly exposed to FeLV when they get into fights. FeLV is a virus that is spread mainly through saliva, and the wounds a cat receives from bites during a fight provide an entry point into the body. Cats can also get FeLV from sharing food or water bowls, grooming one another, and transmission from mother to kittens. If your cat contracts FeLV, there may be many possible outcomes. Some forms of the disease cannot be treated, however, so prevention is important. Remember, though, that a cat can live with the disease for many years and so your vet can help you choose the best course of action. Cats infected with FeLV are dangerous to other cats, and so they must live in confined single-cat homes, or you can choose euthanasia.

 So far, there have been no studies that have found any correlation between this disease in cats and diseases in humans, so your family should be safe. That said, high-risk individuals should avoid contact with a sick animal. This includes newborns, senior citizens, AIDS patients, and chemotherapy patients. Because the virus cannot live for more than a few hours outside of the cat, you are safe in having cats return to your home as soon as two days after the infected cat is gone. Talk to your vet for more details.

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How to Get Rid of Fleas on Cats

Posted on 13 March 2010
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As most people know, when you have cats you face the possibility of also having fleas. There are few pests worse than fleas, which are almost microscopic in size and hard to banish. If you want to know how to get rid of fleas on cats, without getting rids of your cats, then keep reading.

But don’t despair!!!!

Safeguarding your cat against fleas is not a difficult task. There are many flea control products to make this task easier.

If you need to know how to get rid of fleas on cats, then you already have a flea problem. Remember, getting rid of the fleas on your cats isn’t enough – you’ll have to free the entire house of fleas in order to keep them away from your cats for good. Getting rid of fleas can be a somewhat tedious process, so be ready to do some work to get rid of them.

The two main fleas that affect dogs and cats are Ctenocephalides Felis (cat flea), Ctenocephalides Canis (dog flea) with the cat flea being the most prevalent for both species. You can usually tell if your cat has fleas easily – if you run a comb (flea comb) through its hair and you get little pieces of small, black dirt then it probably has cat fleas. This dirt is actually flea excrement, and you will need to adopt a flea control program.

If you’ve got cat fleas, you need to look into a flea control method to safeguard your pet. Cats are often susceptible to fleas, and they can easily get them from wandering around outside, other animals or from trips to the vet. This page will give you some useful tips and information about flea control specifically with regards to cats.

Fleas are often more easily avoidable in cats than with other animals – mainly because an easy method is simply to make sure that your cat is an indoor cat. Generally, you shouldn’t ever let cats outside anyway – they don’t need to go out, and they will live much longer if kept indoors. The average life span for an indoor cat is 14 years, as opposed to three years for a cat that goes outside. Cars, diseases, accidents, and other animals are all good reasons to keep your cat inside even aside from the cat flea problem.

Most of the these suggested methods work for cats as well – vacuum and use flea control products on any area where your cat sleeps or hangs out, because there will be flea eggs and adult fleas there. Steam cleaning the carpets will kill most of the eggs. If you must let your cat outdoors, you might get a professional to clean the yard, or you can apply products to the area that you think will be within the cat’s territory.

You also need to make sure that your flea control product is approved for cats. Don’t EVER just go grab a dog flea control method and use it on a cat – they’re different animals, and it can cause serious health problems or even death if you do. Run anything with chemicals by your vet – usually all it takes is a quick phone call, and you can get recommended cat flea control products to get rid of cat fleas. There are a couple of big brands to look at – Frontline, Advantage, Revolution, and Program.

BUYERS BEWARE: Using products from pet shops like Bio-Spot have killed many animals. Using these topical products will put your animals at great risk.

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Socializing Kittens

Posted on 03 March 2010
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 Socializing kittens is probably one of the most enjoyable parts of raising cats. Introducing them to people will make a huge impact on their lives. Even if they are barn cats and never leave the farm they were born on. Being friendly and relaxed with people will improve the quality of their lives. It will make it easier to find new homes for them when it is time for them to move on. It will also make having them more pleasurable for their owners.

Socializing is not only enjoyable, it is very important. Before a kitten is ready to leave home she should have learned that people are good to have around. Petting, playing and good food all happen with people. Purring, not hissing brings these good things her way. Fortunately, cats are smart and observant creatures. It is really very easy to instill this attitude in a kitten. It just takes a little bit of patience and perseverance on your part.

The socialization process can begin even before a kitten has opened her eyes. Pick her up and pet gently for a few moments then set her back down where she was. Your motions should be slow and gentle and your voice soft. Handle the kittens daily if you can. The mother will generally allow your attention to her kittens, especially if you give her petting and attention first. If she doesn’t like your interest in her kittens, or if she has hidden her litter somewhere so that you can’t find them right away, don’t worry. You can begin the socialization process later when they are a little more independent and still get great results.

