Along New York’s Mohawk River between Rochester and Albany, lies once thriving Montgomery county. Yet the town George and Judy found in 2004 was a dying town. Like many small towns, manufacturing disappeared and jobs went overseas.
Montgomery County has beautiful historic houses from the late 1870s through the early 1900s.
Small towns with historic houses needed some money and a lot of TLC to restore. George and Judy bought such a house, circa 1890. The surrounding countryside is rolling hills and pastures.
Last October, on a day so clear the distant hills defined the horizon, George and Judy took a stroll. They relished the fresh smell of grass and the sound of crickets.
The next week George and Judy took her to the vet. Turns out, Lily was only five weeks old when they found her. The vet said she was too young to survive on her own and if they hadn’t brought her home she would have died.
The 2016 documentary Kedi, portrays the thousands of stray cats in Istanbul, Turkey and the locals who look after them. In fact, Istanbul is referred to as the City of Cats, and KEDI, means ‘cat’ in Turkish. Ceyda Torun, a native of Istanbul, directed.
If you’ve already seen the feature length (80 mins.) documentary, perhaps you feel like my kitty care: Kedi is utter delight. If you’d like to read more, click Kedi.
Viewing is available for rent/buy on various premium channels, but if you have to pay to see it, hopefully a movie theatre near you will screen it.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see it and happen to be in New York in The Hamptons, Kedi is being screened in August.
There’s many great cat-themed movies, but this is one of the best. Hope you get to see and enjoy.
my kitty care does not endorse any product discussed on The Scratching Post, nor does my kitty care receive payments, or any form of compensation from any company or product on my kitty care.
Pallas cats are kinda cute in a quirky way. Their flat faces and small ears set low on their heads gives them that endearing “grumpy” look. In addition, they are really fluffy.
Pallas’s cats have low set ears
Their fur is like a heavy parka, and covers their ears like a hood, and protects their paws like mittens. They have the thicket fur of any cat to endure the extreme cold in their primary habitats of Mongolia and Russia, in steppes reaching up to 16,500 feet. Their tails are long enough (8″-12″) to wrap around their bodies for additional warmth. Their fur is so thick that although Pallas cats are from 27-36” long, all that fur makes them look bigger than they really are, which is closer to the size of a house cat. In fact, they weigh between 6 – 11 lb.s
A Pallas’s Cat as a Pet?
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a Pallas cat as a pet? Actually, no. They are ferocious creatures and don’t have the temperament to be domesticated, and like most cats prefer solitary lives. More important, however, is their health. Pallas’s cats immune system is adapted to their high-altitude environment; they aren’t capable of fighting bacteria and viruses found in lower terrain. A high mortality rate while in captivity is evidence of this.
Female Pallas cats are in heat for only two to four days a year, occurring December through March. The gestation period is sixty-six to seventy-five days (domestic cats typically are pregnant sixty-three to sixty-five days). Usually Pallas cats have litters of three or four, although one to six kittens is possible. Kittens are independent by four to five months old.
Like all cats, Pallas kittens are mighty cute
By nine to ten months, they reach sexual maturity. They can live for eight years. A few in captivity have lived to twelve years old.
What’s on the menu for Pallas’s cats?
These guys like to eat marmots, pikas, ground squirrels, voles, gerbils and hamsters. Birds like sandgrouse, partridges and larks are also on the menu since these birds spend time on the ground. Pallas cats ‘periscope.’ It’s a hunting technique enabling them to inconspicuously keep an eye on prey. Their small, low set ears help keep them concealed when peering over the top of where they’re hidden. They repeatedly peek then dip down behind the rock.
This technique also works when avoiding predators.
Predators like eagles and other birds of prey (raptors), grey wolves, herding dogs and red foxes. Humans also hunt Pallas cats. In Mongolia hunting is legal, and Pallas cats are killed for their pelts, and their fat and organs are used medicinally. Happens in Russia, too. They’re also mistaken for marmots, which are hunted, particularly since Pallas cats use marmot burrows to hang out in.
The IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species) considers the Pallas cat “near threatened.” Their habitat is disrupted by removal of resources like mining, oil and gas, and threatened by human encroachment by an increasing human population. Ranchers compete for grassland for their grazing livestock; and farmers destroy grasslands for crops, treading on Pallas’s cats territory. The framers also poison vermin, which impacts the Pallas food source and also directly kills them. The number of wild Pallas cats is difficult to determine but it’s believed to be around 15,000 although some say 58,000. Guess no one really does know.
Apparently, Pallas cats don’t meow, they grunt and growl, but they do purr. They are, after all, CATS.
