Mews of the Day

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Grooming a Cat Should Be a Fun Experience
 

After I spent an hour today staring at all the cat grooming products at a large pet supply store, a trip to the ASPCA’s treasure trove of information was in store for this confused cat parent. With so many variations of shampoos, conditioners, pet sprays, brushes and combs, knowing what to do to make my felines look (and feel) their best is important.

Cats groom themselves. They’re considered fastidious and set the standard for cleanliness in the animal kingdom. My vet told me that my new Siberian Husky puppy would be “feline” in her self-cleaning habits. If a dog can have such a good self-cleaning ability by nature that the word “feline” is involved, well...that goes a long way in telling me that my puppy will be as self-cleaning as my cats are.

Cats do wash themselves several times each day and they can usually handle just about anything themselves. But there are instances when a good bath is in order. If your cat is indoors only and you have small children, keeping your cat clean is extremely important. Make a note of the tips below that come from the ASPCA. Their guidance for each step is easy to understand and accomplish. Their goal: Make Grooming as Enjoyable as Possible—For Both of You!

Let’s get started with a little relaxation time. A relaxed cat is a good grooming candidate. Be sure to schedule grooming sessions when your cat’s relaxed, perhaps after exercise or eating. You want your pet to remember grooming sessions in a positive way, so you never want to risk losing your temper. If you’ve had a stressful day or are in a bad mood, it’s probably not a good time to groom your cat.

Keep your first grooming sessions short – just 5 to 10 minutes. Gradually lengthen the time until your pet is used to the routine. You should also get your pet used to being handled. Get in the habit of petting every part of your cat – including ears, tail, belly and back – and especially the feet.

Keep in mind that a little patience can go a long way. If your cat is extremely stressed out, cut the session short and try again when she’s calmer. Unfortunately, most cats do not like baths, so you may need another person to help. Remember to pile on the praise and offer kitty a treat when the session is over.

Brushing

Regular sessions with a brush or comb will help keep your pet’s hair in good condition by removing dirt, spreading natural oils throughout her coat, preventing tangles and keeping her skin clean and irritant-free.

If your cat has short hair, you only need to brush once a week:


- First, use a metal comb and work through her fur from head to tail.


- Next, use a bristle or rubber brush to remove dead and loose hair. 


- Be extra-gentle near her chest and belly.

If your cat has long hair, you will need to brush every day:


- Start by combing her belly and legs; be sure to untangle any knots. 


- Next, brush her fur in an upward motion with a bristle or rubber brush.


- To brush her tail, make a part down the middle and brush the fur out on either side.

Bathing

If your cat’s coat becomes greasy and oily, or if she’s gotten into something sticky or smelly, she’ll benefit from a bath. Use a mild shampoo that’s safe to use on cats, and follow these easy steps: 


- First, give your pet a good brushing to remove all dead hair and mats. 


- Place a rubber bath mat in a sink or tub to provide secure footing. 


- Put your cat in a tub or sink that has been filled with about 3 to 4 inches of lukewarm water.


- Use a spray hose to thoroughly wet your pet, taking care not to spray directly in her ears, eyes or nose. If you don’t have a spray hose, a large plastic pitcher or unbreakable cup will do. (My cats hated the spray hose, but tolerated a large cup full of water poured over them repeatedly.) 


- Gently massage in shampoo, working from head to tail. 


- Thoroughly rinse with a spray hose or pitcher; again, avoid the ears, eyes and nose


- Dry your pet with a large towel.

Nail Clipping

Most people really don’t handle their cats’ feet until they are about to clip the nails and then…watch out! Some animals can get very upset at this totally foreign feeling. That’s why it’s a good idea to get your cat used to having her feet touched before you attempt a nail trim. Rub your hand up and down her leg and then gently press each individual toe—and be sure to give her lots of praise and some food treats as you do this. Every animal is different, but chances are that within a week or two of daily foot massage, your cat will accept nail clipping with too much fuss.

Here’s how to do it:



- Begin by applying gentle pressure to the top of the foot and cushiony pad underneath – this will cause her to extend her claws. 


- Use sharp, high-quality cat nail scissors to cut off the white tip of each nail, just before the point where it begins to curl.


