Pet Sitting and Taxi Service

ASK RINKER

Do you have a question about your kitty? Well, ask me.  I will post your question and give you an answer. You can e-mail me at rinker@bless-their-hearts.com.

Q-Why do you ask in your adoption application if the potential parents have leather furniture?

A-Good question!!. As you know, we do not allow declawing. A kitty has very sharp claws.  We like to stretch and when we do, our claws come out.  Even though you may give us a scratching post to claw on, we WILL make a mistake and claw your leather furniture. Since leather is not a forgiving material, holes will be made. This will make you very angry at us and you may even get rid of us.

Q-We have some feral cats that we feed, water, provide shelter, etc. Every once in a while, they leave us dead rats at our door step.  Why do they do that?

A-First of all, thank you for taking care of those feral cats!!!!  Kitties like to bring “presents” to humans that they like. This is the way the feral cats are saying “thank you”. You are a very privileged human.

Q-We have adopted several shelter cats, both male and female.  The problem is that 2 of my males have begun spraying. They are neutered.  What can I do?

A-Neutering helps, but unfortunately doesn’t stop every male from spraying.  Especially in multiple cat households.  Each male kitty may be trying to prove he is the dominant male, so you have a spraying war going on. They may also see cats outside a window, or it may be just a very bad habit.  See the section on Behavioral Problems page on possible redirection

Q-Can I give my cat aspirin?

A-That depends on what kind of aspirin and dosage. If you think kitty needs aspirin, PLEASE call your vet. NEVER give kitty Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen.  Ask your vet before giving any medication to your kitty.

Q-My cat is strictly an inside cat.  Does she need a rabies shot.

A-YES!!! ALL cats need a rabies shot.  Some states require it once a year and some every three years. Your kitty may be an inside kitty but she may escape out the door one time and could come in contact with a rabid animal. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Q-My cat just received his yearly vaccinations.  Within an hour he was not moving around and felt bad.  This went on for 2 days.  Is this normal.?

A-This is probably normal for your kitty.  I know how he feels.  When I got my shots, I felt the same way.  I ran a temperature, wouldn’t eat or drink and stayed on the bed. This went on for 2 days.  After that I was fine.  I have 5 brothers and sisters who just had their shots and a couple of them didn’t react like that..  Always keep an eye on your kitty to make sure its breathing is normal and keep an eye on its behavior in general. If you are worried, just call your vet for advice.

Q-I have heard that there are several diseases that we humans can catch from cats. Is this true and what are they?

A-Yes, there are some conditions that can be spread from cat to human. This is called Zoonoses. This means diseases that can spread from animals to man.  Please do not be afraid to have a kitty as a companion though. Most zooneses are very hard to “catch”. The most common is ringworm. If your kitty has ringworm, your vet will treat it and you should be careful in handling your kitty. When I was first rescued, I had internal and external ringworm. My human Mom didn’t catch it and she wasn’t real careful about handling me.  My vet treated me and in a short period of time I was better. Bacterial infections can be spread also.  Most of these clear up fast with antibiotics.  The most common bacterial zoonesis is called Pasteurella.  About 60-75% of normal cats carry this bacteria in their mouths.  If a cat bites you, you will want to clean the bite real good and put an antibiotic cream on the bite. If the bite doesn’t clear up or is severe, you need to go to your doctor. Parasites are also potential zoonoses. Roundworm eggs can infect humans, especially children. This is passed on through fecal to oral route. Toxoplasmosis is another zoonones.  Read the next question and answer for an explanation. I hope this answered your question.  Please don’t be afraid of your kitty or stop you from adopting a kitty. You humans spread a lot more diseases to each other that we kitties do.

Q-My wife is pregnant. I have heard that pregnant women should not own or be around cats. Is this true and why?

