Foster Cat Care, What You Need to Know

Some animals have been abandoned by their owners. They end up in animal shelters hoping that someone will come along and given them a good home. If you are thinking of owning a feline, you better learn a thing or two about foster cat care.

When you bring home the cat from the foster home, this should first be left inside the cat carrier until they are already ready to be isolated in a small room. This will give them time to adjust to their new environment and one of the most ideal places in the house is the bathroom that must have a cat bed, litter pan, water and food.

If there are children in the house, they must be slowly introduced to the feline one at a time with adult supervision. They must be taught to treat it gently and speak to it softly but if you have infants or toddlers, you should wait till they grow older.

In case there is already a cat in the house and the one you adopted will add to the number of pets, you must plan a 2 week introductory period between them. Be aware that there will be a lot of hissing and you should be present at all times so that should a fight break out, you will be able to wrap a blanket around them and have these two separated. Naturally, both should have a separate litter box and bowl.

You must always use good quality cat food and not the cheap kind if you want to extend the life of your cat. Feeding is once daily and you have the option of giving them supplements like Omega 3 Fatty acids.

By law, cats are required to wear an identification tag so if you don’t have one yet, you better get one. Written on the tag is the cat’s name, your name, address and contact number so someone will be able to get in touch with you in the event it gets out of the house. Another option is for to install a microchip that is embedded under their skin.

Some cats have not been toilet trained. If this is one of your problems, you should teach them so they know that this is the place to go when nature is calling. The best step is to carry them to the box when you see that they are about to do it. If you see them doing, reinforce it by giving them food as a reward thus making this habit forming.

Aside from providing the adopted cat with food and shelter, you should also give them a scratch pad to curb the incidents of unwanted destruction of furniture. Ideally, this should measure 3 feet in height and installed near where they sleep or next to the furniture.

If ever they scratch on the furniture, do not scold them. Just carry them and direct their attention to the post.

Since their claws get sharp, you must also trim it every two weeks. If you have never done it before, ask your vet to teach you so this is done right causing no harm to the cat.

Foster cat care can be a challenge given that there are a lot of things to teach it. By giving your new friend constant love and attention, you will be able to enjoy each other’s company.

Cat Care Symptoms that You Need to Know

When we experience pain in our bodies, we can easily tell someone that there is something wrong and that person will be able to bring you to the hospital. Pets cannot do that but watching them can tell you a lot of things which is why owners should practice cat care and be aware of the symptoms.

Here are a few diseases you should watch out for and their symptoms.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is the most feared disease and in fact is the leading cause of death among cats. It is caused by a coronavirus infection and the worse part is that the symptoms are very common with other ailments so it is really hard to tell.

There is also Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) that is similar to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Just like the human version, it is a life long infection that progresses slowly and kills the cat.

Cats can also in infected by Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). It is a retrovirus that causes fatal cancerous and non-cancerous diseases. Fortunately, it can be treated using some household detergents and bleach as well as warmth and drying. It is transmitted through the saliva, tears, urine and feces of infected cats. Unlike the other two, it cannot survive that long in the environment so it is only contagious when the infected cat stays with another cat for a long period of time.

Worms are also another threat to cats and this is caused by a fungal infection that is spread through the spores. Since it is a self-limiting disease, you don’t to do anything to make it go away. It will eventually clear up but it may just take a few months.

If you cat is overweight, chances are it already has feline diabetes. The symptoms of this disease include excessive urination and thirst as well as weight loss or gain. Vets are not yet sure what causes this but there have been a few research studies that have shown that there is a link between pancreatic disease, hormonal imbalance and certain medications.

The symptoms of most of the diseases mentioned are very similar. These include diarrhea, vomiting, lameness lasting for more than 5 days in one leg,   a decrease in vision, excessive panting, a seizure, blood in the stool or urine, hair loss, persistent coughing or gagging and breathing heavily or rapidly at rest. In order to find the answer, your cat will have to undergo some tests.

