In May 2017, a popular cat food was withdrawn from the Australian market amid fears it was causing cats to become seriously ill with symptoms of thiamine deficiency.This wasn’t a one-off incident. In recent years, there have been several recalls of commercial cat food around the world, due to insufficient levels of thiamine. In the wake of cat food recalls, pet owners … [Read more...] about Thiamine Deficiency in Cats: Everything You Need to Know
Permethrin Poisoning in Cats: What You Need to Know
Permethrin and pyrethrum are insecticides that help control parasites, such as fleas and ticks. Sadly, there have been many instances of permethrin poisoning in cats, often by cat owners who have unintentionally poisoned their cat by applying their dog’s spot-on flea treatment. Unlike dogs, cats lack the enzyme needed to detox products containing permethrin or pyrethrum. … [Read more...] about Permethrin Poisoning in Cats: What You Need to Know
Cat Scooting: What it Means and What to Do
Have you ever seen a cat dragging its butt along the ground? Cat butt scooting is definitely less common in cats than dogs, but it’s still most definitely a ‘thing’ and can indicate a medical problem that you may need to get checked out. What is Cat Scooting? It simple terms, it’s when a cat drags their bottom along the floor. Carpet is a particularly rewarding surface to … [Read more...] about Cat Scooting: What it Means and What to Do
10 Signs it’s Time to Visit the Vet
How do you tell the difference between a cat that is having a relaxing snooze and one that is sleeping because she’s sick? How do you know when it's time to visit the vet? When a cat isn't feeling well or is ill, instinctively she lies low. This is to avoid bringing attention to her infirmity because in the wild, to alert a predator to weakness makes her vulnerable. All … [Read more...] about 10 Signs it’s Time to Visit the Vet
Steps to Solving Cat Behavioural Issues
Imagine it’s the school holidays, but you have to work. You leave the kids home alone. . . but the TV’s broken, they’re too young to read, and you’ve locked most of their toys away. When you come home would you expect them to be perched like little angels on the sofa, hands folded in their laps, without a hair out of place? No! Of course not. You’d be lucky if the … [Read more...] about Steps to Solving Cat Behavioural Issues
Teach Your Child to Respect Cats
Kids have a lot to learn about the world around them. Unfortunately, during this exploratory phase, it’s not unusual for collateral damage to happen such as sandwiches posted into the DVD player, teddy swimming in the toilet. . . you get the picture. But when the object under investigation happens to be a cat, someone (two or four-legged) could get hurt. It’s a child’s job … [Read more...] about Teach Your Child to Respect Cats
Why Some Cats are Invisible: Adopting the Unadoptable Cats
At school, were you always the last kid left standing in line when sports teams were chosen? For some people, this lack of sporting ability as a child means we are familiar with the feeling of being invisible. And this is sad. But not as sad as being the last cat at the rescue shelter, the unadoptable cat that no-one shows any interest in, the cat who is passed over time … [Read more...] about Why Some Cats are Invisible: Adopting the Unadoptable Cats
5 Alternatives to Declawing Cats
Are you familiar with the expression: “Taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut”? Essentially this means using over-the-top effort to achieve a simple end. A great example of this is declawing cats. OK, so what we want to achieve is the sofa not being shredded, but is surgically amputating one-third of each toe a proportionate way to achieve this? We think not! Keep in … [Read more...] about 5 Alternatives to Declawing Cats
Reasons Why Cats Lick You
Does your cat lick you? Being licked by your cat is a bitter-sweet experience. On the one paw, it’s nice to think the cat loves you, but on the other it’s uncomfortable. . . to say the least! Indeed, there’s a deal of difference between the sandpaper roughness of a cat’s tongue and the velvet smoothness of her coat. Ironic then that it’s her tongue that keeps the coat silky, … [Read more...] about Reasons Why Cats Lick You
Helping your Timid Cat Survive House Guests
How does your timid cat feel about house guests? Cats are creatures of habit; after all it takes dedication to squeeze all those cat naps into the day. Even a confident, sociable cat may be less than thrilled by the arrival of guests coming to stay. But if that cat is timid or anxious, the inconvenience of visitors is akin to having their world turned upside down. Think … [Read more...] about Helping your Timid Cat Survive House Guests