Almost a month ago someone dump sweet this kitty at Dallas Animal Services. Her crime: she had two kittens. Shortly after she and her babies arrived, two more kittens showed up. The folks at DAS put the babies with Bellabelle. Like any good mom cat, Bella said, what’s two more. She raised Grayson and Scooter as her own. It’s time to find families for the family.
When I got her, Mamma looked like a skeleton with calico fur, but her four kittens were fat and sassy. She was a great mom. Very protective of young ‘uns. She gets along with our kitties. When she’s not tending to her growing youngsters, she’s cuddles next to us on the couch. Bella loves human attention. Perfect litter box manners. Tolerates nose kisses.
Two year old Bellabelle will be spayed on June 3 and will be able to go to her new home. She’s current on all of her shots, wormed and negative for feline leukemia and FIV. She’s also on heartworm preventative. She also has a microchip.
Don’t you want to give this big-hearted girl a home? After everything she’s been through, she deserves a family of her own. Please tell your cat-loving friends. She’ll make the best companion.
Fill out an adoption application at Animal Allies of Texas. Her adoption fee is only $110.
Great news! There’s a new fibrosarcoma treatment for cats. This immunotherapy provides hope for kitties fighting fibrosarcoma and vaccine-associated sarcomas.
The USDA granted a conditional license toMerial Animal Health for Feline Interleukin-2 Immunomodulator, an immunotherapy that delays return of fibrosarcoma in adult cats with stage 1 disease.
Fibrosarcoma is an aggressive cancer of the cat’s fibrous connective tissue. Some of these cancers have been associated with the injection of feline leukemia vaccine containing adjuvants. While these fast-growing tumors rarely spread to other parts of the body, they usually return after being surgically removed.
Feline Interleukin-2 Immunomodulator uses a weakened canarypox virus to insert IL-2 genes into cells around the tumor site. This stimulates an antitumor immune response, fighting the tumor using several approaches including natural killer cells that target the cancer. This is not a stand-alone treatment, but is provided in addition to aggressive surgical removal of the tumor and possibly radiation therapy.
The treatment is given via subcutaneous (under the skin) injections at multiple locations around the surgical site. The first of six injections is given the week before the cat’s cancer removal surgery. Following injections occur one to two weeks apart. A European field trial indicated that IL-2 used in additional to surgery and radiotherapy significantly reduced tumor recurrence and increased the period before relapse.
In the U.S., Feline Interleukin-2 Immunomodulator can be used by veterinary oncologists or internal medicine vets. Other trials are being conducted which would expand use by general vets.
Consider going your nearest shelter and checking out the amazing animals they have available.\r\n\r\nWe all have certain looks we love, but like a human life long companion, a relationship is more than about blue eyes or luxurious long hair. It’s about affection and enjoying time together. Think about your lifestyle when considering a cat (or dog.)
Are you at work for long hours? If you’re away from the house during the day or you travel frequently, a mature pet would probably fit better into your lifestyle. If you want a younger pet, consider bringing home siblings. That way they can use up some of that crazy kitten or puppy energy on each other. Kittens, with their strong predatory drive, will wrestle with each other rather than attacking ankles or fingers.
Do you have toddlers? Ah, we all have romantic images of our babies growing up with the puppy or kitten, but kittens are fragile and puppies are rambunctious. Most shelters have a 6/6 rule: no adoptions of kittens under six months to families with kids under six years. A kid can drop or fall on a kitten or small pup and seriously injure him. Conversely, a kitten or puppy struggling to get away from a four-year old who’s holding him too tightly may bite or scratch in self defense. Consider a mature cat or dog. The shelter receives so many family pets who are used to being around kids.
I’ve spent the last 25 years trying to find families for homeless cats. Oftentimes cats and kittens end up in shelters for reasons that aren’t their fault:
Moving
Don’t have time for the pet
New spouse or boy/girlfriend doesn’t like the pet
I’m suddenly allergic
Can’t afford him any longer
Many of these excuses are bogus. The families have simply lost interest in the cat and can’t be bothered. The animals sit in a cage at the shelter, frightened and bewildered. These are wonderful pets who only want the same thing you want: to live, to love and be loved. Is that asking so much? Please go to your local shelter on this National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day and adopt a homeless cat.