The vet will take some blood, urine and feces samples. Any input that you have observed and give will also be useful. When the tests come out, only then will the proper treatment be administered to the cat as each case varies so what worked for one cat may not have the same positive effect with yours.

Your cat could still be healthy if you gave it constant attention. This can be done by feeding it high quality food, giving it fresh water, allowing it to exercise, proper grooming, making sure it stays indoors and taking it regularly to the vet.

If you have missed any of these simple steps, something wrong is bound to happen and you will soon notice a change in the behavior of the feline and doing nothing about it just going to make matters worse. So observe proper cat care tips and look out for symptoms.

Matching the wardrobe to the season

Mandarin Duck 

From the tiger's stripes, which echo the light and shade of the forest, to the bright green of the tree frog, most animals have developed color schemes that blend with their environment. In situations where that environment is subjected to extremes of seasonal change, however, extra and rather special adaptations are called for.

Like other birds living in landscapes that are snow covered for part of the year, the Scandinavian willow grouse regularly exchanges the tones and patterns of its brown summer plumage for winter whites. Not that the transition is abrupt; rather it is gradual, mirroring the drift of summer into autumn and then into winter. The willow grouse's life is constantly under threat . Terrestrial predators such as lynxes and wildcats share its mountain and tundra home, and eagles sheel overhead. Survival depends upon the grouse making the most of its colouring by gearing its movements to the state of its surroundings. Thus its greatest security is achieved when there is a good blanketing of snow and the bird is in full white feather.

During the long spring thaw, the landscape becomes a patchwork of snow, rock and exposed vegetation. While the grouse retains its winter colours, it will feed only against a snowy background. Not until its plumage is almost completely changed again will the bird move to snowless terrain. So important is the right camouflage to the grouse that it will even cut down its food intake rather than risk exposing itself against a contrasting background.

(Image Source: oddee.com)

Lizards sacrifice their tails to save their lives

Lizards rely on speed and agility to flee from danger. But if running does not suffice, then the lizard brings its tail into use. Most lizard species shed their tails when they are threatened, an action that not only tends to confuse the attacker but focuses its attention on the distracting tail while the lizard makes a dash for safety. So the lizard offers its tail as a snack, albeit a fairly paltry and fleshless one, for the safety of the rest of its body. Predatory monitor lizards take full advantage of this and feed almost entirely on such discarded tails.

A lizard's detachable tail has sections that can be snapped off at will by the simple contraction of some of the lizard's muscles. In spite of the fact that the fracture occurs across the spine, the loss causes the creature little discomfort. This is because the joints at the 'crisis point' where the tail breaks off are made of cartilage rather than bone, and blood vessels and nerves are constricted to reduce the pain and blood loss.

Although a lizard's tail is not essential, it does play an important role in balance and in breeding success. The lost tail grows again with time, although it may differ in length or pattern from the original, and the lizard may even end up with more than one tail. Victorian records, for example, tell of a lizard which had seven. But regrowing a tail takes considerable energy. If a predator refuses to eat the snack, some skinks have been known to return to eat their own discarded tails.

The glass snake is really a lizard with no legs. It takes its name from its extraordinary ability to shatter its own body. If under stress, this 5 ft (1.5 m) long creature fractures its tail at all or most of its joints. Each piece then wriggles around on its own, while the snake itself slips away - sometimes reduced to two-thirds of its original length.

A species of gecko found in Puerto Rico also dismantles itself spectacularly when in danger. It sheds bits of skin from all over its body, or even its whole outer covering, and moves off to safety.

(Image Source: bookarmor.com)

Dogs Allergies

It is not only human beings who suffer from allergies. Dogs do too. In fact, many people are not aware that there are about 20% of cases in the United States where dogs suffer from severe allergy reactions caused by different types, such as flea allergy, food allergies, inhalant allergies, and atopic dermatitis.

The same with human beings, dogs suffering from allergies experience similar signs and symptoms. Cases usually vary but they are normally marked by the following:

• Discoloration of the skin
• Persistent itching
• Sneezing
• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Mucus discharge
• Nausea
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

Some people ignore when their dogs develop some signs and symptoms such as above; however, dog allergies are serious conditions which should be taken cared of. If these are not properly addressed, it can be fatal to dogs, just like how human allergies can be life-threatening to people.

