Geriatric Cat can still jump and play

Geriatric Cat Clyde can still scale 3 to 4 feet to the top of the glass cabinet in the living-room.

Geriatric Cat still looks great for his 19 years.

Geriatric Cat Clyde ponders do I stay up here, or get down?

It’s a long ways down. Do I dare jump?

Just like yesteryear, Clyde finds his old hide-out.

Hope those younger cats aren’t around. I don’t want to be on the ceiling anymore.

Clyde can still jump and play despite being 19-years-of-age. He what they call a geriatric cat as he is over 15.

The International Cat Care organization points out in recent years, feline ages and life-stages have been redefined. Cats are considered to be elderly once they reach 11 years with senior cats defined as those aged between 11-14 years and geriatric cats 15 years and upwards.

Clyde, always a scaredy cat

Keep in mind, Clyde is, and always has been, a scaredey cat, and in the past year, it’s gotten worse as the two youngest cats chase him when they see him. As Clyde’s human could not stand him hiding in the closet, Paws set up a nice setting, complete with a whole second floor to himself. The benefit, he gets to snuggle with his human ever night, and Lenny and Little Yellow have the downstairs where they cannot terrorize him. The other two cats, Pink Collar and Siamese Linus aren’t a threat, so they can go either upstairs or down.

This Sunday Selfies Blog Hop is being hosted by The Cat on My Head

While Clyde spends most of his time sleeping and is starting to look like a geriatric cat, the Paws gang hears him running and playing in the middle of the night. But it’s less and less frequently.

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Crime Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery

Crime Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery, written by Dusty Rainbolt, is almost an encyclopedia full of everything you ever wanted to know about a cat’s litter box issues.

Litter box issues are the number one reason people surrender their pets, and Dusty does a tremendous job outlining various health and behavior issues that could be the culprit.

Book Review

Crime Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery

Even though our cats have moved into our hearts and families, they are not little people. They are cats. Years ago, they learned to use the giant sand box of the Sahara Desert to do their ‘business’. They still like a litter box texture that’s just like that fine sand. That’s why community cats just love kids’ sand boxes as litter boxes.

Every multi-cat owner should have one box for every cat, plus one. Additionally, the litter boxes should not be stowed away in the basement or garage. They should be strategically placed throughout the house where kitty can easily access them. An older arthritic cat may not be able to make it to the basement without a lot of pain.

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FIP research hopeful

FIP research hopeful that within the next 10 years feline infectious peritonitis, FIP, will no longer be a death sentence for cats.

FIP research hopeful

For many of us this is fantastic news because the loss of a young cat can be devastating. The Paws family lost our beloved Tubby to FIP almost 10 years ago, and we think about our black Siamese sweetheart every day.

Most recently, the Winn Feline Foundation announced a major breakthrough in FIP research. Over the past 25 years, Winn has granted $675,000 to the cause. In 2015, Morris Animal Foundation pledged $1.2 million to fund research to better understand the disease and find a treatment for it.

FIP, a devastating condition triggered by infection with a feline coronavirus, is difficult to diagnose, and is always fatal, up to now. Once diagnosed, the cat may only live days or weeks or months; however, a few may live for years. While feline coronavirus is common, especially in places with lots of cats, it by itself is of no concern, except for the cats where it mutates into FIP. Paws wrote about Tubby’s battle. Check out:

FIP, fatal with no cure, most common in young cats like Tubby, can affect cats of any age with compromised immune systems

The little known fatal cat disease FIP strikes home

There’s no single test for FIP. Rather diagnosis is made by taking the sum of numerous findings. Experts at the University of Tennessee’s veterinary college estimate that FIP affects as many as 5 percent of cats in shelters and catteries, as well as some smaller proportion of household felines.

Tubby succumbed to the disease about a year and a half after being adopted from a shelter. We had no idea this kitty was harboring such a deadly disease, nor had we ever heard of FIP before. Now our ears perk up with curiosity when we heard the mere mention of FIP.

FIP research hopeful

Vicki Thayer, executive director of the Winn Feline Foundation, says she’s particularly excited about research on reversing the progression of FIP. The work is a collaborative effort between Dr. Niels Pedersen, a veterinary researcher at the University of California Davis, Drs. Yunjeong Kim and Kyeong-Ok Chang of Kansas State University and William Groutas, a medicinal chemist and professor at Wichita State University.

FIP, SARS & MARS linked to corona viruses

She has reason to be excited. Research is centering on the possibility of FIP vaccines being derived from components used to treat human Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Both are caused by corona viruses similar to FIP, and this may help advance therapeutics toward FIP. Dr. Pedersen shared this positive news at the 39th Winn Symposium in Chicago, Ill on June 29, 2017.

