Conscious Cat

The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats

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As those of you who’ve been following me for a while know, reading is as essential as breathing to me. When I read a book that I find educational, inspirational, helpful, moving, interesting, or just plain fun, I want to share it with everyone. I thought it might be fun to periodically introduce and review some of my favorites here.

Today’s book is The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats by Clea Simon.

This is one of my favorite cat books. It’s a book for cat lovers. It’s a book for women who love their cats. And it’s a book for men who love women who love their cats.

Author Clea Simon examines the bond between cats and women from all angles – from history and mythology to interviews with cat women from all walks of life, the book is a compelling mix of facts about cats and the women who love them. It’s also a memoir of the seventeen years Simon spent with Cyrus, the kitten she adopted as a young single woman.

This is a joyful book, celebrating the role cats play in womens’ lives. If you are a woman who loves cats, or if you want to better understand a woman who loves cats, you will enjoy this book.

For more information about the book, click here. For more information about the author, go to www.cleasimon.com

*The Conscious Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on Amazon and affiliated sites. This means that if you decide to purchase through any of our links, we get a small commission. We only spread the word about products and services we’ve either used or would use ourselves.

A Veterinarian’s Thoughts on Cat Food

Feline Health| 8 Comments

I recently posted an article titled “How to Choose Healthy Foods for Your Pets“. In it, I acknowledged how difficult it is to find the “right” diet for your pet, given the varying and often confusing information available on this topic.

As a follow up to my article, I’d like to post a comment Paul D. Pion, DVM, DACVIM, left on The Pet Connection Blog. Dr. Pion is the founder of the Veterinary Information Network, and he is responsible for saving millions of cats’ lives by being the first to discover the link between taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy in cats in 1987. He is also the co-author of “Cats for Dummies“. This is what he has to say about cat food:

“The only definitive comment I’ll make about the cat food debates is that anyone who tells you they know THE ANSWER is not worth listening to.

Pet food companies want you to buy their food — and for the most part if you stick to a major brand you can’t go too wrong. Still — without doubt, RESULTS WILL VARY 🙂

Feeding from cans and bags is convenient. And since for most it seems to work, that isn’t a bad place to start.

I still believe in mixing up what you feed. But I can’t say that my wife (also a DVM) follows that. But our cats seem happy and healthy and that’s about all you can hope to achieve.

Plant based dry foods are not a natural foundation for a cat’s diet, but for convenience and cost, they are commonly fed and most cats seem to do just fine.

How much commercial foods are at the root of diseases like feline hyperthyroidism and diabetes are intriging questions.

The hard part is sifting through all the opinion, emotion, marketing hype, and researcher bias when trying to decipher the “science.” Suffice it to say I won’t be surprised if we figure out how commercial diets are leading to these conditions in some cats.

At the same time, it is hard to argue with the observation that cats seem to be living longer in the decades since commercial cat food feeding has become more popular. Cause and effect? Who knows.

I won’t get into the raw food debate, other than to say I wouldn’t be happy if my wife (can you tell she does all the pet care) decided to go down that path. Suffice it to say, my concerns are more for human health than feline health. But still, I won’t claim that I know the definitive answer on this topic.

Raw foods, dry foods, canned foods — my observation is that consumer choices are often made more to please the pet owner (influenced by advertising, peer pressure, and pseudoscience) than the pet.

I probably have said too much already. But I’ll end reminding everyone that everything and everyone dies. Somewhere in the midst of spending huges amounts of time, energy and money trying to cheat death, we have to remember to enjoy life and accept imperfection — it’s the best we got right now.

I personally would much rather live well (for me that means purposefully and doing what I believe is right for those I love and all whose lives my actions effect) than long (or even prosperously).

And to set the record straight, although I consume a lot of diet coke, I have not had a devil dog in over a decade 🙂 ”

(quoted with permission from Paul D. Pion, DVM, DACVIM)

Loss of Appetite in Your Pet

Feline Health| 2 Comments

For most pets, eating is a joyful part of their daily routine. So when a pet doesn’t want to eat, it is a reason for concern for most pet owners. When loss of appetite is short-lived, it’s usually nothing to worry about. But when your pet stops eating for unknown reasons for longer than 24 hours, a visit to your veterinarian might be in order.

Julie Andrus of Holistic Pet Info takes a look at what loss of appetite can mean:

Moving to a new home or the addition of a new family member can cause stress on your pet and they may not feel like eating. This type of appetite loss is usually short-lived and can be remedied with coaxing and extra attention to your pet. When your dog or cat stops eating for unknown reasons, it is time to take a closer look.

A sudden loss of appetite or one that develops over time and continues for several days could indicate a variety of illnesses, including:

Digestive Disorders – Partial blockage of the digestive tract (foreign objects or possibly tumors) can make it difficult to swallow and can result in your pet’s unwillingness to eat. Parasites, ulcers or bacterial infections, even food allergies can cause inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract which make it uncomfortable to eat. Additional symptoms to watch for are increased salivation, diarrhea and vomiting.

Pancreatitis occurs when the pancreas secretes its corrosive digestive juices on itself and the surrounding internal organs and tissues rather than on the food in the intestine. The resulting inflammation causes pain and stress in the animal, eventually leading to a complete loss of appetite. Vomiting and listlessness often accompany your pet’s loss of appetite when the pancreas is affected.

