Easier than dogs! (Cats in General)

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	Cats in General
Date:	10/04/01 (184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cute, cheap (relatively!), adorable, did I mention cute?!

Disadvantages: Not all cats are lap cats!

I've had my cat for about 8 years now, he's called... wait for it!.....Sooty! (I know call me original but there we go!) He's black and white - basically he's your traditional, popular (you could say common!) black and white moggy. BUT he's MY moggy - so it makes all the difference!

He does look much nicer (its not just me that thinks this btw!) because he is perfectly symmetrical. Well he's got a really even markings on his face, and he's even got a dead straight white line runny right down from his chest to his hind legs...awww bless!

If you're thinking about whether to get a cat or not, then I wouldnt discourage it. I'll give you a basic run-down on how to care for cats - but dont forget to read more about them if you do decide you'll get one.

I'll also give you a brief run down on basic veterinary advice.

~ General care ~
On a day to day basis a cat is pretty easy to look after.
Generally Sooty's day consists of:
*Get up (or come in - sometimes he likes to go out overnight).
*Have some breakfast
*Go out (if he's been in all night) or go to bed if he's been out.
*Then he'll come in or stay asleep until about 3 O'clock.
*Come downstairs, grab a bite to eat, then go out for 30mins or so. (Unless its pouring down!)
*Come back in - then go to bed until about 6 O'clock
*Go out again for an hour or so.
*Then he'll either come in and then stay in all night or he'll come in at 11pm and go out until the morning.

(Now to me that says "what a life"!!)

And that is it! So basically as far as you prospective owners are concerned - on a day to day basis all you need to do is put down some food once or twice. Open the door to let them in or out - and thats it! (And if you get a cat flap thats even easier!)

So as you can imagine - its not very difficult caring for a cat. (Although that i
s no reason not to read up about cats mind you).

~ Other care factors ~

Dont forget you'll need to worm your cat. There are 2 main worms that affect cats:

Roundworm and tapeworm.

~ Roundworm ~

Similar in appearance to a garden worm (except thinner). Their colour is generally whitish (varies on the cats diet though).

~How they are spread~

The life cycle of a roundworm is fairly simple, being transmitted directly from cat to cat. Adult worms are found freely in stomach and intestines. Small eggs are passed in the faeces - and are then re-digested when cat grooms. The microscopic larvae travels in the blood stream to become enclosed in a cyst in the muscle causing little harm, but in the kitten, ot the pregnant cat it migrates through the liver and the lungs, where it is coughed up and the re-swallowed, growing to a mature worm in the digestive tract....this process continues.
(Nice isnt it!)

~Treatment~

Tablets or liquid medicines can be administered.
Personally we use tablets...purely because cats aren't thick - they know straight away that there is liquid medicine on their food!
Only problem is when trying to get a tablet down is...well...I wont ruin the surprise!
I've finally got the knack now! Neither mum or dad dare administer drugs to Sooty...but I wanna be a vet - so im gonna have to get used to it one way or another!

~Zoonosis~

There is a slight, slight risk that roundworm might be caught by humans. This is extremely rare though.

~ Tapeworm ~

~Taenia and dipylidium species~

Tapeworm are one of the most commonly found parasites in cats.

~Recognition~

This worm has sections of body (which can all live seperately...scary huh - but wait for the next bit!)
It can grow upto 2-3 feet in length (really scary!) Yellowish-white in appearance.

~How they are spread~

Tapew
orm are NOT spread directly from cat to cat. They use an intermediate host. Usually in the form of a mouse or rabbit. The flea is the most usual vector.

~Treatment~

As with roundworm.

Having said all of that - worming is, generally, a straight forward process. Simple to treat now-a-days with combined tablets and medicines.

~ Other problems ~

~ Flea's ~

The cat flea is simple to treat too. It is simply a case or spraying the cat (which they do not approve of!) Or even easier (just more expensive!) is the new "spot-on" treatments (bought from your local vet).
These are great (dont worry about them being dangerous) (see my opinion on "Advantage Flea Treatments" for more info).

~ Ticks ~
These are horrid looking things. Sooty used to pick them up from the fields infront of our house (the field housed sheep!) (hence, aptly enough they were sheep ticks!)
The best way to remove ticks is by wetting the surrounding fur/skin with plenty of methylated spirit (or similar) - this causes the tick's jaw to relax and you then get hold of the tick right by the skin with a pair of tweezers and yank rapidly. Sounds painful - and personally I wouldnt know...Sooty can't talk! You must however make sure the head of the tick is on the body of the tick after, and not left in the cats skin. If left in the skin spetic wounds can occur.

