Whisker Stress - What is it?

Whisker Stress - what is it? Well I know I had whisker stress when my whiskers were burned off in our nasty fire a few years ago but I don't think that's what the V E T is talking about.

See? No whiskers....

Do you or have you seen a kitty that doesn’t want to eat their kibble in their bowl, preferring to pull it out one piece at a time with their paw, then eating it off the counter or floor? Or maybe a kitty that only seems to like to eat the top layer of food out of his (or her) bowl, acting like he needs to get a refill, even when there is still plenty of morsels left on the bottom of his dish? You may be witnessing Whisker Stress! Mom always thought I did this because I was afraid brofur Cosmo was going to eat all the food but I still do it. I even did it when I was the only kitty in the house after Cosmo passed away and before mom adopted Mia. Mom isn't particularly fond of my need to drag food all over the floor to eat rather than eat from the dish but I am spoiled so I get to do what I want. 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Many cats suffer from whisker stress daily, and your kitty might too. Domesticated cats that live and eat indoors don’t have the luxury of eating their food anywhere they’d like.  A feral cat can hunt down her prey, and consume it wherever she pleases. Circumstances are much different in a domestic environment where the human is in charge of when, where, and how the kitty will eat (we'll pretend the human thinks they are in charge for arguments sake!). So how do a cat’s whiskers play into all of this?

The role that whiskers play in cats is mainly to augment their short-distance vision.  A kitty has approximately 8 to 12 of these whiskers on each side of their face, arranged in horizontal rows that fan out sideways on each side of the upper lip, plus some tufts of shorter whiskers above their eyes, on their chin, and even on the back of their forelegs, just above the paw!  

It took a couple of months for all my whiskers to grow back. This pic is 3 months post fire and you can easily see my whiskers have returned! 

Whiskers are deeply-rooted, and rich in blood vessels and nerve endings that provide your kitty with information about surrounding objects and even air movement.  This exceptionally sensitive tool assists kitty's in many forms of navigation.  Each whisker functions as a mechanical transmitter, conveying pressure applied along the shaft to receptors in the follicle at the whisker base. So imagine what forcing those delicate instruments into a food dish must feel like. Ouch! The good news is that cat-friendly designers have come up with lots of beautiful flat feline feeding dishes to help your kitty avoid whisker stress. They look like elegant serving platters, wide and shallow, with plenty of room for your kitty to pick up the food with their mouth, without their whiskers touching anything. I am not sure why mom hasn't bought sisfur Mia and I those elegant serving platters, uh mom????

In short, making sure that your cat has an adequately sized food bowl could make a tremendous difference in how comfortable he (or she) is when he’s eating his food. It’s amazing what you will learn when you take the time to OBSERVE your kitty's!

How does your kitty prefer to eat?  Do they behave strangely sometimes when eating?  Do they stop and start again? Do they refuse to eat when they seemed hungry just minutes earlier?  Your kitty just might be trying to tell you that they have whisker stress and a new food bowl is a necessity! I'm wondering when mom will get the hint... to be fair, she has changed how she feeds us our dinner (on a saucer instead of from a bowl). Mom also knows that I prefer to drink water off the floor rather than from a bowl so she will sometimes intentionally spill the water on the floor so I can lap it up. The sink is a good option for water too!

Do my pals have any strange eating or drinking habits I wonder? Is it whisker stress or are they just spoiled like me?

Mom's on a mission!

*Editor's note: Mom had to defer her marathon to next year due to injury. She still plans to raise awareness for suicide prevention, it just won't be associated with the Marine Corps Marathon this year and that's why the widget is no longer on the sidebar. Thank you to everyone who visited the campaign and provided support! 

I know this isn't kitty related but mom's on a mission and I want to help her get the word out. If you know my mom, you know she volunteers at Wayside Waifs helping other kitties and doggies find their forever home. She even adopted sisfur Mia from Wayside. What you may not know about mom is that she also volunteers for the Red Cross to help others affected by disasters. She actually started volunteering at the Red Cross before our devastating fire and because of what we went through will likely be a lifelong Red Cross volunteer. We got a lot of help after our fire and mom believes in paying it forward. Many of you helped us after our fire and we are so grateful! I am glad mom does what she does to pay it forward. And as if she isn't busy enough, she has a new mission!