Kidney Disease – The kidney’s job is to remove waste products from the blood. When the kidneys begin to fail, toxins begin to build up in the blood stream and sometimes cause ulcers in the mouth and stomach. You may notice your pet has stopped eating (because of the ulcers) yet they are drinking and urinating more often because of the kidney disease. With kidney disease, vomiting and lethargy are often present.

Dental Disease – One obvious but often overlooked reason for loss of appetite is that your pet experiences mouth pain when eating. Abscesses, tooth decay and gum disease can sideline even the hungriest pets.

Your pet’s loss of appetite may mean something as simple as his dislike for a new brand of food or it may indicate a more serious medical condition. If other symptoms are present (difficulty breathing, vomiting, lethargy, drooling, excessive thirst), schedule an appointment with your veterinarian. A physical exam, x-rays, fecal tests and or blood work can diagnosis the problem and a treatment plan can be determined.

Remember that early intervention can mean a better prognosis for recovery and less discomfort for your beloved pet.

Julie Andrus is the owner of Holistic Pet Info. If you are looking for information on how to manage your pet’s health with holistic or natural pet care products like nutritional supplements, vitamins, nutraceuticals and other natural medicines, Holistic Pet Info is the place for you. They carry more than 100 natural pet products including vitamins and nutritional supplements, nutraceuticals and other natural medicines. The site also offers a wide range of well-written and researched articles and other information on animal health issues.

Bloodwork for your pet: what it means and why your pet needs it

Feline Health| 0 comments

Regular and routine blood testing is an important part of your pet’s preventive healthcare. It used to be that veterinarians only recommended blood work for older pets, but it’s equally important for younger healthy pets. It’s the best way to detect potential health problems before they become evident through symptoms. It’s also critically important before your pet undergoes any kind of anesthetic procedure, even a routine dental cleaning.

Typically, your vet will run a blood chemistry panel and a complete bloodcount. The College of Veterinary Medicine of Washington State University has an excellent explanation of what these lab tests mean.

Amber, who is probably 11 years old (best guess – she was a stray when I got her as a young adult), gets complete veterinary exams and blood work (CBC, chemistry and thyroid) twice a year.

Natural flea and tick control

Feline Health| 1 Comment

As a follow-up to my recent post about the EPA’s increased scrutiny of spot-on flea and tick control products for pets, I tried to find natural alternatives that are equally as effective as the chemical-based products. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that I’m comfortable recommending without reservations, but I thought I’d share my findings with you so you can make your own informed decisions.

Many natural products contain essential oils such as Pennyroyal, Tea Tree or Citrus oils. Essential oils are generally not safe to use around cats. This has become a hotly debated topic in holistic circles. Even though some practitioners or suppliers of essential oils will claim that their products or techniques are completely safe for cats, the fact remains that cats have a unique physiology and process these oils differently from other species. Some oils can even be deadly to cats. I do not recommend the use of any essential oils around cats.

It seems that the only safe natural flea control methods are as follows:

A good flea comb with tightly spaced teeth. Comb your pet daily during flea season and drop any fleas you find into a bowl of soapy water to kill them.
Bathe your pet with a gentle shampoo such as oatmeal. Don’t use harsh flea shampoos, most of them have chemicals in them.
Vacuum vacuum vacuum. I came across one suggestion to cut up a conventional flea collar and put it inside the vacuum cleaner’s bag – it reportedly will kill any live fleas, eggs and pupae you vacuum up. I don’t know for sure that this will work, but it made sense in a strange kind of way.
Adding Brewer’s yeast to your pet’s food may help deter fleas from attaching to your pet.
Sprinkle diatomaceous earth in your yard to cut down on the flea population. Diatomaceous earth also makes a great natural pantry bug killer, it works for all insects. It’s reported to be safe around pets, but don’t sprinkle it directly on your pet!

I’ve been unable to find any information on natural tick repellants.

Ultimately, it comes down to weighing the risks of conventional flea and tick products against the risks of the health problems caused by fleas and ticks. Many pets have been using chemically based flea and tick products safely and without any problems for many years. Flea contact dermatitis and anemia are unpleasant health problems that definitely compromise a pet’s quality of life. Lyme disease can be crippling, and, in its worst form (Lyme nephritis), it can kill.

Meditate with your pet

Feline Health, Human Health| 4 Comments

Meditation is usually viewed as a spiritual practice, but research shows that there are innumerable health benefits as well. Most physical illness is caused by stress, and meditation provides stress relief by calming down the mind and body. A regular meditation practice is one of the best things you can do for your mind and body.

I often hear people say “I can’t meditate. I can’t shut down my thoughts.”

You don’t have to. Simply making the commitment to sit quietly for fifteen, ten, even five minutes a day can have beneficial effects. Don’t judge yourself – if you find that you can’t quiet your mind, try and simply acknowledge your thoughts, and then gently let them go.

Your pets can help you meditate. If you can’t clear your mind, try focusing on the purring cat in your lap or the sleeping dog by your side. Focus on the love you share with your pet. While this may not be what some purists consider meditation, I can guarantee you that it will change your state of mind to one of peace and relaxation.

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Amber is meditating.