“Your Pet’s Health Food Store”
KELLY’S KORNER
FLEA & TICK CONTROL…
I tend to be somewhere in the middle with regard to how I treat my pets medically. I always do annual vet check ups with general blood work, stool samples, heartworm test, and titer tests for parvo and distemper. I typically assess our dog and cats’ risk before administering drugs, chemicals, or vaccines. If possible, I will treat with a more holistic approach using herbals, supplements, acupuncture, etc. I will also utilize conventional means whenever necessary. Basically, we all have to make our own decisions based on many factors, including personal beliefs, finances, and comfort levels.
Regarding Fleas, I've been very fortunate that all of my natural methods: providing a natural meat based diet, proper garlic supplementation, using herbal flea shampoo, spray and collar, and human grade diatomaceous earth, keeping my household vacuumed and bedding washed and keeping the grass cut short to limit the places fleas and ticks can live; have prevented any flea problems from occurring with Gus or my two indoor kitties. As I have never had any flea issues (for over 17 years), I've typically elected not to use any chemical spot on treatments, particularly for fleas. *If you’d like a good essential oil recipe for flea repelling stop by the shop and ask for a copy or send me an email requesting same
However, in Spring 2009, Gus attracted some uninvited ticks while we were hiking in the Shenandoah Mountains. We removed the engorged ticks and had them identified through our vet’s office. To make a long story short, Gus had some vague symptoms of Lyme Disease like borderline anemia, intermittent limping on front legs and a general lack of stamina. However, two Lyme tests over three months following the tick exposure came back negative.
Fast-forward about six weeks and Gus was extremely ill and in the hospital for three days. We blood tested for lyme once again...and he came up borderline positive for Lyme Disease. The somewhat good news is that this is treatable if caught early on, but must be managed and continually monitored.
I feel it's really important to share this information with our customers for two main reasons. First, while I've always been able to prevent fleas naturally, ticks are totally different. The reason people use chemical preventatives is because you need to kill the tick before they can engorge and spread any disease if they are carriers. I'm still not comfortable using chemicals on a regular basis as they are chemicals and can eventually lead to worse things if used continually over your pets lifetime. I've talked with many people and veterinarians (conventional and holistic) and based on our higher risk (we camp and hike in deep woods where disease carrying ticks may be much more prevalent) we will probably use either a chemical tick spot on or direct spray only when we are going into these areas. We will also be much more selective about where we hike as we don't want to subject Gus to chemicals on a regular basis.
Remember, you know your pet better than anyone else and if your pet is really acting "off" get him checked out and don't give up even if everything points to nothing. You shouldn't run to the vet for every little thing, but it's important to know what is normal behavior and what isn't. If only our pets could talk and tell us what is ailing them...that would be such a wonderful thing!
One of my very favorite quotes to live by from the dog Speak Cards line…
DOGILOSOPHY
"Listen more than you speak, Always act like you have a purpose, Appreciate a simple life, Give more than you receive,
Be happy with what you have…
-dog speak cards-
MY EXPERIENCE WITH FERAL CATS…
Over the passed several years I'd noticed a tuxedo cat in the neighborhood that I assumed was someone's pet. And, during that time, I would occasionally see kittens running along side this "Momma Kitty." I'm not insensitive, but I never paid close attention to the cats as I figured some irresponsible pet owner must be letting their cat run free in the neighborhood and obviously the cat wasn't spayed. URGH!!…This really drives me crazy because even if you can't afford to spay/neuter there are so many programs and clinics that make the procedure very affordable (just check out our LINKS page).
Fast forward to April 2010, and Momma Kitty was clearly pregnant, again,
and this time I paid closer attention. I began to feed Momma Kitty along with my
good friend and neighbor as it became clear that she wasn't anyone's pet. You see,
this beautiful cat had probably come from a litter of kittens from a previous stray
or feral cat and had been able to survive on her own. This is amazing in and of
itself as I live on a major road (Route Five), not to mention the very harsh winters.
I began to research feral cats and what could be done to control this probable population
explosion of cats, all the while continuing to feed Momma Kitty.
Momma Kitty had three adorable kittens, 2 tuxedos and one black, around the end of May. I named this family, Momma Kitty, Fuzz, Smudge and Winkley (he had something bad going on with one eye) and as any animal lover knows, I was doomed as soon as I named them! I conducted many hours of Internet research, talked to dozens of cat rescue groups and experts on feral cats, and finally contacted Feral Cat Focus (www.feralcatfocus.org) to see what could be done. Incredibly, there is a wonderful program through the Maddies Fund specifically for these unwanted, misunderstand cats, that pays for the spay/neuter, vaccination, deworming/flea medications, and general exam. Unfortunately, there is no fairy that magically catches these cats and whisks them away to a magical kingdom where they will live happily ever after.
