If it wasn’t for my veterinary nurse neighbour I wouldn’t have so much information to pass on in these blogs.  Whenever I stop for a chat with her I find out something new.  I pass the following information on, to anyone thinking of adopting a cat into a multi cat residence.

Where I live in West Cork, Ireland, FILV (Feline Leukemia) is prevalent. Its an infectious disease, easily passed from one cat to another. Depending on the age and condition of the cat, the disease can have fatal consequences, or the cat can remain healthy and be a carrier of the disease for life. FELV is found world wide and can be passed from one cat to another through saliva, urine, faeces, blood, through mother’s milk and often through a scratch or bite.

For details about the virus read:  http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html

Where we live, a large population of farmyard cats integrated with my neighbour and her cats and with me and my cats.  About six months ago, my neighbour noticed that the Grandmother of all the farmyard cats (the Grandmother was living with her) had an abscess on her mouth and so my neighbour took her into the cat hospital where she works, to have it checked out.  They ran blood tests on her and found that she had FELV.

Being a veterinary assistant, the cat was euthanized and my neighbour was faced with the task of testing all her remaining cats (14 in all) at huge expense.  She was out of her mind with worry, in case some of her cats would have become infected and that she would have to euthanize them too. All the tests came back negative to her huge relief.

A few months later, my neighbour adopted two stray kittens, they were half wild and it took several weeks for them to settle into her household.  Two weekends ago to her horror, the female kitten died suddenly. My neighbour took the dead kitten and her brother to the cat hospital, where she ran an autopsy and gave the young male a blood test.  Both cats had FELV, which my neighbour thought they must have contracted at birth. She had the young male euthanized. So again, a question mark remains over whether or not any of her other cats have contracted the disease. 

So, what we have learnt from this sad story, I pass on to anyone thinking about adopting a cat into a multi cat household:  Run blood tests before you adopt a cat or kitten, to make sure that you are not bringing either FELV (or FIV) into your home.  The tests are are not cheap but will save you veterinary bills and heartache in the long run.

cat blood tests, cat leukemia, cats we love you, FELV, FIV

Maya and Ginge

This post about caring for a dying pet, is prompted by my dog, who is reaching the last stages of her life. She has been getting very arthritic over the last few months, her sight dimming and the last two cold snaps have left her weak and hardly eating.

I was privileged, a few years ago, to watch the dignified exit form this physical world, of a 20 year old outdoor cat. He had spent several months staring into space and it looked to me as though he was looking into the next world (Then I’m a mystic so I would see it like that).  His owner wouldn’t let him into the house, but I used to let him into mine and as he approached the end, he spent more and more time inside, until he was sleeping on the dirt tray when he hadn’t the strength to make it outside. At this point his ‘owner’ went away and I felt sure that if she had been around, she would have had him ‘put to sleep’.  I knew in my heart of hearts that he wanted to go at his own pace and time and this he did, while she was away that weekend.  Slipping away with grace and dignity.

I have the privilege now, of knowing Pea Horsley, an Animal Communicator who has helped me before with a cat’s passing and now is helping me with my dog.  I felt sure that Maya, my dog, wanted to die quietly at home, but a friend of mine put doubt into my mind and so I asked Pea to communicate with Maya, to ask her what she wanted, so I would know for sure.

(I’m organizing an Animal Communication course with Pea, here in April and hopefully after that, I will be able to do this myself) Goodness knows humans are bad enough at listening to the wants and needs of other humans, let alone listening to a cat or dog who doesn’t speak in words. 

Pea’s communication comforted both me and my dog; Maya seemed so much more at ease knowing that I knew what she wanted. Having had my feelings confirmed by Pea, I felt more sure of my intuition and that I was doing what Maya wanted. Pea also told me some very practical things, like feeding Maya slivers of chicken by hand.  She hadn’t eaten for days, but ate the chicken with relish. 

Caring for a dying pet, is both a very sad and an incredibly wonderful thing to do, for the creature whose who has shared their life with us.  To be able to listen to a beloved pet’s needs and concerns and be there for them at their transition from this world to the next, is in my opionion a great privilege and a sacred act.

If you want to know about how to communicate with your companion animal, visit Pea’s site at: http://www.animalthoughts.com

animal communication, caring for a dying pet, cats we love you, dying cat, dying dog

Lily and Sweetie need a home, westcorkanimals.com

The following information comes from my veterinary nurse neighbour. Not all vets would agree with this way of treating cat diarrhea.

