Helping Strays

Strays are almost everywhere, and really, they are not happy campers. Cats have been bred to depend on people, live with people, and serve people.

What do you do if you see a lost cat near the road as you're heading to that important appointment? Do you stop to help and end up with expensive bills and a new pet? Do you just drive by and risk feeling bad? What if there is a stray roaming your neighborhood. Do you feed it? Do you bring it in? Do you do the catch and release procedure? Do you try to find a new home for it? Do you try to find its original owner? What if you already have enough pets occupying your accommodations?

These and many other questions are answered in a book by Diane Carey, How to Help Stray Pets and Not Get Stuck. After reading this inspiring book, I was struck by her simplicity, faithfulness, love, devotion, wisdom, and strength that she teaches her children, her readers, and her friends by rescuing strays of all kinds. She goes through: how to be prepared, how to be safe, proving safety for the pet, should you try to find the owner, finding the right home, how to discipline cats, charging adoption fees to cover expenses, helping ferals, spay and neuter, how rescuing a pet changes you, and many other topics of discussion. A must read book for cat lovers and even dog lovers. Thank you, Diane.

A Bad Reputation

Cats in general seem to be portrayed in books and on TV as being bad. From killing the poor little mouse, to scaring the little kids at Halloween, to leaving scars on grandma's legs. These furry purry golden eyed quadrupeds don't really deserve this bad rap. 99 and 44/100 % of cats are tame, docile friendly, soft, warm, purring, and lovable. They have few needs: a warm place to sleep, a clean litter box, nutritious food, clean water, play time and a loving person to provide these basic needs. It's the absence of a loving person that make cats go awry.  I suppose it's the same for people. But, what if a cat won't let you love it? What do you do? How do you get around that? I will tell you that it takes time, energy, compassion, understanding and money. The tales are endless about people winning over a cat. But I would like to note here that it is a lot easier to win over a cat than to win over a person.

Cat Artistic

On the evening of Saturday, 17 Oct 2015, the Halifax Nocturne event was underway in the heart of the city. Many of the displays of artistic talent were very intriguing. One display at an art gallery filled four walls with pictures of cats including their names under the photos. People could even write a note on a black board. With the sound of 100 cats purring over a stereo system, it was simply a cat lovers dream. By the size of the crowd that visited the display, there seemed to be no shortage of cat lovers in the Halifax, NS area. The well behaved queue from down the sidewalk, through the door, up the stairs, through the gallery, and into the display room cost an hour. It was worth it and I would do it again.

Sounds Cats Make

After having cats for a while, you come to understand the various sounds that your feline friends make. From purring to wailing, the music spans the spectrum from pleasant to down right irritating. They communicate with other cats through their scents and body language, but since this doesn't work so well with us they mostly talk to us through verbal sounds. But, who can mistake the language of a fully erect tail, or the rub against your leg at the kitchen counter or even the intent stare at the water dish. Instead of listing all the sounds our golden eyed quadrupeds make in this blog, a couple a web sites will be listed that were found that you might enjoy. There you can hear some cat sounds and one site gives a brief explanation of 10 sounds. Let God bless you.

http://www.kessels.com/CatSounds/

http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-behavior-sounds-cats-make-what-they-mean-talking

Halifax Cat Fest

The first cat fest held in Halifax, Nova Scotia took place at the Natural History Museum on Saturday, 8 August 2015 and was reported to be a great success with cat lovers of all ages. I wish I could have been there to experience it, but I was otherwise occupied with work. It was international cat day on that Saturday which made the event very apropos. There were 17 organizations taking part in the event including vendors, exhibiters and charities. Education about cats was the focus of the event. People could learn about the catch-neuter-release program, and learn about the big cats of the wild. As well, displays of the stuffed big wild cats and small furry cats could be enjoyed. These displays are set up until 27 September. Let's hope that this becomes an annual event to entertain, educate and enable cat lovers.

Book Review: Complete Cat Care, DK Books

Complete Cat Care is about how to keep your cat healthy and happy from kittenhood through to old age according to the back cover this comprehensive guide is packed with expert advise on feeding and grooming, exercise, play and understanding cat behavior. Detailed information on feline health helps you to identify problems quickly and provide first aid in an emergency. With expert tips, step-by-step techniques, and handy checklists, this is a perfect reference for every cat lover.
Well, nothing is perfect, except God, but I won't look for errors in this book.
The five sections rounding out this 96 page book are:
1 Your New Cat
2 Everyday Care
3 Your Cat's Health
4 Feline Emergencies
5 Breeding
You'll also find a glossary and an index.

This book is full of colorful, helpful photographs printed on high quality glossy paper. The print is large and clear and the language used is easy to understand by the lay person even though it covers a range of topics concerning veterinary care, feline disorders, reproduction, and behavior; although, the authors do not dumb it down too much.
One lesson in the book that I found hilarious was when the author stated that if a cat became burned you should flood the affected area with cold water for 10 minutes. I don't think that I would possibly be able to do this without looking like I was given a Roman flogging afterwards. My best course of action I'm thinking is to get my furry friend to the animal emergency ASAP.
This book picks up where Cat World by Desmond Morris leaves off and is a great addition to my reference library.

Book Review: Cat People

Cat People, A Hilariously Entertaining Look At The World Of Cat Lovers And Their Obsessive Devotion to Their Pets, by Michael Korda and Margaret Korda is entertaining but it was not rolling on the floor, laughing out loud, unable to stand, brain in abandoned overdrive, unable to think hilarious as the subtitle states; although it was funny, and touching, and interesting, and well written. The writing style is full of wit and charm - enough to make me want to buy this book that I borrowed from our wonderful new library on Spring Garden Road. Between the pages are some insightful thoughts about cat lovers in general, the authors and their friends specifically. The authors discuss the behaviors of the cats they've come to know; almost all of them rescues from certain demise. In chapter 8 a diagram of part of their home shows where the different cats they owned made their beds. At the end of the book the authors gave us two chapters that are certainly delightful. Chapter 9 talks to us about cat cloning, bringing animals into restaurants in France and some more stuff international. Chapter 10 gives us a portrayal of a book that was attempted to be published in which the premise consisted of being able to speak cat and have the cat speak back. It was turned down for a reason that I will not give away in this critique. It was not by this author.

Alone at Home

Don't you wish you could see what your feline companions do when you're not home. When we pull in the driveway, there he is sitting in the window faithfully keeping his vigil. Does he sleep most of the time? Does he sit in the window all day? Does he chase imaginary mice around the rooms. Does he have separation anxiety? Cameras all around the house connected to my computer might give me an insight into his behavior, but then every person in the house would lose their sense of privacy.

Maybe some things should remain a mystery. Cats are a mystery anyway. So, if you must leave them home alone, never for a long time, and make sure they have plenty of water and some food to tie them over, and a clean litter box. Common sense eh? But when you're in a panic to go out the door to catch a bus, or to get to that important church meeting, take a deep breath and ask yourself, "Have I forgotten anything, especially those little critters that depend on me so much?"

Cats need us more than we need them. They like to put on airs of independence, but in reality they are so dependent on us. They'll never admit it, and don't tell them.