Cat Rescue Going the Way of the Poodle Skirt

The April 20, 2011 edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a story from Anderson, S.C. Apparently, Buster, the family cat was scared up a 150 foot pine tree near their home. As is often the case, going up the tree was the easy part. After phone calls to the  Humane Society, animal control, the police department and the fire department, the cat ended up staying in the tree for 9 days. No one wanted to rescue Buster.

The fire chief was quoted as saying they don't provided this service to the community anymore due to "liability issues." This made me pause. This would be a more serious liability issue then sending men and women into burning houses? Or are they more concerned about being sued by the cat owner if the cat would jump out of the tree and hurt itself? Remember back in the day when firefighters were always available to rescue cats from trees? It was good to be a cat then.

Buster stayed in the tree for 9 days (through two storms) before his humans took matters into their own hands. One 40 foot ladder and presumably a bucketful of kitty treats later, Buster once again had all 4 paws on the ground.

While I can understand the family's frustration with local officials, I have strong opinions about the cat being outside to begin with. I have previously written an article about the issues with allowing your cats outside. I'll post it for you to have a look.

National Adoption Weekend April 29-May 1 at PetSmart Stores

How bad do you think the homeless pet situation is in the U.S. today? According to a PetSmart Charities research study, it's probably worse than you think. Close to 8 million pets are living their lives in shelters nationwide and about half of those will be euthanized every year. These aren't the 4 million animals that are inappropriate for adoption, although there are certainly some of those. Most of these millions of animals are perfectly healthy and would be thrilled to have a family who loves them.

When older cats are brought into shelters, often people wonder what is wrong with the cat. Does he spray on the furniture? Does she have an illness that will cost you thousands of dollars? Does he bite? Is she unfriendly? More often than not, the answer to those questions is "no." Cats are taken to shelters because a new husband has allergies, owners might pass away or must relocate and cannot take the pet, or there may be a tragedy of some kind (fire, storms) that separate the pet from its human. Sometimes the animal is rescued from an abusive situation.

If you have another cat in your household, admittedly, it is often easier to introduce a new housemate if the newbie is a kitten. The joy of adult cats is they are more settled. If you don't have the energy for a kitten, older cats are far less likely to climb to the top of the refrigerator to jump on your head or attempt to catch their dinner in your fish tank.

PetSmart Charities, Inc. has launched a social movement to help find homes for 4 million animals. People Saving Pets is hoping to find homes for these animals by giving people a place to obtain information and share it with other community members. They can help you find volunteer opportunities and homeless animals in your area waiting for someone to love them. You can also make a financial contribution to local animal welfare agencies.

The program was officially launched in Oklahoma City and Phoenix, but over 115 animal-welfare organizations are already supporting the movement. If your city isn't already involved, it probably will be soon. You can also "Like" People Saving Pets on Facebook.       

The FURminator

As spring approaches, your cats will begin shedding their thick winter coats and replacing them with a lighter coat for summer. This can be a frustrating time for most cat owners. Not only do you have more hair floating through your home, but your probably cleaning up more hairballs this time of year as well.

Enter the FURminator. This specialized kitty comb claims to reach down to the undercoat and get out loose hair like no other comb on the market. By using the FURminator, you can reduce the amount of hair clogging up your vacuum cleaner by 90%.

And it works. Really well.

The problem you might have with FURminator products lies in the personality of your cat. Apollo is perfectly willing to stand around for a brushing, anytime...anyplace.

My girl cats, though, are much less tolerant to being touched, poked, and prodded. Molly will allow a brushing with a normal cat comb (protests notwithstanding) but she will have nothing to do with the FURminator. Her screams and hisses can be heard for blocks. Emma, on the other hand, won't allow even your basic kitty brush without having a meltdown of cosmic proportions. As a result,she has never seen the FURminator. Interestingly, she's an angel for the groomer at the "kitty salon."

If your cat loves brushings, the FURminator is the way to go. If your cat is barely tolerant of a comb, this might not be the product to go with - at least not right away.

Wanna Bathe a Cat?

My Cat Fancy page-a-day calender has the following advice for April 7th:

If a member of your household is allergic to cats, bathe the cat once or twice a week. This will remove more than 85% of the allergens.

My husband and I have bathed our cats before. Do you find this statement as hilarious as we did? It might be a great idea, but is it feasible? Particularly in multi-cat homes?

Smelling Like Roses to Me

Tidy Cats recently held a contest to help dispel what half of all n0n-cat owners believe is the nastiness of multi-cat homes. Consider the numbers regarding multi-cat homes: 87% of non-cat owners expect to find hair all over the furniture and floor 48% expect there are stains on the furniture and floor 49% have avoided visiting a home where they know 2 or more cats live 60% would be willing to give something up to avoid visiting these homes (Purina Tidy Cats Survey) Well, I've got to say, as a multi-cat owner, you have a point. Certainly there is hair everywhere if you don't vacuum and dust regularly. Certainly there are carpet stains, but that's why there are professional carpet cleaners in the world. Quite frankly, I have the same issues with homes that have multiple dogs, ferrets, children...all of them make messes. It's not about the animal (or child) so much as it is about the home owner's general sense of clean. I've been in a home where I watched the dog pee on the living room carpet and, no lie, it took easily 10 minutes before the homeowner noticed my look of horror and ran off to get something to clean it up with. I've been to a multiple cat apartment where the litter boxes were stored right inside the apartment door. And let me tell you, they weren't being cleaned out as often as they should be. I've been in apartments where you can smell the gerbils/hamsters/ferrets long before you see them. I've also been in homes where you wouldn't even know a pet lived there if it hadn't wandered up and sniffed your hand. My point being that cats are getting a bit of a bad rap because sometimes humans don't do the best job taking care of them. When you don't have to take the cat outside to do its business, it's sometimes easy to "forget" the litter box is there. But then again, that person probably doesn't wash dishes until there aren't any clean ones left. You get my point. I've had friends over who are allergic to cats who haven't had a symptom. I've had people over who didn't realize I had cats until one streaked past as she was leaving. I understand not wanting to visit homes you perceive will be dirty. But don't automatically avoid befriending the woman in your yoga class simply because she mentions Muffy and Princess. Most people care for their animals and their homes better than you think. The Grand Prize Winner of the Purina Tidy Cats "Search for America's Most Welcoming Home" is proof positive that smelly cat homes are the minority.