It takes a lot of commitment, time, energy and love, but if you can sacrifice a little bit, you can make the lives of these forgotten animals so much better…and, my friend and I came up with our action plan to achieve this goal. We began by feeding the cats regularly on a schedule and trying to gain a little of their trust over the next couple of months. Remember, these cats are not sweet, lap cats and they are used to living outdoors, in the wild, trying to survive anyway they can. Next step was introducing humane traps with food in them to get the cats used to them. We made an appointment for the Feral Cat Focus Clinic for Sunday, October 3rd. We had to capture the family the day before and transport them to the clinic by 7 a.m. trust me this was no easy task! I still get tears in my eyes thinking about how many other regular people were waiting in the clinic parking lot at 6:45 on a Sunday morning trying to help these poor little cats. Not to mention all of the wonderful, selfless volunteers that make this whole process possible and without whom this clinic wouldn't be available.
Amazingly, Momma Kitty was only six pounds and she was pregnant again even
with her current litter only five months
old! Fuzz and Smudge were fairly healthy
males and Winkley, another male, had to have his eye surgically removed as an infection
had pretty much destroyed his eye. I sponsored Winkley's medical care to ensure
he got a chance. The original plan was to release the feral cats back into their
"colony" after about a week of monitoring and care taking following their procedures.
After a tearful week of caring for this feral cat family and talking to many feral
cat colony caretakers, we decided the best thing to do is release the family back
where we trapped them and THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT…committing to daily feeding, monitoring,
and providing some shelters for the cats to ensure they are taken care of and not
forgotten.
But, after days of crying and feeling horrible about the two five month old kittens out there on their own again, I re-trapped them two weeks later and have been rehabbing/socializing the little monsters since October 2010. It has been a very interesting process filled with frustration, appreciation and amazement and I had to learn to be much more patient and appreciate every little improvement. What started out in a closed guest room with a rotten little black fuzzball (Fuzz) hissing and spitting, and sometimes scratching me, has now progressed, over many months, to a purring, loving, sweet, crazy, annoying, fetch playing relationship. Smudge is much more shy and likes to hide, but he is just a sweet little scaredy cat who is now able to be around us more without hiding under a blanket! These two brothers are so darn cute and just inseparable.
Winkley was fostered by a lovely lady, Rose, following his surgery and then by Second Chance (thank you both) for about six weeks until one of our wonderful customers, Norma, heard about him and adopted him into her family…he's doing wonderfully with his two Maine Coon sisters. Momma Kitty, who is about 3 years old and pretty wild has adjusted nicely to being fed gourmet natural pet food twice a day by my friend, "Grandma Elaine". She also has three insulated shelters at her disposal, a heated water bowl and lots of safe places to hide. And, she looks more beautiful then ever and has gained quite a bit of weight! Note: I also managed to trap the daddy a couple of weeks later and took him to the clinic through Feral Cat Focus where he received the "works!" He is also much better off as he won't have the desire to fight as much...the poor guy had a couple of scars from previous battles.
I still feel a little guilty about the adult ferals whom we released back out, but after working with the feral five-month-old kittens, I really feel that the adults are better off and would have a hard time adjusting to captivity. My friend and I will continue to look after the cats as long as they will allow us to. We know that all of our efforts, then and now, have allowed all five of these feral cats to thrive and have a much better chance of survival and a little bit easier life. And, also very important is that we have ended the continual cycle of kittens being born, dying or producing more and more litters. The statistics on cat reproduction, if left unchecked, are staggering. So, do your best and do try to get involved if you can as you can certainly better the lives of these animals that had no choice in any of this. Please be good to strays or ferals. Thank you from the bottom of my heart (and theirs)!
SUMMER HEAT…How Long Will You Be Gone?
Even Ten minutes could be too long for a pet left in the car on a hot day. By then,
the temperature inside the car could reach 160 degrees! That's hot enough to cause
a dog to suffer heat stroke. Within moment
s, it could sustain permanent brain damage.
If emergency care is not given, your pet could die!
*The short stop you plan to make at the store could stretch to 15 minutes or more before you know it. Your mistake could cost your dog its life. Leaving the windows cracked open won't cool the car enough to protect your pet. Of course your dog would like to go with you everywhere, but when the weather turns warm, better park your pet at home.
--The American Humane Association—