- Take care to avoid the quick, a vein that runs into the nail. This pink area can be seen through the nail. 
- If you do accidentally cut into this pink area, it may bleed, in which case you can apply some styptic powder to stop the bleeding

We hope you will check out the ASPCA’s website devoted to cat care at: http://www.aspca.org/Home/Pet-care/cat-care

“Mews of the Day” is a fun, enlightening look at the world of cats, large and small. Join us here on CATVIDEOS.com, as we share news, blogs, photos and entertaining videos about – and for – cats.

Info courtesy of ASPCA.org

CATVIDEOS.COM brings you the best and most entertaining videos, photos and stories about cats, kittens and the people who love them. Join our community by submitting your own videos, photos and comments about your cat family.

Gwen Cooper and Homer

Gwen Cooper Brings Her Cat Love Story to Austin

Gwen Cooper Book Reading: Love Saves the Day, Sat., May 18, 2 to 4 p.m.

Austin Pets Alive! Bldg. A, 1156 West Cesar Chavez, Austin, Texas USA.
 

Cats, those beings at the top of the list of mysterious creatures, have been sharing the world with humans for thousands of years. They’ve been crawling up the legs of our jeans and scraping their way down our curtains, shredding both skin and fabric as we human “cat parents” sigh, and simply buy new jeans and hang new window coverings. No matter what, the cat stays.

There is nothing new about people being cat parents. What’s new is our admission to the fact – en masse – and the pride that comes from knowing it’s now “okay” to be owned by a cat.

The internet is now the dog park for cat people. The web we feline parents weave online is a cat park of sorts, built from the videos and stories passed along with pride through our blogs and through social media. We share our cute cat moments, goofy videos and poignant prose about all things feline. In the darkest hours of cat parenthood we cry together, as we accept the fact that our cat’s lifespan is naturally shorter than our own.  

If you’re looking for cat people, and great cat stories, there is no place better to find feline-related activity than at your local bookseller. Even with the boom in online cat activity – by and for cat people and their cats – what has never changed is our love of cat books. From All Things Bright and Beautiful, to the silliness of I Am Maru, and the poignant dose of reality in Dewey – The Small Town Cat Who Changed the World, the printed page seems to adopt cats the way Austinites do – as a habit.

Homer's Odyssey has been translated into at least 13 languages.

Bestselling author, Gwen Cooper, knows how to love a cat, and her first feline tale, Homer’s Odyssey, A Fearless Feline Tale, Or How I Learned About Life and Love Living With a Blind Wonder Cat, became an instant favorite with cat lovers around the world, and has been translated into at least 13 languages. Homer has a Facebook following that would rival any rock star on the planet and his fans have waited, and prayed, through some trying times for the kitty in the past year.

Cooper’s second dive into cat literature, a novel titled Love Saves the Day, will make many a daughter, mother and cat lover sigh, cry, laugh, and – most of all – remember that love really can save just about any of us from ourselves. With a voice only a cat could muster, the heroine, Prudence, dishes out cat philosophy as she figures out what’s going on with her suddenly up-ended world.

“Humans best understand the truth of things if they come at it indirectly. Like how sometimes the best way to catch a mouse that’s right in front of you is to back up before you pounce.”

So notes Prudence, the irresistible brown tabby at the center of Gwen's tender, joyful, utterly unforgettable novel, which is mostly told through the eyes of this curious (and occasionally cranky) feline. When five-week-old Prudence meets a woman named Sarah in a deserted construction site on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, she knows she’s found the human she was meant to adopt. For three years their lives are filled with laughter, tuna, catnaps, music, and the unchanging routines Prudence craves. Then one day Sarah doesn’t come home. From Prudence’s perch on the windowsill she sees Laura, the daughter who hardly ever comes to visit Sarah, arrive with her new husband. They’re carrying boxes. Before they even get to the front door, Prudence realizes that her life has changed forever.  



Suddenly Prudence finds herself living in a strange apartment with humans she barely knows. It could take years to train them in the feline courtesies and customs (for example, a cat should always be fed before the humans, and at the same exact time every day) that Sarah understood so well. Prudence clings to the hope that Sarah will come back for her while Laura, a rising young corporate attorney, tries to push away memories of her mother and the tumultuous childhood spent in her mother’s dusty downtown record store. The secret joys, past hurts, and life-changing moments that make every mother-daughter relationship special will come to the surface, and with Prudence’s help, daughter Laura will learn that the past, like a mother’s love, never dies.

