Your cat’s body is made up of 70-80% water or three-quarters of your cat’s body weight is water, so it’s critical that your cat gets enough fluids daily to maintain good health and prevent dehydration. Water is essential for cat’s urinary and kidney health, circulation, digestion, and waste removal. With hot summer days now upon us, it’s even more important that your cat has access to and drinks enough water, as dehydration can lead to a number of serious medical problems and even death. Here are the signs of dehydration in cats and why it’s so important to treat dehydration immediately.
Why Hydration is So Important
Dehydration happens when your cat loses body fluids faster than he can replace them, and it can happen when your cat is either not drinking enough water or is losing too many fluids. Fluids lost through daily urination, elimination and respiration all need to be replaced to normal levels everyday. But if your cat hasn’t been drinking enough water; has been vomiting or has diarrhea; or has been ill or had a fever; or your cat is old, then rehydration is even more critical as all of these can leave your cat severely dehydrated.
The decision to give cat hospice care to our cat Pumpkin has prolonged her life significantly. Now a year and half later after almost euthanizing her, she’s still alive and still enjoying life. Today she’s going to our vet for a checkup to see where her general health is and to understand if we need to make any adjustments to her medical regimen.
I wrote about Pumpkin over a year ago when our vet had recommended euthanizing her to relieve her obvious pain and suffering. She had declined quickly, had lost a significant amount of weight, and was diagnosed with possible lymphoma. But I wasn’t ready to make that decision to end her life and wanted to give Pumpkin another chance, so we worked with our vet to create a palliative care plan for her that would make her as comfortable as possible, address her symptoms, and possibly extend her life. Continue reading Cat Hospice Care Has Prolonged Our Cat’s Life→
There’s a beautiful black and white homeless cat that has lived outside our home for several years now. He wanders between several neighbors’ homes, but he has two homes that he actually calls “home” and that feed him daily—ours and our neighbor. His name is Alex and he’s lived outside for so long that he’s deeply afraid and distrustful of people. Building a simple cat shelter for Alex seemed like the right thing to do to protect him from the elements and give him a comfortable place to lay his head.
Alex appeared to have been abandoned many years ago, when he was a very young cat. He likely had been left homeless when his people moved away from the neighborhood, and left him behind. So Alex’s defenses were always up, he had learned to be on high alert to dangers, and he had become a scared, shy and cautious cat around humans. However, he trusted me enough to let me within about five feet to watch him eat and quietly talk with him. He always watches me carefully—eyeing my every physical move to see if I’m going to betray his trust. Over time though, Alex has come to know that I’m not a threat, but rather his friend who is just simply trying to make his little life better.
I feed Alex and another feral cat on our backyard patio doorstep every morning and night. I love seeing Alex appear in our French door windows eating his warms breakfast and dinner (I add warm water to his wet food). As soon as I see his lithe black silhouette at the doormat, I come to the window and talk to him through the glass and let him know how happy I am to see his sweet face and inquiring eyes.
Easy to Make Cat Shelter
With the recent heavy rains, coupled with the homecoming of one of our neighbors from long-term convalescent care (the other house that Alex shares his time), I seized the opportunity to tell our neighbor about possibly providing Alex some warm shelter under her back patio doorstep. He spends considerable time in her fenced in back yard, as it has provided a safe haven for him over the years. At our house, I bought Alex a pre-made “dog house” and I have several cat beds on top of patio chair cushions under the dining table tarp, so he can sleep and keep warm. So one day while I was talking with Dorothy our neighbor, I mentioned that we would be happy to build Alex a cat house out of a large plastic and Styrofoam box and bring it over. She welcomed the idea (she’s as fond of Alex as we are), so we went to work that night on building a simple cat shelter.
First Cat Inside!
I got this simple and inexpensive idea from a feral cat website. For $10-15 dollars you can buy a large plastic container from Home Depot, Target or any home-building store. And to make it even warmer, add a Styrofoam cooler that goes inside the plastic tote. This provides much better insulation from the cold ground and the elements, and makes it warmer and cozier for them.
Put the Styrofoam tote inside the large plastic container and cut out a cat door at one end of the plastic for an entrance, ideally about 6″ around and in the middle, so it’s off the ground. Do the same for the Styrofoam tote that is inside the plastic container, so the door openings match. You want to make it only large enough for a cat to get through the door, but not a raccoon or a possum. You can take the cut-out and make a roof above the door for the rain, but it’s not necessary.
The best insulator for flooring is straw because it will stay dry and will resist getting wet and damp. But if you don’t have access to straw, add a couple of warm, soft fleece blankets inside (NOT cotton or wool). You can buy fleece blankets at Target, or even CVS during the winter. Place the Styrofoam cover on top of the Styrofoam box inside the larger plastic box, then put the plastic cover on top to close the plastic container, and you’re all set! It’s that simple.
Put your cat house in a place that’s out of the sun as plastic degrades and off-gasses. We recommend placing it under a tarp, roof, eve or where it’s shady all day and very private. Homeless cats care about safety and will not use a closed-in shelter like this if there’s any risk to them of other cats or wildlife cornering them.
Now our Alex will have a house that keeps him warm and dry from the rain. Hopefully, his little life will be just a little bit better now!
Simple Cat Shelter Constructed in Minutes!