If your cat has diarrhea fast him or her completely for 24 hours. Provide plenty of fresh water while this is going on.

When the 24 hours is up, for the next day or two, give your cat a teaspoon of easily digestible food every hour.

Keep an eye on the contents of the litter tray while you are doing this. After one or two days of this regimen, you can begin feeding your cat his or her regular meals again.

Two days after the fast day, give your cat half a teaspoon of good quality plain Bio yogurt. It has to be Bio yogurt, because the idea is to reintroduce bacteria to the cats gut. As the healthy bacteria necessary for proper digestion, has been flushed away with the diarrhea. There is no need to give your cat any more than half a teaspoon of the yogurt.

If this method doesn’t clear up the cat diarrhea, then it is vital that you contact your local veterinarian to discover the cause of the problem.

If you feel bad about fasting your cat while you are eating, you can always have a fast day too! 

My neighbour fasts her cats once a week on a regular basis anyway, as she considers this good for their health.

cat diarrhea, cat health, cats we love you, fasting cats, yoghurt for digestion

The above photo is of my sister’s cat Egypt, this wonderful looking kitten is the offspring of a stray female black cat, that my sister adopted. 

In my shed, in a cage, as I write this, is a stray ginger and white tom cat who I have been feeding, he is going to be neutered tomorrow. I had no idea that trapping a cat would be such a long and drawn out affair.  It has taken me a full week to coax him into the trap, far enough to be able to catch him. I hate doing this, but as my veterinary nurse neighbour says ‘It has to be done’.

Natural Flea Control

I’ve been finding out about Natural Flea Control and will share what I have discovered so far with you.  I don’t know about you, but over the last few years, I have become less and less happy with using preparatory flea sprays. If you look at the advice on the product’s label, there are warnings to the human who is doing the spraying (or spot on treatment) not to breathe in the fumes, or let the spray make contact with the skin, for even a minute.  The poor cat has to live encased in this spray for months on end.

Nutrition and Exercise As Part Of Flea Prevention

I have been made very much aware recently, that the very best way to keep fleas at bay, is to have healthy cats and that the best way to do this, is to give them a good varied diet and make sure that they have plenty of exercise. 

I tried out the Brewer’s Yeast method on my cats for the first time last year, together with making improvements to their diet. I made sure that their food was varied and alternated between raw meat, cooked fish and good quality tinned food.  As a result, the only one of the cats to suffer from fleas to any great extent, was my oldest and most unhealthy cat, Ginge. The rest of the cats were virtually flea free.  I was pleasantly surprised that these methods worked.

Brewer’s Yeast Flea Prevention Treatment 

Brewers Yeast is an effective flea prevention method, it is both inexpensive, safe and relatively easy to administer. Apparently, fleas don’t like the taste and smell of the Thiamine that is found in abundance in Brewers Yeast and they will avoid animals whose skin and blood tastes of it. You can imagine the flea taking a bite, pulling a face and saying ‘Yuck, how disgusting’ and then jumping off the cat!. 

Dosage

To keep a cat clear of fleas, the recommended dosage of brewer’s yeast is 1 teaspoon per day.  You will need to begin supplementing your cats diet well before the onset of the flea season (here its July – September) as this method takes at least a month to become effective. 

Keep a vigilant eye on your cat while you are following this regime, as although excess B vitamins will naturally be flushed out of your cat’s body in his or her urine, excess amounts of brewer’s yeast can cause skin allergies in some cats.

Brewers Yeast is easily available and inexpensive.  Obtainable in powder or tablet form, it can be ordered online, or bought from you local pharmacy or home brew shop.

For  advice on natural cat care and keeping your companion animal in optimum shape, I  recommend: Veterinary Secrets Revealed

You can find useful information about raw food diets for cats at: http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/bybrawdiets.htm

You can read a very good article on the subject of natural flea control here: http://www.eartheasy.com/live_non-toxic_flea_control.html

Brewers Yeast, cats we love you, flea prevention, flea prevention treatment, natural flea control

Whether or not reincarnation exists is open to conjecture. Whatever your views, I hope you will  find the following story interesting:  This blog tells the story of my cat Puffin.

 I found Puffin as a kitten by the side of a road in West Cork one day, she was covered in cow dung and had a broken tail. I scooped her up, put her into my front pocket and carried her back home. Even after a good bath, she still looked pretty terrible. However, after masses of food, lots of love and when her tail had finally broken off, she was transformed into a very beautiful, long haired tabby and white cat. We were very close and went through many changes and adventures together.