Poignant, insightful, and laugh-out-loud funny in the ways only a cat can be, Love Saves the Day is a story of hope, healing, and how the love of an animal can make all of us better humans. It’s the story of a mother and daughter divided by the turmoil of bohemian New York, and the opinionated, irrepressible feline who will become the bridge between them.

It’s a novel for anyone who’s ever lost a loved one, wondered what their cat was really thinking, or fallen asleep with a purring feline nestled in their arms. Prudence, a cat like no other, is sure to steal your heart.  

Gwen Cooper: Wonderwoman and Cat Parent. Cooper’s career, and eventual dive into authoring cat books, began in Miami, where Gwen spent five years working in nonprofit administration, marketing, and fundraising. She coordinated and led direct-service volunteer activities on behalf of organizations including Pet Rescue, the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, the Miami Rescue Mission, His House, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, the Daily Bread Food Bank, and Family Resource Center (an organization providing emergency shelter for abused and neglected children). She also initiated Reading Pen Pals, an elementary school-based literacy program in Miami’s Little Haiti.

Gwen was selected for membership in the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Miami program—and was nominated for Leadership Miami’s Carlos Arboleya Community Service Award. She also joined the Hannah Kahn Poetry Foundation.

Eventually making a career transition from non-rofit administration to marketing communications, Gwen moved to Manhattan in 2001 and was Creative Services Manager for AOL Time Warner’s online marketing group. In 2003, Gwen was offered the position of Special Projects Manager at Wenner Media, publisher of Rolling Stone and Us Weekly, where she worked until the sale of her first book early in 2006.

Gwen currently lives in Manhattan with her husband, Laurence. She also lives with her three perfect cats—Homer, Clayton, and Fanny. The author says that the kitties really aren’t impressed with any of it.

Gwen’s national book tour for Love Saves the Day is scheduled not for the usual bookstore locations, but she reads and signs her books only at No-Kill shelters and adoption/rescue facilities in each city she visits. She will read to the humans, and to the kitties, at each stop. In Austin, Gwen is visiting Austin Pets Alive! and stated about her visit to the Lone Star's capital, "I live in New York, and most of what we hear about Austin up here has to do with the arts and music scene. But since writing Homer's Odyssey and now Love Saves the Day, I've heard from so many wonderful shelter volunteers in Austin, and from so many readers who've adopted animals there. I know that Austin is the first major US city to become a truly no-kill city, and I'm incredibly excited to get to go there and meet the hard-working people who've made that possible."

Donations of blankets, cat litter, cat food and toys for the kitties waiting to be adopted are encouraged, and can be brought to the Austin Pets Alive! Gwen Cooper Book Reading on May 18, at 2 p.m.

ARM & HAMMER® Ultra Last™Clumping Cat Litter is donating 500 pounds of litter to each shelter and rescue group on the tour and Litter Genies are being given away to a limited number of attendees at each book signing.

Austin’s largest no-kill organization, Austin Pets Alive! implements innovative and progressive programs in Austin and Central Texas after studying the best practices of other cities who are no-kill or are in the process of becoming no-kill. Their PASS (Positive Alternatives to Shelter Surrender) program helps people who are having pet problems so that they don’t need to surrender their pets to kill shelters. 
Volunteers take phone calls and emails from pet owners in crisis and help them find the resources they need to keep or rehome their pets. If owners are surrendering their pet because of medical issues that they cannot afford, PASS or AAC (Austin Animal Center) will refer them to the Pets Alive community clinic, where pets are treated with sliding scale fees.

For more information about Austin Pets Alive! go to:  www.austinpetsalive.org

You can follow Gwen, Homer and all the kitties at www.gwencooper.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Homerblindcatfans.

Gwen Cooper Book Reading: Love Saves the Day, Sat, May 18, 2 to 4p.m., Austin Pets Alive! Bldg. A, 1156 West Cesar Chavez.

Gwen will also make a private stop at Shadow Cats in the Austin area on Friday, May 17. You can watch Gwen read from Love Saves the Day, LIVE, at 7 p.m., Fri., May 17 at www.ShadowCats.net. Information is on Shadow Cats website's home page. The kitty cam link is: http://www.shadowcats.net/kitty-cam.php

“Mews of the Day” is a fun, enlightening look at the world of cats, large and small. Join us here on CATVIDEOS.com, as we share news, blogs, photos and entertaining videos about – and for – cats.

