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Urgent Issue for Pet Owners
October 09, 2009
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What's in This Issue:

Updates to the site

I'm back from building the house and I'm checking e-mail pretty regularly again. It's good to be HOME!

Articles

Cat Grooming and Information by Dennis White

7 Natural Cat Behaviors By Kathrynn Kelley

My Cat Understands Me - Jackie Mackay

There are no offers in this special edition. Only the action steps to be taken and some articles of interest!

Don't forget the interactive pages...

Bragging Rights For Readers
Bad Cat Behaviors From Readers
Submit Your Story or Tribute

These pages are all user-generated! That means you can write about your cat, your favorite cat story, or get help from other visitors (sometimes even me!) if you have a serious problem with a cat.

Use the Cat Whisperer Contact form if you or a friend has a problem that is involved or delicate.



Urgent Action Needed...

Tax Break Legislation for Pet Care Costs

Introduced by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, H.R. 3501-known as the Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years ("HAPPY") Act is a federal bill that would reward responsible pet parents by allowing them to keep more money in their pockets come tax time.

We all want to give our animal companions the best care we possibly can, but it seems that pet care costs are always on the rise and these days, it's harder than ever to stretch the family budget. That's why the The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) supports H.R. 3501, which would amend U.S. tax code to allow qualifying pet care expenses, including veterinary care, to be tax-deductible.

This means that when you prepare your income taxes, money you spent on pet care that year would count as non-taxable income and you can deduct up to $3,500 per year!

Please help us support the HAPPY Act, H.R. 3501.

What You Can Do:
Visit the ASPCA Website to send an email to your U.S. representative and urge him or her to support and cosponsor the HAPPY Act, H.R. 3501.

https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2605

Take action on this issue.
Write to your U.S. representative today to urge him or her to support and cosponsor the HAPPY Act, H.R. 3501.

Cat Grooming and Information by Dennis White

Some owners may find it challenging to safely and properly groom an older pet. When your cat needs grooming in her senior years, great patience and skill are necessary to ensure that she is comfortable and secure.

For this reason, many owners may prefer to pay a professional pet groomer to tend to their aging cat's grooming needs. One way to find a reputable groomer is to ask friends, relatives and coworkers who own cats to recommend someone.

If possible, find a cat only groomer. He will have lots of experience dealing with cats, and your feline will not be frightened or distracted by the scents and sounds of dogs or other animals in the establishment.

Choose a groomer who is friendly, patient, and who takes the time to explain her service to you. Make sure that he has experience dealing with older animals. Ask to tour the facility and make sure it is clean, and see if the groomer will let you watch her groom someone else's cat to see how he interacts with and handles the animal.

Get references from all groomers you visit and check them. When you find a groomer you would like to use, bring your cat in for a first time visit. Sit with her while the groomer is working, and watch how the process is done.

Talk to your senior in a soothing voice if she becomes scared or nervous. If your cat becomes very upset, you may want to consider trying to groom her at home yourself or perhaps your vet can refer you to an at home grooming service.

Your cat should not have chronically bad breath. If she does, here are some possible causes:

- Diet : Some foods, especially soft foods, leave particles on the teeth and gums and attract bacteria that cause bad breath. A change of food may help. If it does not, talk to your vet.

- Gum disease : Red, puffy gums in an adult cat indicate disease or infection. See your vet.

- Abscesses : Your cat may hide the pain, but an infected or abscessed tooth requires veterinary attention to prevent serious complications.

- Illness : Problems farther down the digestive tract may cause bad breath. See your vet.

About the Author

For more great information please see -- http://www.yourpetcat.info

7 Natural Cat Behaviors By Kathrynn Kelley

Have you ever stopped to think about why a cat does some of the things that it does? Cats are solitary animals and fairly self-sufficient. They actually only require humans to fulfill certain needs. Sometimes it's difficult to understand what your feline wants to convey. However, by knowing their different behaviors, such as stalking, scratching, greeting, purring, etc., it easier to understand and live blissfully with them.

1. Purring:

Most people know that cats purr when they are happy or satisfied, but what most people don't know is that cats also purr when they are in pain, or are depressed. In fact, a female cat will purr when they are in labor. This is to tell you that they are in need of assistance or attention.

2. Greeting:

Greeting is a part of cat's behavior, which is expressed by rubbing its body or face against your body. Cats show their love and trust in you by lying down, turning over, yawning or stretching and retracting their claws.

3. Privacy:

After a cat uses their litter box, they bury their business. Most people believe this habit is because they are a clean animal. The real reason for this is to hide it from more domineering animals. In the environment they live in now this domineering creature would be you, their master.

