EVERYDAY CAT CARE

Lunch service is over and Mr. M collects some leftovers to share with his companion, Sissy. He does this every day, after each meal, because Sissy cant come to the dining room. Mr. M takes care of Sissy, and they enjoy their daily walks together. Through these activities, Sissy also helps Mr. M to feel happy and loved. Mr. M and Sissy - a plump black Chihuahua mix - both reside at Pine Grove Nursing Center deep in the heart of the east Texas piney woods in Center, TX.

While opioids are destroying peoples lives and the lives of their family members throughout all strata of society - rich, poor, urban, suburban, rural - they are also in short supply in hospitals around the country. This is true both for hospitals that serve people and those that serve their pets. Reports are coming in that in some hospitals, elective surgeries for people - gall bladder removal, hernia repair - are being postponed, while some people in post-operative recovery are said to be receiving less potent medication than they need.

The risk of death for cats under anesthesia used to be one to two deaths in 100 patients, says Lois Wetmore, DVM, an assistant professor of anesthesia and pain management at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Now were down to about one death in 1,000, Dr. Wetmore says. Were headed in the right direction.

Researchers recently discovered that upper respiratory infections in shelter cats can be dramatically decreased by doubling cage sizes and providing the cats with two compartments. Funded by the Morris Animal Foundation, the UC Davis team of researchers published their findings in the journal PLoS One.

For years, I adopted kitten siblings that required close to zero socialization to adjust to living in my home. However, the last four cats Ive adopted from shelters took a long time to feel comfortable enough to come out of hiding from under my bed or behind my sofa. I am happy to report that they are all now well adjusted and contented, but it did take some time.

The truth is that cats are generally regarded as non-compliant subjects, and that most professional photographers get few requests to train their lens on them. Cats, being notoriously cantankerous and uncooperative, will most likely get up and move once you have placed a light near them, says Michael Weymouth, a commercial photographer who works from his Weymouth Design office in Boston. That makes it difficult to set the stage, so to speak.

Obviously, it is very important to know which plants are safe for cats and which ones are not. Fortunately, there is a long list of safe grasses and herbs that can provide your cat lots of enjoyment. Among them are:

You may still be shoveling the last vestiges of snow off the walk, or cuddling near the fireplace soon after the sun goes down. But spring is just around the corner, and now is a good time to think about your warm weather goals while you still have some time to plan. For instance, maybe youre thinking about how to enhance your outdoor environment for your pets, or wanting to grow some indoor greens that are cat-friendly.

Kittens are rambunctious, delightful little balls of fluff who delight and entertain their owners for hours on end with their silly antics and mischievous behavior. But there is something very special about living with cats as they mature. We were extremely blessed to be able to share our lives with our beautiful and loving white Oriental Shorthair, Sir Hubble Pinkerton, for seventeen years.

Believe it or not, there was a time when cats were considered seniors when they reached the age of seven or eight years old. As a result of the major breakthroughs in veterinary care - along with the many advances in feline nutrition - cats are now considered elderly at twelve, seniors at age fourteen and geriatric at the age of fifteen. Today, some cats can even live up into the upper teens and into their twenties.

When we invite cats to live with us in our homes, its our responsibility to align their basic needs as closely as possible to Mother Natures provisions. The natural substrate that cats use outdoors for elimination is dirt or sand.

I am fostering an adolescent stray mother cat and her three kittens (I picked them up when the kittens were about one-week-old) and I fed her a high-quality wet cat food the first few days.