Photos and info courtesy of Gwen Cooper and Austin Pets Alive!

CATVIDEOS.COM brings you the best and most entertaining videos, photos and stories about cats and kittens. Join our community by submitting your own videos, photos and comments about your cat family.

Mind the Cat ‘Fat Gap’ to Keep Kitty Healthy

'Many pet owners are shocked when their veterinarian informs them

their pet needs to lose weight. They just don't see it.'

Every day, cat owners walk into their veterinarian’s clinic, kitty in tow, only to find out – to the cat parent’s surprise – that Muffin is overweight or obese. The cat owner thought their cat fit neither of these categories, and, this dangerous "disconnect" is what veterinarians call “the fat gap.”

Dr. Ernie Ward, Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) founder and the leader of the 2012 National Pet Obesity Awareness Day Survey conducted by the APOP, found 58.3 percent of cats in the survey to be considered overweight or obese by their veterinarian. Obesity in cats leads to an increased risk for weight-related disorders such as diabetes, osteoarthritis, hypertension, and many cancers.

The 2012 APOP survey, conducted in October and December 2012, analyzed data from 121 veterinary clinics in 36 states. In the survey, 45.3% of cat owners incorrectly identified their overweight or obese cats as "normal weight" when asked by their veterinary clinic to assess their pet's current body condition (pet owner's choices were too thin, normal, overweight, obese).

Dr. Ward calls the phenomenon of incorrectly evaluating an overweight pet as normal "the fat gap." "The disconnect between reality and what a pet parent thinks is obese makes having a conversation with their veterinarian more challenging. Many pet owners are shocked when their veterinarian informs them their pet needs to lose weight. They just don't see it."

Based on 2012 survey results and 2012 American Veterinary Medical Association data
An estimated 43.2 million cats or 58.3% are overweight or obese (74.1 million U.S. pet cats, 2012 AVMA)
29.3 million cats BCS 4 - Overweight
13.9 million cats BCS 5 - Obese

"Pet obesity remains the leading health threat to our nation's pets," stated Dr. Ward. "We continue to see an escalation in the number of overweight cats and an explosion in the number of type 2 diabetes cases."

What’s the best way to ensure you and your cat don’t fall into the “Fat Gap?” Talk to your veterinarian at your next visit or schedule a visit today if you feel you may be looking at Muffin through catnip-scented glasses. While your kitty may look “okay” to you, to your veterinarian she may be on the plump side – and plump is dangerous.

For information to help you and Muffin win the battle of the bulge, go to:
http://www.petobesityprevention.com/weight-loss-in-cats/

Editor's note: My 15-year-old cat, Shadow, fell into the obese category for a few years. We tried various low-fat foods, with varying degrees of success. The taste factor is huge, here, and I found that adding a tiny bit of a product called Foodie Cat to Shadow's bowl of icky-tasting fat-free fare seemed to bring him running to the bowl. But, one trick worked better than all others: We simply made the food bowl harder for him to reach. Shadow's food bowl had been on the ground, and was easy for him to devour its contents and scream for more, which made me come running with more food, thinking he was so hungry. After we added a small dog to our family a couple years ago, we had to move Shadow's food bowl up higher – onto a feeding station the dog cannot reach. By making it a bit more tough for Shadow to reach the bowl, he visits it less often. I monitor his intake (and output) for safety, and it appears everything is working just fine. Over a safe period, Shadow has lost enough weight to be considered right on target. And, the best result is that he appears to be happier. He moves around more, albeit a slower move of a 15-year-old cat. Shadow's coat is lustrious and beautiful, another sign of a healthy cat. Our veterinarian is impressed at our success and has now posted a flyer in his clinic describing our experience.

“Mews of the Day” is a fun, enlightening look at the world of cats, large and small. Join us here on CatVideos.com, as we share news, blogs, photos and entertaining videos about – and for – cats.

Info and photo courtesy of: Association for Pet Obesity Prevention

CATVIDEOS.COM brings you the best and most entertaining videos, photos and stories about cats and kittens. Join our community by submitting your own videos, photos and comments about your cat family.