You can however leave the tick well alone and once it has filled up to a disgusting size it will hapilly drop off. If you don't fancy the idea of a roaming, free tick somewhere in you're bed one day though i'd personally advice you to remove it/them there and then!

~ Administering tablets ~

This is basically common sense really...and lots of practice. Never the less i'll run through the basics!

(This is how I do it - basically any other way and Sooty wins!)

Step 1:
Grab cat! (Sou
nds simple? - well cat's seem to know whats coming - so its not as simple as you'd expect!)

Step 2:
Kneel behind him (or her!), this is to prevent them wiggling straight back behind you and escaping!) (They get an unduly knack of doing that!)

Step 3:
Grip each side of the upper jaw, using thumb on other hand open the mouth.

Step 4:
(This is the critically vital part! - get this wrong and you've had it for that day!)
Pop tablet right down to back of throat.
(Again this may sound easy - but you give it go!)

Step 5:
Quickly shut the mouth and keep shut, while stroking under chin to induce swallowing.
This takes some time! Don't be fooled by false swallowing!

Step 6:
Release cat and wait for it to cough it up again!
(Try to avoid step 6...but its quite likely that that will occur!) Patience (and practice) is the key!


~ Whether to get cat spayed/castrated ~

Personally i'd definately have your cat "done" (so to speak!)
If you've got, or are getting, a female cat then it basically is a must that you have her spayed. Unless she's a show/pedigree cat (in which case you shouldnt be in the "moggy" section!).

Female cats are seasonal polyoestrus. They usually cycle from February to September. They are however induced ovulators. However if your cat is in season then its more than likely she'll get mated! If she doesn't, then she'll return to oestrus at intervals of 14-21 days.
Female cats normally have their first oestrus at 6-9 months - but this depends on the photo period.

Queen's oestrus cycle:
Proestrus:
Follicular develpoment occurs during this phase due to the release of LH (Luteinising hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone). This stage is when the tom's are attracted. This stage normally lasts 2-3 days.
Oestrus:
Clinical signs are:
Voca
lisation, rolling and running against objects, persistant treading of hind feet, lateral deviation of tail or lordosis of the spine. Normally lasts 2-10 days.
Interoestrus:
In the absence of mating (or mating being unseccessful and doesnt result in ovulation) the oestrus gradually declines and the queen enters a stage of non-receptivity this lasts 3-14 days. The queen then returns to proestrus or oestrus.
Pregnancy:
Ovulation occurs by the release of LH (stimulated by mating), plasma cancentrations of progesterone increase. Lasts between 64-68 days.
Metoestrus:
(Also known as pseudopregnancy) (false pregnancy).
Ovulation occurs in formation of corpora lutea (follice when in solid structure) and the production of progensterone. After 40 days the concentration of progesterone declines and the queen returns to cyclical activity.

The procedure of spaying should normally be carried out at around 5-6 months of age, regardless of the onset of puberty.

~ Whats the advantages of spaying? ~

Diseases of reproductive tract:

*endocrinological abnormalities
*delayed puberty (24 months old before cyclical activity)
*pseudopregnancy
*ovary disease/tumours
*CEH (Cystic endometrial hyperplasia)
*Pyometra (uterus becomes full of pus)

(In comparison to bitch's however the Pyo is much more uncommon. This is thought to be because the queen is:
* Polyoestrus
* More queens (in relation to bitches) are spayed.

So after all that my advice is that you should get your queen spayed and/or your tom castrated.
(Because you dont want tonnes of kittens if you get a female and you dont want your tom to go disappearing for days on end, scent marking in the house...and generally being grumpy towards people!)


On the whole i'd recommend cat's. They are easier than dogs in respect to not needing walks. They are generally friendly (although Sooty isn't a p
articularly friendly lap cat!)
Generally they're great pets! And like any pet you can be lucky or unlucky...for example some cats are REALLY friendly, while others aren't. Luck of the draw really. Even so whichever you get - i'm sure you'll fall in love with him/her!

Most of all have fun!!

(P.S. perhaps consider getting your moggy from the RSPCA (or similar)...they all need good homes).

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