Treatments and Consultations

There are some over the counter medicine preparations which can be used for treating allergy conditions. You can normally purchase such from any pet supply shop. However, in most cases, it is a wise move if you consult the right person first before you give your pet any medications or treatments.

First, some of the signs relating to allergic reactions can actually be symptoms of other serious ailments. Second, if allergic reactions are severe, over the counter preparations maybe insufficient or not the proper one to treat the condition and may even trigger more serious health problems of the dog.

Therefore, bringing it to a trusted veterinarian is the best course of action that you can take before anything else. Veterinarians should know what really is happening with your dog. Though the above symptoms and signs are related to suffering from allergies, there are some chances that your dog does not suffer the same condition.

Even if you are sure that your dog is suffering from allergies, you still want to medicate it properly and only the veterinarian can give you that. They can perform certain tests to prove if it were really allergy conditions, how serious they were, and what proper medication or treatment should be applied. These tests will also be the right method to identify what type of allergy exists with your dog; therefore, will be recommended only the right treatment and strategies to avoid them from occurring again in the future.

If the dog is found to be allergic to some foods, it will be the veterinary who will know what and how to restrict your pet's diet to abort foods that trigger the reaction. Also, if the dog has developed flea dermatitis condition, this will be provided with proper treatment and preventative measures. Similarly, the veterinarian will be able to give your dog the right prevention methods to avoid inhalant allergies to be triggered.

Dogs are like humans that have the desire to live comfortably and healthily. In the same note, dogs do suffer the same condition and can be deadly if not properly addressed with. But when certain conditions occur, and you know what to do, your pet will live a happy and long life with its masters and friends. Playing doctor each time allergies happen always never makes a wise decision.

Because the only persons qualified to diagnose, determine, and provide medications are the veterinarians, just what the qualified physicians are to the human beings.

(Image Source: canineskinallergies.blogspot.com)

Fish Poop Helps Balance Ocean Acidity

The ocean's delicate acid balance may be getting help from an unexpected source, fish poop.

The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere not only drives global warming, but also raises the amount of CO2 dissolved in ocean water, tending to make it more acid, potentially a threat to sea life.

Alkaline chemicals like calcium carbonate can help balance this acid. Scientists had thought the main source for this balancing chemical was the shells of marine plankton, but they were puzzled by the higher-than-expected amounts of carbonate in the top levels of the water.

Now researchers led by Rod W. Wilson of the University of Exeter in England report in the journal Science that marine fish contribute between 3 percent and 15 percent of total carbonate.

And the contribution may be even higher than that, say the researchers from the U.S., Canada and England.

They report that bony fish, a group that includes 90 percent of marine species, produce carbonate to dispose of the excess calcium they ingest in seawater. This forms into calcium carbonate crystals in the gut and the fish then simply excrete these "gut rocks."

The process is separate from digestion and production of feces, according to the researchers.

The team estimated the total mass of bony fish in the ocean at between 812 million tons and 2,050 million tons, which they said could produce around 110 million tons of calcium carbonate per year.

The carbonate produced by fish is soluble and dissolves in the upper sea water, while that from the plankton sinks to the bottom, the team noted.

The research was funded by the U.K. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, The Royal Society, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, United Nations Environmental Program, the Pew Charitable Trust and the U.K. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

(Image Source: arstechnica.com)

Sound Engineers of the Insect World

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In his quest for a mate, the male cricket, a skilled communicator, sings three different songs: one to advertise his presence, one to court and one to ward off unwanted competitors.

First comes the calling song, a high-frequency sequence of simple chirps that is maintained for as long as it takes to attract attention. Should a female show interest by approaching, the male increases the frequency and shortens the duration of each note. This results in an excited buzz which seems to entice the female cricket.

If a male approaches, this song gives way to another, more aggressive outburst in which each chirp is drawn out in an expression of self-assertion.