As the kittens get older and start to toddle around under their own power, continue to regularly pick them up and pet them. Playing with them can also begin now. Slowly dragging a string will catch any kittens’ attention. Continue these sessions on a daily basis. You really don’t have to make a big issue of it. Just go over to the kittens at odd times of the day, whenever you have a moment. Be sure that each kitten in the litter gets some attention.

 Introducing the kittens to children and other adults is a good idea. Expand their definition of people to be more than just you. Remind the children that the kittens are just babies and need to be handled ever so gently. Always supervise children around pets until they understand how to handle them properly.

 By the time the kittens are old enough to leave for their new homes they should be relaxed and happy around people. Purring happily when they are petted and reasonably patient when picked up. If the kittens are to be indoor cats, then they should be introduced to litter boxes and scratching pads or trees. A first visit to the veterinarian should be accomplished in a calm sensible fashion that will not alarm your kittens. If your kittens are young enough on their first visit, bring the entire litter along with their mother in a carrier. It will reduce stress on both the kittens and their mother. This may seem like a lot of extra effort but it will be worth it. What will be your reward for all of your work? Your reward will be a well socialized kitten that will be a joy to her new owner.

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Cat Mytholog – Cats as Deity

Posted on 20 February 2010
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Cats as deities are most closely associated with ancient Egypt. The ancient
Egyptians had several feline gods and goddesses. Lions were said to guard the great god
Ra during his nightly journey through the underworld. The Egyptians had a fascination
with lions. They created their sphinx with the body of a lion and the head of Pharaoh.
Three lion goddesses existed in ancient Egypt. Sekhmet was a fierce and powerful
goddess. She was a war goddess who was sent by her father Ra to earth to destroy his
enemies. She is usually depicted as a woman with the head of a lion. Another lion headed
goddess was Tefnut whose name means moisture. She represented a primeval force of
nature. The third lion goddess was Mafdet who was the goddess of protection.

Among her fierce sisters, gentle Bast may seem a bit out of place. Often shown as
a graceful cat wearing bracelets a broad collar and earrings, Bast was the protectress of
domestic cats and those who cared for them. Her principle gifts to the world were joy and
pleasure. She was a much beloved household deity. Her principle temple was at Bubastis
and was said to be one of the most beautiful and popular in all of Egypt. She had a
secondary seat in Memphis as well. There is some evidence to believe that the ancient
Egyptians believed that Bast and Sekhmet were actually two faces of the same divine
force. Sekhmet representing the violent aspect of the divine, and Bast, the gentler
qualities.

Egyptian children were often consecrated to Bastand placed under her protection.
Bast was considered a divine mother and was sometimes depicted with kittens. When a
woman in ancient Egypt wanted to have children, she would often wear a bracelet or a
necklace depicting the goddess Bast with kittens. The number of kittens shown with the
goddess represented the number of children desired by the woman. Ancient Egyptians
seemed to consider cats to be the height of beauty. The styles of makeup they used,
especially around the eyes, tended to give them a feline look.

Cats were so highly regarded by the ancient Egyptians that the penalty for killing
one was death. When a family cat died of accident or old age, its’ human family would
go into mourning. They would shave their eyebrows off to show their grief. Cats were
often mummified. One royal cat was buried in a marble coffin. The hieroglyphs on her
coffin referred to her as “Lady Cat”.

Bast was said to be the wife of the god Ptah. Ptah was the creator god of the
universe. Ptah and Bast were said to have had a son, the fierce lion god Maahes. Maahes
originated as a Nubian god. During the New Kingdom, his worship moved northward
where he was incorporated into the Egyptian pantheon as the son of Bast and Ptah. On
becoming a divine mother, Bast became associated with the protectress of Lower Egypt,
Wadjet. They became linked as Wadjet-Bast. A similar association was created in the
Upper Kingdom By the combination of Sekhmet and the Upper Kingdom protectress
Nekhbet.

The constantly changing nature of Egyptian religion can be rather confusing.
They had an inclusive attitude towards other gods and religions. The ancient Egyptians
freely adapted and adopted these others into their own cosmology. This attitude makes it
difficult for modern readers to understand. Most of us have been raised in religions
whose nature is highly exclusive. With an exclusive religion, outside influences are
rejected or even actively repelled. The Egyptians, as demonstrated by the story of Bast
and Maahes, had a very different way at looking at religion.

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