Spread the Word Of a Pet Emergency With

'Neighborhood Pet Watch' Email Group

Almost every day, I receive one or more emails from my neighborhood list-serve alerting me to a dog or cat running loose, or notifying me that a pet that has been found injured. About 80 percent of the households in my neighborhood have signed on to a neighborhood email group and receive these alerts when a local pet is lost or is in a crisis situation.

Sometimes the email messages are as quick as this one:

“Orange Tabby in my front yard bushes. No collar. Seems frightened. Corner of Matten and Coventry.”

Then a few minutes later, a reply comes in:

“Got him. Bubbles flew out the door when a package was delivered. He made it six blocks to your home in 30 minutes! Thanks to you, he's safely home!”

Then, there was this string of emails:

“There was a tabby cat hit in the street near us. He's currently immobile...is this your cat? If so please reply to my email or call for info.”

“A grey tabby has been found in the street near our house. He’s been hit. Anyone missing their grey male cat?”

“The cat died on the way to the emergency vet last night. He was a light grey tabby, at least 2 years old, and unaltered, so if you're missing a cat that matches this description please contact City Vet Care for the remains.”

After the above neighbor had attempted to find the cat’s owner and reported the cat’s death to the list, another neighbor wrote this consoling message:

“We're so sorry to hear about this little guy but so appreciate your willingness to make the effort to save his life and to endure the sadness that comes with this stage of animal care taking. You provided a loving presence during his last moments and for that we thank you for your brave resolve and compassionate action.”

In my book, these are great neighbors.

This type of animal-in-crisis assistance happens all the time as my neighborhood is extremely pet-oriented. We can only have this kind of quick-thinking, fast-action communication because a group from our neighborhood association took the initiative to set up an email list, and to make it work. These folks worked hard to develop and maintain a true ring of protection for our neighborhood – and our pets.

How to get started:

To have a communication system set up that’s easy to monitor and use, one needs only to start a group list-serve through Yahoo!, Google, or another provider, then spread the word. To gain momentum, the core neighbors sent an invitation email around to those they already knew and sign-ups were done over the next few months at the neighborhood park and swimming pool, as well as at the monthly neighborhood association meetings. We also utilized National Night Out gatherings, and the local coffee shops and other retailers to spread the word and increase sign-ups. Whenever someone new moves in, an established neighbor introduces them to the list, and nearly all those newly-moved-in folks sign on.

In the three years since the list-serve was created, my neighborhood has risen to 80 percent participation. Of course, pets are not the only issues we discuss on the email message board, and it's handy for finding someone to fix your roof or for announcing store openings, etc. Our list can deliver emails individually as they are written or as a digested group sent to your inbox once a day. No matter what it was designed for, everyone agrees that when a pet is in need, this neighborhood goes into action.

If you want to start a Neighborhood Pet Watch in your community, start by looking into the various list-serve message board options available and choose one that suits your needs. A new one our neighborhood is testing is called Nextdoor.com. It’s free, and offers some good messaging options, plus it gives neighborhoods their own marketplace for selling/trading, etc. that the email list sites usually don’t provide.

If you work from home, are retired or are otherwise at your residence most of the time, consider allowing the system to send you the neighborhood emails as they are submitted. This way, if there is a pet in crisis, you’ll know it immediately. That is how many of us “at home 24/7” folks have been able to catch lost pets before they make their way to a very dangerous intersection a few blocks from my house.

If you want to become a true angel to lost pets, you can also sign up with HomeAgain.com’s PetRescuer program. You can receive email, text or mobile alerts when a pet registered with HomeAgain.com is reported lost or stolen in your area. Go to HomeAgain.com for more information. I am a PetRescuer, and I receive at least one or two emails each day about a pet lost in my area.

NOTE: (It is very important for us PetRescuers to view your lost pet’s photo in the email we receive from HomeAgain.com. It really helps in case we run across the wayward pooch or kitty. Just a description is not enough. Remember to upload a current photo into your pet’s microchip profile!)

Any time we create a ring of protection around our community’s pets, we are working toward a more safe and positive world for our animals. If your neighborhood has developed a great way to alert each other of pets in crisis, let us know. And be sure to create a profile for you and your kitties here at CATVIDEOS.com.

“Mews of the Day” is a fun, enlightening look at the world of cats, large and small. Join us here on CATVIDEOS.com, as we share news, blogs, photos and entertaining videos about – and for – cats.

Photos courtesy of Ohio State University's Indoor Pet Initiative