Puffin was only 8 when she died; the vet said that her body was riddled with cancer.  I was devastated and felt as though I had lost my other half.  For Puffin had taught me to love, as I had not loved for a very long time, it was as though she came into my life to heal up some very old wounds.

About a month after her passing, I was given the address of an Animal Psychic, actually I wasn’t sure that I needed to talk to a psychic about Puffin at that stage.  So I decided to ask Puffin in my mind, if she wanted to talk to me. I said to her ‘If you do want to communicate with me, show me a cat on the road as I cycle back home’. I saw three cats!

After such a positive affirmation what else could I do – I contacted the psychic. She said to me that Puffin had transformed into a magnificent lion-like being, who would continue to be with me in spirit as a guide. She also said that Puffin and I had known each other in a former lifetime, when I had lived a wonderful life as an Egyptian King. 

The psychic relayed the story of how one day, while the King was out lion hunting, he came across an injured lion. When the man and animal made eye contact, the look that passed between them was so deep and profound, that it transformed the Egyptian King’s view of animals entirely. The Lion subsequently died from his injures. 

The psychic said, that the bond that had been forged between the lion and man in those moments, had stayed with me through many hard and painful lifetimes, giving me insight and knowledge as to who and what the beings we call ‘animals’ really are.  

Puffin had a message for me – to remember what it was like when I lived that glorious life of an Egyptian King – to walk in the sun as he did. Certainly, at that point in my life I was walking in a  dark place. Its taken me many years to begin to do what she advised!

cats we love you, Egypt, Egyptian King, lion, reincarnation

If you’re looking for a new cat, have you thought of adopting one from a shelter?  I’m posting here to let you know about the many advantages there are to adopting a homeless cat from a shelter and especially highlighting the work of  the non-profit organization Adopt-a-Pet.com in the US. 

People are usually not aware of just how many fabulous cats there are in shelters. It may surprise you to know that a quarter of all animals found in shelters in the US are purebred. That’s a staggering amount don’t you think? These are not diseased, problem or scruffy Moggies, simply beautiful cats that for one reason or another find themselves homeless – maybe their guardian died, or moved away, or couldn’t afford to keep them any longer. Often in the case of purebred cats, they have been bred by someone to make money, who couldn’t then find them a home. 

I am always amazed when I look round our local shelter, to see the variety of wonderful animals there. I would love to take them all home. Their lonely eyes get to me in a way nothing else does.

The simple fact is, that even though there are many shelters, there is just not enough room in them to house all the unwanted cats and kittens. The tragedy is, that thousands upon thousands of cats are euthanized in the US alone each year. I dread to think what the number would be world wide.

My mother was saying that in the UK media only last week, people were being advised not to buy animals from breeders, because of the terrible conditions that many animals suffer. Obviously there are many wonderful breeders around, who love animals and treat them with care and respect. There are also a lot of unscrupulous ones, who want to make as much money as they can and do little or nothing for the animal’s welfare and happiness.

Here follow a list of the advantages of adopting a cat from a shelter:

1) When you adopt an adult cat from a shelter (rather than buy a kitten from a breeder). You will have a very good idea of what type of cat you are getting regarding size and temperament. This will assure you ahead of time, that the cat is right for you and your home.

2) There is nothing like the feeling you will get from knowing that you have saved a cat’s life and given it a lovely home and family to live with.
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3) Adopted cats know that you have extended your heart to them and a very special bond can grow between you.
 
4) Adopting a cat teaches children the value of responsibility and the value of life.

5. Choosing a mixed breed cat, means that you will avoid the health problems associated with pedigree cats. A Moggie has a much stronger constitution all round.

If you decide to go ahead and adopt a cat there are several things you should seriously consider beforehand:

There is a blog post at Adopt-a-Pet.com which highlights the five most important things you should consider when choosing a new pet.

Important Considerations: 

1) You need to make a real commitment to the cat – that you will care for it for the rest of its life.
2) Make sure in advance that you can keep a cat where you live.
3) Never adopt a cat on a whim. This is a serious commitment and deserves careful thought and consideration.
4) Provide plenty of exercise and stimulation for the first few weeks the cat lives with you, to help it adjust to its new home.
5) Find out about the correct nutritional requirements and how best to keep your cat fit and well.  Veterinary Secrets Revealed

6) Make sure that your property is adequately fenced and gated, to provide for the cats safety.

