How much do you know about your cat's whiskers? Besides looking
elegant, these long, stiff, protruding instruments are much more than
just hair extensions to your cat! They are a critical detection system
that helps keep your cat safe.
Your cat's whiskers are embedded deeply in the skin and are
surrounded by nerves that make the tips very sensitive to even the
slightest movement or touch. Your feline friend uses his or her
whiskers, or vibrissae, as touch receptors to roam safely in the dark
and indicate whether fitting through a particular opening will be
possible.
The tips of your cat's whiskers are a sensory organ called a
proprioceptor, giving your cat a sense of self-awareness by relating
the position of the body to the changing surroundings.
Your cat also uses facial whiskers to express mood. Ever notice that
intense look of determination when playing with your cat? That's your
cat's hunting instinct at work! Your cat has whiskers on the jaw,
eyebrows, and back of the front paws. These all serve as signals to
your cat when deciding how far or high to jump onto your lap or out of
harm's way.
So, don't ever clip or groom these wonderful tactile hairs! They are
crucial to your feline friend for making sense of their environment.
Those Wonderful Whiskers
by: Diane M. Boyle
Thank you!
Thank you so much to everyone who donated to my
birthday fund raiser for the spay neuter program!
Your generosity raised $1834. to help the cats!
Your kindness will allow us to fix 41homeless cats,
preventing the birth of hundreds of homeless kittens
from being born. Thank you thank you thank you!
YOU too can donate your birthday to help the cats
details are HERE
Keller & Ginny
Keller and Ginny are both senior kitties who have been
diagnosed with hyperthyroid.
What is hyperthyroidism you ask?
Hyperthyroidism is a disease caused by the overproduction of
thyroxine, a thyroid hormone that increases metabolism in the
body. In fact, hyperthyroidism is the most common hormonal
(endocrine) disease in the cat population, often seen in late
middle-aged and older cats.
Signs of cat hyperthyroidism can include:
weight loss.
increased appetite.
increased activity and restlessness.
a matted, greasy or poor hair coat.
a fast heart rate.
increased water drinking.
vomiting.
diarrhea
Lumps and nodules in the neck
Weakness and listlessness
Panting or difficulty breathing
Treatment
Medication. Down side is it is hard to get regulated and the pill
tastes terrible, having a cat refusing to eat is not unknown.
There are serious side effects including diarrhea, liver damage
and bone marrow suppression.
Keller was hyperthyroid 6 years ago and we treated him with
medication until he became toxic on the medication. We
had episodes of him not eating and losing weight. He ended up
with feeding tubes twice. We knew there had to be a better way.
Surgery - Surgical thyroidectomy
Surgery has lots of adverse reasons not to do it.
Read this article and it will discuss more about during surgery.
Radioiodine therapy
This is considered the gold standard treatment. It is safe and
usual successful. There are no serious side effects from this
procedure. It is not painful, they do not need to be anesthetized.
This is the treatment we choose with our cats. Keller was treated
5 years ago and needed no more treatment until now.
Mack was treated this way when he developed hyperthyroid.
Ginny has had her treatment and is still in
Raleigh. She will be coming back with me Monday when I take
Keller for his treatment. We are hoping this treatment will also
help Ginny’s hypertension. Often illnesses are secondary to
another. One is causing or making another one worse.
This treatment cost $1500. each cat. If you would like to donate
to help with this treatment cost we would be very grateful.
Your vet will run blood work to test for hyperthyroid.
I will tell you something we have learned from this go
around. If there is a a strong suspicion of the cat
being affected, have your vet run a 2nd tyroid test
(depending on your lab, it could be the T-4 free,
or T-3 free. Ginny’s regular T-4 was in the normal range,
but the T-4 FREE said differently. We ran both tests at the same
time because we had a strong suspicion she was going to be
positive and we knew Rad Cats required it to treat her.
We are glad we did both tests or we would have thought her
weight loss was due to kidney disease and the outcome would
not be a good one.
Charlie is a young leukemia positive kitty who
came to us from a hoarding situation.
He is a fun playful fellow who loves to play.
Carley came to us from the same hoarding situation.
She is very sweet but still adjusting to all the changes
in her life.
