Lifestyle

People sometimes adopt animals without thinking about the commitment, not only in time and effort, but also in costs. Obviously, this is compounded based on the number of pets in the household. To help prospective adopters get a handle on the financial resources needed to care for a pet, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals created a chart for adopters to visualize the breakdown of costs for several types of animals, including cats.

At the riding stable where your teenage daughter takes lessons, a young barn cat had a litter of playful, adorable kittens. A few months after the kittens were adopted, however, the mother cat remained - and as the cool Autumn weather settled in, you worried about her welfare. The barn owner made it clear that he didnt care if she hung around or not - she wasnt much of a mouser - so you decided to scoop her up, put her in the backseat of your car and take her home. The above fantasy exists in the life of every cat lover, but the reality is that when bringing home an outdoor cat (such as a neighborhood stray or a barn cat), you need to take precautions for everyones health and safety. Luckily, if a new owner anticipates the adoption and potential problems - and addresses them accordingly - they can be greatly minimized.

Many of us have spent considerable time planning for the care of our family members in the event that we die or become incapacitated. Unfortunately, though, we often fail to consider the needs of our smallest family members: our pets. In the past, most pet owners didnt think about making formal arrangements for their cats in their wills. But all thats changing, according to David Congalton, co-author of When Your Pet Outlives You: Protecting Animal Companions After You Die.

Your sister is moving to Japan for her job and she can’t take her cat with her. She’s devastated and turns to you for help. But you already have three cats and can’t take on another. You can’t imagine ever having to give up one of your own cats, but dealing with your sister’s situation is almost as bad. What do you do? Someday, you may need to find a home for your own cat. But there are a number of things to try before deciding that a cat cannot stay where she is. And if it becomes absolutely necessary, here’s some help in finding her a new home.

As springtime arrives throughout the U.S., the steamy days and nights of summer cannot be far behind. This means, of course, a proliferation of mosquitoes. For you, this is an annoyance. For your cat, these bothersome little creatures can pose a major health problem. Among all of the various disorders that can endanger a cats physical well-being and perhaps threaten its life, few are more insidious than feline heartworm disease, a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when a parasitic worm called Dirofilaria immitis gets into an animals system. And the only way in which this worm can enter your cats body is through a mosquito bite.

If your cat has ever scratched the floor before or after eating a meal, attempted to cover uneaten food, or plopped a favorite toy into her food or water dish, please raise your hand. Right now, many of you are probably waving your hand in the air and nodding your head knowingly. If suppertime at your house has more the ambience of a junior high school cafeteria than a chic caf, read on. Our Cornell experts help make sense of some of our cats quirkiest food-related behaviors. Eating Etiquette. Scratching around their bowls or trying to cover food is a common, albeit puzzling behavior seen in many cats. Just why our fastidious felines do this remains a mystery, but several theories have been suggested.

Sometimes, I find things which appear to be grains of rice stuck to the fur around my cats hind end. Figaro does go outside, but I cant figure out how he could get rice stuck back there. Do you think hes been rooting around in garbage cans looking for food?

Several years ago I came home to my first apartment and was greeted by my best friend, grinning from ear to ear. "Theres a surprise in your bathroom!" she exclaimed. That surprise turned out to be an adorable stray kitty from her hometown. "Nana" soon revealed herself to be an amazingly adaptive cat that was happy just basking in our love and attention, but the road to domestic bliss was certainly not without its bumps. In hindsight, there were several steps we could have taken to make the transition a bit smoother. In fact, there are several potential problems when bringing an outdoor cat (e.g. a neighborhood stray or barn cat) indoors to live; however, if you anticipate these problems - and address them accordingly - they can be greatly minimized.

Some involved with animal welfare are critical of free adoptions of adult cats, believing it devalues the cat in the adopters eyes, or it may attract adopters who are unable to fulfill the financial responsibilities of cat ownership. Advocates believe waiving the fee for adult cats will enhance rates of adoptions, and provide opportunities to educate owners who may otherwise adopt from neighbors or may respond to "free to good home" ads.

Though outdoor allergens (substances that can cause the immune system to respond with an allergic reaction), such as pollen, are considered to be the main culprits in causing allergies, indoor allergens, such as the common house dust mite, actually have the potential to be much more reactive. As humans, we generally have the most difficult time with indoor allergens when they are airborne and are inhaled into our upper respiratory tract. Though we consider our feline pets to be members of the family, most cats do not respond to airborne particles with an allergic reaction in the respiratory tract - unless the cat is asthmatic, notes William H. Miller, VMD, professor of medicine, chief of the section of dermatology, and medical director of Cornells Companion Animal Hospital.

Pet Style News has awarded Soft-Hearted Products their "Editors Choice Award" for best pet memorial product. Every year, Pet Style News magazine searches for the most innovative new pet products. According to Pet Style News, the Soft-Hearted Pillow is "a major departure from the wood, ceramic and stone urns available on the market. This product gives the mourning pet owner a way to continue to hold and hug the lost pet in the form of a velvet-soft pillow with the pets ashes safely contained inside a zippered pouch at the center."

Cats, being the inquisitive creatures they are, appreciate things that are new and different. Because the holidays bring an array of novel and interesting stimuli into the home, the curious kitty can certainly get into trouble. For the climbing kitty, a holiday tree offers the excitement of the outdoors inside the home, and even an undecorated tree is not without risk. Unless the tree is anchored, the results can be devastating. "Ive heard many stories about Christmas trees coming down," says Pamela Perry, DVM, lecturer in farm-animal behavior at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine. Anchoring your tree to the ceiling or back wall with a cup hook and some wire or string may keep your cat and your tree from coming to harm.