Post Script:
In spring 2015, I trapped Alex and he is now living inside our home with our other rescue cats. Here’s the story of his rescue.
Most of the many wonderful cats I have rescued over the years survived trauma before finding a peaceful home, whether forced to live on the streets, dumped at a shelter, left behind in an owner’s move, or was feral with kittens, all had traumatic experiences. But my beloved Morgan had to deal with more than most, because she was abandoned twice.
My role in her story began 17 years ago. At the time, all of my Saturday mornings were spent setting up and staffing a cat rescue adoption site at the Pet Food Express in Pleasant Hill. Before the cats were brought in by their foster parents, I would spend a couple of hours setting up tables, disinfecting cages, and putting up signage, adoption information and marketing materials. One unusual Saturday morning as I was in the midst of getting the site ready, a stranger walked up with a cat carrier. I was thinking, “boy this foster parent is showing up really early!” but this man didn’t act like a foster parent. He was instead agitated, aggressive and belligerent, and as soon as he saw me, he blurted out that his family no longer wanted “this cat” they had adopted from us two years ago. He complained she was shy, scared and terrified of his kids.
Getting older is a normal, natural part of life for all of us. Today domestic cats are living longer than they ever did in the past—thanks to improved nutrition and better food, improved medical care, and more people keeping their cats indoors. But advancing age does not necessarily mean automatic degeneration. And aging does not necessarily mean inevitable disease. Many cats do grow old remaining relatively healthy into their geriatric years, while other cats in their senior years develop chronic or degenerative diseases. And know that even cats that do develop chronic diseases can live well into their late geriatric years—or 20+ years old—given excellent care and attention.
Never assume that changes in your older cat are simply due to “old age,” then write it off as normal aging for them. Most likely there is an underlying medical condition that is causing the changes you are observing in your cat’s behavior or physical appearance. That should always be the first consideration. The main thing is to give your cat the healthiest and best quality of life possible—by watching them closely, noticing any changes that take place, then getting them to a veterinarian to get the medical help they need.
Summer is a favorite season for picnics in the park, enjoying the seashore, and dining al fresco—but with warm summer temperatures also come the fleas! Fleas can wreak havoc on cats causing discomfort, severe skin conditions, allergic reactions, parasites (tape worms), anemia and even death in the worst cases, if left untreated. So it’s important to protect your cat from fleas, but it’s also important to know the dangers of some flea control products on the market today. In this article, you’ll become knowledgeable about the different flea treatment options, some of the health consequences associated with them, and you’ll learn ways to provide your cat with the safest possible flea treatments and precautions available. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly on preventing and treating fleas in cats.
Does Your Cat Have Fleas?
To check whether your cat has fleas, you can run a flea comb through your cat’s fur pressing along the skin to check for adult fleas or flea feces and eggs. These will look like little specks of salt and pepper or tiny black and white grains in the fur. The white grains are flea eggs, and the black grains are flea feces. If you have found and removed some grains on your flea comb, rub the grains onto a piece of white paper and if the grains turn a reddish-brown color, you know you have a flea problem.
Planning ahead for your cat’s health care is no different than planning for our own health care. We never know if or when we’ll get sick and need insurance, but having it gives us peace of mind. Knowing your cat will need medical help at some point is inevitable, so it’s good to plan ahead and be able to provide the care your cat will need. Here are some tips for buying a pet health insurance plan that will meet your needs.
Pet health insurance is just one of the many options available to help pay for emergency or unexpected veterinary bills. If you’re worried about being able to pay for your cat’s chronic illness or life-saving care, an accident, or an emergency—it may be good to know there’s a safety net under you. As with any insurance, you may never need it, but if you worry about affording those one-time emergencies or unexpected expenses that you feel could cripple your finances—having pet insurance may be a good option.
Everyone is in love with cats today. Afterall, what’s not to love? For thousands of years, people have enjoyed the company and companionship of cats. But did you know that having a cat or two can benefit your life, health, and longevity? Cats not only improve our health, but also increase our happiness and well-being, prevent heart disease, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduce feelings of loneliness. Multiple scientific studies show how cats boost our physical, emotional and mental health, enrich our lives, and help us live happier and longer lives.
Here are the many ways having a cat can help you:
1. Lower anxiety and stress
People who spend time with cats or kittens report feeling less stressed and calmer. Research conducted in the United Kingdom by the Mental Health Foundation and Cat Protection, found that 87 percent of people who owned a cat felt they had a positive impact on their well-being, and 76 percent said they could cope with everyday life much better thanks to the company of their cat. Over 50 percent of the cat owners felt that their cat’s presence and companionship was the most helpful, followed by 33 percent that described stroking and petting a cat was calming to them. Playing with or petting your cat can release all the good chemicals in your brain and relax your central nervous system.
Lower urinary tract problems in cats can be life threatening, are extremely painful, and need immediate attention and treatment by a veterinarian. Preventing lower urinary tract problems in cats is critical for your cat’s health.
Urinary crystals can quickly turn into kidney stones, and kidney stones are deadly in a short period of time, so never wait or postpone seeing your veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment. Your vet will determine if there are underlying medical conditions causing the symptoms through conducting a urinalysis, culture and cystoscopy and a complete medical review. If your cat is visiting the litter box repeatedly in a short period of time, straining in the box and sitting in the box trying to urinate, or urinating outside the litter box, it’s time to visit your vet.