You’ll save a life and receive unconditional life.
Freeway recovers at his foster home. Photo courtesy of Arizona Humane Society.
(Look below to watch the heart-stopping and dramatic cat rescue. Spoiler alert: It’s a happy ending.)
In our own personal movie called “Life,” we never really know from minute-to-minute what role we’ll play. When something extraordinary occurred, and Richard Christianson was offered a choice between the part of either the protagonist or an extra lost within the crowd, he rose to the occasion became an unexpected hero.
Last week, as Richard Christianson of Phoenix exited northbound Interstate 17, he passed a chain link fence mounted atop cement barriers. Is that a cat?
Unlike thousands of passersby over six hours, Richard stopped. To his shock, he found an orange and white American Curl clutching the cyclone fence.
“I thought someone hit him so hard he flew into the fence cuz he had blood all over.”
The American Curl’s mouth and legs were bloody and a paw reached through the wire, a frantic, but fruitless attempt to escape. His jaw was injured by his attempt to chew through the fence.
As traffic hurried past him, Richard called 9-1-1. They said to call the Arizona Humane Society. The humane society told him to contact Department of Public Safety. DPS said they’d received several calls over the last two or three hours about cat. They’d send a unit out. But when? Every minute that went by, Richard himself grew hotter. He knew that the cat too must be sweltering. By the time DPS eventually made to the scene, the injured cat might have already died.
“He was crying for me. He was reaching for me,” Richard says. Someone had to do something.
Richard, who works as a stagehand for conventions, concerts and locally-performed Broadway plays, tried to jump the fence, but couldn’t without impaling himself on the spikes at the top. He ran to his car. Like General MacArthur, he would return.
He circled around, once again heading northbound on the expressway, and pulled over 20 feet past the cat.
“Nobody’s doing their job,” he says. Angry that all official channels had abandoned the cat, Richard recorded the rescue with his cell phone. “Never did I think anyone would consider me a hero.”
“He was crying for me,” Richard recalls. “He was pressed up so hard against the wire; he was reaching up through the fence.”
Soft food just like the doctor ordered. photo courtesy of Arizona Humane Society.
When Richard saw his bloody jaw and paws, he cried, “Oh my God!” He approached the cat slowly, speaking calmly. When Richard stood next to the pathetic creature, the kitty continued crying, but released his death-grip on the fence and faced his rescuer.
“When he pulled his paw away from the fence, it was like he was saying to me, “Okay, just take me.”
Richard made the not-so-hard decision to sacrifice his favorite shirt, a signed M.C. Magic Rewired t-shirt.
“I wrapped my shirt around him; He just went limp and started purring.”
While the stray was out of harms way, he wasn’t out of danger. Richard still feared Freeway, as he dubbed the cat, might die before he could take him to to the Arizona Humane Society (AHS). This time the shelter came through. They rushed the two-year old kitty into surgery.
Bretta Nelson, spokesperson for AHS, said Freeway had severe trauma: broken teeth, necrotic mouth tissue, he had burns to the pads of his feet. While it was touch and go, Freeway is stable. He is receiving pain medication and antibiotics. He’s on soft food, but the great news is “he’s eating like a little piggy according to his foster mom.” After a meal he likes to cuddle.
“It’s not about me,” Richard insists. “It’s about Freeway.”
Richard remains saddened that the pathetic cat clung to the fence for more than six hours without anyone bothering to help him.
Richard wants people to get involved. “People should be aware of their surroundings. When you see an animal who needs help, don’t assume someone else is going to help. You help him.”
“I was so pissed off at DPS. That’s why I shared the video.”
Richard believes “everything happens for a reason. I could have taken a different exit, but I didn’t. This is a blessing in disguise [for Freeway.] He was hurt, but his life is going to be way different now. He’s going to be okay.”
Can’t a guy get a little sleep around here? Photo courtesy of Arizona Humane Society.
Richard’s been surprised by all of the attention he’s received. A week ago, he had 300 Facebook friends; since Freeway’s rescue his followers have swelled to over 1500…and still growing.
