Thanksgiving with your cat – pumpkin!

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Share Thanksgiving with your cat –

If you’re like me, you’ll want to celebrate Thanksgiving with ALL your family members, which of course includes our cats. Thanksgiving menus have many traditional dishes, pumpkin pie is a favorite – yum! (especially with vanilla ice cream). We like it and so do some cats. That’s good because pumpkin is healthy for cats, so you can have Thanksgiving with your cat – pumpkin!
Did you know that pumpkin contains several nutrients? If your cat has a reasonable, well-balanced diet, most cats won’t need additional supplements, but as part of a healthy diet, according to foundanimals.org pumpkin has

  • Vitamin A makes for a good immune system and vision
  • Vitamin E is an antioxidant and helps regulate enzyme activity
  • Lutein keeps eyes, skin and fur healthy
  • Vitamin C also helps with enzyme reactions and collagen synthesis
  • Alpha carotene is another antioxidant that helps keep cells healthy
  • Calcium keeps bones and teeth nice and strong
  • Iron is important for oxidation, cellular respiration and hemoglobin production.

    photo by shari smith dunaif © 2018

Pumpkin can also be used medicinally for your cat: if you notice that your cat is constipated, do what some veterinarians suggest, feed them pumpkin. It’s effective due to the fiber and moisture contained in pumpkin. Pumpkin can even aid with hair balls because the fiber helps move the fur through the cat’s intestines. They just poop it out instead of throwing it up, which always seems really unpleasant for my cats when they do that heaving cough.

How to serve pumpkin to your cat

Get canned pumpkin with no additives: no spices, no added sugar, nothing. Don’t get pumpkin pie filling, get just plain, pure canned pumpkin. Add a teaspoon or two to their regular wet food dinners. I’d start with teaspoon, if they like it, next time try two teaspoons.

photo by shari smith dunaif © 2018

Don’t let them eat the stem or the rind. Don’t feed them the mushy stuff inside or any raw pumpkin, it’s too strong for them to digest. Probably like us. If you have an actual pumpkin, as long as it’s fresh, you can bake the pumpkin flesh until it’s soft, then let it cool before you give it to your cat.

So share Thanksgiving with your cat with pumpkin, just skip the ice cream. At least for your cat.
Happy Thanksgiving! https://youtu.be/v14uTR9FgY8

Cat walks catwalk at international fashion show

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Esmod International fashion show

On Sunday, October 28, 2018 Istanbul had it’s huge international fashion show. During the the Vakko (a Turkish clothing company) collection, an unexpected guest appeared.

An as of yet unnamed grey and black cat joined the Vakko runway much to everyone’s delight. The cat, obviously a fashion conscious creature, choose a collection which donned the same grey and black colors of the cat itself. The cat sauntered up and down the catwalk alongside the models as he/she played with hems and anything with string or ribbons on the models clothes.

cat walks catwalk at international fashion show

cat walks catwalk

After considerable play, the guest cat took a short grooming break, maintaining the demanding attention to appearance all models and cats alike need to walk the catwalk.

Seems that the participation of this haute couture cat caused a big sensation, possibly overshadowing the models and outfits, as social media lit up.

Perhaps this haute couture cat walks catwalk is the harbinger for the world of fashion. You’d think so…

how to feed young kittens-being mama cat

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How to feed young kittens

You’re going to have to take on the role of being mama cat. This requires a few things, so here are some suggestions.

Young kittens must be bottle fed, and the best artificial nipple is Miracle Nipple. Use KMR (kitten milk replacer). Do not give your kitten cow’s milk, chances are it’ll upset their little bellies.

photo by
shari smith dunaif © 2018

 

 

Hold your kitten upright while feeding.
BTW, when kittens really suck, their ears may wiggle!

How to feed a kitten

photo by
shari smith dunaif ©2018

Kittens have to be burped like babies.

Then, being mama cat, clean your kitten’s face with a soft cloth

At 5 weeks old, your kitten can begin to eat solid food. Some kittens do better to transition to solid food by mixing it with KMR to make a gruel, gradually decreasing the KMR.
Angel Alvarado, LVT (licensed veterinarian technician) says: Do not feed cheese or cow’s milk, it will cause GI upset.

what if you find stray kittens?