Here are a few paragraphs from the website of Adopt-a-Pet.com telling you what makes them unique within the shelter community.
 

On our website, people can use something we call “Search Saver.” This feature will notify users by e-mail when a particular pet of their specifications in available for adoption. For example, I can tell “Search Saver” where I live, and what type of breed I am looking for. When that animal is available, I am notified the next time a pet matching my search is added on Adopt-a-Pet.com.

As of this summer we have now made it easy for our visitors to find pets and then recommend them to friends and family via Facebook, Twitter and other social applications. We are calling the idea “Social Petworking.” Here is how it works; once you have searched and found a pet in need, on the pet details page simply hover over the button  labeled “SHARE,” there you can send the pet details page to any of your friends.  For more information visit this page tp://www.adoptapet.com/socialpetworking/signup. 

 In addition to dogs and cats, we now feature all kinds of pets for adoption, including rabbits, farm animals, ferrets, hamsters and other small animals, horses, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and even fish.  This was a major initiative that took many months to research and program into the site, and it is being well-received within the shelter community.

adoped cats, Adopt-a-Pet.com, animal shelter, cats we love you, homeless cats

My Beloved Cat Vlad

Have you ever communicated telepathically with the cat you love? Do you know anything about communicating with animals? Have you heard about it before?
I’d heard about Horse Whisperers and Dog Whisperers, but nothing about Animal Communicators until last year, when I contacted Pea Horsley Animal Communicator from the UK. As I wanted to see if I could write an article about her in my One Nature Newsletter and if you read that article, you can get a good feel for what Pea does in her work as an Animal Communicator.

A few months after I had first contacted Pea, I emailed her in desperation to ask for her help, as I had a cat called Vlad who was very ill and I didn’t know what to do for him for the best. Most specifically, I didn’t know whether I should have him euthanized or whether I should let him die naturally.  What I learnt from the communication with Vlad surprised me; for Pea told me that he was a fighter and that he very much wanted to live.  She also conveyed to me, that if he did die he would prefer to die at home, not at the veterinarian’s (I suppose that part of the communication wasn’t really surprising). 

Following the things that Pea communicated to me from Vlad, I set about doing what he told me could help him to fight his illness and enable him to live. This included giving him a couple of Homeopathic remedies, a Bach Flower Remedy and instigating several dietary changes. In those traumatic few days, Vlad and I fought together so hard and then lost the fight to save his life. He died a few days later.

As a result of this heart rending situation, I determined to learn how to communicate with animals myself, so that something like that could never again happen to a cat, or any other creature in my care. I reasoned that, if I had known what he had wanted from the outset, he would still be alive today.

So, I invited Pea to come over to West Cork, to teach us here how to communicate with our beloved animals. For details of the workshop, click where it says ‘West Cork Workshop’ above this post.

In my next blog I will be asking Pea a few questions, specifically about communicating with cats.  I’m curious to know if cats communicate in a different way than say, dogs or other creatures and also how cats really do perceive us humans.

animal communication, Animal Communicator, cats we love you, Homeopathic remedies, Pea Horsley

Mac looking for a home West Cork Animal Welfare

Who really are the cats we love and who really are we for that matter?  Here follow some true stories that have happened to me and people I know.  Birds feature highly in these stories too and I got thinking about this subject yet this again, when I watched the film ‘The Curious Tale Of Benjamin Button’ starring Brad Pitt.  In the last scene, as the woman in the film dies thinking about the love of her life, a bird flutters at the window.

Apparently, in folk tradition there are many stories of birds coming into the house to herald someones passing.  A friend of mine relates that at the very moment her son Andrew died, after a long illness, a Robin flew into the room and then flew out again.  As though the bird was taking or accompanying the soul on its journey to wherever the soul goes next….a Soul Carrier

A year exactly to the day, on the Anniversary of Andrew’s passing, a very bedraggled stray kitten appeared at the bottom of my friend’s drive, so she took him in to care for him and he lived a good long life with her. 

 I have a strange tale to relate concerning a ginger and white cat and a bird, this happened a few weeks ago in the very cold snap, unusual for these temparate climes:.

One icy evening two weeks ago, my neighbour drove round to my house on her way back from work to ask if I had seen the stray cat, because there was a dead cat on the main road. I said no and fearing the worst we drove down to check if it was him.  It only took us two minutes to get down there and when we arrived there was no cat, nothing at all, only a bit of old rag further up the road.  It was a relief not to have to identify a mangled body.