Over $1600 in donations have been given on Freeway’s behalf. “God bless you all,” he says to the people who donated to Freeways care. “Now that Freeway is in safe hands, he’s worried about the other animals who still need help. He’s thinking about starting the Freeway Foundation to help out stray animals with medical needs.
Bretta says people can make donations to help with Freeway’s mounting medical bills at www.Azhumane.org.
When something extraordinary occurs in your life, ask yourself will you choose the part of the hero or will you simply be a faceless extra lost in the apathetic crowd? I hope you’ll choose to help. Following Richard’s example, I’m certainly going to stop.
(My apologies to my readers, but this blog doesn’t mention cats or writing except within this disclaimers saying they don’t appear. Additionally, the subject is in rather poor taste, but c’est la vie. The important point is that I am including some essential research about the cats’ favorite prey, the rodent.) Viagra
Today is Viagra® Day, the 17th anniversary of the day the FDA approved the drug for, well you know.But Viagra is more than a drug that makes life miserable for Hugh Hefner’s 20-something-year-old wife. The Little Blue Pill also improves the quality of life for traveling hamsters.
You are going to be delighted to know (as I was) that several years ago scientists at a university lab discovered that Viagra helps hamsters overcome jet lag. Yes! Relieved rodent owners around the world are declaring, “Now Squeaks can get his little wang up!” Rodents suffering from a lack of libido or jet lag should be a concern to all animal lovers. In the past, these poor lab hamsters had to stop procreating long enough to scurry aboard a plane and travel cross-country. Now they can actually procreate while ON the plane!
Rather than wasting good Viagra and plane trips on creatures who don’t have any problems reproducing in the first place (and who can’t tell the difference between the Grand Canyon and the bathroom at Grand Central Station), why don’t these Ivy Leaguers pass out little blue pills at retirement communities and send these sexy seniors on a second or fifth honeymoon to Hawaii. The experiment conducted in this manner has the added benefit of the human actually being able to say whether or not he feels lagged.
Which begs the question: how can you tell if a hamster has jet lag? I’ll probably never know. I guess I went to the wrong university.
Leonard Nimoy is gone. The Enterprise science officer’s position stands empty, but to quote the lyrics of the lyrics of the Star Trek theme, “Beyond the rim of starlight, my love is in wandering star flight.” So now NCC-1301 has lost her second in command. And I have said goodbye to a man and his character who influenced me so much as a teenager. Leonard Nimoy, best known as U.S.S. Enterprise’s half-Vulcan first officer passed away yesterday after a long struggle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
I still remember the first time I saw Star Trek and was entranced. I didn’t know it at the time, but watching that first episode of Star Trek was a life-changing event. Star Trek teased my already space-centric imagination.I wanted to write science fiction. A year later I penned (and I mean with a fountain pen and notebook paper) my first novel, a Star Trek story (with me as the hero who died but saved the Enterprise.)
I was especially drawn to Mr. Spock and his challenging friendship with Dr. McCoy. I had a lot in common with Spock. He was the first cool nerd. (I was a nerd, but in no way cool.) His parents drove him crazy. Mr. Spock taught me it was okay to be different, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Spock may have been a fictional character, but Nimoy gave him a soul. I felt like he was my friend. All too soon, after only three years the show was cancelled–cancelled but not dead. But like Mr. Spock, dead was only temporary. Ten years later Star Trek, would be revived, again and again. Spock would die, then resurrect.
Star Trek gave me the drive to write, it gave me friends, it gave me the desire to use my imagination to visit the stars.
I met Leonard Nimoy in the early 1980s in University of Texas at Arlington’s Texas Hall at a press conference. A Dallas Times Herald news photographer immortalized the moment in his article about Nimoy’s visit. (For the record, I was dressed in a Wrath of Khan-era Starfleet science uniform meticulously crafted by Peggy Dee.) That was a day to remember. I only wish I could find that newspaper clipping.
