EVERYDAY CAT CARE

Newsflash for cat lovers: You can forget that popular belief that you can determine your cats age in human years by simply multiplying his age by seven. A cat celebrating his first birthday is actually the equivalent of a person who is 15 years old, a 10-year-old cat is the equivalent of 56, and a 17-year-old cat is the equivalent of 84, according to the new Feline Life Stages Guidelines.

Flying out of JFK has become easier for pets because of ARK Pet Oasis, a terminal built especially for our four-legged friends. Your cat can get necessary vaccines (by appointment) before boarding; delivery to the gate shortly before takeoff so theres no more waiting in too-hot or too-cold cargo facilities; on-site veterinary care, if necessary; and various creature comforts. For cats, for instance, ARKs trees are reserved for climbing.

Apparently, being a black cat is bad luck - for the cat. According to a woman who runs a shelter in the British city of Bristol, people are not adopting black kittens because they dont show up well in photographs. Moreover, Cats Protection, the largest feline welfare charity in the UK, says that black cats take 13 percent longer to re-home than cats of any other color

Imagine a medical device that hastens the healing process and provides relief from conditions ranging from osteoarthritis to itchy hot spots on the skin, often to the point that a lower dose of medication may be used. The Assisi Loop may be such a device.

Ancestry.com, 23andMe, and other DNA mail-in testing services were among the most popular Christmas gifts this past year. DNA kits to trace a dogs heritage are selling well, too. And cats? In certain ways, the world of cat DNA testing has lagged behind that of dog testing, says Jerold Bell, DVM, an adjunct professor of genetics at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

Several cats in Wyoming have now been diagnosed with the bubonic plague. How? They strayed from their owners property and likely acquired the disease from wild rodents or fleas, which can be infected in the western U.S.

Its official. California has become the first state to ban the sale of any cat (or dog or rabbit) in a pet store unless it can be verified that the animal has come from a rescue center. If you must have a bred cat, such as a Persian or other breed, you can still purchase your pet from a private breeder - just not in a retail establishment.

If you think your cat sleeps an awful lot, youre right - and theres nothing wrong with that. Cats naturally sleep about 17 hours per day - fully two-thirds of their lives. But much of that slumber is not what we think of when we think of sleep. Its more akin to what your car does when it idles, ready to move at a moments notice. The trigger that might rouse your pet into becoming fully awake from her dozing might be prey, the smell of food, or someone entering the room. Your cat will be ready to respond as though she had not been asleep at all.

The question remains: Whats the best flea treatment for my home? Well, researchers discovered that in a typical flea-infested house, the adult fleas represent only about one to five percent of the flea population! So where are the rest of the pests? Flea eggs make up about 50 to nearly 60 percent, flea larvae makes up about 35 percent, and the pupae (a life stage of the flea that comes after larvae and before emergence as an adult) about 10 percent.

Q. We just got our first kitten and are very excited. What is a cat's life expectancy?Melissa ReardonSunapee, New HampshireDear Ms. Reardon,A. The average...

Youre not imagining it. Your cat does spend an inordinate about of time self-grooming-fully a third of her day. And she does it consciously, using her teeth to separate her fur and dig down and comb, and her tongue to brush everything smooth. So why even consider giving her a bath, given her already fussy dedication to self-cleansing?

I am hoping you can settle an ongoing difference of opinion between me and one of my friends. We are both long-time cat owners, and consider ourselves to be very good caretakers with healthy, happy cats over the past twenty or more years.