Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i Your Cat

Anational shortage of qualified cat groomers has led industry leaders to call for more dog grooming salons to add it to their business offer. iPET Network recently launched the UK’s first portfolio of Ofqual regulated cat grooming qualifications and say that with a little training, the skill could be a lucrative add-on for existing businesses. People looking to diversify their dog grooming business to offer a service for cats are being asked to consider doing just that, as a way to alleviate what industry leaders are saying could be a national animal welfare problem. Fern Gresty, co-director the iPET Network, said: “With more pet cats than ever in the UK due to a pandemic surge in pet ownership, we are looking at a shortage in qualified cat groomers. “This is…

A cat that has fled Ukraine with his owner has raised £7,000 for charities providing aid to animals caught in the conflict after going viral on social media. Stepan the cat was forced to flee with his owner from their home in Kharkiv when Russia began shelling the city in February and is now in France. Stepan and his owner Anna’s journey took them on a 20-hour train journey to Lviv, where they were able to cross the border into Poland after standing in line with over 4,000 people for nine hours. They were then offered help by the World Influencers and Bloggers Association to travel to France, where they will stay until the “day when we can return home.” Since reaching France, Stepan’s owner has used social media to…

As the weather begins to warm up, Cats Protection has issued a warning to cat owners to ‘Look before you lock’, urging owners to check sheds and garages for feline friends before shutting the door. The charity has alsoproduced a downloadable ‘Look before you lock’ door hanger to reinforce its message. Nicky Trevorrow, Cats Protection’s behaviour manager, says: “Cats are notoriously curious creatures that like to investigate their surroundings. They also tend to wander further when the weather gets warmer and an open shed or garage can be too inviting to pass by. “We’re encouraging people to have a final check of their sheds and outbuildings before locking them. Whether storing away garden furniture, or stashing bikes or tools, take that last look. Rattle things around in case a cat is…

THE CODE REQUIRES BREEDERS TO MEET VARIOUS ● They must show commitment to their breed by being a member of a GCCF affiliated cat club for the breed. ● They must be familiar with what the breed should look and behave like and endeavour to breed cats of this type. ● They must ensure that their own cats are well cared for. ● They must take steps to make sure the kittens they breed have the best chance of a happy, healthy life and leave them fit and well. Kittens must have completed the full course of vaccines, been examined by a vet at least twice, and be GCCF registered and insured. ● They must try to make sure kittens they breed go to individually suitable, loving homes and that…

I have been reading Your Cat Magazine since the first issue in 1994. I have a copy of every issue since then and just cannot bring myself to put them in the recycle box. I have letters in a couple of the older issues and used to use the pen pal page in the 1990s to meet cat-loving pen friends in the days before everyone had email. I have also been rescuing cats since 1997 and now have two tuxedo cats, Sooty and Charlie. My first cat in 1997 was Obi who I found because of the magazine, having contacted a lady through the magazine. I hope to continue reading Your Cat for a long time. Alison Browning, from Conwy, North Wales. We want to hear all about your fabulous…

San Jose International Airport in California was the first airport to offer therapy dogs in terminals, starting shortly after the 9/11 attacks, to help calm passengers’ nerves before flying. It’s thought that now more than 40 US airports have therapy animals. San Francisco International Airport even has a therapy Pig. Lilou, a Juliana, is part of a massive team of more than 300 dog, cat, and rabbit volunteers on their Wag Brigade team of volunteers. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport has miniature therapy horses! The unique programme is a nod to the area’s equestrian history. The UK’s first airport therapy dogs started work at Aberdeen Airport in 2019, but as yet, there do not appear to be any airport therapy cats in this country. The next PAT cat? Could your cat…

KEY TO COMPETITIONS ● ME – Magazine readers only. ● MN – Magazine readers and newsletter subscribers can enter. ● MNW – Magazine, newsletter subscribers and web visitors can enter. PERSONALISED CAT PHOTO SOCKS, BY SOLESMITH Win the purrfect pair of socks with your cat’s face on them! Why keep those hundreds of photos of your gorgeous cat in your phone when you can wear them around on your feet? The winner of this giveaway has the chance to do just that, simply choose their best selfie (maybe start looking now, we know this could take a while) and we will print it across the pair just for you. At Solesmith, we are determined to put a spring in people’s step and bring some excitement to their sock drawer, because…