Not long after, my friends Bjo and John Trimble arranged for me to meet Gene Roddenberry and tour the set of the Wrath of Khan set. I sat on Kirk’s bridge chair. (Actually the chair had been partially disassembled. I sat on a big square battery instead of the cushion. Gene’s assistant Susan Sackett also took me to the engine room where the faint green blood smudge still remained on the plexiglas wall. The smudge Spock left behind when he told Kirk, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…Live long and prosper.” That was the most powerful moment in the history of Star Trek. The sacrifice, the love of friends. I stood there and looked at the set. It was like I relived Spock’s death again and again. At the time I didn’t know that Spock would return.
One by one, the crew of the Enterprise are leaving us. First Gene, then Dee, Jimmy, Majel and now Leonard. Thank you for all the life lessons I learned. Leonard, you will be missed. The Enterprise will never be the same. Leonard Nimoy left behind a generation of scientists and who wanted to reach the stars because of him.
Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy. Or should I say, “Until we meet again.”
In 1984 Dusty poses in her Peggy Dee original regulation Star Fleet uniform.
14 Things Leonard Nimoy Taught Me
It’s okay to be different, but it’s not always easy.
Cats are beautiful creatures
Real friends are for life, even if you don’t always get along
No matter your age or rank, your parents can still embarrass you
Look at situations logically
Emotions can get us in trouble
Always spay your tribble (and your cats)
Stand up for what your believe
Every now and then you need a good cry
Sometimes you meet yourself coming and going
Science is cool
Knowing what other people think isn’t always a good thing
Feel free to sing, even if you can’t carry a tune.
You have to be double jointed to give a Vulcan salute.
The new SDMA test for kidney disease in cats can detect kidney failure months, maybe even years earlier than standard blood tests.
Exciting News! There’s a new test for kidney disease in cats and dogs. Last week, IDEXX Laboratories announced the introduction of the symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) that will detect feline and canine kidney loss months, maybe even years earlier than current screening.
The presently used blood panel won’t indicate elevated creatinine (waste products in the blood) levels until the cat has already suffered a 75% kidney function loss. According to IDEXX, the SDMA shows up in blood tests when there is only 25 to 40% kidney loss. IDEXX says the test should be run alongside BUN and creatinine panels and urinalysis.
By the time Balew started showing symptoms, she was already in end-stage kidney failure.
IDEXX plans to include the SDMA test in all routine lab test at no additional cost. IDEXX will begin offering SDMA screening to a small group of vets in March and will fully roll out the test this summer.
An Oregon State University study showed that SDMA identified kidney disease four years earlier in one animal. On average, the research SDMA detected kidney disease with only 40% function loss. In some cases, the animals had only suffered 25 percent of function loss. This will allow vets to discontinue any medications that may not be kidney friendly, switch the pet to a renal diet, increase fluid intake and monitor the kidneys more carefully. Early diagnosis and treatment may slow the progression of the disease.
Take your cat to the vet if you see symptoms of kidney disease
Symptoms of failing kidneys include: weight loss, loss of appetite, increased water consumption, as well increased urination, occasional vomiting, reoccurring bacterial bladder and kidney infections, mouth ulcers, bad breath, constipation, lethargy, and/or a brownish-appearing tongue. If you notice any of these symptoms, take your cat (or dog) to the vet as soon as possible.
Fortunately with the new test vets should be able to catch kidney disease well before the onset of symptoms and before extreme kidney function loss.
Boxes Reduce Feline StressAre you one of the 58% of cat owners who give your cats Christmas or birthday presents? Were you disappointed when Fluffy ignored the wildly expensive cat toy in favor of sitting in the container came in?
It’s no surprise that cats love boxes and sacks. It’s long been suspected that kitties’ magnetic attraction to boxes is because they’re ambush predators. But cats are also prey, and boxes (or other cranny) offer a great place from which to bushwhack dinner and a safe place to get away from larger carnivores. But recently researchers have determined that boxes reduce feline stress.
In a 2014, behavioral biologist Claudia M. Vinke, Ph.D. headed a Dutch study about reducing stress in shelter cats. Vinke’s team gave boxes to some new cats being admitted to a shelter. A control group received no boxes. The study found that cats who received a hiding box recovered faster in a new stressful environment than cats without boxes.
In an email interview, Dr. Vinke said, “As behavioral biologists we are always eager to explain questions from the perspective of the biology of the species.”
