For the rest of us, this information could well prove useful at some point in the future.

If you have recently found an abandoned kitten, please go to your local Veterinarian as soon as possible.  Amongst other things, the kitten could be injured, or dehydrated, or be suffering from a congenital abnormality (that caused it to be abandoned by its mother in the first place).

The information contained in this post was dictated to me by a Veterinary Nurse, she works at a Cat Hospital near Cork, Ireland (further details at end of post).  She has hand reared many young kittens, some of whom are have now reached a ripe old age

FEEDING

The frequency of feeds and amount of milk supplement to give the kitten will depend on its age.

The links to You Tube videos in this post show kittens of various ages, so if you are in any doubt, these videos will give you a good idea as to the age of the kitten you are dealing with.

One day old kittens

If the kitten’s eyes are still closed and it is small enough to fit into palm of your hand, it will be generally be under 10 days old.

One week old kitten

This is a good video illustration of a one week old kitten, but it is also an example of how NOT to feed a kitten (see ‘How to feed a kitten’ below, for an  illustration of the correct feeding position)

All young kittens’ eyes are blue. So, if the kitten’s eyes are any other color you have a small cat on your hands.

If the kitten is younger than 10 days old it will need hourly feeds 24 hours a day, of about half to 1 mil of milk supplement. Don’t give more than this amount as this will be likely to cause problems.

Ten days old kittens

From ten days old you can increase the amount to 1 – 2 mils at each feed, every 2 hours 24 hours a day.

Two weeks old kittens

Continue feeding as above.

From about 2 weeks of age, for one of the day’s feeds, give the kitten just cooled boiled water.

Three weeks old kittens

From 3 weeks old you can increase the feeds to 2 – 3 mils every 3 hours 24 hours a day.

Four weeks old kittens

From 4 weeks upwards you can increase the feeds to 5 mils six times a day.

All milk or water should be given at body temperature. Test its temperature by putting some of the warmed liquid onto the inside of your own wrist, before giving it to the kitten.

As a general rule, if the kitten cries a lot it wants feeding.

TOILETING

Important

Kittens from birth and up until  3 weeks of age, don’t know how to eliminate their waste products by themselves. So in order to stimulate the kitten to urinate or defecate, you have to mimic what the mother would do.  To do this; get a damp piece of tissue or toilet paper and rub this gently over the kitten’s genital area.  Do this before each feed.  Be very careful and don’t rub too much or too hard, but keep going until the kitten starts to urinate or defecate - continue what you are doing for a couple of seconds until elimination is complete.

ELIMINATING/ FEEDING/ CLEANING

Until the kitten is old enough to clean itself and eliminate by itself, follow this 3 step procedure at each feed:

1) Eliminate – as above

2) Feed – as above

3) Clean Face -  use a soft damp tissue or toilet paper to gently clean the kittens  face.

KEEPING THE KITTEN WARM AND COMFORTABLE

Kittens from birth up until approximately 2 weeks old can’t regulate their own body heat, so they need to be kept warm. A good way to do this is to cover a hot water with a towel, as this provides a soft gentle heat.  In order to check that the bottle isn’t too hot, test with your hand where the kitten will be lying. Make the towel into a snug little nest.

EYES

If the kitten’s eyes are closed do not force the eyes open, as they are closed for a reason and opening them could damage the kitten’s eyeballs.  Especially, for example, if it has Cat Flu. If you are in any doubt at all consult your Veterinarian.

HANDLING

Only one person, acting as a replacement mother, should take on the responsibility of the handling and rearing of the kitten. The kitten will be able to feel safe and secure with this one person’s familiar scent. Kittens rely solely on their sense of smell up until they are about a week to 10 days old, when their hearing develops (their sight develops around the same time).

WHAT TO FEED THE KITTEN

The best thing to feed the kitten is Cats Milk Substitute and this can be bought at a pet shop or Veterinarian’s.  If you have found an orphan kitten and can’t obtain the milk substitute immediately, feed the kitten a little glucose in warm water as a temporary measure. Don’t give a very young kitten cow’s milk, as this can give it diarrhea (which can prove fatal) and don’t give it Kitten Milk, as this is for older kittens.

HOW TO FEED A KITTEN

How to bottle feed a kitten

This video shows how to correctly bottle feed a kitten.

Use a Kitten or Puppy Bottle which can be bought in a pet shop.  Sometimes its necessary to put a hole into the teat of the bottle. If you have to do this, make sure the hole is not too big, or you will drown the kitten.

Alternatively you can use a 2ml syringe.

When feeding the kitten, lay it down on its belly at a slight angle, with its head up and tail down, imagine its up against its mother (not like a human baby). When you put the teat into the kitten’s mouth, put it into the center of its mouth and aim up to the roof of the mouth. This will allow the kitten to use its natural sucking reflex. Don’t be tempted to squeeze the bottle if you feel the kitten is not drinking quickly enough, or you will drown the kitten (the feed will go into its lungs).

Golden Rule - if milk is coming out of the kitten’s nose, stop immediately. This means that the feed is going down into its lungs. You could be giving the feed too quickly, or it could indicate that the kitten has a cleft palate (see your Veterinarian).

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SEE THE KITTEN BEING REJECTED BY ITS MOTHER

If you have seen a kitten being born and the mother rejecting it, then the kitten hasn’t had a chance to drink from the mother and so will not have been able to obtain the Colostrum found in her milk. Colostrum is produced in the mother’s milk during the first three days after the kitten has been born.  The kitten needs this substance to build its immune system and be adequately prepared for life. If it hasn’t been able to feed from the mother for those first few days, it will suffer from a compromised immune system for the rest of its life and it will always be a sick cat.  This rejection could happen for a number of reasons; the mother could be too young and can’t cope, or there could be something wrong with the kitten and the mother doesn’t want to waste her energy on it.

