Walk This Way

By: Christian Yost

March 28, 2009
Cats can, indeed, be trained to walk with a leash. Sometimes, walking outdoors is especially good for apartment-bound pets. It gives them room to stretch their legs. It’s also an excellent way for owners and their felines to spend time together.

Getting your cat used to walking on a leash will take time, patience and the right equipment. The process will be easier if you follow these tips:

• Be sure that your cat’s harness is secure and fits properly.
• Make sure she’s wearing an up-to-date identification tag.
• Before venturing outdoors, map out a route. Select an area for strolling that’s free from dogs, traffic, loud noises and other dangers.
• Please visit us at www.siamese-cattailscattery.com

First Aid Kit for Cats

By: Christian Yost

March 26, 2009

Emergencies can occur any time and the best thing to do is be prepared. Having a first aid kit ready will help to reduce anxiety if an emergency does happen. Keep the kit readily available and periodically check to make sure all the items are up to date and present. A small plastic toolbox or fishing tackle box works well to hold all the necessary equipment.

On the outside of the box, write your name, address and telephone number in case you lose it. Also include the telephone number of your veterinarian as well as the telephone number of a local veterinary

emergency facility.

If you leave someone to care for your pets, make sure to discuss your pets with them. Make sure they understand what you consider an emergency, how to contact you, the name and phone number of a secondary contact person you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you were unavailable, and where to take your pet in case of an emergency.

You may want to consider leaving a credit card number to pay for any unplanned expenses relating to your pet’s health.

Once the emergency information is complete, it would be a good idea to have separate information sheets for each pet. Include a photo of each pet with the name, age, breed, sex, identification (microchipping information), and any health problems. This can help if your pet is lost or if someone unfamiliar with your pet is needed to care for him.

A well-stocked first aid kit for cats includes:

Roll cotton

Some cotton balls

Gauze pads

Gauze tape

Hydrogen peroxide (check the expiration date)

Hydrocortisone ointment

Scissors

Eyewash

Tweezers

Silver nitrate

Oral syringes

Pediolyte® or other balanced electrolyte fluid

Baby food– meat flavors work best

Large towel

Exam gloves

One inch white tape (in addition to gauze tape)

Rolls of elastic wrap

Emergency ice pack

Thermometer (both oral and rectal thermometers can be used rectally)

Please visit us at www.siamese-cattailscattery.com

Microchipping for Your Cat’s Safety

Microchipping for Your Cat’s Safety

By: Christian Yost

March 23, 2009

Microchips are fast becoming a popular method for permanent identification of pets. The chips are considered reliable and an effective way to identify lost pets. The chip is small, compact and easily inserted under the skin. But once inserted, there are two other equally important components of the microchip system that must be in place in order to properly identify and return lost pets to their owners; the microchip scanner and an accessible and accurate database. However, there is controversy regarding the chips and scanners.

The Controversy

AVID® and Home Again® microchips read on a frequency of 125 khz and have been commonly used in veterinary hospitals and shelters across the United States. Each company has universal scanners that can identify chips from each other as well as other microchip companies that create chips that are also 125 khz.

Controversy involving microchips exists because one company (Banfield®) introduced a chip that was 134.2 khz and incompatible with other readers. Therefore, pets chipped with Banfield® microchips could not be identified with the most common microchip scanners on the market in the U.S. Banfield has since stopped selling the undetectable microchips in their clinics. Recently, Home Again® announced a new scanner that will read all 125 kHZ microchips and detect 134 kHz chips.

The Microchip

The microchip is a tiny computer chip or transponder about the size of a grain of rice. It stores an identification number and transmits that information through radio waves to the appropriate scanner. Typically, the microchip number contains 10 characters, making available 275 billion separate codes. This makes it highly unlikely that the same identifying code will be used more than once. Rest assured that your pet will have a unique microchip code.

Microchips are composed of a silicon chip and tiny antenna encased in biocompatible glass. The microchips come pre-loaded in a syringe, and the needle is inserted just under the skin between the shoulder blades where the microchip is implanted. The entire procedure takes less than 10 seconds and is only as painful as a vaccination injection.
After injection, the tissue surrounding the microchip reacts to this new substance and forms a casing. This helps prevent migration of the microchip. Since the microchip is made of biocompatible material, rejection is uncommon and infection at the site is very rare.

The Microchip Scanner

The microchip scanner is used as a power source for the microchip and is used to receive the message encoded in the chip. The scanner uses electromagnetic energy to empower the chip to transmit its message through radio waves, which are normally at specific frequencies for each manufacturer of microchips. For this reason, in the past, not all scanners could read all brands of microchips.

In an effort to address this potential problem, in 1996, the International Standards Organization published that universal readers must be produced. Scanners are provided to animal control, humane shelters and other rescue organizations in an effort to ensure that every stray pet is scanned and those with chips are reunited with their owners. Veterinarians can also purchase scanners for use in their hospital.

Do Microchips Cause Cancer

There have been some reports of tumors caused by microchips in laboratory mice and rats. There is also a report of a dog that had a tumor removed that was next to the microchip however do definitive proof suggested it was from the microchip. The manufacturers of the microchips claim they are safe.

Should you microchip your pet? Absolutely Yes! Microchips are the best way of permanent identification of pets. The chips are considered reliable and an effective way to identify lost pets. At this point in time, we believe that they likelihood of a pet being lost and possibly euthanized because he cannot be identified is way higher than the chance of a tumor.

Microchip Database

Even if your pet has a microchip and is properly scanned, without an accessible database, this information will not return your pet to you. When contacted with the identification code of a missing pet, the database personnel can retrieve the pet’s information. Each microchip that is sold is registered to the veterinary hospital or shelter that purchased it. It is the responsibility of the veterinary hospital to record your pet’s unique microchip identification number in his record and notify the microchip database.

In addition, you can register your pet in your own name for faster notification when your lost pet has been found. There is a charge for this service. These microchip databases are usually available 24 hours a day and are even accessible via the Internet. But remember, the database, as with computers, is only as good as the data it contains. Annual confirmation of your pet’s microchip information is strongly recommended.

Please visit us at www.siamese-cattailscattery.com