Cats: Discussions

Hi everyone,

Olivia and I are from Canada and with the cooler weather setting in we wanted to share the following:

Please check under the hood of your car before starting it. Cats have been known to climb under the bonnet of a vehicle to get warm or out of the rain. It only takes a moment of your time but it can save one of our furry friends from a serious injury or worse.

Harmony

Hi, Cat Lovers!
I noticed that a bunch of new people have joined our Neighborhood,
but haven't seen many posts about the fur babies of these newcomers.
Please tell us something about your kitty.

Our cat Leo has Epilepsy. I am up right now only because I always stay up with him after he has a grand-mal, and he had one at 1:15am.
Anyway, does anyone else here have a cat that has seizures? If so, do you notice a pattern with them, like time or how often? Can you also sense when he is going to have one? What mediciations does your cat take for it, if any, and how often does he get it and what is the dose?

Leo gets an 1/8 of a grain of Phenobarbital every morning and a 1/16 of a grain every other evening. This dosage was carefully worked out over 8 years. Any lower then just 1/8 a grain a day and he begins to have grand-mals daily and very bad ones. At the levels we have him on now he will have a bad grand-mal every 2 to 3 months.

Leo tends to have them in the early mornings. If I go away on a trip he will generally have one by my 2nd day away. Also I have a sense on when he will have one. If I believe he will he ALWAYS does within 2 days, but I do not always pick up on it and he has some with me not sensing it coming. I mention this because I told my girlfriend on Wednesday morning that I can feel he is going to have one in the next couple of days, and sure enough less than 48 hours later…..

Poor Leo, it just breaks my heart to see him having a grand-mal. It leaves him so exhausted, and he goes through a phase for a few hours of having many petit-mals.

Well, back to brushing and comforting him.

David

9-16-09 @ 7:45pm.

Good Evening Friends,

The story of Mr. Whiskers...He has an owner down the road. His ower don`t really love him.

Mr. Whisker`s is aware of this and walks the hood for love. Maybe someone to take the burrs out of his fur.
And food & water would be nice.

He found that person in me "Fish" He bites others that come around him,for he is fearful of mans hand. He don`t bite me.

He now comes to me limping,bleeding,in pain and week.

I see him and cry out "Oh my friend Mr. Whiskers" He comes to me a lays on my deck.

I run into the house & get a cloth w/water to wash away the blood. See Mr. Whiskers was in a fight.
He sleeps on my roof of the house @ night to keep from getting into fights w/the mean cats in the hood.

I want to bring Mr. Whiskers in and save him from the pain and lonelyness. But he is owned by someone down the road.

Here is a picture of Mr. Whiskers. My friend...I feel so helpless. I feel angry @ the owner. This pic was taken after I washed the blood off to see how bad it was.
The mean cat got him a few times and close to the eyes. Lucky for Mr. Whiskers moved in time to save he eyes.

How do you help Mr. Whiskers?

Best Wishes,
Fish

PS. I won`t keep this picture up to long because it makes me sad. Please anyone who owns an animal,love them and keep them safe @ all times.

Did anyone notice I was gone for a while? ;) I went to the 2nd largest retail pet show in the US and then stayed there after for 3 days (hey, it was Vegas and I stayed long enough to see the B-52’s play!). I went specifically to locate new cat toys to sell. I did have 1 restriction on my browsing though, the toy (or items) MUST be made in the USA. I was rather disappointed in just how few there were, but in the end I made several good contacts and brought home several sample toys made in VT, PA, WA and CA! The CoolCyberCats are currently doing a thorough job testing them in daily play. And I have already placed an initial order with several companies.

Have any of you ever tried Catnip Spray? In the past I have never bought any that even made any of the CoolCyberCats flinch. Well, at the show I came across some that really smelled strong to me and was made with Organic Catnip and water only! On the first test at home I sprayed some in the air and Nova, Orion and Apollo lifted their snouts high and sniffed around for a while. You can tell Nova and Orion actually did get high from it! It also worked very well on older toys they have since lost most interest in! I am eager to place a nice order for this spray now!

I also found some wonderful note and holiday cards that I placed orders for. But wait, what do they have to do with cats, I hear you cry. One of the cards is a cat card. The Holiday cards are by the cartoonist who does Mutts and he donates to and supports animal shelters. Best of all, the paper is hand made in the USA and in the process of making it from post consumer waste, they add in wild flower seeds! That’s right, you can actually PLANT the card after you get it in the mail and it will grow a bunch of flowers as it recycles itself as food for the flowers! And the Cat note card has catnip seeds rather than flowers! Cool!

In the past when we lost members of the CoolCyberCats we have received many cards, notes, emails and flowers. I think I received over 50 cards when we lost ^Hamlet^ and 6 delivers of flowers when we lost ^Itchy^. One gift that we received both times was a memorial candle and other items in the same box. But the memorial candles were wonderful and meant a lot to me (not that the other items did not of course). I still have the candles, well what is left of the wax in the wonderful glass they came in). One of the businesses at the show was a company that made memorial candles. I spoke to the owner at length and came back the next morning to place an initial order. I will be receiving them in 3 sizes and many scents. He (the owner) also was willing to make several sizes special for me with no scent at all. I did this because I know someone who has a fragrance sensitivity and I felt that some memorial candles with no fragrances would be a good idea. Even better is that the manufacturer donates to animal charities from each sale! Wow, just like I do, so the memorial candles will pack a double donation punch!