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BJ Bangs recipient of 2017 Winn Feline Foundation Media Award

BJ Bangs knows cats matter, and this year, Paws for Reflection founder and author was honored with the 2017 Winn Feline Foundation Media Award, which recognizes journalists and editors who publicly support promote awareness of feline health.

This is a huge deal as Paws for Reflection is serious about cat issues, and educating people about feline health issues is one of our top priorities.

Vicki Thayer, DVM, DABVP (Feline) Executive Director of the Winn Feline Foundation, presented the award via video conference before over 450 people at BlogPaws 2017, thanking BJ for her tireless advocacy, supporting the health and well-being of all cats. Thayer commended BJ for her endless support to promote Feline Fix by Five Month’s initiative to have all cats spay/neutered by five-months.

BJ Bangs received the Winn Feline Foundation’s 2017 Media Appreciation Award at BlogPaws 2017. Pictured with her is Steve Dale, host of two nationally syndicated radio shows, and member of WFF Board of Directors.

BJ Bangs received 2017 Winn Feline Foundation Media Appreciation Award. Pictured with her is Vicki Thayer, Executive Director Winn Feline Foundation, center; and Teresa Keiger, editor of CFA’s Cat Talk and CFA judge.

BJ connected withSpay USA founder Esther Mechler, who spearheaded the Feline Fix by Five Month’s Initiative earlier this year, and is working on a media campaign to help spread the word to veterinarians and the general public about why early spay/neuter is so important. BJ has written a number of posts about cat overpopulation, and Feline Fix by Five could be revolutionary in helping reduce the numbers. By reducing the number of ‘oops’ litters, the number of kittens entering shelters could be dramatically curtailed.

BJ is thrilled to be recognized as she joins the ranks of some of the top feline writers in the country, including Steve Dale, pet columnist, host of two nationally syndicated radio shows, Steve Dale’s Pet World and The Pet Minute, who sits on the Winn Feline Foundations Board of Directors, and Amy Shojai, who has authored over 30 pet care books and one of the original founders of the International Cat Writers Association.

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Healing Whiskers – Oliver, a pet therapy rat, brings smiles to people’s faces

Healing Whiskers – Oliver, a therapy pet rat, brings smiles on people’s faces

June is Post Traumatic Stress Awareness Month, and Paws for Reflection is devoting several posts to the benefits of pet therapy for those with PTSD, as well as others. At BlogPaws 2017, Paws for Reflection met Oliver, a therapy pet rat, and we reached out to Healing Whiskers for an Q&A interview.

The release of the move Meghan Leavy this month highlights the special bond between service dogs and people with PTSD. At Paws for Reflection, we know all animals can be beneficial as therapy pets, including cats. Here, we highlight, how Oliver, a pet rat, is a perfect therapy pet.

Tell me about you, Oliver and any other pets you have?

My name is Abby Chesnut, I have two blogs: Healing Whiskers and The Chesnut Mutts. I have two part-time jobs as a merchandiser and a postal carrier, and I’m also a volunteer photographer for our local animal control and rescues.

I live in Rome, Georgia with my boyfriend, Johnny, where we have two small mixed breed dogs, two fancy rats, and an aquatic snail. Jada and Bailey are the dogs, Oliver and Jasper are the rats, and Tyrone is the name of our snail.

Abby Chesnut with her pet therapy rat, Oliver. Abby has two blogs: Healing Whiskers and The Chesnut Mutts.

Oliver, a therapy pet rat, brings smiles to those he visits.

Teen and young adults love Oliver

How long have you had Oliver? Did you adopt him? How did you center upon him as a therapy pet? How long has he been a therapy pet? What types of places (hospitals, nursing homes, schools) do you visit?

Oliver just turned one years old in April. I actually got both him and his brother Oliver from a breeder in South Carolina. There isn’t an epidemic of unwanted pet rats so breeders are actually a great asset to the rat community to keep healthy rats in the gene pool for pets.

I was looking for a beautiful color and calm temperamenttraining. Jasper was originally going to be trained, but shortly after getting him he started to get seizures, so I picked up his brother Oliver to start training.

His training started as him being out of his cage, being outside, different environments. If he pottied he went back in, but if he held it he got a really great treat. So we took baby steps and I monitored to see if he could handle being a therapy animal. The environment is one thing, but people would be petting him too. So lots of work went into the rat he is today.

Registered as a therapy team in January

We just got registered as a therapy team in January and started doing a lot of finals week de-stress events at local colleges. Teens and young adults love Oliver! We are hoping to expand more into other venues, but public events and schools seem to work well for us.

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