The Shelter Shack

August 22-28, 20011 is National Take Your Cat to the Vet Week. According to a 2011-2012 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association the number of cats in a home far out weighs the number of dogs in a home. There are approximately 86.4 million owned cats in the United States, as compared to 78.2 million owned dogs. Even though there are more cats in homes than there are dogs, it seems dog guardians are more likely to pay regular visits to the vets than cat guardians.

There are a variety of reasons why cat guardians are not taking their cat to the vets. Some of those reasons are:

• the cat has an immense dislike for the cat carrier,
• the cat is not showing any visible signs of illness,
• cats can take care of themselves, right?

Let’s take a closer look at these reasons.

The cat has an immense dislike for the cat carrier. There are a variety of reasons the cat might dislike the carrier. For example, it may have never experienced being in one before. New experiences can be frightening to cats. It may have also had previous experiences with a carrier that you’re unaware of that were not pleasant for him. It’s also possible that the only time the cat was ever in the carrier was to go someplace he didn’t like. All of these things are valid reasons to a cat, but you can desensitize him from that fear and train him to think of the carrier as a safe haven. You should check out the Petfinder.com website for tips on how to train your cat to like the carrier.

The cat is not showing any visible signs of illness. Cats are masters of hiding their illness. By the time they are showing visible signs of being sick, chances are good that their illness is in an advanced state. By taking your cat to the vet on a regular basis you will be able to screen for diseases before they become a problem. Check out the video below for helpful information about taking your cat to the vet for a wellness exam.

Cats can take care of themselves, right? While cats are an independent species and are really good at keeping themselves clean, no…they can’t take care of themselves. They also need vet care for vaccinations that will prevent them from getting diseases like Feline Leukemia, Feline Distemper or Rabies. They need regular blood work done to monitor the health of their kidneys and thyroid as well as check for diabetes. All of this holds true for indoor or outdoor cats.

As it happens my Franklin is due for his annual vaccinations and I’ll be taking him to the vet this week. He’ll also be getting a microchip as he’s a sneaky little guy. I fear one day he’ll sneak right out the back door without me ever knowing it. He’s the first pet I’ve ever microchipped, so stay tuned. I will let you know how that whole process goes in a future post.

Image from Flikr Courtesy of Camera Slayer

The Fourth of July is a time of celebration by us humans. We enjoy gathering in large groups for outdoor picnics, setting off firecrackers, and watching firework displays. There’s no question it’s a fun time of year for us, but not such a fun time for the fur kids. This is the time of year where shelters see a spike in the number of “strays” that show up in their buildings. This is in large part due to what I call the “fireworks freak-out factor”.

Firecrackers and fireworks are a scary thing to pets, much like thunderstorms.  Your pet can get spooked easily, and when an animal gets spooked their natural instinct is to flee the area and find someplace to hide. It can happen in an instant and you’re left wandering the streets of your neighborhood trying to find your beloved pooch.

If you’re lucky you will find your pet right away and everything will be fine. If you’re not so lucky, your pet could end up injured or in a shelter and risk being euthanized. The best thing you can do for your pet this time of year (cats and dogs), is to keep them inside, and never leave them unattended outdoors - even if they’re tied up or inside a fence. Your dog is perfectly capable of digging out of or jumping over your fence. If your pet is tied out, he may very well strangle himself trying to break free. I wouldn’t rely on an invisible fence either. The urge to flee will be greater than the fear of the shock collar.

There are some things you can do to help ease your pet’s anxiety. One would be to turn on some music during the time of the fireworks.  The music will help drown out the sound of the fireworks. You can start out with the music at normal volume, and if your dog still seems anxious try turning up the volume a little more.

There are also a couple of products I’ve heard about but have not personally tried. I’ve heard good things about both of them though and the products are Rescue Remedy and Thundershirt. Rescue Remedy is a supplement made up of flower essences that you give your pet orally to create a calming effect.  The product can be used on all animals. They even have a version available for humans.

Thundershirt is a product for dogs that is a piece of clothing much like a dog sweater, but it is designed to fit very snuggly on your dog. The Thundershirt provides a gentle, constant pressure to the dog. The belief is that the pressure provides a calming effect on the nervous system. Have you tried either of these products? We would love to hear your feed back on them.

One last thing you should do as a precaution is to make sure your pet wears some sort of pet id tag.  This is the best way of getting your pet returned to you should he take off.  For added security you should also consider getting your pet microchipped. 

