10 May, 2011 (21:58) | Catnip | By: kasey
Are you just not sure about giving a cat drugs? Even if that drug is just a plant and it makes your cat happy beyond belief? Is there a such thing as having too much fun? Is threatening someone with a good time an actual threat? The questions of a catnip purchaser.
Let’s discuss how catnip use may effect you and/or your family.
1. Your cat may try to seduce the carpet, walls and/or hardwood floors.
How do you feel about that? If it makes you uncomfortable maybe you should forget catnip and speak with a therapist. Why does that bother you? Weird. The rest of us know how hilarious this is.
2. Your cat may attack imaginary enemies.
No one can be sure what cats are chasing when they are chasing and attacking imaginary things. Cats don’t speak English and humans don’t speak cat. Bummer. Don’t worry, science is working on it.
3. Your cat may eat the catnip or it might just roll in it until it covers its entire body.
This effects your life negatively in the following ways…zero ways. Seriously, who does this hurt? Nobody! Why are you depriving your cat of joy? You can roll on the carpet with them if you’re jealous of all the fun they are having. Problem solved. It could be a bonding experience, a really weird bonding experience.
I’m guessing you probably have some other questions. Of course you do, buying catnip is a big decision. (?) “How will I know when my cats have taken their nip habit too far? What if my cat goes from using nip as a social lubricant into using it as a crutch?”
Are you seriously thinking these things? Wow. You might be over-thinking it. It’s cat nip. It will make your cat happy, you will be happy seeing how happy you’ve made your cat AND you can laugh at their crazy behavior. (Don’t worry, this won’t hurt your cat’s feelings.)
Maybe you’re thinking this all sounds too good to be true. Something that makes cats THIS happy can’t be legal. I assure you it is. Luckily for cats the government hasn’t found a way to legislate their happiness.
Go ahead, buy your cat some drugs. It’s legal and fun.
8 May, 2011 (11:46) | Catnip | By: Vic
Ticks are small, blood-sucking insects (much like lawyers) that attach themselves to warm-blooded animals by burying their mouth parts into the skin. Once a tick begins to feed, its body expands, often to many times normal. A gorged tick may look like a small mole or roundish bump of odd-colored flesh. Ticks are usually found on vegetation, several feet off the ground, and drop onto passing animals such as your cat.
Because their mouth parts make contact with the bloodstream of the host, ticks can transmit diseases, most notably Lyme disease. It’s important, then, that ticks be removed as soon as possible — and with their entire body intact. The longer the tick is imbedded, the greater the risk of spreading anything it might be carrying, and any part of the tick left behind could still contain infectious matter.
What to Do
Keep out of the country. Cats that remain indoors almost never get ticks, unless they’re carried in by other pets, people, or rodent pests. Even if your cat goes outdoors in a “controlled” way (on a handheld leash, for example), keep her away from tall grass and out from under bushes and shrubs — anywhere ticks could be lurking, waiting to drop.
The best defense is a strong offense. If your cat goes outdoors, regularly dust or spray her with a flea and tick product containing pyrethrins (a natural insecticide found in flowers from the mum family). Read insecticide labels carefully. Products containing permethrin (a synthetic form of pyrethrin) are extremely toxic to cats and should never be used on this species. Rodents often carry ticks, so eliminating rodent populations and nesting sites from your home and property will cut down on the number of ticks, too.
Nice and easy does it. Check your cat for ticks any time she goes outdoors, especially in more suburban and rural settings and during warmer weather. If you find a tick on your cat’s body, it’s important to remove it quickly. The best way to do this is to grasp the tick at the skin line with a pair of forceps or tweezers. Try to grab the tick as close to its head as possible and pull gently and steadily straight out from the cat’s body. Forget what you may have learned about burning ticks out; it doesn’t work well, and you run the risk of badly singeing or burning your cat.
It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Ticks are hardy creatures. When you remove one, don’t assume it’s dead or that you’ll be rid of it by throwing it in the garbage or sending it down the drain or toilet. They can crawl back out from any of these destinations, ready to attach themselves to the next mammal that happens by. Throwing them outdoors gets them out of your house but may just be passing the problem along to someone else. It’s best to put the removed tick immediately into a small jar with rubbing alcohol or insecticide, and then seal the jar securely. This method not only ensures the demise of the little pest and seals off any escape, it preserves the insect in case the tick-bite victim develops complications.
Watch for complications. Once you remove a tick from your cat, keep a close eye on her for the next week or so. Ticks can carry some serious diseases, so contact your vet at the first sign of sickness, especially fever, loss of appetite, listlessness, or apparent stiffness or aching in the joints. Sometimes the tick bite itself can cause a progressive weakness in the back legs of the cat, a condition called tick-bite paralysis. This usually clears up on its own, once the tick is removed.
When to Call the Vet
Contact your veterinarian if your cat shows any signs of illness within a week or so after you remove a tick, or if any redness or swelling develops at the bite location. Ticks are small and can be easily missed, so be particularly aware of symptoms any time your cat goes outdoors — even if you don’t see any ticks.
DANGER LEVEL: Because ticks carry some diseases, tick bites should be considered moderately dangerous; however, in areas where Lyme disease is prevalent, tick bites should be treated as dangerous.
Ticks aren’t the only nasty little critter that can latch on to your cat, remember that fleas are out there too.
19 April, 2011 (21:43) | Catnip | By: Vic
The Naming of Cats by T. S. Eliot
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey–
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter–
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
T.SSuch as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover–
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
I can’t think of a better way to begin a blog about all things in the cat-dom than T.S. Eliot . I’ll be regularly posting cat news, funny stories, videos, pictures and all things CHRONIC. Welcome, and come back often.
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