We didn’t know what to think and couldn’t do anything more as it was pitch black and icy, so we returned home.  Later next day, I became concerned as the ginger and white cat still hadn’t come for his food, so I thought I’d better re-check at the roadside, to make absolutely certain he wasn’t there.

As I went down to the spot where my neighbour thought she had seen him, I found what appeared to be a dead Thrush on the road. I picked it up in order to put the bird into the hedgerow, when I felt a slight movement and the Thrush opened its eyes, which were full of blood.  I didn’t know what on earth to do, so cradled it in my hands while I hunted for the cat and then carried it back home.  I really was at a loss as to know what to do for the best and as I opened my hands slightly, to find a box to put the bird in, it flew up into the darkness of the shed. The next day with the advent of dawn, the Thrush flew away into freedom.

Such a small thing to happen, but it touched my heart in a wonderful way and a few days later I was overjoyed when the cat came back for another meal.

I’m partial to the Native American way of seeing things; that we are all part of a Great Spirit and all of us aminals, humans, birds, stones, insects etc intimately connected to one another.  I think that our cat friends are a whole lot more tuned in to this reality than we are.

‘

cats we love you, Great Spirit, soul carriers, stories about cats, stray kitten, Thrush and Robin

Bumble looking for a home West Cork Animal Welfare

I had heard by way of the Feline Leukemia Newsletter, that the animal welfare organization PETA was taking adoptable animals and euthanizing them in the back of a van, even before they had arrived at a shelter,  so I wrote the following email to them:

I recently joined Peta and heard something recently which I would like clarified.  
Is it true that Peta takes stray cats from shelters and then euthanizes them? If this is true kindly tell me why this is done?
I would very much appreciate a reply so that I can carry on supporting your work and telling others about you.
 
This was the reply that I received the next day:

PETA is on the front lines of the battle to turn back the tide of unwanted dogs and cats. Our caseworkers tirelessly rescue homeless animals from environmental dangers, as well as cruelty and neglect (http://www.HelpingAnimals.com/about_cap.asp). They crawl through sewers, poke through junkyards, climb trees, and dodge traffic in order to reach animals in danger. During floods and storms, they are out saving lives at all hours.

Some of the animals we take in are lost companions with loving families who miss them; we are always happy to return such animals to their homes. We have also managed to catch and return some highly elusive animals other agencies had given up on. PETA does not operate a shelter, but—even though we foster many healthy homeless animals that we have rescued in homes (often our own) or take them to shelters to await adoption—the reality is that thousands of adoptable animals are euthanized every day in shelters across America due to the lack of good homes.

Because most area residents take healthy, adoptable animals directly to local shelters, the majority of the animals we receive are extremely sick or injured beings for whom euthanasia is, without a doubt, the most humane option (http://www.PETA.org/feat-overpopulation_crisis.asp). To learn about one local instance, please see http://www.HelpingAnimals.com/f-asiasstory.asp. On another occasion, when a power-line transformer explosion burned a flock of starlings, PETA was the only agency to come to the birds’ aid; if our trained technicians had not been ready to end these starlings’ misery, the injured birds would have suffered in agony for days before finally succumbing to a painful death.

In addition, PETA provides free euthanasia services for local residents who have very sick, critically injured, or geriatric companions but can’t afford to take them to a veterinarian. One family, lacking money for vet care and transportation, turned to us for help for their cat, who had barely crawled back home after being mauled by a pack of dogs. We were able to help by giving the cat a peaceful end to her intense pain.

We also began offering our services to pounds in North Carolina in 2000, after PETA was contacted by a police officer who was distressed by conditions in a county pound. When we step in to properly euthanize animals (at no cost to the participating shelters) as we do in this instance, our involvement prevents animals from being shot to death with a .22 caliber firearm, gassed to death in a rusty metal box, or injected with a paralytic that causes slow suffocation without loss of consciousness. It prevents their suffering for weeks on end from disease and illness, or worse. We know from bitter experience that for homeless animals—even those in some shelters—there is such a thing as a fate worse than death. If you would like to learn more about our work in North Carolina, please visit http://www.HelpingAnimals.com/f-nc.asp.

We wish that there were other acceptable options available. We cannot bring the majority of these animals back to Virginia for placement—the same issues regarding adoptability of injured, sick, or old animals exist everywhere, and “open-admission” shelters, which never turn their backs on any animal (unlike so-called “no-kill” shelters, which turn many animals away) are already unable to cope with the overpopulation of animals. There simply are not enough homes for them. Using Virginia shelters also means that there would be fewer homes for animals already in Virginia adoption facilities.