Note: The Shelter Shack has not tried either of the products mentioned above and encourages you to research them further before purchasing. We also suggest you speak with your veterinarian before beginning the use of either of these products. You’ll want to make sure to rule out any underlying medical conditions first.

This is the cutest video of an unusual pairing. Sit back, enjoy and be prepared to laugh.

Frankie at 17 weeks.

What on earth is kitten season you ask? Well here’s a quick lesson on the birds and the bees. Unspayed female cats are impregnated by unneutered male cats and this is the time of year where all of the kittens start popping out of their Mom’s like crazy. Hence the term Kitten Season, and the reason why the month of June is National Adopt a Cat Month.

Kittens are really cute and all, so I bet you’re wondering why it is a problem that kittens are popping out all over the place? Here’s the deal, these kitties have no place to go, and there are so many of them that there just isn’t enough space at the shelters to keep them until they can find a home.

I’m one of the lucky ones. Mommy rescued me one year ago today! I never landed in a shelter, but I was dangerously close to being in one. Mommy was volunteering at a dog only shelter the day this man came up and tried to surrender me to them. She tried to convice him to take me to a shelter that takes cats, but it was pretty clear that if he was turned away I would just end up on the street.

Mommy took me from the guy and proceeded to call some rescues to see if they could take me. She wasn’t planning on keeping me! Can you believe that! Luckily for me the rescues couldn’t take me until the next day. That gave me 24 hours to win her over! Thankfully she’s a push over and it only took me a few minutes to wiggle my way into her heart.

There are many other kitties that aren’t so lucky. They either land on the street to fend for themselves, or wind up in a shelter that has no room and they end up euthanized. It’s a sad story for these guys, and it’s one that you humans can put a stop to. It’s really quite simple. Spay or Neuter your cat. Better yet, participate in your community’s Trap, Neuter, Return program (aka TNR).

This program is set up to trap feral or stray cats in your community and get them into a low cost spay/neuter clinic to get them fixed and vaccinated. Once they are fixed, if they are truly a feral cat, then they are released back to the area where they were trapped. If the cat seems like it might have been someone’s pet and is friendly, then a rescue or shelter group might try to place the cat into a home instead. To learn more about TNR please visit the Neighborhood Cats website.

Sassy from the Friendship APL. Photo credit Friendship APL

There’s one other thing you can do to help cats of all ages – do what my Mommy did a year ago and rescue one! Stop on over to your local shelter and adopt a kitty or two, or three! If you live in the Northeast Ohio area, I recommend you stop on over to the Friendship Animal Protective League in Elyria. Pictured to the left is one of the cats they have available for adoption. Her name is Sassy. She’s not a kitten but holey catamoley is she a cutie! She’s just one of the many pawsome cats available for adoption. Toodles for now…

I just recently read an article in which Brandon Yanak, a High School Senior at Holy Name, petitioned the Parma City Council’s Public Safety Committee to change every city code ordinance relating to dogs to read “guardian” instead of “owner”. He believes that a single word can curb animal abuse. He believes that the extra word would inspire residents to think differently about their pets. He said:

Encouraging others to think and act as guardians rather than owners will help them view and treat animals not as property to be exploited, abandoned or killed but as individuals who deserve consideration for their needs and their interests.

Brandon said that 17 other cities, 2 counties and Rhode Island have already made this change. Boulder, Colorado also made this change and you can see evidence of it on a sign at the dog park that states “guardians’ must have leashes for their pets.

Over time, the speech of all general citizens and media in Boulder has changed from referring to people as being the ‘owners’ of animals to being the ‘guardians’ of animal companions, Brandon said.

Sean Brennan, Parma Council President and teacher, says semantics are important.

In the classroom, students respond differently when you call them boys and girls as opposed to ladies and gentlemen, Brennan said.

I like Brandon’s train of thought, and I do think semantics are important. What I would be curious to know is if Boulder, Colorado, or any other community that has made the change, has seen a reduction in the amount of abuse and abandonment cases since implementing this philosophy. The article didn’t go into those details.

Being in animal rescue, I get aggravated far too often with the human race for their mentality of pets being disposable. Shelter animals are dying every day because of this mentality. Every dog I rescue belonged to somebody at sometime. Why isn’t this dog still with them? Why did they not keep their commitment to love and protect this dog for his lifetime? I will never understand that.  If switching semantics to the phrase “guardian” helps to change that mentality then I’m all for it!