Do you know these common feline facts…?
Worms: Cats and kittens that have not been wormed almost always have worms. Kittens become infected through nursing off their mammas and adult cats that hunt or have fleas can pick up tape worms. Symptoms of worm infestation include diarrhea, insatiable appetite, dull coat, pot belly and coughing. The treatment is simple and relatively inexpensive. In addition to desexing, vaccinating and microchipping your cat, ridding her of parasites is the most important thing you can do to ensure health and well being as the rob your cat of essential nutrients, compromise immunity and can be fatal for young kittens.
Fleas: Unlike mites, lice or tapeworms (host parasites), fleas are lair parasites, which means they reside in the environment and not on the animal. You can’t just kill the fleas on your pet – you need to treat where they live too. Fleas can live in dormant stage for two years, just waiting for a warm body to feed on. Aside from scratching, other symptoms of flea infestation are hair loss, actual fleas jumping, bumps on the skin, black flecks that look like dirt or pepper on your cat’s coat. Fleas not only cause extreme discomfort, they can cause fatal anemia in kittens and cats. They are a host for tapeworms so if your kitty has fleas, it’s highly probable they also have tapeworms. Flea collars may repel fleas and send them to the rear of the cat but they don’t kill them.
A great home remedy is to use Borax laundry detergent to wash your cat’s bedding and then around the house instead of an expensive, potentially toxic flea bomb. Sprinkle the Borax powder on your furniture and floors – anywhere the fleas might be. Let sit for several hours, vacuum it up along with the fleas. Immediately dispose of contents into wheelie bin. For kittens under 12 weeks, try dabbing a cotton tip in Vaseline and touching the flea – it gets stuck and you pull it off. Simple, inexpensive, non-toxic and environmentally friendly.
Collars: Putting a collar on your cat is a personal choice – some are for and some against. If you insist on putting a collar on your cat, make sure it’s a ‘breakaway’ collar, and check it frequently to ensure it’s not too tight. Kitty can quickly outgrow a collar and be severley injured or maimed by one that becomes painfully embedded in the skin. They can hang themselves or get their legs caught trying to get out of the collar. Microchipping is the best form of identification for our feline friends, not collars.
BUT you want to prevent your cat from hunting wildlife…? Research has shown bells on cat collars don’t protect wildlife – stopping your cat from wandering by having cat proof fencing does. Bells don’t work at all to “warn” the wildlife. Cats that have bells on their collars are able to catch our native wildlife just as effectively as a cat that doesn’t have a bell. In any case, your cat should be kept inside the yard as it’s much safer for them and actually against Qld Local Council Laws. Being outside exposes them to risks such as being attacked/killed by dogs, hit by cars, getting into fights with other cats and contracting FIV or FELV.