She said in a stressful situation a cat’s first reaction is “to withdraw and hide. So quite probably, hiding is a behavioral strategy to cope with environmental, challenges and stressors.”
According to Dr. Vinke, as with many other species, fight is another coping option, but for the cat, fighting is a risky strategy. A cat risks becoming injured during combat. Dr. Vinke says, “The size of box doesn’t matter; it’s perceived as a safe hiding place.”
The study concluded that “the hiding box appears to be important enrichment for the cat to cope effectively with stressors in a new shelter environment the first weeks after arrival.”
Rescuers, shelters and vet offices, please take note: Your best feline enrichment and stress relief tool will be arriving at no charge with your next Amazon order.
The Polydactyl Cats Asian Sauce Packet Cat Toy set come with four sauces (inside the condiments packet), but you have to supply the tea cup and chopsticks.
FTC disclaimer: Neither the Rainbolt Test Kitties nor Dusty Rainbolt received any compensation for this review, however the manufacturer comped test samples of the Polydactyl Cats Asian Sauce Packet Cat Toy Set and are providing a complimentary set for the winner of the contest below.
The pros and Cons of polydactyl Cats Asian Sauce Packet Cat Toy Set
Pros:
Made with very potent organic catnip grown in the U.S.
Handmade in the U.S.
Super whimsical
Textile design uses nontoxic dyes
Cats love it
Downsides:
A little pricey.
They’re easily lost under furniture.
The Polydactyl Cats Asian Sauce Packet Toy Set . The new style looks like sauce flowing from the packets.
Every time I visit my favorite sushi bar or Chinese restaurant, the Rainbolt Test Kitties feel compelled to give me the did-you-bring-me-a kitty-bag sniff. I can’t help but feel a little guilty when I fill their dishes with shrimp and tuna canned food. But I’ve found a way to compromise. In lieu of a paper-thin bite of hamachi, my Test Kitties get Asian delights catnip toys by Polydactyl Cats. The Chinese Takeout Cat Toy Line offers feline friendly versions of your favorite Asian sauces and appetizers without the sodium, MSG or mess.
The super fun toy four-pack combo is the perfect gift for any lover of Asian cuisine. The Asian Sauce Packets Cat Toy Set, handmade by artist Randi Warhol (no relation to Andy), contains four clever 4” X 2” catnip toys appearing as soy sauce, duck sauce, hot sauce and hot mustard. Warhol’s realistic yet whimsical textile artwork really looks like takeout sauce packages right down to the air bubble on the back. The catnip packets come in transparent condiment bags. There’s even a handwritten thank you note from the designer written on a green receipt page.
The tea cup, chopsticks and foster kitten named Fabio not included.
The Rainbolt Test Kitties absolutely LOVED these potent catnip toys. The moment I opened the box the strong fragrance of catnip wafted out, and I suddenly I found myself surrounded by cats.
Once I handed the toys to the Test Kitties the spit hit the fan in absolutely the most complimentary way. I found the toys in different parts of the house saturated with cat slobber and enthusiastically swatted with Pawprint of Approval. About the size of real sauce packets, it was perfect for the cats to carry around.
Each linen/cotton canvas toy contains polyester polyfill and two tablespoons of From the Field organic catnip. The sprightly designs are printed in nontoxic water-based dyes.
Bette is really enjoying the organically-grown From the Field catnip.
The Test Kitties have arranged for one of our readers to share in the fun. Just leave a comment at the end of this blog before 11:59 p.m. CST on February 15. You can earn extra entries to win by sharing this review on Facebook or other social media. To get credit for your social media posts, leave a separate comment for each share below telling the Rainbolt Test Kitties where you shared.
The Rainbolt Test Kitties and I wish you a fabulous 2015
full of great achievements and experiences.
A meaningful new chapter of your life just
waiting to be written.
Almost a month ago someone dump sweet this kitty at Dallas Animal Services. Her crime: she had two kittens. Shortly after she and her babies arrived, two more kittens showed up. The folks at DAS put the babies with Bellabelle. Like any good mom cat, Bella said, what’s two more. She raised Grayson and Scooter as her own. It’s time to find families for the family.