On October 25, 2015 mom will be running the Marine Corps Marathon to raise awareness and funds for Suicide Prevention for First Responders. The funds will go directly to support the groundbreaking collaboration of The Sweeney Alliance and Rethink The Conversation to develop national programs to educate first responders about suicide prevention and coping with the aftermath of a suicide.

People don’t want to talk about suicide because of the stigma associated with it. It’s time to start a conversation worth having. So many people struggle with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues but because of the stigma associated with mental health many people don't reach out for help. It's even harder for the helpers - those men and women that work in Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Law Enforcement - to ask for help. They are the helpers, who are they supposed to ask for help?

Why does mom want to raise awareness for Suicide Prevention for the helpers? You can go to her GoFundMe page to read the full story. The short answer is because she was deeply affected by the loss of 2 friends last year to suicide. You can read about one of those friends (Nico) on her GoFundMe page. He was a firefighter who lost his wife to suicide nearly a year earlier. He was deeply affected by her loss and the stress may have been too much for him to handle. First Responders see a lot in their careers but they are human too. They feel emotions that can affect them at work and also at home. They need to be able to ask for help and know that help is available. 

This is a cause that has mom's heart. She hopes it will have yours too! Will you visit her fundraising page and help? If you can help financially or even share the campaign with others mom would appreciate it!  Thanks pals! 

Here is the page:  http://www.gofundme.com/suicidehelp  and mom put the widget to the side of this blog for easy access too. 

Fur Ball

Mom's a little late in posting this but she volunteered at Fur Ball again this year. The event was held on May 9, 2015 to benefit the animals at Wayside Waifs.

For the 5th year in a row, mom got the opportunity to volunteer at Wayside Waifs annual fundraiser Fur Ball. This year's Fur Ball theme was "The Wizard of Paws"...

The event was held at the Overland Park Convention Center where the ballroom was transformed into a Land of Oz party. More than 1000 attendees spent the evening bidding on auction items, feasting on dinner and satisfying their thirst with an open bar all to help the animals at Wayside Waifs. Oh and there were kitties too and puppies that attendees could cuddle with! I'm sure the kitties stole the show but the puppies had to get their cuddle time in to.

This year's Emcee was Gary Lezak, Emmy Award Winning Meteorologist for KSHB 41 News. He brought along his pups Stormy and Windy too! Long time supporters David & Dalia Morris and Chris & Susan Wally served as Chairpersons for the event.

Volunteers and Staff spent many hours preparing and helping out on event night. Here are some pics of staff and volunteers in action:

Mom worked the check in station again this year. It's the first point of interaction with the guests who attended. Mom says she always enjoys meeting everyone and wishing them a great time at the event.

Here are some of the staff being silly and skipping down the yellow brick road. When they realized mom had gotten pics of them being silly they asked her to share the pics via facebook and twitter. So if you follow Wayside Waifs via facebook or twitter some of the pics posted from the event were mom's pics that she took.

 

Here are some pics of the entrance in to the event along the yellow brick road...

It was a great time for a great cause! Mom always looks forward to volunteering at it each year. I don't mind that she spends the evening away from Mia and I knowing that she is helping with such a great cause. After all, Mia is a former Waif!

Easy Sunday

There are no sun puddles today so Sisfur Mia and I are hanging out in our second favorite spots.

Greenville, SC Urgent Cat in Need of Foster or Adoption before March 30

Hi pals, if you would hop on over to Brian's Home to help with an urgent need that would be pawesome! www.brianshomeblog.com

Here's the post from Brian's Home:  


Please share her story,  you are her only hope for survival.  If you can help, contact Brian at brian (at) brianshomeblog (dot) com.

HELP – Greenville, SC Urgent Cat in Need of Foster or Adoption before Monday, March 30th

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Brian

Greenville, SC Urgent Cat in Need of Foster or Adoption before Monday, March 30th

No time for photos, no time for much of anything.  We need to help this sweet cat and we need to help her quickly.  You’ve all heard me mention my rescue Jenna, here is the plea I received.