The most popular page on International Cat Care’s website is ‘How to tell your cat’s age in human years’ (icatcare.org/advice/how-to-tell-your-cats-age-inhuman-years/). It outlines the six stages in a cat’s life and how these equate to our lives so that we can better understand the things which might be happening to your cat’s physical health and mental well-being during its life. KITTEN The kitten lifestage starts at birth and ends at six months of age. This is the most dynamic stage of a cat’s life, as it grows from being a newborn to a cat which is the equivalent of about a 10-year-old person. Lots of things have to happen quickly during this period to prepare the kitten for independence and survival. This includes a short period during the kitten’s early development…

Q Sukey, my cat, has a weird flap of skin at the base of her ear. There’s nothing wrong with her ears, but at the base they have a sort of notch, which is covered over by a flap. What is this? Sharon Tonge CELIA SAYS: A The little skin pouch at the base of Sukey’s ears is called a Henry’s Pocket or a cutaneous marginal pouch. It’s found in some dogs as well as cats, but veterinary books don’t seem to know for sure why it is there. One theory is that it allows the ear to flex backwards, downwards, or sideways more efficiently, which would help capture sounds coming from those directions. Moving the ears around is also one way that cats signal their emotions, so it might…

Then only £9.99 every three issues! (Anytime cancellation) If you love cats, you’ll know cats bring so much joy to our lives, and Your Cat Magazine is a celebration of all things cat, every month! Treat yourself or buy as a gift for a friend, especially at such a low trial price of just 99p! If you like it, carry on for just £9.99 a quarter – risk free/cancel anytime. PLUS, we’ll send you a Lucky Cat Keyring. IT’S EASY TO BECOME A SUBSCRIBER! www.yourcat.co.uk/99p 01778 395176 & Quote CATS/PRINT T&Cs- This offer is available on direct debit only, go to www.yourcat.co.uk/subscribe to view the full range of credit/debit card offers.…

Sue Corfield is a freelance writer and PR consultant who specialises in pet-related matters. “All cats will benefit from regular coat care.” In the last issue, we looked at how professional cat groomers can really benefit our pets. Here we look at why even if we use professional groomers it is still important that we as owners keep on top of our feline’s coat care. HOW CATS GROOM A cat grooms itself using that amazingly rough tongue. From lions and other big cats to domestic cats who live in the comfort of our own homes, they all work the same way. The tiny hooks called papillae are made of keratin — these hooks give the cat’s tongue that scratchy sandpaper feel and they can penetrate through the fur layers down…

“Jess felt it was actually down to a stroke of luck that Treacle had picked her at the local animal rescue shelter.” Black cats are supposed to bring bad luck,” Kate said to her sister, Jess. Jess frowned as she looked up from playing with her new cat, Treacle. “Oh, that’s nonsense. The unlucky black cat rumour is just silly superstition.” As if to ward off bad luck, Jess scooped up her well-loved moggy and buried her face in a heap of soft, silky, fur. Treacle purred happily. He was such a loving, affectionate cat! Jess felt it was actually down to a stroke of luck that Treacle had picked her at the local animal rescue shelter. When he’d meowed, Jess had spun round to see beautiful deep green eyes,…

A cat owner from Truro who fought in vain to help an underage kitten that she purchased over the internet is the focus of a new Cats Protection documentary. Samantha Webb, 32, tells the emotive story of her kitten Franky in a documentary entitled ‘The Big Kitten Con’ which sheds light on kittens that are traded online at less than the legal age for commercial sale which is eight weeks old. It’s a tragic story as Franky was very ill and had to be put to sleep. Last year, 340,000 of the 500,000 cats that were purchased in the UK were found online on sites like Facebook, Gumtree, Pets 4 Homes, and Preloved but Cats Protection fears that this has allowed some unscrupulous individuals to take advantage of the anonymity…

Rosemary Fisher entered the cat fancy in 1974 when she purchased her first pedigree cat — a Chinchilla called Brylou Moonstone. She breeds Persians and Exotics, and judges in several sections. She is currently a GCCF Board member and also serves on the genetics committee. The GCCF has long been synonymous with pedigree cats and the show world, but that’s not all it does. The organisation helps to influence pet policy, educates owners on how best to buy cats, and supports rescue pets and moggies through shows and education too. Here we find out how the GCCF works and is evolving to be a more modern and accessible organisation… THE ORIGINS The initials GCCF stand for Governing Council of the Cat Fancy, and the simplest way to describe GCCF is…

