The World of Cats

Cats. They are probably one of the normal pets that people have. They are the cute cuddly fur-balls that purr until their heart is content. That is unless you have a wild one that can not be tamed.
There are many breeds of cats. These include Siamese, Himalayan, Persian, American Shorthair, and Abyssinian. If you look around in the area of Hiawatha and Horton, you will see that not many purebreds exist. Most of the cats are American Shorthairs in this area or in my opinion, if you are talking dog, mutts. Keep in mind, the more of purebred your cat is, the more it will cost. I have included at the end of the article a list and pictures of cat breeds.
I have been told by a veterinarian that out of dogs and cats, cats are more susceptible to diseases. The more common diseases are intestinal worms, ringworm, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), toxoplasmosis, urinary tract conditions, ear mites, heartworm, respiratory infection, hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, cat distemper, heart disease, fleas and ticks, cancer and diabetes.
Intestinal worms are worms that infect a cat’s digestive system. The more common worms that infect cats and other animals are round, tape and hook worms. Round worms are round and can grow up to 4 inches long. Hook worms attach themselves to the walls of the intestines and feed on the blood of the animal. I could not find how big they can get. Tape worms range from .5 inches to 30 feet long depending on the size of the animal. Humans can get infected from round worms though children are infected more then adults. A cat can get one of these worms through fleas and/or a rodent that is infected with worms. You can get a wormer that is for round worms from Wal-Mart or a local pet store less than ten dollars or so. You can also take the infected cats to the vet to treat them with an all-a-round wormer that gets rid of any type of worm.
Ringworm is a fungal skin infection and is contagious to humans, especially children. Signs of ringworm are circular patches on skin and hair loss. You can get medicine from the vet that is taken orally, a lotion or salve that is rubbed on the body or a shampoo that requires the cat to bathed 2-4 times a week.
Feline immunodeficiency virus or FIV is just about the same thing as human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. It is passed along cats through bites but cannot be passed to humans. Signs of initial infection are fever, anemia, diarrhea, enlarged lymph nodes and/or decrease in white blood cells. These symptoms are followed by period of normalcy that can last months or years. A FIV-positive cat may have the symptoms of pneumonia, diarrhea, skin disease, eye diseases, sinus infections, or neurological or brain problems. This disease has no cure for it but health problems that arise can be treated and can help your cat live longer.
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is caused by a feline corona virus. Corona viruses are contagious and cats can give to another through feces or saliva. Cats of any age can get FIP but cats between six months and two years and cats that are fourteen to fifteen years old are at the greatest risk. Signs of FIP can include fever, conjunctivitis, diarrhea, upper respiratory problems and can have a swollen abdomen. This is no cure for FIP either. Some veterinarians suggest prednisone and antibiotics. Just ask your vet what he thinks should be done for the cat.
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease that can be transmitted to human by a cat’s waste. (Pregnant women are strongly urged not to clean litter boxes to avoid getting this disease and passing it on to the baby.) Many cats will not show signs of having this disease but early symptoms of this disease can be present. These symptoms are lethargy, fever, loss of appetite and depression. There is no vaccine for toxoplasmosis and so the best ways to prevent this parasite is to keep your cat inside and never feed raw meat or undercooked meat and bones to your cat. This parasite is come into through rodents and birds that have this parasite. Raw or undercooked meat and bones can also have this and other parasites.
Ear mites are mites that infect the ear. Your cat may show signs of this by pawing at the ear and rubbing the ear against the floor. This can be cured by cleansing the ear and cleaning it with a Q tip. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, the vet will be happy to do it for you.
Heartworm is a parasite that affects the cat’s heart. This problem is more common in dogs though. You can prevent heartworms but giving it a pill very month or so. I do not know when you can start giving your kitten this medicine though.
Hyperthyroidism is an enlarged thyroid gland caused by overproduction of hormones. Signs of this can be indicated by weight loss, increase or decrease in appetite, increase of thirst and urination, vomiting and hyperactivity. Hyperthyroidism can be treated by radioactive iodine and/or surgical removal of the gland.
Cats, too, can have urinary tract infections just like humans. Signs of this include frequent urinating with small amounts of urine, straining, wanting to go outside a lot, licking the genital area excessively and urinating on smooth surfaces instead of the litter box. If the cat shows signs of this, take it to the vet. They can prescribe medication to rid the cat of the infection.
Depending on if your cat is going to be an inside or outside cat, it maybe a good idea to have your cat vaccinated. If you are going to vaccinate your cat, the chart below shows you what vaccinations you need and when.

Age Vaccinations or Exams
9 weeks
· FVRCP (distemper)
· Intestinal Worm Check
· Feline Leukemia*
The shot may also be known as distemper shot.
· Intestinal Worm Checks

12 weeks
· FVRCP· Feline Leukemia*
· Rabies
· FVRCP
· Feline Leukemia:

16 weeks/ 4 months
· Feline Infectious Peritonis (FIP)*
· Feline Leukemia*
· Intestinal Worm Check

5-6 months
·Spading or neutering* A surgery that may help prevent the cat getting some testicle or uterus infection when they get older.

