Itchy and quite a bit scratchy

Toothless (or Toothy or pussy-kitten as she is known by her friends) turned out to have a really bad problem with her skin. She would scratch until it was raw, and then scratch some more. We took her to see Andrew our lovely vet who thought it was a flea allergy.  He recommeded Flea treatment – house and cat and a lot of TLC and unfortunately its not got much better. Each time we fix her up she does it again so the next best guess is a food allergy.

That means we are looking at carrying out a food elimination trial. First task to wean her off her cat milk, sticks and snacks, and dreammies and onto water, along hypoallergenic dry food and treats (possibly a slight exageration of trades descriptions act according to the cat’s reaction to the latter). Two weeks later, a grumpy kitten, and with a gradual transformation from one to the other, the first stage of the mission is accomplished.

Now the wet food. Her diet has, to be fair, been a bit more mixed than it should be. She likes peas, fish preferably deep fried, and cornflakes (mushed in coconut milk). Ok our Toothy is a bit of a sneaky plate thief. On the good side it means my daughter doesnt leave her plates lying around anymore.

The biggest delay has turned out to be actually getting our hands on anything designed for cats with allergies because out of stock seemed the order of the day. The options are foods that were designed to be low allergy because they were made of products not known to cause dietery issues in cats – vension, kangeroo because lets face it -when did you last see tigger wander in dragging bambi as a presi. Until we could do that we opted for plain chicken and rice – no grains, no beef or lamb or seafood and no dairy. It seemed to help a bit but she was still itching.

so tomorrow its back to the vet and see what he suggests.

What’s in a Name?

Soooo Night furry, night fury, toothless, millie

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The debate goes on

The shopping list

So the list of presents pile up and as they do our dining room floor is starting to look like its a belated cat Christmas complete with the arrival of Santa Paws.

• cat bed
• cat scratching post
• litter tray
• litter
• litter scoop
• pet carrier
• blanket and self heating pad to sit on
• felliway
• cat nip
• assorted toys
• food dishes
• water dishes
• food storage tins
• brushes and comb
• flea products for cat and carpet
• cleaning up after puss has an accident products
• and of course – all the paperwork for pet insurance

The home visit is booked for Saturday and I have time off on Thursday to make the house cat friendly.

The Waiting Game

The worst thing about this now is the waiting. Before we can arrange to bring our cat home we have to pass a home inspection to make sure we are safe. We need to put our house in order. It’s like preparing to welcome a small child. Put the chemicals away, tidy away loose wires. So many things we need to sort out. We have started to think about the first few days. The internet is full of useful cat friendly advice.

• Cats are territorial, and coming into a new home leaves them feeling really uneasy. Thinking of it from their viewpoint there is all that new unexplored space, and if you think there may be monsters under the bed imagine what the poor putty tat thinks may lurk there. We have to provide a small area to call her own for the first few days. There is a spare bathroom but its a bit small or the dining room which would be comfy for us as well.
• We want to sort out all the basic cat amenities, such as food, water and a litter box – I can feel a shopping trip coming on but we need to know from the shelter exactly what she likes to eat. No one wants to go to a home only to find they hate the food. Lunch to go is a must with food and water bowls. (Cats are just as picky as human beings so it needs to be far enough away from the litter box not to spoil her appetite).
• The litter box again needs to be the same familiar brand so it smells the same and placed in her room where she can use it undisturbed. After all, no one peers at me on the loo, and it will give her confidence that will help with litter box anxiety.
• Cats love to get away from it all in small places, and we are going to provide one for our new cat as her own little safe haven. And an additional bonus – all those lovely goodies will come in a cardboard box . A cardboard box is cat heaven . We are also going to buy a covered cat bed. Perfect for a small nervous kitty.
• Cat etiquette requires that she can see the door to the room from her hidey hole, so she won’t be startled by any member of the family making an unexpected entrance to say hello.
• A cat’s claws need to be worn down, and they do this by scratching on things. We will buy her a scratching post to save our sofa.
• Making it smell like home. We can encourage our cat to use the post by sprinkling it with catnip
• We need to look at our house with a cat’s eye for climbing and exploring. Its time to take things off top of the kitchen cabinets and shelves just in case, and make sure there’s nothing on display that could be knocked off.

I also need to do something constructive while we wait. Just as well there is a lot of shopping required.

Little Black Cat – looking for a home

Millie. Waiting expectantly in a rather chilly cage at Cuckfield Cattery. We actually went to look at Murray(thankfully Murray has also found a home).  Millie had found life in her previous home rather stressful. She had a flea allergy which left her with her fur falling out, and need regular shots and a special diet. Because of that she was often overlooked and was finding life in the cattery rather stressful. Such a little sweetheart. We felt we could do something about that. After a finger-numbing January visit to the cattery and a lovely visit with Liz to meet each of the inhabitants we talked over merits of all those we had seen. The contenders

• Murray was a large ginger tom, very friendly if you offered him food but a bit confused between food and fingers.
• Tiggy a younger ginger tom, also very friendly and lovely stripy head markings
• Two inseparable black and white brothers
• and then there was Millie

Murray and the brothers were ruled out, someone else was interested in Murray, and we didn’t want two cats. That left us with the difficult choice between Millie and Tiggy. Tiggy was younger and more lively. Millie was a gentle cat Along the journey up the A23 we debated. The final decision turned out to be fairly simple. Maggie had lost her heart to a little black cat and would be heart broken if we didn’t bring her home. I vowed to promote Tiggy to my friends and sent an email to Sue at the charity offering Millie a home. Less than a day later we had an email back to arrange a home visit and the relief of seeing ‘reserved’ added to Millie’s page.

A ‘reserved’ cat

Now we had to wait for a home visit to check it was safe for Millie to come home with us.

Why are black cats so hard to home?

Looking for love and security

 

Is it all down to Superstitions?

There are many superstitions associated with cats.

The cat was worshipped in Ancient Egypt. They were considered to be made in the image of the goddess of cats, protection, joy, dance, music, and love and to kill one was considered a capital crime.  Cats were revered highly, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats which threatened key grain supplies, and snakes.

Cats of royalty were found dressed in golden jewelry and were allowed to eat from their owners’ plates. Temples were built to the Goddess and Herodotus reported attending a major festival of feasting in her name . When an Egyptian family cat died, the cat was mummified and the family went into mourning.

Romans, who adopted elements of religions of the places they conquered, also considered the cat sacred (and useful) and introduced it from Egypt across Europe.

So what went wrong? By the 17th Century, in Europe the cat began to be associated with witchcraft and belief in its luck turned from good to bad.

Bad superstitions: One horrible idea was that to burn cats and other animals on Shrove Tuesday (before the start of Lent), in order to protect one’s home from fire and other calamities.

Superstitions centering around the black cat are some of the most well-known and popular superstitions today. It is interesting, though, because the good or bad luck they possess is dependent on where you live in the world. In Britain and Japan, having a black cat cross your path, is considered good luck, but if you live in the USA or several European countries, it is bad luck to have a black cat walk by.

Good luck includes:

• Possessing a black cat.
• Having a black cat greet you at a door.
• Having a black cat enter your home.
• Meeting three black cats in succession.
• Touching a black cat.

Bad luck includes:

• Meeting a black cat early in the morning.
• Having a black cat turn its back on you.
• Scaring or driving away a black cat from your property.
• Walking under a ladder after a black cat has walked underneath it.