I read with interest the‘Lead the Way’ feature in the May issue. I taught my cat to walk on a leash over a year ago. From reading the feature it appears that teaching your cat to walk on a lead is a bit of a tightrope, something you need to really think carefully about whether it is a good thing. Fortunately, my cat definitely took to it. There were moments when he looked unsure and even uncomfortable, but overall, I could tell he loved it. When he had those moments when he wasn’t sure, I didn’t push it and unknowingly heeded the advice I read in last month’s issue. I didn’t push it and went back steps in training or removed him from that environment. I only kept going with…

By being a magazine subscriber, you can enter ALL competitions running in the next four weeks in one easy step, including magazine exclusives, e-newsletters, and our website! Simply fill the form in overleaf and pop in the post, to: Your Cat Giveaways, Warners Group Publications, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH. You can also enter online, using the entry codes provided, at www.yourcat.co.uk/competitions (you can enter both the printed form and online to double your chances!) — the dates when the entries are live online are printed by each competition. TOP TIP! Remember, you need to be signed up to our e-newsletter to be able to enter the newsletter exclusive (MN) competitions online! Register today to get a weekly competition reminder, plus plenty of the latest cat features and advice!…

GENERAL CARE Celia Haddon MA MSc MA is a well-known pet columnist and author of numerous cat books. She is a cat lover and owner, with a cat behaviour qualification and broad experience of feline issues. VETERINARY Aga Zoltowska BVSc MANZCVS (Medicine of Cats) DipCABT MRCVS graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2005 and is passionate about cat welfare. Find out more at www.thecatboxsolutions.com BEHAVIOUR Kim Houston BSc (Hons), Dip (AS) CABC, CCAB is a consultant in feline behaviour. She works with clients throughout the UK, helping to resolve cat behaviour problems. Find out more at www.cat-astrophes.com Clare Hemington DipCAPBT is an accredited feline behaviourist. She has a cat behaviour referrals practice and runs her Honeysuckle Cat Toys business with the help of her Siamese, Billy. You can find…

Sponsored by Q I am litter training my kitten. How do I show them how to use the tray? Janette Couples CLARE SAYS: A Congratulations on your new furry arrival! Kittens can bring so much joy, but we shouldn’t forget that they also demand lots of our time, attention, and energy. It’s also a very important time to set the routines that you intend to establish for your kitten’s future and this includes his toileting behaviour. Strictly speaking, kittens shouldn’t need training to use a litter tray. In an optimal rearing environment, a kitten will follow his mum’s example of toileting in a tray. That is, assuming there is one! Kittens are born into many different environments with many different toilet experiences. Some kittens learn to soil on newspaper, others…

Q My last cat was a pedigree Snowshoe, but I would now like to adopt rather than buy another one. I can find plenty of moggies on the main rescue websites but no Snowshoes. Do I just have to keep on looking at my local cat rescue websites? Lisa Hewitt-Jordan CELIA SAYS: A Adopting a cat, rather than buying one, is the best way to help cats in general. There is another way to find a pedigree rescue rather than simply waiting for one to turn up in your local cat rescue. Go to the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy website (www.gccfcats.org/ownershiphealth-welfare/rehoming/clubsrehoming/) and download the list of breed clubs and cat clubs. Almost all clubs have a welfare officer who will know if they have any cats up for…

It was July 1957 and the school summer holidays had just begun. It was a time of peace, when children played hopscotch in the street, marbles in the manhole covers, and conker fights and skipping were the order of the day. It was a warm sunny Saturday morning and Uncle Mac had just finished on the radio. I was in the garden with my sisters. I was ‘Peter Pan’ and my sisters were ‘The Lost Boys’; the coal bunker was our home and five feet below us was a sea of green in which there occasionally prowled a shark by the name of Tom — next door’s cat. Tom was a tortoiseshell cat who lived in the terraced house next to us. I was 10 and had a sister Susan…

We are building a section for people passionate about rescue cats North Norfolk Cats Lifeline Trust is a not-for-profit registered charity that was originally set up by the late Gay Rees back in the 1990s. Following her death in 2017, some of the original volunteers including Sandra Branch-Burbridge decided that they wished to continue with the rescue and formed a new board of trustees to take the rescue forward. Although the rescue owned all the cattery buildings, they did not own the land it was on and after a stressful time, they eventually managed to find another location in which to set up the rescue again. The rescue has really thought of everything to make the lives of the cats who come into the rescue as comfortable as possible, from…

