Archive through April 08, 2003
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TV ClubHouse: Archive: 2003 April: Cats (ARCHIVES): Archive through April 08, 2003

Moondance

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 01:00 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL Thanks MsBabyRuth... I thought their little faces look like'shhheeeeze there is Mom with that camera again' :)

Webkitty

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 02:57 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I LOVE those pics Moon!!!

Could I just say one thing about cats and AIDS?

Kitty AIDS is not the same as human AIDS. A human can't catch kitty AIDS. But, it is highly contagious BETWEEN cats. This is why if you let your cats out at all, you should make sure they are vaacinated. did I get that right Moon? This is what my vet told me

Weinermr

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 02:59 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Cute pics, Moon!

Moondance

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 03:00 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Very well put MsKitty!
BTW they are outside but in enclosed courtyard:)

Thanks MusicMan!

Kady

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 03:19 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Moon...your babies are precious!!
Thanks for the info. The girl was upset and insulted that groomer wouldn't do her cat. I think the groomer she have a more eloquent way of stating this and explaining why.

Webkitty...my kitty never goes out so he would not need to be vacinated for it?

Twinkie

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 03:29 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Cute pics, Moon!! Today is Angel's birthday and she is 3 years old today! Squirt's birthday is July 4th and he will be 2 years old. Neither kitty has ever been outside so they stay real healthy. And spoiled rotten! Angel is getting her favorite foods today of course.

Moondance

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 03:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
HaPpY Birthday Angel!!!

Twinkie

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 03:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Angel says "Meow, meow"!

Webkitty

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 04:25 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kady, my vet told me to have mine vaccinated even though they don't go out, but check with yours. We have a lot of outdoor cats in my neighborhood that I doubt have been vacinated. They sometimes get right up at the screen and hiss at mine before I can shoo them away. So, its peace of mind for me. You might not have that situation, but check with your vet.

Happy birthday Angel!!!

Mygetaway

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 04:36 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Ok, so I can't claim these guys as mine, and I don't know if this has been posted before, but look at these precious babies. They've been showing them for days, all day long on my local station.

tigers


Endangered Sumatran Tiger Cubs at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Here's a link where you can go and vote on names for them. Link To Site

And PS.. Moon, your babies are purrfect.. :)

Pamy

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 05:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Moonie..your Sundance looks just like my Casper!!

Sia

Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 06:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Happy 3rd Birthday, Angel!!!
angelkittencake
Twinkie, you have two lucky kitties!

Lobster

Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 08:02 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I was just wondering, do you guys think it would be cruel of me to poke Thunder with a pin every time he sticks his claws in my leg?

I'm really only kidding. But I gotta tell ya, if I believed in declawing, this cat would be a good candidate.

Twinkie

Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 08:13 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh, Sia!!! That is such a gorgeous birthday wish for Angel!!! Thank you so much!!!

Wanted to add....how did I miss this until today????

Bad Twinkie!

Sia

Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 10:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You're welcome, Twink! Angel deserves it! My dear kitty turns 18 on the 15th of this month, and she's BEEN on my good-list, but tonight earned her way onto the bad-list: she peed in my son's room. I can't blame her, as the door was shut between the kitchen and the enclosed back porch, so she couldn't get to her litter-box. Yuk, cat-pee! I will be throwing away that rug because nothing takes out that terrible smell!

Twinkie

Monday, April 07, 2003 - 01:53 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Awwwww poor kitty. Not her fault mommy! But you are so right about that smell! YUCK!

Grooch

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 12:59 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kady, you should really vaccinate your cat. I believe that humans can pass it on by touching a cat who has it and then later touching your own cat. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Abby7

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 01:25 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I think feline leukemia is the name for feline AIDS. Feline leukemia is extremely contagious through cats.

Whenever I get a kitten, I always test first for feline leukemia. The kitten could have been born with it. Then, if it doesn't have feline leukemia, I get the vaccine. If the cat does have feline leukemia, nothing can help it (or at least last I knew). That cat can infect any cat it comes in contact with.

Many people just get a kitten and get it vaccinated for feline leukemia. That is great if the kitten doesn't already have it...it will help prevent the cat from getting it. However, you need to make sure the kitten wasn't born with it.

In the 1980's a lady at work brought around a few kittens to give away. I took one home. The kitty was an indoor cat and my only cat. He was fine on Thursday, then suddenly on Friday he was very lazy and slept under the sofa. On Monday he went to the vet. He had feline leukemia. Since he had not been around any other kitties except in his litter, the vet said he must have been born with it. Nothing could be done. His stomach had filled up with fluid (so couldn't tell he was losing weight). He had to be put to sleep.

I contacted the woman who gave me the cat, just to warn her in case she had any other cats in the house. She told me, her kitty from that same litter died as well as another one of her cats.