Annually
· General Checkup
· Rabies
· Feline Leukemia*
· FIP*
· FVRCP
· Intestinal Worm Check

Monthly
· Heartworm Medicine*
· If you have outside cats, you may want to prevent your cat from getting heartworms. This is totally up to you.
*This is up to you to choose.

As a cat owner, there are lots of foods to pick for your cat. There is dry food, canned food, kitten food, semi-moist food, senior food, store brand foodm premium food products and super or specialty premium products. If you do not know what to get your cat, I suggest talking to your vet about what is right for your cat.
You may think that just because your cat grooms all the time, you don’t have to. This is just a myth. It is important to groom your cat to help keep him or her healthy, to bond with him or her and it can be a great therapy tool for many ages of people. The way you keep your cat healthy is by checking the body, fur, mouth, and paws for anything abnormal. If you are groom regularly, you will be able to tell if your cat has a problem on the outer body and can fix the problem before it gets worst. Also, combing or brushing helps get skin oils spread out through the fur and skin, removes loose that can cause hairballs, and can help prevent matting.
To help with your cat not fighting the grooming process, you will need to start when he or she is a kitten. If that is not possible, find the places he or she likes to rubbed, combed and brushed and where he or she doesn’t like to. You will probably need to start with short grooming sessions to get the cat use to being groomed. After a while, he or she may not mind it so much and you may be able to go longer. With all this combined, you and your cat may have an enjoyable grooming and bonding time.
Your cat may need a bath once in a while to get cleaned up and get the odor off of his or her fur. One article, I have read said that shorthaired cats should be bathed twice a year and longhaired cats should be bathed three to four times a year. Another said that bathing should be done one to two times a month. I suggest that you do what you, your vet or groomer is right for the cat. A suggestion I read in one of those articles was that you should take into consideration the weather, season and so forth. These factors can affect your cat even if he or she may be an inside cat.
Choosing tools or brushes is a choice that you as the owner can choose. You don’t have to get all the real expensive combs and brushes. The very basics will help you just the same. You may have to get other things to help if your vet or groomer recommends or tells you to. The list below tells you what you need for your grooming kit.

Grooming Tools
·Brushes in numerous shapes, sizes and bristle/tine depths
·Combs with combination tine depths and widths
·Conditioner mists*
·Dental finger brushes**
·Dental wipes**
·Ear wipes
·Electric or battery-operated clippers
·Eye wipes***
·Flea Combs
·Full-body cleaning towelettes and sprays for allergen removal purposes*
·Gloves with “nubs” or “fingers” for hair removal*
·Mat-removing brushes and combs*
·Mat-removing sprays*
·Nail trimmers with safety-stop guards
·Plastic brushes with a “magnetic/static” charge to hold the removed hair*
·Post-grooming colognes*
·Powder, swabs and liquids to stop nail bleeding
·Self-cleaning brushes
·Tear-stain remover products*
·Vacuum cleaner grooming attachments****
·Vibrating massage and cleaning brush*

***You do not have to go and buy extra attachments. Your vacuum came with attachments that are enough.
**You can take your cat to the vet for a dental clean
*Stuff that is not necessary


To give your cat a bath is very simple. It’s like washing a baby for with a baby you have to make the water is not too hot or cold, you don’t get water in eyes and ears and so on and so on. Here are some steps you can take in washing your cat.

Items Needed:
1.a large towel
2.shampoo and possibly conditioner
3.cotton balls
4.Possibly a hair dryer and cat carrier

Guidance to wash a cat:
1.Put cotton balls in ears to prevent water from getting in to the ear.
2.Put the cat into a sink with a ledge and wet the cat with warm water.
3.Use Dawn (diluted down 1 tablespoon to 2 cups of water) and work all over the body, then rinse really well.
a.You may not want to use dish soap. The reason some say to use dish soap is to get most of the oil off the skin.
b.You may baby shampoo depending on age of cat.
4.Follow up with shampoo and rinse until the suds are gone.
5.Rinse again to make sure all the suds are gone.
6.If you use conditioner, dilute 1 teaspoon into two cups of water and make sure this mixture is well shaken together.
7.Leave the conditioner in the fur for about a minute and rinse completely!!
8.Squeeze all the water out of the fur and then wrap a towel around the cat.
9.Pat dry and remove the cotton balls.
10. Wait to brush the fur until it is almost completely dry.

If you want, after you give your cat a bath you can blow dry him or her. You could even prop the dryer on towels and have it blow into a cat carrier. Just make sure that it is on the lowest/coolest setting. A thing to watch out for, no matter if you used a blow dryer or not, is to make sure the cat’s feet is dry before using a litter box with litter that clumps. If you cat’s feet is wet and he or she uses the litter box, the cat can have clumps of cement on his or her feet.
If you decide to go ahead and clean out the cat’s ears, make sure you don’t stick a Q tip down the ear canal for this can cause damage. You can use a cotton ball if you feel better using it instead of a Q tip. Any way, fold back the ear and wipe the ear free of wax. Make sure to get into the folds of the ear for wax can build there. This is also a good time to see if there are ear mites or other problems in the ear. Smells and textures will tell you if something is in the ear.
It should be a joy and not a burden to have a cat even though she may scratch furniture and other objects. These things listed above are just basics and not meant to take the place of a veterinary’s exam if problems arise.