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what if you find stray kittens?

Mother cats take care of their kittens beyond just feeding them. So if kittens are orphaned, they need human intervention to survive, otherwise they’ll die. Chances are it’s the cold that kills them before they die of starvation. So if you find stray kittens, you need to bring them indoors. Then you need to have some idea of how old the kittens are, because you may be in the position, regardless if you’re a man or a woman, of suddenly becoming mama cat.

photo by Shari Smith Dunaif © 2018

 

kittens are born with their ear canals closed

  • kitten’s ears open about 17 days
  • kitten’s ears stand up by 3 weeks

 

 

 

      • Kittens can’t retain their own body temperature until they’re 3 weeks old.

    They need to be kept cozy and warm. A fleecy blanket works well. Holding and cuddling them is lovely too, for you and the kittens.

    photo by Shari Smith Dunaif © 2018

    Kittens are born with their eyes sealed closed

          • kitten’s open their eyes somewhere between 10 – 14 days
          • kitten’s eyes start to change color in 4 weeks, but takes about 9 months for their eye color to be complete
          • kitten’s are born with blue eyes because their eyes aren’t developed; as kittens mature, most cats eye color changes

          If your little kitten isn’t ready to play, don’t worry

          • kittens become interested in play by 3 weeks old.

        age of kittens when they start to p,ay

        photo by shari smith dunaif
        © 2018

 

An indication that a kitten is younger than 4 weeks is to notice their claws

  • Kittens claws can’t retract until about 4 weeks old.

Vets often determine any cat’s age based on their teeth, including kittens.

  • Kitten’s teeth start coming in by 3 weeks; their permanent adult teeth come in around 3 – 4 months.

The ASPCA.org explains how to tell the age of kittens:

The middle incisors are the first to come in around 14 weeks, with the second and third incisors following shortly after at about 15 and 16 weeks, respectively. Kitten teeth are tiny, which makes it tricky to tell if the incisors are baby teeth or the permanent adult teeth. It’s easiest when you have some of both to serve as a comparison…the baby teeth are a little smaller with pointed tips, while the permanent teeth are a little wider with flat edges.

 

Another reason why having an idea of the kitten’s age is to know what they need. Until about 5 weeks old, kittens need mama cat to lick them to stimulate them to go to the bathroom. Get a soft cloth and gently rub the anus and urinary area to simulate mama cat’s tongue, until the kitten does pee and/or poop.

      • kittens will pee and poop on their own at around 5 weeks

So at about 5 weeks, kittens are able to start using kitty litter. You can introduce kittens to a litter box by 4 weeks. Begin by providing them with a small shallow one so they can climb in and out easily. You can place them in the box to get them use to it. They might instinctively start digging around. That’s good. Give them a treat. If they don’t, gently guide their paws to dig. They may actually use the box. If they don’t, whatever you used to stimulate them to go to be bathroom, like a soft cloth which they peed on, put it in the box. That let’s them smell their own scent and tells them to eliminate HERE. One more thing, watch them, but don’t be too intrusive, cats require some degree of privacy.

Young kittens need a mama cat – and it might be lucky you!

watch for a future post about feeding young kittens…

Why does my cat purr?

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That lovely sound of a purring cat

It’s a sound everyone loves. When a cat purrs, we know it means your cat is secure and happy. But why does my cat purr?

My cat knows it’s an effective way to communicate. When I’m petting my cats and they purr, I keep petting them. Or, I let them stay in my lap. Most likely both.

Cats purr physically begins in their diaphragm and then to their larynx. A domestic cat’s purr is 26 hertz. Coincidently, or not, science has proved that a low frequency like 26 hertz is a sound that aids healing bones and tissue.

Why does my cat purr?

Another reason why cats purr: it helps them when they’re scared or injured. Cats will even go next to other pets to console them.

cat comforts sick vet

Tom comforts a vet

 

 

Humans too.

why cats purr

Vincent the cat comforts dying Luna from Anne D.

 

 

 

 

 

Cats have been known to sense a dying housemate, like a dog. Vincent, a cat, laid next to the dying dog Luna. He purred and snuggled Even a dying cat will purr, to comfort themselves, maybe to console us too.

So purring, for happiness or comfort, is another way we bond with our cats.