Your Cat September 2022

I think one of the many reasons we love our cats is that they keep us on our toes. They have independent personalities and continue to do things that surprise or even baffle us. This month’s lead feature delves into some of those behaviours that appear to make no sense. Why crawl into that tiny box? Or lie all over my keyboard? It’s a brilliant read and will give you a little more insight into these fantastic creatures we share our lives and homes with. The great thing is, once you’ve read the feature and understood these behaviours, you know there will be hundreds more cats will do to keep confusing you! We also want to hear from you this issue! Well, we always want to hear from you with…

The story behind the photo… This picture of an elderly man feeding feral cats next to a busy coastal road was taken in Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria. Taken several years ago, it typifies our love of cats. Hundreds of millions of pet cats are cared for across the globe and there are still so many people, like this man, who will care for the cats who don’t have owners. There is so much going on in the picture — firstly, just spotting all of the cats! If you look closely under the bench, you will see a set of feline ears just popping up. Then there is the tiny black kitten who looks so young to be fending for themselves. And finally, the beautiful setting. To bring…

A Siamese cat called Marley shocked his owners and vets when it was discovered he had a belly full of hair bobbles. Marley’s owners hadn’t even noticed the feline had been eating the bands until he fell ill, but X-rays revealed the three-year-old feline had a huge mass, over 30, of the hair accessories in his stomach. Staff at Acorn Veterinary Practice in West Kirby decided the best thing to do was to operate. But they were shocked to find a mound of hair ties taking up “around 80 per cent” of Marley’s stomach, which were thought to have built up over “quite some time.” Marley’s owner Helen Unitt says the hair accessories have since been hidden away and she and husband Pete are now keeping a close eye on…

iCatCare celebrated International Cat Day (ICD) 2022, which took place on 8 August. This year’s theme was “Cat Friendly Resources” and the campaign focused on providing resources that support the key needs of cats throughout their lives, and promote both physical health and mental well-being. iCatCare shared expert advice and eye-catching downloadable content, as part of a collaboration with world-renowned animal illustrator Lili Chin, to help all those caring for cats (both owned and unowned) ensure they are meeting their essential needs in a cat friendly way. The campaign was launched with the introduction of two new ambassador cats Domino and McTatters (created exclusively for iCatCare by Lili Chin). Domino represents owned cats, whereas McTatters represents unowned cats. The new ambassadors featured throughout the educational materials shared on social media…

A specialist vet has been appointed as Cat Protection’s new chair of trustees. Kit Sturgess, a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons specialist in small animal medicine, will lead the charity’s board of volunteer trustees who are responsible for the values, strategy, and overall performance of the UK’s leading cat welfare charity, which helps 166,000 cats each year. He takes on the role from fellow trustee Angela Swarbrick. Kit will help the charity to continue a new 10-year strategy to help many more felines through the expansion of its advocacy, education, rehoming, and neutering work. Dr Sturgess says: “I am very honoured to become Cats Protection’s new chair of trustees, especially at a time when the charity is delivering an ambitious strategy to have a huge impact on the health, welfare,…

Every wednesday lunchtime throughout the summer, Cats Protection will be streaming live online footage of cute kittens as they learn to navigate the world around them for the first time. Nicky Trevorrow, behaviour manager at Cats Protection, says: “Preparing a kitten to cope with the human world and its challenges is one of the most important ways to ensure their lifelong welfare. Without careful consideration of their development, they may grow into an adult cat that will struggle to cope within a normal domestic setting. The kitten socialisation period is an important time in a cat’s life, and we are offering exclusive behind-the-scenes access so viewers can watch our kittens learn and grow.” During the social media live streams, kittens aged between two to eight weeks of age will be…