Category Archives: Living with cats

Start of the school year : is your cat ready ? 5 tips to leave the rhythm of the holidays

Do you smell it, Pixie ? This reeks of start of the school year ! The school bag is ready, pens are new, there is some excitement in the air, no doubt : here we go again !

We, cats, love routine : we feel immediately when something is going to change. We feel the stress of back to work or to school, and we witness your preparations with disapproval.

The more the change of rhythm is important, the more we hate it, and the more we risk to let you know that we miss you by more or less moved unusual behavior.

PIXIE : We really cannot go to school with Claire ? I read the history of Splat the Cat well, school sounds swell !
ZORRO : Shy as you are, I would like to see you with 20 children around you, hi hi…

5 tips to help your cat leave the rhythm of holidays

Adopt a routine which can be kept all year round for the meals.
Resume gradually the rhythm “work” by decreasing little by little your presence time at home. Ideally, this transition should be made during ten to fifteen days.
Get up a little earlier to have time to play with your cat before leaving.
Occupy your cat while he’s home alone : offer him a tree to climb, toys, hide croquettes in diverse places, …
Take time to play a moment with your cat when you come back before beginning other activities : yes, your schedule is loaded, but there are priorities.

The advice above is valid for all humans on holiday, big and small. And if you have children, they will take advantage just as much as your cat of this smooth return to the working life.

In the canton of Vaud, the teachers will get back on the way to school next week, and the children will begin on the 22nd. And at your home, have the children already gone back the school ?

Many thanks to the talented Glogirly for our wonderful back-to-school header.

How to keep your cat (and other animals) safe during fireworks

The Swiss National holiday takes place on August 1st every year : firecrackers, fireworks, and big fires are almost everywhere lit to celebrate the anniversary of our beautiful country.

Image Pixabay

The explosions of fireworks and firecrackers are terrifying for animals : their hearing, much more sensitive than ours, is assaulted by the noise. Animals are panicked and try to run away, with big risks of injuring themselves on obstacles or of being killed in a traffic accident.

How to keep your cat (and the other animals) safe during fireworks ?

Choose fireworks without explosion.
Use fireworks only the day of the event.
Light fireworks in a zone clear and distant from houses and from farms to avoid any danger of fire.
Light fireworks far from cowsheds and stables, and far from the pastures where are animals to avoid frightening them.
For the municipalities : build your big fires the day of the demonstration only, or protect them with a small roadblock 40 cms high which will be removed 1-2 hours before lighting the fire. These simple measures avoid a horrible death for numerous small animals as the hedgehogs, the mice, or the snakes for whom this wooden heap represents a perfect shelter.
Keep your cats and your dogs home, windows closed and curtains pulled. Behave as usual.
If your cat hides under the bed or at the top of a cupboard, leave him alone : it is there that he feels safe. Do not try to bring him out of his hiding place.

What to do if your cat is stung by an insect ?

The UFI (Unidentified Flying Insects) are irresistible for playful kittens or hunters like us : butterflies, mosquitoes, flies, wasps, bees, bumblebees, hornets, horseflies…

In time, we learnt to identify dangerous insects ; however, many kittens and young cats risk get stung. The unpleasant experience arrives generally only once. Most of the time, an insect sting will ache but be harmless for the cat. It can be dangerous if the cat is stung on the face, in particular in the mouth, in the throat, or down on the nose.

What to do if your cat is stung by an insect ?

Wasps and hornets

The venom of wasps and hornets is released under the skin ; it contains among others histamine, which causes inflammation, oedema, and pain at the place of the sting. The cat shows that it hurts and licks constantly the spot of the sting. An anaphylactic shock is possible if the cat is allergic, or if he is victim of multiple stings. The venom of wasps is alkaline, you can dab the location of the sting with some cold water with vinegar to neutralize it.

Image Thomas Bresson via Wikimedia Commons

Bees and bumblebees

Their venom is similar to that of wasps, and causes the same symptoms. Contrary to wasps and to hornets which have a smooth sting, bees have a barbed sting which stays in the wound. As possible, remove the sting with a tweezers without touching the bag poison which is hung on it. Bumblebees, them, have a smooth sting. You can then dab the location of the sting with some cold water added by sodium bicarbonate to neutralize the venom, because the venom of bees is rather acid.

Gadflies and stable flies

Their bite aches, and they can pass on viruses, bacteria, and parasites. It is important to disinfect the location of the bite.

Mosquitoes

Mosquito bites are irritating but harmless under our latitudes, and go unnoticed most of the time.

Any insect bite in the mouth, the throat, or the nose of your cat is a veterinary emergency !

For any sting in another zone, watch closely your cat. In case of doubt, contact immediately your veterinarian : he can advise you and give you if needed antihistamines or corticoids to treat your cat.