Females, for their part, are well adapted to pick up these signals. They use different receptor cells in their ears and nervous systems to distinguish between the songs of competing males, and will travel right through the territory of an unwanted partner to a male that produces a more attractive song.

The male cricket produces his songs by 'stridulating' or rubbing together specially adapted areas at the base of his wings. On the underside of one wing is a row of teeth-like protrusions similar to a comb; on the edge of the other lies a tongue of toughened tissue. The tongue acts like a guitar plectrum. Each time it strikes one of the teeth it creates a sharp click. This sound is then amplified and transmitted by a resonating part of the wing called the 'harp'. The rate at which the plectrum strikes the teeth gives the songs the distinctive quality of each species.

The male grasshopper uses similar means to amplify his mating songs, but the method used to make them is different. He calls by scrapping rows of tiny pegs on his back legs against a thickened vein on the forewing. Each species of grasshopper has its own call which is determined by the arrangement of pegs and the rate at which they are scraped. The number of pegs also varies from 80 to 450 per leg.

(Image Source: a-z-animals.com)

Explosions Made by Bombardier Beetles

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The bombardier beetle gets its name from the explosive sound it gives off when threatened, loosing up to 50 burning, chemical volleys of heat, colour and noise from a 'gun barrel' situated in the tip of its abdomen.

To take aim, the beetle swivels its abdomen from side to side and fires straight at an attacking insect or frog. The attacker is left with a nasty taste in the mouth and even minor burns.

The beetle's body manufactures and stores the chemical ingredients needed for the volleys. When a bombardier beetle is under stress, the liquid chemicals are forced out of cavities in its body into a thick-walled, heat-resistant 'explosion chamber' in its abdomen. Here, a rapid chemical reaction takes place that turns the liquids into gases and water. As pressure builds up in the chamber, the bubbling chemicals squirt out in a series of rapid bursts.

(Image Source: badassanimals.tumblr.com)

The array of senses that make owls supreme night hunters

 The circles of feathers around an owl's eyes do not, as you might expect, help it to see; they help it to hear. Known as facial discs, the circles have tightly packed feathers around their rims. The feathers channel high-frequency sounds, such as the squeak of a mouse, into the owl's ears, which lie behind the discs. They perform essentially the same function as they fleshy external ears of mammals such as rabbits and cats.

With their enormous eyes, owls are particularly well-equipped for hunting in dim light. But their remarkable vision cannot help them in the complete darkness they encounter under trees at night. They then have to rely on their extremely acute hearing.

Owls locate sounds much as we do; a sound from the right reaches the right ear fractionally before it reaches the left, and their brains analyse this tiny difference to give the direction of the sound. In the same way, some species of owl can sense the exact height a sound is coming from, as one of their ears is higher than the other. Owls turn their heads to balance a sound in both ears - this gives them the precise direction of a sound, and allows them to pinpoint their prey with complete accuracy in total darkness.

As if all this was not enough, owls have extremely soft plumage, allowing them to make their final gliding assault in almost complete silence. A mouse scuttling through the undergrowth has very little chance of escape.

(Image Source: vanishingtattoo.com)

Cat Diabetes - How to Care

Photo Courtesy : 1stpetnaturals.com

Cat care and diabetes go hand in hand to ensure that your pet cat can live an otherwise more normal life than usual. It may be unfortunate for pet cats to have their own version of diabetes, also a serious affliction among humans. It is also important for pet owners to know how feline diabetes affects cats and how they can help make life better for their pets by learning how to better care for them.

There are two types of feline diabetes that may affect your pet cats. Type 1 is caused by an insufficient production of insulin while type 2 diabetes is characterized by the inability of the cat's body to process insulin more effectively. And just like in humans, diabetes can also strike cats at any age but is more likely to affect older cats.

There is also a secondary feline diabetes that can be caused by drugs or by some diseases that may impair the natural processing of insulin in the body.