Since then, they have come up with the feline leukemia vaccine....but my vet has always told me to first test the cat to see he wasn't born with it (the vaccine would not do any good then).

I hope this is the same thing you guys are talking about. I've never heard of human AIDS spreading to cats though.

Serate

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 01:46 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Have you ever heard of a tenectomy?[sp?] I too don't believe in declawing. We had Eddie 2 years and he never once scratched anything but his cat tree. Then my vet put him on a special food and it turned him psycho. He started clawing and biting everything including us. Changing his food stopped the biting, and clawing us and the furniture, BUT once he'd had his taste of clawing the walls and doors he just wouldn't stop. When we moved we looked EVERYWHERE for a place that would let us keep our kitty. The few we found said only if he's declawed. It was declaw or put to sleep. So painfully we decided to declaw. Went to the vet and she told us bout a new procedure called tenectomy. They severe the tendons instead of pulling out the nails. He was up and running around 2 hours after the surgery. He still has his nails, just can't extend and retract them. We only did it to his front paws.

Would have rather just put up with the scratching but a tenectomy is much more human than declawing if you don't have the choice.

Abby7

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 02:36 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I have never heard of tenectomy.

I don't like the idea of declawing either. (but if you have no choice, you have no choice). Even though I have one indoor cat, I don't want the cat to not be able to defend itself if she ever got out by mistake. I've heard of this happening a few times (the cat getting out).

How much does the tenectomy procedure cost?

Halfunit

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 02:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I had a cat who was FIV+, and FeLV and FIV are two seperate things. Human AIDS and feline AIDS are two different viruses. They don't cross species. Here's a brief explanation of the main kitty illnesses:


Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) - A retrovirus considered to be the most common cause of serious illness and death in domestic cats. It causes a breakdown in your cat's immune system causing your cat to become susceptible to many diseases which it might otherwise be able to fight off.

FeLV is typically spread when the saliva of an infected cat comes into contact with another cat. This can occur from mutual licking and grooming, shared food and water bowls. It is also possible to spread through litter box use. Exposure to FeLV does not always lead to infection. Prolonged, extensive cat-to-cat contact is required for efficient spread, because the virus is rapidly inactivated by warmth and drying.


Feline Immunodeficieny Virus (FIV) (Feline AIDS)- A retrovirus that enters the lymph nodes and targets the white blood cells that fight infection. As a result, the cat is unable to fight off various infections and cancers.

The primary mode of transmission is through bite wounds. Casual, nonaggressive contact among cats does not appear to be an efficient route of spreading FIV. On rare occasions, the disease is transmitted from an infected mother cat to her kittens during gestation, during passage through the birth canal, or when the newborn kittens ingest infected milk. Sexual contact is not known to be a primary means of spreading FIV.


Feline Panleukopenia (Feline Distemper) - A severe, highly contagious viral disease. This virus tends to invade cells which are rapidly growing.

The virus is typically transmitted when a cat has contact with the feces or urine of infected cats. It can be transmitted from a mother to the developing kittens within her uterus.


Feline Infectious Peritontis (FIP) - A hard to diagnosis fatal disease and is not a typical infectious disease. In an attempt to fight against this virus, your cat's immune system actually speeds along the process of the disease. It can often difficult to diagnose because each cat can display signs similar to those of many other diseases.

Most cats become infected by inhaling or ingesting the virus, either by direct contact with an infected cat, or by contact with virus-contaminated surfaces like clothing, bedding, feeding bowls, or toys. Infected cats "shed" the virus in their saliva and feces.


Symptoms and more information can be found here.

Abby7

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 02:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Halfunit: That's very helpful. Thanks.

Serate

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 02:57 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
At our vet it was $20 more than the declawing, but then there was also less pain killers so less charge for that. Eddie has his back claws. And fortunatley [tho I was scared to death] we found out he could still climb trees when he got loose one day. If you watch your cat play with toys or fight/play with other animals, you'll see that for the most part they usually hold their opponent with their front paws and most of the damage is done with the back claws. Yes he is at more of a disadvantage than if he had all of his claws, but I'm somewhat comforted that he could defend himself. Thankfully since we've moved he has no desire to try and get outside. [We used to live in the country on a dead end road, and now we live in town with lots of cars going buy and he HATES cars.]

TO ANYBODY considering a tenectomy or a declaw PLEASE for your cat's sake leave his back paws intact!

Halfunit

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 03:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
YW Abby... I was just doing my best Moondance impersonation!

Lobster

Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 04:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Serate, thanks for the info on tenectomy. (I'm assuming you were talking to me) He's really good about letting me trim his nails. I just wish I could figure out a way to get him to stop sticking them in my knee to get attention. I can feel his paw on my leg, I don't need the claws, too. LOL