feline health Archives - Page 3 of 6 - MyThreeCats.com CatBlog

Litter Box Research Reveals Health News

Cat owners can breathe a sigh of relief: Your feline’s litter box likely won’t put your family’s mental health at risk.

New British research challenges earlier beliefs that parasites in cat droppings might be linked to schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental health issues.

“The message for cat owners is clear: There is no evidence that cats pose a risk to children’s mental health,” said study author Dr. Francesca Solmi, of University College London Psychiatry.

Cats are carriers of an infectious parasite called Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). They may pass this infection on to humans through their feces. The researchers behind this study wanted to know if contact with cats during childhood raised risk for mental illness.

To find out, the researchers followed nearly 5,000 people born in the early 1990s until they were 18 years old. Specifically, the study looked at whether the participants’ mothers had a cat during pregnancy or if the participants grew up in a home with a cat.

(Source: Health Daily News, WebMD, February 21, 2017)

Do you have a harmonious multiple cat household?

Current statistics on U.S. cat-owning households (there are about 90 million today) show that nearly one half (49%) of these households own more than one cat. (source: Armandhammer.com) Those multiple cat households must have somehow figured out how to achieve feline harmony in their homes.

Basically, the way to a peaceful feline home is to make sure that there are enough resources and space for your cats. If your cats know they have options on where they can eat, sleep, play, and use the litter box, all the better. If all of your cats have only one option, that’s an ideal setting for territorial disputes and added stress among them. We have a few pointers on how to create and maintain harmony in your cat household.

The initial introduction of cats to each other should be gradual and stress free. If possible, keep the new cat in a separate living quarters in your home, with their food, litter box and toys. Your “incumbent cats” will know about the new cat, but not have the stress of direct contact. After a couple of days, gradually allow your “incumbent” cats to approach the new cat, keeping their contacts short and sweet. After a few more days, you will have achieved a successful introduction.

Our strongest recommendation: invest in vertical play spaces. Cat trees, shelves and window perches are ideal solutions for giving your cats privacy in an off-the-ground location. Cats like height, so it’s an ideal solution.

Your cats needs outlets for exercising and scratching. Leave plenty of scratching devices around your home. Whether they are horizontal, vertical or slanted pads, they will protect your furniture as well as your sanity!

Allow each of your cats a separate food bowl . If you have common water bowls, have several in different areas. A water fountain designed for multiple cats is a great way of managing this, just make sure to keep the fountain and the water it holds clean and fresh.

Keep as many litter boxes in your home as the number of cats. One of the worst problems can arise when cats have the use the same box. Territorial issues may arise, causing them to “spray” the litter box, which signals to the other cats to stay away. No one needs to have cats depositing in undesignated areas of the house. Once that “out of box” behavior starts, it’s hard to stop it.

Finally, monitor your cats’ interactions. It’s better to observe body language and catch an early warning signal so that you can diffuse any tension and avoid an out-an-out battle. One great technique for diffusing attention is to pull out a wand toy that immediately draws their attention away from one another and on the moving object (the toy on the wand).

Congratulations on your multiple cat household. May you and they live harmoniously over all of their nine lives!

Outdoor cats – what they do that you don’t know

Didga the Cat (with his human, not pictured). — Didga the Cat (***supervised*** by his human, not pictured).

OK, so your cat has had his dinner, and is now pleading to you to let him outside, using his most convincing, nagging meowwwwwww. You oblige.

So….what’s your cat’s next move? Any number of potential adventures awaits him.

Unless your cat is Didga (see the picture above), I would suspect he is completely on his own, at will to come and go as he pleases. Here are just a few of the many options he has available to him, depending on his environment and the time he spends out there.

He finds and chases insects (name your preference); birds; rodents and other wildlife. Keep in mind your cat is not wild, he is domesticated and not created to run wild. However, once his hunting instincts kick in, he would tell you otherwise.
If he’s lucky enough (again, from his perspective), he will catch them, play with them, and then consume them, in part or in full. He may even bring the remains, intact or not, to your front door, as his gift to you.
Your cat may end up very sick from eating these various vermin, which may cause him and you much distress and cost you a pretty penny at the animal hospital. If he’s fortunate, he will recover.
Crossing the street is another routine, as your cat will undoubtedly want to get from Point A to Point B. It may be a quiet street, rarely occupied by vehicles. On the other hand, it may be a busy highway. It doesn’t matter to your cat. He will try to cross it. (Can you tell where this story is heading?)
Your cat likes to think that all humans are kind and really, really like him, just like you do. He is trusting. Unfortunately, the world has both kind people and those who are nasty to animals.. Will he lead a charmed life and never encounter any of the nasties out there, while outdoors? We hope and pray so, but it’s not certain.
Finally, what happens if the sunny, mild weather suddenly changes into a dark, threatening thunderstorm. Where will your cat go to seek shelter? He may run right home to you if he’s close enough, but that’s not always possible. As for me, knowing my cat might be out there cowering somewhere would really bother me to think about.

As you can see, it’s not all sun and butterflies out there. And, as you can tell, we definitely have a bias in this matter, and believe that companion cats should, whenever possible, remain indoors. However, we understand it’s entirely up to you as a responsible and cat loving human, to make that decision.

Fortunately, there are plenty of cat toys and safer diversions available for indoor cats. We invite you to go to MyThreeCats.com and check them out!

Cats are amazing. Did you know…

A cat’s heart beats twice as fast as a human heart, at 110-140 beats per minute.
A cat’s normal body temperature is 101.5 degrees. This is slightly warmer than a humans.
Cats have 290 bones in their body, and 517 muscles.
A cat has five more vertebrae in her spinal column than her human does.
A cat will almost never “meow” at another cat. This sound is reserved for humans.
During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens. (Spay and/or neuter your cat!)
Kittens begin dreaming at just one week old.
If your cat is 3, your cat is 21 in human years. If your cat is 8, your cat is 40 in human years. If your cat is 14, your cat is 70 in human years.
The more cats are spoken to, the more they will speak to you.
Cats are partially color blind. They have the equivalency of human red/green color blindness. (Reds appear green and greens appear red; or shades thereof.)
Cats need 1/6th the amount of light that humans do to see. Their night vision is amazing!
Cats can see up to 120 feet away. Their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees.
A cat’s ear pivots 180 degrees. They have 30 muscles in each ear, and use twelve or more muscles to control their ear movement.

Miraculous Story – Frozen Kitten Saved by Man With CPR

A small, white kitten camouflaged by freshly fallen snow, was discovered frozen by the Bingham children playing outdoors.

The seemingly lifeless kitten was rushed inside their house. A quick thinking father called his vet trained brother, Justin, who rushed to the scene and started to work on the motionless kitten.

After Justin dedicated an hour of rubbing the kitten and pumping his chest in an effort to get his blood flowing (see video at: Lazarus Kitty ), the miracle baby started to revive. By the end of the day, the little guy was up on his paws and meowing.

The family named him Lazarus, after the Bible story of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. Lazarus was adopted into the family, and is now romping energetically around their home.

Miracles do happen!