EVERYDAY CAT CARE

Most shelters are happy to have volunteers come and give resident cats attention by playing with them and grooming them. Cats warehoused in shelters need extra attention and socializing so that they will look good to potential adopters and also will adapt better to life with people once they make it to a loving home. But theres more to helping shelter cats than interacting with them directly, and you may have just the talent required. Consider asking a local shelter if it needs help in any of these areas.

Understandably, people looking to adopt a cat often want a younger one. They hope to have their pet for as many years as possible, and they want to be able to form a special bond. That leaves many older cats in shelters, and from there they often get sent to be euthanized because the shelters just dont have enough room.

Mother Theresa once famously said that she would happily participate in a peace rally but would not attend an anti-war rally. Why not? She no doubt understood intuitively that youre much more likely to effect the change you seek by promoting what you want than by railing against what you dont want.

You sit anxiously in the waiting room while your cat undergoes surgery to remove a cancerous mass. Finally, the doctor comes out in his scrubs and tells you he was able to excise the malignant tumor and that he believes he got it all. Relieved but not yet out of the woods, you wait for the pathology report. Sure enough, it confirms the surgeons belief that he excised the cancer in its entirety. There are clean margins. Why, then, does the tumor grow back in the exact same spot some months later?

Regularly trimming your cats nails isnt just important for your furniture, or for you when the cat comes to knead on your lap. It also reduces the chance of a broken claw and ensuing pain if the cats nail gets caught in something like plush carpet or a soft piece of wood.

It was the very first state in the U.S., and now its the first state in the country to become a no-kill state for shelter animals. Its not a law but, rather, a designation bestowed by the Best Friends Animal Society, a nonprofit animal welfare organization that works to help put an end to the euthanasia of unwanted pets in animal shelters across the country.

My cat has always been a fastidious groomer but has developed dandruff. Are the flakes something I should be concerned about?

More of Swedens homeless cats may soon be finding their way to permanent homes because of Kattis.net, which mimics social dating apps. Just as date-matching sites help people sort through potential romantic partners more quickly than traditional dating, Kattis compiles a database of all the cats available for adoption in the countrys 100-plus shelters, allowing an easier sorting of potential pets based on appearance and information about age, behavior, and so on. It provides much more promise for an optimal match than just visiting the local shelter.

Its not uncommon for a cat to vomit up a hairball every week or two. And while the momentary hacking, gagging, and retching it takes to make it happen doesnt feel good to the cat, neither is it harmful - usually.

Want to learn about saving cats lives through innovative shelter-based research? Or how people and big cats like cheetahs can be expected to share the same landscape? Or even non-cat things, like how to create environmental enrichment for an elephant? And would you like to learn about all these things for free? Well, you can.

Many more cats are overweight than in the past. The most recent numbers indicate that up to 66 percent of our cats carry around excess pounds - two out of three felines. The chances for adverse health effects are significant.

Its well known that cat owners can contract toxoplasmosis by touching soiled kitty litter, then touching their mouth, nose, or eyes. Even a microscopic amount of the toxoplasma gondii parasite in some cat feces can cause the flu-like symptoms of the illness.