They are very lucky to be alive. They landed at a very
small county shelter who did not have the space for 64
cats. They were struggling to find places for all. Since
most rescues do not take FELV+ cats, and they had
12 that test postiive, they were running out of time.
Your support made it possible for us to save their lives.
Thank you so much!
We are only 20K points from another pallet of litter! The cats
use 60+ boxes each month. If you have paw points that you will
not use, please consider sharing them with the cats!! You may
donate them on Freshstep http://ow.ly/qded306ocWs
or email them to me alana@blindcatrescue.com
Thank you so much for helping!
A Great Way to Help us!
We are so thankful for everything our supporters have
done to help us over the past years. Because of you, we
have been able to save loving cats that were in danger
and provide them love & sanctuary. Recently, we’ve
partnered with a new Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
based company called Whiper Pet in a fundraising effort!
They will donate up to $2.00 directily to the cats for every
purchase. We’ve tried a bottle of Whipper Pet in our
“spcial room, “ (the room with sprayers) and it actually
worked!
Whisper Pet is a safe, new, non-toxic odor elimination
spray that works instantly, without using perfumes, to
get rid of pet odors instead of what most other
eliminators do when they mask, cover, or attack the
odor with enzymes. Those methods aren’t as effective
because they either fade over time or take time to work.
Whisper Pet permanently changes the odor, which
means those old smells you already took care of
will not come back.
Whisper Pet’s had two pet - and family - friendly
products: Odar Eliminator and Cat Litter Spray. For
every purchase of Whisper Pet, they will donate up to
$2.00 directly to the cats! There is a link below to
Whisper Pet’s site where you can learn more about
their products.
Thank you so much for your continued support! These
wonderful cats are able to live because of you!
Cat Behaviors
Do you ever wonder why your cats do crazy things like
Heat Butting, Howling at Night, Trying to bury their food?
Mandy Cooper wrote us a great article about Cat’s Behaviors,
you may read it HERE
We are very grateful to our wonderful eBay
sellers and buyers for sharing so generously
of their auctions with the cats. We hope
you will check out all their wonderful
auctions HERE
Thank you for reading!
Did you know that if you click the previous button,
you may read older copies of the newsletters?
4-7-1017
Those Wonderful Whiskers
by: Diane M. Boyle
4-7-1017
How much do you know about your cat's whiskers? Besides looking
elegant, these long, stiff, protruding instruments are much more than
just hair extensions to your cat! They are a critical detection system
that helps keep your cat safe.
Your cat's whiskers are embedded deeply in the skin and are
surrounded by nerves that make the tips very sensitive to even the
slightest movement or touch. Your feline friend uses his or her
whiskers, or vibrissae, as touch receptors to roam safely in the dark
and indicate whether fitting through a particular opening will be
possible.
The tips of your cat's whiskers are a sensory organ called a
proprioceptor, giving your cat a sense of self-awareness by relating
the position of the body to the changing surroundings.
Your cat also uses facial whiskers to express mood. Ever notice that
intense look of determination when playing with your cat? That's your
cat's hunting instinct at work! Your cat has whiskers on the jaw,
eyebrows, and back of the front paws. These all serve as signals to
your cat when deciding how far or high to jump onto your lap or out of
harm's way.
So, don't ever clip or groom these wonderful tactile hairs! They are
crucial to your feline friend for making sense of their environment.
Keller & Ginny
Keller and Ginny are both senior kitties who have been
diagnosed with hyperthyroid.
What is hyperthyroidism you ask?
Hyperthyroidism is a disease caused by the overproduction of
thyroxine, a thyroid hormone that increases metabolism in the
body. In fact, hyperthyroidism is the most common hormonal
(endocrine) disease in the cat population, often seen in late
middle-aged and older cats.
Signs of cat hyperthyroidism can include:
weight loss.
increased appetite.
increased activity and restlessness.
a matted, greasy or poor hair coat.
a fast heart rate.
increased water drinking.
vomiting.
diarrhea
Lumps and nodules in the neck
Weakness and listlessness
Panting or difficulty breathing
Your vet will run blood work to test for hyperthyroid.
I will tell you something we have learned from this go
around. If there is a a strong suspicion of the cat
being affected, have your vet run a 2nd tyroid test
(depending on your lab, it could be the T-4 free,
or T-3 free. Ginny’s regular T-4 was in the normal range,
but the T-4 FREE said differently. We ran both tests at the
time because we had a strong suspicion she was going to be
positive and we knew Rad Cats required it to treat her.