4. Grooming:

Licking their front paw after each feeding session even though they have not touched the food with it is a basic behavior of cats. They are very clean animals and will groom themselves after every meal. They sponge down with their tongue, which has uneven surfaces that untangle and remove the muck. The tongue does not reach all parts of their body; hence they simply moisten the front paw by licking and then scrubbing the dampness from the foot onto the region to be cleaned.

5. Kitty Tails:

When a cat wags it's tail it usually is because they are irritated, annoyed, or angry. However, this is not the only time a cat will wag their tail. Cats also do this when they are stalking their prey. When you might see it is when they are chasing their favorite toy, or even a laser pen. This is just a way of letting of some steam from plotting their next move.

6. Catnaps:

Everyone's heard the term "catnap". However, this term didn't come out of thin air. Cats do nap a lot. In fact they spend more than half their lives sleeping. On average a cat will sleep 13-18 hours a day. How much just depends on what age your cat is or what type of exhausting activities they had participating in that day.

7. Food Habits:

The most common behavior of a cat is to take foodstuff out of the basin and consume it off the floor, as it is easier for them to grind the food into smaller pieces. A cat also eats grass or houseplants when they have indigestion so they can vomit and relieve themselves. Almost immediately after eating they will gag out the offending substance.

Cats are multifarious creatures. Their behavior mainly depends on natural factors as well as on the genes and the atmosphere in which the cat develops. To really understand a cat and their behavior could take a lifetime and a fun and love filled lifetime it would be.

Have a cat behavior problem that needs solving? If so, visit http://www.secretsofcats.com today to get expert information on how to train your cat and eliminate cat problems fast.

My Cat Understands Me - Jackie Mackay

"I'm sure he understands every word" is a thought that has crossed many of our minds as we look at our pets looking at us.

I believe we can set up discourse with animals more than we currently 'believe' We know about horse whisperers, now dog whisperers in the US. There is a lot of emerging evidence that animals understand more than we think they do. It's easy to see references to talking (communicating) to animals on sites and blogs everywhere.

Here's were it began in the public consciousness - an excerpt from a very old book, famous worldwide - Doctor Doolittle.

At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the parrot said to the Doctor, "See, HE'S talking to you."

"Looks to me as though he were scratching his ear," said the Doctor.

"But animals don't always speak with their mouths," said the parrot in a high voice, raising her eyebrows. "They talk with their ears, with their feet, with their tails-with everything. Sometimes they don't WANT to make a noise. Do you see now the way he's twitching up one side of his nose?"

"What's that mean?" asked the Doctor. "That means, `Can't you see that it has stopped raining?'" Polynesia answered. "He is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always use their noses for asking questions.

My Talks With Kittens I have always found that talking to kittens helps to bond with them at least and sometimes they turn into remarkably understanding companions. When I was a child I talked to my kitten all the time and we had an understanding I took for granted at the time. Lately I had care for a few weeks of a litter of kittens waiting for homes.

They were a lot of joy and took up no end of time. Buffy liked to ride on my shoulders during the chores. He liked the ups and downs when I was picking things up, though he was a most considerate kit from the off and kept his pins to himself.

So I chatted away and explained what I was doing which had become a natural habit with my own babies who thought I was their horse. Buffy liked being talked to. How could I tell? Well I just could. I'm sure he knew the difference between no and yes within the first day. Anyway, if he didn't like it he'd be off.

Training or Talking? There were rules. No stepping on the keyboard - ever. Wires were out of bounds. Getting on the table came much later - I loved playing with them on the table so re-training was inevitable. I found people were amazed to see such young kittens stepping carefully around the keyboard.Yet I never thought of it as training - just talking to them.

The thing is I talked to Buffy a lot. I never thought about it much at the time because this was not his home - his new grown up mum would set her own rules. They were all litter trained from their natural mother so they knew that there were things to learn.

Buffy never left me alone when I had a bath and even ventured in and walked over my part submerged tummy. He got got a bit prickly with his pins at first so I told him it was not on with a mild reaction. He learned that claws out meant sinking up to his knees. He soon caught on because I was fully focused on him supporting him every inch in his tiny life adventure.

When I have time for a kitten companion I shall get one and also a puppy and set up an experiment about training them to communicate with me as well as each other. In the first instance I believe that the art comes from acute observation of the kitten - undivided attention and care with the tone and emphasis.

That's what I notice about people who are good with animals.

Love helps - a lot. Kittens feel it, as we do too - and come to expect it.

Follow the blog http://www.kitten.co.uk/Blog for more on the subject of kitten understanding and training PLUS resounding pictures in the Kittenish Galleries on http://www.kitten.co.uk/Kittenish1





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