Cat World Blog

Another little wee problem

A word on wee this morning. I had an email in from a man who needed to remove a puddle of cats wee from his duvet. Nice! There are lots of great odour removal products on the market, but my advice would be to avoid using anything with ammonia in it. Urine contains ammonia and adding product containing yet more ammonia will only reinforce the smell and encourage kitty back to re-mark in the same place. Baking soda, which is bicarbonate of soda, can be very effective at removing urine from fabrics such as bedding and other washable materials. Add 1 pound of baking soda along with your detergent and wash with cold water. You need to wash carpets, bedding and so on in cold water, rather than hot because hot water will bake and set the odour into the fibres of the material. Baking soda naturally absorbs odours and discourages bacterial growth, so it is certainly worth trying. Good luck!

catnip cometh!

It'll soon be time to get some catnip plants on the go and if you are at all green fingered, I recommend growing your own catnip for kitty.

Catnip, or Nepeta Cataria to give it it's proper name, grows as happily and readily as mint herb (being part of the same family). Fred just loves home-grown catnip. Once the plant is mature and starting to harden off, I usually cut back the growth and leave it somewhere to dry out. He loves the smell of the bruised plant and loves the dried out stuff even more, which is usually so plentiful it keeps him going through the winter. The only word of warning I have is that as a cat's sense of smell is umpti-times greater than ours, all the cats in the neighbourhood will smell your catnip plants and follow the scent to your garden like the Bisto kid! Worth it to treat your cat though!

the trouble with hunters

I'm a bit upset today. We had an incident with Fred last night. Our garden is usually full of birds, despite having the boy around. One of our favourites is a little round robin who is a lot friendlier than is good for him. He will land right by our feet when we are gardening, sit right at the edge of the beech hedge and talk to us and fly in and land right behind Fred the cat - as if we're all friends. I love that robin, but I have always thought he was too friendly and didn't understand the dangers. You know what's coming don't you.

Last evening I looked out of the back window and saw Fred coming out of the beech hedge with something brown and winged in his mouth. I ran out and shouted at him. I dropped his catch and I was horrified to discover that it was the robin. I tried to pick little rollie up and he came to life (birds often go into shock). He fluttered low to the ground and made his way to cover under the beech hedge followed by a very excited Fred. I had to fight to keep Fred away and eventually shut Fred indoors so he couldn't get at him.

Throughout the evening I went out to check on the robin. I let him be because I thought that he might become more stressed if I kept trying to pick him up. The last time I went out to look, he had gone. That is not to assume that he has flown off to safety, he could be anywhere of course - and we don't know what his injuries are. This morning we looked for him but no joy. I'm not sure if Fred understands that we are unhappy with him. We growled and hissed at the time, but there is no point in anything else - animal instincts and all that.

I just hope that we see rollie robin again soon.

Wee Wee trouble

One of our Cat World pals has just emailed in with a tricky little problem. I'm sure she won't mind me saying, particularly if one of you can help with an answer! She has two cats and one of them has just widdled on the duvet. Why? Hmm good question. There are 3 things to check, firstly, that there is no medical problem or condition that is causing it. Secondly, that there is no problem with the litter tray, i.e the cat couldn't get there in time, the litter brand has changed to something the cat doesn't like, there was a big dog sat in front of it! Thirdly - territory. Cats mark their territory in this way when they are feeling threatened, perhaps by another cat in the neighbourhood, changes to their environment, decorators, building work, a new cat on the block and so on. It is a natural action and a sign of stress, but telling a cat off or hitting them will not solve the problem and will only make it worse (friend knows this by the way so don't worry!). The problem is, diagnosing what it is, especially if it involves another feline living in the house - and how to disarm the bomb. Anyone got any experience with this and know how to help?

Whatever next!

Would you believe I have just had an email from someone who has called their cat Beyonce! Well it had to happen. We've had just about every variety of human name bestowed upon our feline friends, from Britney, or Posh and Becks, to the most un-cat-like Dave - the persian. I quite liked that actually. Beyonce would only suit a certain 'look' of cat as a name, something like a Diva feline, a bombay or a Havana, no moggies (sorry moggies - you know I adore you) otherwise we'll end up with cat chavs. Now, who is gonna be the first to call their cat Lady GaGa?

Your opinions

Hi there,

It's been a bit mad here lately as we pull the stops out to get all our magazines off to print before the Christmas break. Anyway I'm back now and I've got a very important question to ask you, reader.

Do you enjoy reading sad stories in the magazine? For example, I had a heartbreaking story from a lady who lost her cat to cancer and being a writer, she knew just how to pull at the heart strings. Now, here's the thing. Pets die, that's a fact and it is all part of owning a pet, but I just couldn't finish reading the article because it was so powerful and so very, utterly gut wrenchingly sad.
So, is that kind of realism comforting or off-putting? Do you want to know about the hurt as well as the fun? Do I need to protect readers from the harsh realities of pet owning, or celebrate all of it. I am tempted to put the article into the March issue, but if I do it will be accompanied by a warning; Maximum Tear Factor - may seriously damage your tear ducts.

Let me know your opinion! laura@ashdown.co.uk

New Look Mag

Hi all,

I hope you like the new look Cat World - on sale now! We've added more pages to your favourite regular features, introduced some new themes and added lots of extra feline facts and fun. Feedback so far has been good, with plenty of you wanting to appear in our 'owner fact files'. It's really easy to take part, just email in a photo of you and your cat and tell us a bit about you, such as your current feline family (mog or pedigrees), your cat experience and favourtie thing about cats. It's always good to put a face to a name and we want to feature our readers and their cats - it is your mag after all!

Right, busy, busy - on with the Christmas issue....

Could it be fleas?

Hello all. Fred continues to be a bit jumpy in his skin. He was madly grooming one side this morning then running off only to stop and furiously groom the same place again. I can't see anything there and I've flea combed him and found no visitors, but judging by how much time he spends in the undergrowth, it wouldn't  take long to pick up a hitchhiker. I'm going to spray the house and treat the boy this weekend. Lord knows what his problem is, but I am determined to solve it and I've read enough articles in Cat World to know that fleas are a very tricky parasite to find and stop.

If anyone else out there has a cat exhibiting similar behaviour then email in and let me know you're findings!

Behind the scenes

I have been out of the office filming recently and one of the visits I made was to Cats Protection's National Adoption Centre in Haywards Heath. Naturally I was a bit nervous about going there and seeing cages and cages of cats all peering out at me with sad eyes. I thought it might be an emotional visit - and it was. We were there to get a behind the scenes tour of the Adoption Centre and all that goes on there for a forthcoming CatWorld TV programme. I have to say I now appreciate exactly how much work the charity does on behalf of cats and how much time and money goes into looking after and rehoming the cats in their care. It was a fascinating visit and I can't wait for you to see the film. It is in the editing suite right now, so I'll blog again and let you know when CatWorldTV is relaunched and when you can see for yourselves. In the meantime, respect goes to cat rescue employees and volunteers everywhere - keep up the good work!

Urban myth in your back garden...

I love these urban myths about big cats roaming free in the UK. Personally I don't doubt it. The latest reports come hot off the press as of May 2009. Over the last few weeks, there have been sightings of both a black leopard and a puma in the Dartford area. The most recent being on the 31st May when a woman travelling on a coach spotted a large animal stalking through a field of horses and their foals. The cat was described as three-feet in length, with a very long tail. A few weeks previously a black leopard was observed by a family as it sunned itself on their garden bench in the Wilmington area. Can you imagine one of those in your back garden? Here kitty, kitty...!