July 24th, 2008 at 01:06pm
Under Cat Care+ Cat Owner
By Sven Ullmann
Cat allergy symptoms afflict many people. Sufferers are in real
trouble if they happen to own a cat. This might not make sense
to the ordinary person but to a cat lover it does. The symptoms
may developed long after they have acquired their furry
companion so getting rid of the rascal my simply not be an
option. So for many cat lovers and owners living with cat
allergies is a real problem that they have to live with.
Allergies in general are still not completely understood by the
medical community. Inroads have been made but the fact remains
that not enough knowledge has been gained on allergies to
completely eliminate them. Some of the best experts on allergies
in the medical community are themselves allergy sufferers. This
in itself has allowed them to make the observations necessary to
gain a better understanding of allergy symptoms.
Cat allergy symptoms can manifest themselves in many forms.
They can appear singularly or in combination. They can come and
go for no apparent reason. So you may have been mistaking your
symptoms for a lingering cold and or a sore throat that comes
and goes. A rash that sometimes responds to topical treatment
and sometimes doesn’t. Sneezing fits that you blame on dust or
pollen allergies.
Some of the symptoms are clogged and ringing ears. Sneezing
fits. Red and watering eyes. Burning eyes. Skin rashes.
Cold-like symptoms. Sore throat. Sound familiar? If you are a
cat owner and you have these symptoms on a regular basis that
you may be suffering from cat allergies. You can however take
steps to reduce your suffering and still keep your beloved
friend.
Until recently the actual cause of the allergy symptoms was a
mystery. People thought they knew but in the end no one really
knew for sure what in fact was on the cat that was causing the
suffering. Hair?small skin flakes? The cat box? It turns out it
is the cats saliva that is the culprit. By licking its hair,
which is a cats favorite past time, your cat is spreading the
stuff that is the root of your suffering.
The best method of determining if you are suffering from cat
allergies is to remove your cat from the house for about two
weeks and vacuum and clean anything your cat is in contact with
and see if the symptoms disappear or are lessened. Not doing a
thorough cleaning defeats the purpose of this test. This is a
common test for most allergy sufferers. Remove the suspect
material and see if it goes away.
Assuming that you have made a determination that you are in
fact suffering from cat allergies then the next question is what
to do about it. The easiest and most complete solution short of
finding your cat a new home is to make it an outside cat. This
might seem like a great sacrifice to yourself but your cat may
love it once it has adjusted. A cat door can be installed on a
side room or garage so it can still come in from the weather.
Other solutions can be had but they are not as completely as
effective as putting your cat outside. Vacuuming and cleaning
your house more often helps. It’s a lot more work for yourself
but the allergen can be removed. Receiving medical treatment for
your allergies can be effective if you respond positively to the
treatment. Limiting your cats access to your whole house
particularly your bedroom is a must.
About the Author: Article by Sven Ullmann, who runs
www.deservedhealth.com - information on health for you
and your family. Read more about
www.deservedhealth.com/symptoms-of-cat-allergy/
Source: www.isnare.com
By Fred
April 18th, 2008 at 12:24pm
Under Cat Owner
By John Young
I don’t know why I thought I could get away with it.
When my cat “Bear” jumped onto my lap expecting his morning
petting session, I wondered if THIS time I could get away with
reading the newspaper while giving him a few off-hand,
preoccupied strokes.
“Heh, heh”, I thought. “I’ll start by giving him my full
attention but then I’ll sneak my paper in when he’s not
looking.” I “chucked” him under the chin while stroking him from
head to tail, and he began rolling in ecstasy.
When he turned his back on me, sprawling on his stomach, my
moment came. Quickly, I reached for the newspaper with my right
hand. Continuing to pet Bear with my left, I opened it to the
front page.
Bear put his ears back.
“Uh, oh”, I said to myself. “But wait…he can’t see what I’m
doing. How does he know that I’m cheating?”
But he knew.
Bear tolerated it for a few moments; his ears laid back, his
tail thrashing. Suddenly he leaped from my lap and lay down on
the floor. After a few minutes of washing, he stared at me with
an accusing expression.
I’d spoiled HIS morning petting session with my own selfishness
and he was clearly letting me know the error of my ways.
DO CAT’S THINK?
Cat owners may be the only pet lovers who sincerely believe
their pets think. It won’t be the first time that a cat owner
has the distinctly uncanny feeling that not only does his
beloved cat think, but that he is being manipulated by her.
Veteran cat owners have noticed:
•Cats are an extremely obsessed and determined animal.
•Cats seem to contemplate things and make decisions.
•Cats choose and adopt people.
•Cats become offended and can hold grudges at insults to their
dignity. Fortunately they forget them pretty quickly.
•They are embarrassed easily and seem to cover it up with
nonchalant behavior.
•They are extremely independent, but want to cooperate with
humans as long as this spirit of cooperation is thoroughly
disguised.
In short, the cat “owner” always has the vague feeling that he
is somehow being conned, but is never sure exactly in what way.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE WORD “THINK”?
Answers.com defines the ability to think as “To exercise the
power of reason, as by conceiving ideas, drawing inferences, and
using judgment.”
Arguably, it is the power of reason, the ability to conceive
ideas, use judgment and put the results into action that has
placed Man at the top of the food chain. In other words, Man
dominates his/her environment because of his/her ability to
think.
THE CAT BRAIN AND CAT BEHAVIOR
Cats are often used as experimental animals because the feline
brain is structured like the human brain. The question is,
however, do these similarities result in similar cognitive
processes, i.e., can a cat actually assemble information, reason
things out and make decisions?
The cat’s lack of cooperation with trainers has been taken
either as a high degree of intelligence on the part of the
feline (either too smart to do what a human tells her to) or a
low degree (too stupid to be amenable to training).
Cat lovers usually opt for the former having the distinct
impression that they, not their cats, are being trained.
CAN CATS USE TOOLS?
A writer for About.com, J. Justin Lancaster, reported that his
cat Sasha had discovered a way to wet down her dry cat food by
carrying a cotton hair “scrunchy” to the toilet to wet it and
subsequently using it to drip water on her food. This may be the
most sophisticated use of tools ever observed in the non-human
animal kingdom.
On the other hand, most cat owners observe that a cat, when
confronted with an obstacle barring her from a goal, will never
move the obstacle out of the way. If the obstacle falls out of
the way the cat will be momentarily surprised, but will then
proceed to reach the unobstructed goal.
When finding herself again in the same situation, with the same
destination blocked by the same obstacle, the cat will not knock
the obstacle out of the way even though previous experience has
shown that this is the best way reach the goal.
THE JURY IS OUT
So, the jury is either out, or “hung”, on the question of
whether or not cats think.
But when my cat, without looking at me, knows that I’m not
giving him my full attention, and gives every evidenced of being
miffed at this, I wonder.
Why is petting him while reading the newspaper not the same
thing as petting him while using my full concentration?
It doesn’t make sense unless I accept the possibility that he
has thought it out. That he has decided that it is either all or
nothing, and he just isn’t going accept “playing second fiddle”
to a newspaper. And his conclusion is: I’d better shape up.
Anything short of my full attention is not acceptable.
He is going to get a full petting from me — or not at all.
About the Author: John Young is an editor and writer living in
Southern California with his wife and pet cat “Bear”. He is
author of “Your New Cat’s First 24 Hours”,
www.yourcatsecrets.com and editor of a new ezine “The
Online Cat”, www.theonlinecat.com .
Source: www.isnare.com
By Fred