We are glad we did both tests or we would have thought her
weight loss was due to kidney disease and the outcome would
not be a good one.
Treatment
Medication. Down side is it is hard to get regulated and the pill
tastes terrible, having a cat refusing to eat is not unknown.
There are serious side effects including diarrhea, liver damage
and bone marrow suppression.
Keller was hyperthyroid 6 years ago and we treated him with
medication until he became toxic on the medication. We
had episodes of him not eating and losing weight. He ended up
with feeding tubes twice. We knew there had to be a better way.
Surgery - Surgical thyroidectomy
Surgery has lots of adverse reasons not to do it.
Read this article and it will discuss more about during surgery.
Radioiodine therapy
This is considered the gold standard treatment. It is safe and
usual successful. There are no serious side effects from this
procedure. It is not painful, they do not need to be anesthetized.
This is the treatment we choose with our cats. Keller was treated
5 years ago and needed no more treatment until now.
Mack was treated this way when he developed hyperthyroid.
Ginny has had her treatment and is still in
Raleigh. She will be coming back with me Monday when I take
Keller for his treatment. We are hoping this treatment will also
help Ginny’s hypertension. Often illnesses are secondary to
another. One is causing or making another one worse.
This treatment cost $1500. each cat. If you would like to donate
to help with this treatment cost we would be very grateful.
Thank you!
Thank you so much to everyone who donated to my
birthday fund raiser for the spay neuter program!
Your generosity raised $1834. to help the cats!
Your kindness will allow us to fix 41homeless cats,
preventing the birth of hundreds of homeless kittens
from being born. Thank you thank you thank you!
YOU too can donate your birthday to help the cats
details are HERE
Charlie is a young leukemia positive kitty who
came to us from a hoarding situation.
He is a fun playful fellow who loves to play.
Carley came to us from the same hoarding situation.
She is very sweet but still adjusting to all the changes
in her life.
They are very lucky to be alive. They landed at a very
small county shelter who did not have the space for 64
cats. They were struggling to find places for all. Since
most rescues do not take FELV+ cats, and they had
12 that test postiive, they were running out of time.
Your support made it possible for us to save their lives.
Thank you so much!
We are only 20K points from another pallet of litter! The cats
use 60+ boxes each month. If you have paw points that you will
not use, please consider sharing them with the cats!! You may
donate them on Freshstep http://ow.ly/qded306ocWs
or email them to me alana@blindcatrescue.com
Thank you so much for helping!
A Great Way to Help us!
We are so thankful for everything our supporters have
done to help us over the past years. Because of you, we
have been able to save loving cats that were in danger
and provide them love & sanctuary. Recently, we’ve
partnered with a new Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
based company called Whiper Pet in a fundraising effort!
They will donate up to $2.00 directily to the cats for every
purchase. We’ve tried a bottle of Whipper Pet in our
“spcial room, “ (the room with sprayers) and it actually
worked!
Whisper Pet is a safe, new, non-toxic odor elimination
spray that works instantly, without using perfumes, to
get rid of pet odors instead of what most other
eliminators do when they mask, cover, or attack the
odor with enzymes. Those methods aren’t as effective
because they either fade over time or take time to work.
Whisper Pet permanently changes the odor, which
means those old smells you already took care of
will not come back.
Whisper Pet’s had two pet - and family - friendly
products: Odar Eliminator and Cat Litter Spray. For
every purchase of Whisper Pet, they will donate up to
$2.00 directly to the cats! There is a link below to
Whisper Pet’s site where you can learn more about
their products.
Thank you so much for your continued support! These
wonderful cats are able to live because of you!
Cat Behaviors
Do you ever wonder why your cats do crazy things like
Heat Butting, Howling at Night, Trying to bury their food?
Mandy Cooper wrote us a great article about Cat’s Behaviors,
you may read it HERE
We are very grateful to our wonderful eBay
sellers and buyers for sharing so generously
of their auctions with the cats. We hope
you will check out all their wonderful
auctions HERE
Did you know that if you click the previous button,
you may read older copies of the newsletters?
Thank you for reading!