In this case give a little Milk Substitute to the kitten and keep trying to put the kitten back on the mother’s teat.  The kitten could have a cleft palette or there might be something internally wrong. or the kitten could be premature or under developed (see the Veterinarian).

TYPES OF FEED

The best food to give the kitten is Royal Canin Baby Milk for cats and this you can buy in a pet shop. Or Vita Milk which is the Veterinary version - its the same milk with two different names.

The next best choice is Cimicat.

Lactol is adequate but not so good.

Don’t be tempted to give Human Baby Milk as its a completely different formula and won’t contain enough proteins and minerals to nourish the kitten.  It is also likely to give the kitten diarrhea.

AVOID GIVING ANYTHING THAT WILL GIVE THE KITTEN DIARRHEA, OR IT COULD BE DEAD WITHIN 8 HOURS.

FEEDING FROM A SAUCER

At 3 weeks of age, when the kitten has just starting to explore and stumble around, you can start putting down a small saucer, with a little of the Milk Substitute in it. Stimulate the kitten to go to the milk, by putting the teat of the bottle near the kitten’s mouth and as it is about to feed, lowering the teat down to the saucer. Alternatively, you can dip your finger into the milk, put it to kittens mouth and then lower your finger to the saucer, so it gets the idea where the milk is.

INTRODUCING SOLID FOOD

At 4 weeks old you can start to introduce solid food – the kitten will be walking around (stumbling a bit) at this stage and its ears will be perked up, its teeth will have just come through. The best thing to start feeding it with, is a little bit of cooked chicken (wonder food for both young and old).  At 4 weeks you can start feeding the kitten human baby food, as long as it doesn’t contain garlic and onions. The baby food must contain meat as cats are carnivores, but a small amount of vegetables is alright.  For a 4 week old kitten 1 teaspoonful of food is a big meal.

Even though you have started giving the kitten solid food, continue to give it Milk Substitute as well, up to 6 weeks of age. You can leave a bit near the food.  Cats don’t like mixing their food and milk and don’t like eating out of bowls - they don’t like their whiskers touching sides.

LITTER TRAYS

Introduce a litter tray from about 4 weeks of age, use a low pan (litter tray) with a clumping litter. Don’t use either wood chip, peat moss or sand, as if the kitten tries to eat this type of litter (which they often do) this could result in it suffering from an internal blockage.

To get the kitten to use the tray, simply pick it up and put it into the litter tray, it will know what to do as this is an instinctive response.  However, if the kitten doesn’t seem to know what to do, hold one of its paws and make a pawing motion in the dirt with it. Alternatively, if the kitten has peed or poohed somewhere, put that pee or pooh into the litter tray.  Always keep the tray where the kitten can see it and keep it in the same room as the kitten – the next room is too far away.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Kittens learn how to deal with things from 5 – 7 weeks of age, so don’t be afraid of having noise going on around the kitten - vacuum,  dog etc as it will have to get used to these things.

From 4 – 5 weeks of age you could give Canin Dried Baby (pet shop) or Canin Weaning (Veterinarian).  This is a tiny biscuit specially formulated for a baby kitten up to 12 weeks of age.

You can give the kitten Royal Canin Growth from about 9 weeks onwards till its about 6 months old.

When it has been spayed, put the young cat on to adult biscuits.

The kitten can be re homed at 8 weeks of age.

The  Veterinary Nurse who supplied this information works at The Cat Hospital, Glanmire. County Cork, Ireland. Where she runs a Free Nurses Clinic and will give a health check to your kitten and advice on any of your cat questions.

Queries  021 4824601

The Animal Communication Course run by Pea Horsley in West Cork back in April, was fantastic and taught me lots.

Amongst other things:

1) To feel closer to and understand my own animals more deeply.

2) Opened my eyes to the wisdom and love that animals possess, that they have so much more to give than I was ever aware of. It was an honour to be able to listen to what they had to say to us.

3) Gave me a lot more confidence in my own intuition.

4) Made me more self confident as a person – not feeling such a ‘weirdo’ for loving animals.

5) Made me realize that communicating with animals is ‘normal’ as though its a skill humans have just forgotten along the way somehow.

6) Showed me that communicating with animals means that what they say gets heard.  The more people can do this, the more animals will be able to get their needs met.

At the workshop, as well as learning how to centre and ground ourselves, we practised our communication skills with the ‘animal teachers’ who joined us.  There were two goats, two guinea pigs, two dogs and a ginger cat.  We practised: asking them questions and listening to their replies, body scanning, remote viewing and distance communication using a photo. (A local vet communicated for me with the bird I had raised from a chick, the photo he used was the one in this post) 

Communicating with animals, as I understand it, means listening to them from the heart.  This then leads to understanding their feelings and getting to know what they think about things. It also enables animals to communicate their needs to us and share their wisdom.

Iif you are interested in learning how to communicate with animals, look for workshops taking place in your area and learn how to do this yourself.  If there aren’t any going on in your locality, you can organize one, as I did. (Pea will be running another workshop in West Cork next year. So if you live in the locality and are interested in attending, contact either me or Pea - details below)

Pea Horsley of www.animalthoughts.com is the most gentle and at the same time firm person that I have ever met.  No wonder the animals trust her and speak to her.

Where I live in West Cork, Ireland, FELV (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.

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

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.

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

 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!

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.

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.

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.

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