Cats also display symptoms that may tell veterinarians or pet owners of the onset of diabetes. These symptoms also have similarities with what humans with diabetes develop as the disease progresses. Cats may show frequent thirst and urination. With the body's inability to process or handle glucose, diabetic cats may also experience weight loss.

Other symptoms that may be associated with feline diabetes include vomiting, loss of appetite and general weakness. Diabetic cats may also have poor skin and coat condition as well as breathing abnormalities.

When a pet cat displays the symptoms mentioned above, it might be wise for pet owners to have their cats tested for sugar levels in the blood as well as in their urine. The reason why both tests might be required is that cats under stress may experience a temporary spike of their blood sugar levels. The two tests will help confirm if your pet cat really has diabetes.

Just like diabetes in humans, the feline version also has no cure yet available. Instead, feline diabetes can be controlled through a number of means. And for cats, it can be done through diet and weight control. A diet that is high in fiber and complex carbohydrates would be ideal for diabetic cats, especially the obese ones.

This type of diet is maintained not only to control the cat's weight but also to control the cat's blood sugar levels. There are also oral medications available that can help your diabetic  pet cat maintain a suitable blood sugar level.

Pet owners of diabetic cats may also need to carefully monitor their pet's glucose and insulin levels. For those pet owners who resort to giving their diabetic cats insulin injections for their diabetes, care to avoid overdose should always be maintained. An overdose of insulin can be a very fatal condition in cats. There are also some dietary supplements that can be used to help diabetic cats deal with their condition.

Cat care and diabetes always go hand in hand to ensure that your pet cat can lead a normal life. Providing the right care for diabetic pet cats can make sure that pet cat owners can enjoy the company of their pet for as long as possible.

The genuine concern that is shared through the care given to diabetic pet cats can show the love that pet owners may have on their dear animal companions.

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Persian Cat Care - What Should You Know

Photo Courtesy: pictures-of-cats.org

It may be fluffy but the way to do Persian cat care must also be according to how you do it with other cats. You have to perform the tasks with love and affection, just like being a parent to their child.

Where It Came From
The history of where this breed of cats came from is varied depending on who you are talking to. But most would say that the name has something to do with its origin. It is said that some of the early Persian cats do actually came from Persia. This country is now known as Iran.

These cats are also believed to have originated from Turkey, as well as England in the time of Crusades. This breed held a special spot in the royalties of England and even to the king of Persia during the early days. Such type of people valued the possession of Persian cats.

Maybe that's the reason why until now, Persian cats seem to walk the walk. They look like they have something classy about them.

The Breed
Persian cats' body built can range from medium to large. It may appear fluffy like a pillow but actually has a good muscle tone. The fluff or its coat has a fine texture and seems to be full of life. That is what gives the appearance of richness to this breed.

How to Care
Caring for your Persian cats need not be as regal as they seem to be. The idea is to be responsible and do your tasks accordingly.

You have to provide your pet with the best kind of food. They are not humans and their needs are a lot different from you. So do not give them your leftovers. Choose the quality cat food according to your budget. Make sure that you give them the food as fresh as possible. Don't let your cats touch spoiled food or else it may cause them sickness like diarrhea or upset stomach.

Always maintain their litter boxes. They have a sensitive smell. And they don't like anything that stinks. This will also do your house good because you will be able to keep things tidy.

And of course, know your pet. You have to observe them well. You need to know when something's not right. Have the veterinarian check them annually and whenever needed.

Just like a child, there are vaccinations that your cat needs to have. You have to include that on your monthly budget. So you better check your vet for some advice on how much you have to allot for each month's check up, if there would be any.

And, of course, you have to take time to really care for your pets. Take time to play with them. They need to feel that you love them. Spend quality time with your cats. If you will be having other pets at home, take time and strategize on including the new one to the whole system.

Your cats tend to get jealous when they don't get the attention that they used to have. It may lead to stress and depression. If you don't take notice, this may get worse. So you always have to be very cautious.

Get in the groove of your Persian cat care. And you will be surprised that through time, you will be able to develop ways to identify the signs and act on them before it becomes too late.