Bear was the sweetest cat ever. No, really. I know most will say that about their cats, but she really was. When she died of CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) our hearts broke.
The fear of our other cats getting CKD has since haunted us.
This encouraged My Kitty Care to continuosly learn about Chronic Kidney Disease in cats and what NOT to do. The recent suggestions to help prevent CKD by cat-only veterinarian and nutrition expert Dr. Lisa Pierson, caught our attention. It fundamentally focused on two things:
Generally speaking, a good diet is desirable for maintaining a healthy cat. No different than us. But what is a healthy diet for a cat, particularly for helping prevent CKD? The main thing is to Limit dry food.
The reason is this, dry food is…dry. Wild cats get their moisture from their prey, and our cats naturally get theirs from food, too. Which means wet food. More and more cat food companies make products in cans or pouches that either include gravy in the flavor, or as a stand alone gravy product. We just add fresh, filtered water and mix it with the wet food.
Another reason dry food is not the ideal primary food for your cat, is how protein is processed. Most manufactures render the protein. What does render mean?
As of April, 2021, the FDA defined rendering as:
“Any Firm Or Individual That Processes Slaughter Byproducts; Animals Unfit For Human Consumption, Including Carcasses Of Dead Cattle; Or Meat Scraps.”
Gross. So dry food taxes your cats kidneys by being hard-to-digest, rendered, poor quality protein, and lacking moisture. Even if your cat is sadly diagnosed with CKD, some vets will recommend products designed for cats with CKD, including dry food products. Be wary of these products: they are dry food.
Next on the list is over vaccinating your cat with FVRCP. This is particularly relevant if your cat is an indoor cat. Based on our research, all three of the diseases the FVRCP vaccination addresses are highly contagious, and passed by contact with infected cats, or fecal matter, food bowls, etc. These diseases are serious, and most cats should be vaccinated. Kittens are particularly susceptible to serious illness from these same three diseases, which is why a series of vaccinations are typically administrated by your vet for kittens.
But how often? Dr, Lisa Pierson says, “It is very important to understand that the current guidelines state that the FVRCP combination vaccine should not be given more frequently than every 3 years. That is not the same as stating “these vaccines should be administered every 3 years.”
Once a kitten has received two doses of FVRCP (rather than the typically recommended four) plus once as an adult, the question becomes, is repeated vaccinations of FVRPC a risk or beneficial? Dr. Pierson’s view that even three years may be too often for an adult cat is because the vaccination has been proven to cause kidney inflammation. The prevalence of CKD in cats, unlike wild cats, makes kidney inflammation a damaging consequence of over vaccinating. Dr. Pierson observes CKD as the most common threat to cats, especially older ones. Unless you board your cat, take your cat to cat shows, or to any place where your cat has contact with cats of unknown health, that may influence the frequency of your cat receiving the FVRCP vaccination, meaning every 3 years, as appropriate. Some vets, however, suggest annually. Regardless, it’s your call.
Why is over vaccinating the FVRCP a potential risk for CKD in our cats?Again referring to Dr. Lisa Pierson: “The viruses used to make vaccines need to be grown in what is called a “cell culture.” The cells used to make the FVRCP vaccine are feline (cat) kidney cells. When these kidney cells are injected into the cat (along with the vaccine), his immune systems views them as foreign and makes antibodies against them. Unfortunately, those antibodies do not know the difference between the injected kidney cells and his own kidney tissue resulting in a potential autoimmune ‘attack’ on his kidneys. (‘Auto’ means ‘self.”)
Most people become veterinarians because they love animals and want to help them. But it is important, as a pet parent, to be informed about your cat’s health, and how to keep them healthy. That includes your cat’s diet, annual physicals, sufficient exercise, and vaccinations.
Thank you Dr. Pierson for great information.
my kitty care does not endorse any product discussed on The Scratching Post, nor does my kitty care receive payments, or any form of compensation from any company or product on my kitty care.
Fortunately, recycling is a way of life. Here’s how we can participate when taking care of our cats.
Instead of throwing away all those plastic bags, look at them. Some of them make excellent bags when cleaning your cat’s kitty litter box.
This isn’t garbage! There’s certain types of bags that are particularly good to use: the right size, with an opening big enough for your litter scooper, and a strong enough plastic.
My favorite bags include: bread bags; chip/pretzel bags; supermarket produce bags (although doubling them up is safer since they can rip) and liner bags inside cereal boxes.
Once we repurpose these bags for disposing used kitty litter — then they’re garbage.