Socks wins an Ancol Premo XL Activity Centre, worth £21.90, while the others receive an assortment of cat toys, including a Jittery Mouse, courtesy of Ancol Pet Products. For more information, call 01922 402428. (UK only) SEE YOUR CAT HERE! Email a clear (non-blurry) image of usable size (around 300dpi and 1MB) to pawtraits@yourcat. co.uk Please include your full name, address, and phone number, as well as your cat’s name. www.facebook.com/yourcatmagazine @yourcatmagazine pawtraits@yourcat.co.uk…

A cat whose favourite haunt is his local Tesco supermarket has had his own house built by the entrance of the shop. Three-year-old Frank has become a regular and much-loved sight to shoppers and staff at the Tesco in Werrington, Peterborough. Frank’s owner Kyle Orange says: “Everyone in Werrington knows him. Everyone loves him.” Frank now spends more time outside the store than at home so a local carpenter offered to build him a house. Tesco team manager at the store George Pell says: “Frank’s a part of the furniture, he is forever coming into the store. The community has come together and built him a cat home designed just likeTesco and the store manager has approved it to go outside the shop.”…

Q What’s the best way to show affection to a cat? “Always be calm, move slowly and talk quietly. A gentle scratch or stroke under the chin or behind the ears is always appreciated! Give them somewhere to escape to and hide — this is their den and must be respected as their safe space when they need a time out. “Play time is super important. Fishing rod toys or hunting games are great but do always allow your cat to successfully catch the toy to ensure they feel a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction as this encourages an endorphin release from the brain which act as‘happy hormones’. “If you catch your cat looking at you directly in the eye, try offering them a slow blink. Believe it or not,…

During 2021, GCCF registered 26,481 pedigree kittens — so what is meant by a registered kitten, and why is it important if you are purchasing a pedigree kitten? In today’s online world, you can type in ‘Burmese kittens for sale’ for example, and you will be confronted with pages of kittens available via various different online websites. However, how can you be sure that the pedigree accompanying your new kitten is correct? If the kitten is registered with GCCF, then the pedigree background is held on GCCF’s database and can be verified. It will also conform to a laid down Registration Policy that sets out the recommended way in which each pedigree breed should be bred as far as its background breeds, colours, and patterns are concerned, and also any…

Everybody loves Bandit. From the day that I got the little boy, I’ve always known that he’s a bit of an adventurer. He definitely has a bit of the spirit of Bobby. I remember the first time I took him out when I was going to meet some colleagues about a livestream event for Thames Reach who were inviting me to be a keynote speaker at their charity fundraising event. Bandit joined us in the conference room and just chilled, enjoying being part of the room. Everybody there adored him. He was only teeny tiny then but that’s when I realised he was something special. So, when I had a chance, I fitted him and his little brother — well, I should say twin brother, Gizmo — with harnesses like…

If you’re travelling through Denver Airport then you might be fortunate to spot Xeli, the therapy cat giving out her calming vibes to some of the 59 million passengers who pass through each year. She is part of the Canine Airport Therapy Squad (CATS) which is made up of more than 80 therapy dogs and herself, the only cat. CATS was set up in 2015 and is the largest airport therapy animal programme in the US. “Everyone is pretty surprised when they see a cat at the airport,” said Xeli’s owner Nathan Pensack-Rinehart who volunteers with his wife, Liane. “They will do a quick double-take or just light up with excitement if they are cat people — completely not expecting to see a cat at the airport.” Xeli, pronounced Zell-ee,…

Some of Katie’s rescue missions of cats in the area have taken her to some rather unusual places, including the roof of the haunted, abandoned St Thomas Hospital in Stockport where three kittens and their mother were living. Unfortunately, one of the kittens had fallen off the flat roof and landed between the wall and a fence panel and had been rushed to the vet by a member of the public, leaving two kittens and their mother still up there. When Katie climbed up to find them, she also discovered the kitten’s father up there so she returned the next day with two traps, and after two days, caught the mother and one kitten but the other had fallen through a hole in the roof and into the cavity wall.…

“The idea is to lightly move the skin…” 1 When he’s relaxed about you stroking him with the back of your hand, progress to making small circular movements, about 1cm in diameter, as well as stroking ones. Very lightly and gently move the skin, rather than sliding over the top of the coat. When making the circular movements, it can help if you visualise your fingers travelling around a clock face. Start each circle at 6 and move in a clockwise direction all the way around the dial. When you return to the 6 position again, keep on going without pausing to where 9 would be, so you complete one full circle plus a quarter of another one. The skin should feel mobile and move easily, don’t force movement or…