Your Cat October 2022

Have you voted in the Your Cat Product Awards 2023 yet? Owners rely on a host of products to take the best possible care of their pets and we want you to tell us which you think are the best! Everyone who votes will be entered into a draw to win an Amazon voucher and you’ll be adding your opinion to the prestigious awards. The long-running honours are coveted accolades as winning an award, or being highly commended, is the seal of approval from those actually using the products — and in particular as Your Cat readers are known as committed cat lovers! Turn to page 33 to have your say. When I sit down to write the welcome letter each month, I like to try to give a flavour…

These two images are proof of just how much cats have captured our hearts and imaginations. Someone has added a sticker of a cheeky black cat to a road sign in Kent in the main image. It hints at the notion of a cat gaining access to somewhere it shouldn’t be allowed. The inset image, also a recent photo, was taken in Tirana, the capital city of Albania. A black cat has been drawn on the corner of the fence, making the cat look like it is waltzing down the street. Maybe it’s indicating the gap below the fence is an entrance for cats. It definitely goes to show that we can’t get enough of cats in our lives!…

Abadly injured cat rescued from war-torn Ukraine has received treatment and a second chance at life with his family who have been given refuge in the UK. Svetlana Ryzhevska, known as Sveta, was forced to leave 10-month-old Lyova — also known as Leo — behind when she fled with her children after Russians attacked their hometown of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine. But she refused to give up on the cat she’d nursed as a sickly kitten and went to extraordinary lengths to bring him to Britain, where he has been successfully treated by vets at West Midlands Referrals (WMR) in Staffordshire. Sveta, now safely re-settled in Lincolnshire, says: “Lyova is a very young cat, but has a big story already. In October 2021, he was found in the street; tiny,…

A cat is adjusting to life on three legs after a bone in one of his legs was “shattered to smithereens” by an air gun pellet. Stampy’s owner, Jo Godsall, who is also a vet at Hampton Veterinary Centre, at Hampton Heath, near Malpas, carried out the amputation on her four-year-old feline after the sickening attack. Jo says: “My husband is also a vet and we noticed something was wrong with Stampy’s elbow. X-rays revealed it was completely shattered to smithereens and while there was no sign of a pellet embedded in his leg, there were fragments of bone consistent with the impact of being shot with a pellet gun. “I carried out the amputation surgery on him myself as, unfortunately, there was nothing more that could be done to…

Aseverely injured cat in need of a miracle had his prayers answered thanks to specialist vet team. Two-year-old Vicar suffered horrific head injuries after being involved in a road traffic collision, leaving him blinded in one eye and with multiple fractures to his jaw and face. However, thanks to specialist care at North Downs Specialist Referrals (NDSR), an animal hospital based in Bletchingley, Surrey, Vicar has made a remarkable recovery. Rachel Perry, specialist in veterinary dentistry at NDSR, explains: “Vicar obtained his name as he’d been found hiding in a churchyard having sustained serious injuries which were consistent with being hit by a car. He had a prolapsed eye, degloved jaw (skinned to the bone), and multiple maxillofacial fractures. “Surgery was very challenging. There are only seven veterinary dental specialists…

'LITERARY CATS' BY JUDITH ROBINSON AND SCOTT PACK (BY BODLEIAN LIBRARY PUBLISHING) A book that celebrates the felines that have provided the inspiration for an incredible range of fiction, memoir, and poetry has been released. ‘Literary Cats’ features famous feline characters such as Puss in Boots, Tom Kitten, Pangur Bán, the Cheshire Cat, Macavity, Pluto, and Bob the street cat, and is a “whirlwind journey through the history of literary cats,” uncovering their domestication, early cultural beginnings and religious associations, and exploring their roles in different literary genres and revealing some real-life authors’ cats, including those belonging to Edgar Allen Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Patricia Highsmith, and Muriel Spark. Described as a “must for all catlovers”, the book celebrates the inspirational connections between our favourite feline friends and the literary imagination.…