Some might argue that the solution to this crisis of overpopulation of so many unwanted animals is to open sanctuaries. But the sad reality is that the math doesn’t add up. There is not enough money available to us or anyone to build enough sanctuaries or organize enough animal-adoption programs to keep up with the number of unwanted animals, particularly those animals deemed “undesirable” because of their infirmities, age, or behavior. Abandoning domesticated animals to fend for themselves would be irresponsible, of course, but to keep them in cages or pens for a lifetime is no more humane for homeless dogs and cats than it is for animals in laboratories or circuses. To learn more about “no-kill” sanctuaries, see http://www.PETA.org/campaigns/ar-nokillshelters.asp and http://www.PETA.org/feat/acgas/index1.asp.

Putting all our resources into kenneling unwanted animals would also do nothing to stop the flow of more and more unwanteds. The source of the problem—trying to prevent the births of unwanted animals—is where money and efforts need to go. PETA runs a mobile spay/neuter clinic (http://www.HelpingAnimals.com/about_snip.asp) seven days a week, focusing much of our work in disadvantaged neighborhoods, where we offer free and low-cost surgeries and other services such as flea/tick treatments and worming. In the last year, we have sterilized thousands of dogs and cats—many free of charge and all others at well below our own costs. Support for this program is much needed, as you can imagine.

We hope you understand that it is heart-wrenching for those of us at PETA and at shelters across the country who care deeply for animals to have to hold animals in our arms and take their lives because there is nowhere decent for them to go. Those who truly seek to make a difference for animals understand that it is necessary to do the right thing—even when it’s unpleasant—rather than supporting false “solutions” simply because they make us feel less uncomfortable. PETA has always spoken openly about euthanasia on our Web site and in our publications, and—although we understand that it is upsetting to think about—euthanasia will continue to be necessary in this imperfect world until people prevent dogs and cats from bringing new litters into the world and as long as people hide their heads in the sand and leave the dirty work to others.

Last week I received the following information about Peta’s activities, care of the Veterinary Secrets Revealed Newsletter which cited that according to records published online that the ‘People for the Ethical Treatmenet of Animals’ (Peta) killed 95% of the adoptable animals in their care during 2008. For details go to the following website: 

 PetaKillsAnimals.com.

I know that there is no easy answer to the problem of unwanted pets and stray animals in general, however by killing 95% of the animals in its care PETA shows that it did very little or nothing at all to find these animals homes.

I would assume that unwanted cats and dogs are not considered ‘high profile’ or ’important’ enough for Peta to allocate the financial and human resources that would be required to build shelters and re home the creatures.

I for one, will not be supporting PETA in the future.

cats we love you, euthanizing pets, killing adoptable animals, Peta, Peta euthanizing animals

Lovely long haired cat

Every time I write a blog I learn a little more about cats….

I asked my neighbour (the veterinary nurse) yesterday for her advice on fur ball treatment.   I haven’t had this particular problem with my own cats lately thank goodness, but remember it vividly from the past.  Its so horrid to hear a beloved cat choking pathetically unable to cough up the ball of fur. 

The very best method for fur ball treatment is of course preventative – grooming regularly - which is especially important with long haired breeds.  If the cat doesn’t like to be groomed, my neighbour advises an alternative, which is to wear a pair of lightly moistened rubber gloves and then sweep your hands over the cats body from head to tail with long smooth strokes.  This removes a lot of the hair that your cat would otherwise consume while grooming.  Only do this for a few minutes, or the gloves will build up static electricity and your cat will get a shock, which will certainly put him or her off any further glove grooming sessions.

I’d heard that Castor Oil is a good remedy for fur balls and yes, my neighbour agrees as the oil helps to break up the ball enabling it to pass through the cat’s system. As a preventative measure give your cat a teaspoon of the oil, she says,  not more than once a week, otherwise too much Castor Oil could build up in your cats system and poison him or her. 

I’ve used Castor Oil very effectively in the past when my one of my own cats was trying unsuccessfully to cough up a fur ball. I gave her one teaspoonful and that did the trick.  So in my opinion, it would seem to be best to use Castor Oil  as a treatment if your cat has a fur ball and groom your cat regularly as a preventative measure, to stop the fur building up in the first place.

cat fur balls, cats we love you, fur balls, grooming cats, preventing fur balls