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“OK, I have spent the entire week thus far doing TNRing on a colony.  I am beyond exhausted.  I had so many really pregnant females and even got a chained dog from off the property, so all was going very well, until God decided to intervene, not that He has not been helping, but decided to make me work a little harder.  Long story short, I was coming back to deliver the kitties to the colony and I missed the road on Brushy Creek in Greer just by a few yards so I decided to turn around in the Kids Planet parking lot which is huge as in as least a third of a football field or more.  There in the middle of the road curled up in a ball is what looks to be a cat.  I stop the car, which is full of ferals in cages just waiting to get out and go over.  I don’t know if it is feral or has been hit by a car or what.  Then slowly she sees me and uncurls herself and drages her belly towards me meowing so sorrowfully.  Then in the cold she goes under my body as I sat there down on the drive.  She was shivering and looks so enormously thin and has abrasions on her face.  I called for a carrier from a friend and stayed with her.  She just was so unbelieveably scared.  But instead of running, as cats do, she just huddled to me like a puppy dog for protection.

My guess is that she was dumped and just froze there unable to move from fear.  She is beyond precious.  Her name is Melba.

How do I know this.  Well, the Cat Clinic scanned her and she came from Greenville County Animal Care services adopted in 2009.  The people never registered her and she was so unbelieveably dirty.  My hands and pants were filthy.  Carolyn suggested I take her to the shelter because they might have more information on her.  I know she was born on 12/12/2009.

She is beautiful although I do not have a picture of her.  She is white and grey and Dr. Anderson  says she definately has burmese in her for sure because what you see when you look at her are the roundest, yellowest eyes.  Her head little as it is is all eyes and she is beyond a love muffin.

I have siged for Greenville County to call me when her five days are up.  When the men took her back she looked at me with those enormous eyes and just shook.  Then she went into the corner of the carrier peacefully I could see because she was warm and on a blanket in my carrier and she felt safe for now.

What ever am I going to do when they call me on Monday morning to tell me her five days are up?  My husband said don’t even for one second go there, we absolutely are not taking in a cat with our 7 and living in such a tiny home.  She is so fragile and tiny and precious I don’t want her to die.  Please, please, please can you help me?????”

How to Lessen Allergies to Cats

One of the most common reasons a cat is returned to a shelter after adoption is due to allergies humans have to cats (or dogs but this is a kitty blog so we will focus on cats!). Animal dander, a protein mix secreted in animal's skin and saliva, can cause allergic reactions in some people. Allergies to dander may take a long time to develop (over 2 years for some people) and the symptoms (similar to pollen allergy symptoms) may linger for months.

Sneezing is a common symptom of allergies.

Here are some tips to help lessen allergies experienced by humans to their cats:

• Keep the cat completely out of the bedroom at all times. This will help because it will keep from dander gathering on bedding. Humans exposed to cat fur for long periods of time such as when sleeping might experience more frequent symptoms.
• Wash your hands or face immediately after petting the cat, or if it has licked you. Don’t rub your eyes.
• Keep the house vacuumed and dusted at least 2-3 times each week. My human doesn't do this as much as she should and is reminded to do so when she experiences itchy eyes!
• Allergy shots. This is something your human can talk to their doctor about. Allergy shots might relieve symptoms for many allergies including pet allergies.
• Important to note that while one cat may cause an allergic reaction, another one might not. Humans shouldn't automatically assume because one kitty caused symptoms, all kitty's will cause allergies.
• Antihistamines. My human will take an antihistamine if she is experiencing symptoms from me or Mia or from the shelter kitties. Even though she has had cats are her life, she still occasionally will get symptoms from us or the shelter. It has more to do with her seasonal allergies than it does us kitties! Her immune system is under more stress when she is experiencing seasonal allergies and that makes her a little more susceptible to allergies from dander that kitties have.
• Add an air purifier.
• Brush cats regularly. Mia and I love to be brushed as do many kitty's!
• Remove carpeting from the home. 
• Wash bedding weekly – yours and the cats! 
• Use allergy wipes, can be purchased at pet stores. 
• Bathe cats if possible (good luck with that! I don't know too many kitty's that like baths!), at least every few months to decrease shedding and dander. Use either a waterless shampoo or a moisturizing shampoo. In between bathing times, use a damp paper towel. 
• Feed a high quality food. Mom feeds us IAMS. 
• Keep snuggle sessions short, and keep away from your nose.
• Important to note that over time, you may build up an immunity to your own cat, but might still be allergic to other cats. 

So kitty's help your humans reduce their allergies to kitty's by sharing this helpful information with them. And if that doesn't work help blame the dog........

Mancat Monday

For Mancat Monday I'm going back a few years.... Back to when brofur Cosmo and I would spend time watching bird tv together.

3 years ago today brofur Cosmo died in our devastating fire. Still hurts as much today. Miss ya buddy!