I also went to all the cat food manufacturer booths and spoke to all of them. I have been reviewing nutritional info and foods for years now as I try to find the best diets for the CoolCyberCats. I know there are people who will swear by raw diets, caned diets, dry diets, holistic diets and about any other diet that you can dream up. I also have my own opinions now, based on emails and letters with veterinary university nutritionists, talking to many more vets than I care to count and reading as many of the latest medical nutritional studies that I could get from the veterinary universities (Tufts, Cornell, Washington and more). If anyone wants to have a discussion on cat foods I am happy to chime in. :)

Well, that’s about it for now. It is good to be home and have my store on again.


Cheers,

David

American Humane Unmasks New Movies That Are Using Unauthorized ‘NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED’® End Credits

American Humane Holds Trademark of the Disclaimer and Is the Exclusive Monitoring and Approval Body for Animals Used in Films
Denver (August 31, 2009)

The American public and much of the international community look for the “No Animals Were Harmed”® end-credit disclaimer at the end of theatrical films. It is their assurance that the animal actors used in those productions were not killed or injured in any way, and that their well-being and safety were assured by the trusted, credible and historic American Humane Association.

However, some recent movies are misleading the public and creating a significant breach of trust with audiences by inserting unauthorized “No Animals Were Harmed” end credits that have not been granted by American Humane, and whose productions were not monitored on-set by American Humane and its international cadre of highly trained Certified Animal Safety Representatives™.

“American Humane sets standards of care for animals in entertainment, upholds our Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media, and records objective reports from the set attesting to the treatment of the animals,” said Karen Rosa, American Humane’s vice president in charge of its Film & TV Unit. “Films that meet these standards are eligible to carry the end credit, and this misuse of American Humane’s registered trademark is an affront to those producers who legitimately and conscientiously meet those standards.”

American Humane’s Film & TV Unit, based in the Los Angeles area, exposed these recent films as using deceptive and unauthorized end credits:

* Adam by Olympus Pictures, Deer Path Productions, Serenade Films, Vox3 Films.
* District 9 by WingNut Films Limited, Key Creatives and LLC/QED Intl.
* Easy Virtue by Ealing Studios, Fragile Films, Endgame Ent., Odyssey Ent.
* How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Number 9 Films.
* Shrink by Ignite Entertainment, Ignite Productions, Ithaka Entertainment and Trigger Street Productions.

In each instance, American Humane has sent the production entities, studios and/or distributors a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the unauthorized end-credit disclaimers be removed immediately from the theatrical version, the DVD version and any other versions they are releasing. Some studios and producers have indicated they will remove the illegitimate credit, while others are making excuses or taking no action and, thus, are potentially compounding possible infringement of American Humane’s protected trademark. This furthers the willful deception of the public as to the veracity of the safety and well-being of the animals used in those films.

“We encourage filmmakers to work with American Humane, and for distributors to verify the legitimacy of the ‘No Animals Were Harmed’® credit, before approving and finalizing any film prints for theatrical release or DVD distribution,” Rosa noted. “Viewers, too, should always look for the ‘No Animals Were Harmed’® end credit, and they can check our website, www.americanhumane.org/film to see what rating we assigned to films, based on their use of animals, and to find out how the animal action was achieved on films that we monitored.”

About American Humane

Founded in 1877, the American Humane Association is the only national organization dedicated to protecting both children and animals. Through a network of child and animal protection agencies and individuals, American Humane develops policies, legislation, curricula and training programs to protect children and animals from abuse, neglect and exploitation. The nonprofit organization, headquartered in Denver, raises awareness about The Link® between violence to people and violence to animals, as well as the benefits derived from the human-animal bond. American Humane’s regional office in Los Angeles is the exclusive authority behind the “No Animals Were Harmed”® end-credit disclaimer on film and TV productions, and American Humane’s office in Washington, D.C., is an advocate for child and animal protection at the federal and state levels. The American Humane® Certified™ farm animal program is the nation’s original independent certification and labeling program for humanely raised food (www.thehumanetouch.org). American Humane meets the strong, comprehensive standards of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, has been awarded the Independent Charities of America’s “Best in America” Seal of Approval, has met the stringent standards for financial efficiency and accountability required by the American Institute of Philanthropy to qualify as a Top-Rated Charity, and has received a 3-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s premier independent charity evaluator. Visit www.americanhumane.org to learn more.

Hi, Cat Pals!
I am so upset about the Dear Abby column in today's paper (Sept 11). It was about the Mother-in-Law whose kids, grandchildren and their pet cat Precious had to move back in for a short time. When they got back on their feet, the family found an apartment, but it had a no-pet policy.

The mother-in-law said they could leave the cat with her, but as soon as they left, she wanted help "getting rid" of the cat. When her husband and other son refused, she drove 10 miles out of town and dumped the cat out of the car!!! Good samaritans found the pet and took it to the shelter, and was reunited with the family again.

The horror is that the kitty is back with the Monster-in-law. The other family members did not reveal the full story to Kitty's family, and the daughter-in-law was writing to Dear Abby to ask for advice on what to do, fearing there will certainly be a permanent rift once she "let's the cat out of the bag."

What a sad story. Three of my boys are similar victims, where someone drove to our neighborhood and dumped the litter in a ditch at the side of the road. I am so happy that we found them.

Our shelter has some volunteer families for Pet Foster Care, but it is primarily for temporarily displaced dogs. Too bad this other family did not know they needed to find another home for their beloved kitty!