A-No, this is not true.  Many doctors tell pregnant women not to have cats. This is due to their belief that the women will cat toxoplasmosis from the cat.  Toxoplasmosis is acquired by a cat eating an infected bird or rodent or eating contaminated soil. Both cats and people can get this by eating raw or meat not properly cooked.  These meats are pork, beef, mutton or veal. Doctors worry about pregnant women cleaning out litter boxes.  If you have an inside only kitty, you probably have nothing to worry about. It takes an incubation of three days for the oocysts (eggs) to become infectious to people.  If you clean the kitties litter everyday, wash your hands after cleaning box or wear gloves while cleaning, maybe assign litter box duty to another family member for 9 months and keep your kitty inside, you should have nothing to worry about.

Q- Dear Rinker,

We now have 4 kitties (5 actually, including the one that lives with our downstairs tenant), and they love their scratching posts. Their favorite is a 6' tall one, but it's falling apart in certain places! How does one recarpet a scratching post? Who would I call to do something like that?

We had two kitties, but then saw two young cats at the shelter who were raised together, and their owner had to go back to Scotland. We couldn't resist, since we wanted them to be able to stay together!

Thank you
Deborah
Santa Fe, NM

A-Deborah,

Hey, thanks for writing. I LOVE my scratching post!! Mine is falling
apart too and my Mom is fixing to fix it for us. Really, all you have
to do is rip all the carpet off and remove any loose staples or nails. If the lumber is loose you can nail it back together. Get you some carpet to recover the perches and post. Cut the carpet to the size you need and use some wood glue or hot glue. Glue to back of the carpet then place it on your scratching post. When you have that in place, use a staple gun to staple the carpet down. Try to staple on the under sides of the perches. If any of the staples are sticking up, use a hammer to hammer them down. This might take you about 2 hours total but I bet your kitties would love to help you. If you just don't think you can do it, there are plenty of handyman services in your phone book. They can fix anything. You might even know someone who likes to work with wood.

Here is a link that might help you out also
http://www.amby.com/cat_site/declaw.html#build-it

Thanks for writing me. If you don't mind, I would like to put your question on our web site. Thanks for loving your kitties. You are a very special human and your kitties are very lucky to have you as their Mom.

Tell your kitties I said Hey, and May God bless you all!!!!!!!!!

Rinker
 

Q-Rinker,

   My 4 year old make cat has just been diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. The vet tried to explain how he got this but I really didn’t understand what he said. Can you explain this in layman’s terms?  Also, will he continue to get this or is this a one time thing?
Thanks,
Samantha

A-Samantha,

Sorry to hear your kitty has UTI.  That is is problem that I am very familiar with. I have had 2 UTI’s. So I guess that answer’s one of your questions.  Your kitty can get it more than one time. Of course, I don’t know anything about your kitty but I was a street kitty for the first year of my life so I had a few medical problems when I was rescued.  We thought that after I got over the first UTI, I would be OK. I was for a whole year and then it came back.  It was pretty bad this time.  I was on 4 weeks of antibiotics and I have to be on special food forever.  Now, what is Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease? This is a condition that is often associated with the formation of crystals in the urinary tract and can cause a lot of painful symptoms in your kitty. In some kitties, especially us males, these crystals or stones can cause a blockage and we could die. Many things can cause FLUTD. First of all food: High levels of certain minerals in food can increase the chances of crystal formation. High urine pH can cause Struvite stones and low pH can produce Calcium Oxalate stones.  Behavior: Indoor kitties don’t get as much exercise as needed, we don’t drink as much water as needed and sometimes our litter box isn’t kept real clean. All of these thing cause us not to want to urinate as much or as often as we should. Weight:  Carrying to much weight is another factor. Lastly:  Gender. Yes, unfortunately us male cats that are neutered are more likely to get FLUTD.  Now....be sure to follow your vets recommendations completely.  Your kitty is probably on antibiotics and his food has been changed to a prescription food.  This food is very special because it has all the good things that your kitty needs and none of the bad things that can cause FLUTD. I hope that this helped you some. Good luck with your kitty.
Rinker

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   Bless Their Hearts Kitty Haven, Inc. P.O. Box 26207, Jacksonville, Florida 32226