Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i Your Cat

THE STORY BEHIND THE PIC This cool cat figure was spotted in someone’s garden! Many cat lovers enjoy showing their affection for felines in how they adorn their homes and gardens. It got us thinking here at the Your Cat office about all the interesting and quirky cat decorations we’ve seen when out and about. From a pair of cat statues at a driveway entrance and funny signs about feline behaviour, to cat-related street names and garden ornaments, there was such a diverse range of things spotted. What cat related décor and figures have you enjoyed seeing on your travels?…

‘NO PLACE TO HIDE’ ● Author: Ruth Searle ● Publication date: 28 March ● Price: £9.99 ● About: In Ruth Searle’s thriller ‘No Place To Hide’, in which the main protagonist’s pets, a Maine Coon, Great Dane, and Dobermann feature heavily, the reader is taken on an intense, emotional glimpse into the dark side of the mind… Surgeon Daniel is struggling with the murder of his daughter and then has to deal with the disappearance of his wife, a forensic psychiatrist, following death threats and blood spatters at her clinic. When Daniel is wrongly suspected of her disappearance, and with a serial killer on the run near their hometown, he is forced to begin his own investigation and is drawn into the world of her patients — criminals, murderers and psychopaths.…

Your Cat Good Causes donated £1,500 to help fund a memorial statue to cat Garfy who was a local celebrity in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The popular puss would often be spotted at Sainsbury’s and even had two books written about him. We caught up with local artist, Sally Dunham who specialises in bronze animals, as she has been commissioned to create the statue of Garfy. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO CREATE THE STATUE OF GARFY? “I was approached by Nadya, a friend of David’s (Garfy’s owner), about the idea of a sculptural monument to Garfy. Nadya knew my work through an art event I organise in Ely called Art Unequalled. I was delighted to discuss the project as I had often seen Garfy on trips to Sainsbury’s and I thought that…

Peter Neville has spent over 30 years as a professional pet behaviourist, writer, and educator. In 1993, he co-founded COAPE International (coape.org), now a leading online provider of education courses in pet behaviour. Peter is the author of 20 books, including the international best-seller, ‘Do Cats Need Shrinks?’ He now lives in Zagreb, Croatia, with his partner Stella, tabby cat Trista, and Nova Scotia Duck-tolling Retriever Moya. “Cats are renowned for being quick to decide and change their behaviour…” Emotions are essential in the making of every single decision that a cat makes. Without those near-instant changes in emotional physiology that impact how a cat feels, it would be impossible for them, or indeed any mammal, to make a decision about how to behave in the world. It would also be…

Penny Clarke, BVetMed MRCVS, graduated in 2003 from the Royal Veterinary College. She is a cat-loving clinician at a busy, small animal hospital in Warwickshire. Penny writes about all things veterinary and also human neurodiversity, particularly autism. “Cats often need numerous tests…” What’s the largest organ of the body? If you’re a pub quiz regular (or read the title) you’ll know the answer! It’s probably no surprise then that the largest organ also has one of the longest lists of potential diseases. And when you throw fur into the mix, we could easily fill the entire magazine with cat skin disease! The funny thing about skin is that even though many things affect it, it can only react in a limited number of ways. For example, inflamed skin is a sign…

“‘I thought she had been killed’” When your cat goes missing, it can be a rollercoaster of emotions. Some owners never get to find out what has happened to their pet and that can be the worst feeling of all. However, one thing is for sure, having your pet microchipped is the best chance of being reunited with your cat and can provide hope, no matter how long your cat has been missing. As one of the UK’s largest pet databases is urging all cat owners to make sure their pets are microchipped and details are up-to-date ahead of new legislation, Frazzle, a cat from Derby, has been reunited with her owner having gone missing from her home seven years ago! DISAPPEARANCE Frazzle was a beloved family pet to Helen…

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…

From Isaac Newton to Winston Churchill, many iconic figures from British history have shared their lives with cats. Matthew Flinders is another perfect example of this — and this meant his cat sailing around the world and even spending time in prison with his owner! Flinders was an intrepid British seafarer, navigator, and cartographer in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Achieving the rank of captain during a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, he explored the world and was most famous for circumnavigating and mapping out Australia. Being a seafarer during that age often meant spending months and even years on the waves, but fortunately Flinders had a most affectionate and faithful companion on board with him, Trim the cat. Born on board HMS Reliance, Flinders named the…

Is your phone full of pictures of your cat? Do you ever take those pictures, print them out, and put them on display in your home? This month’s lead feature was a reminder to me just how important it is to capture memories and moments of the people who are special in our lives — including our cats! Award-winning photographer Kirsty Bevan gives some great advice to help us take brilliant pics of our feline friends. It made me think about what we do with all of those photos. I will often just leave them on my phone, only viewing them from time to time. And I hardly ever take a great picture on my phone and then print it out to put up in the house. I need to rectify…

Here’s a question: how many pictures of your cat do you have on your phone? In fact, is a photo of your cat the background on your phone? Ailurophiles love taking snaps of their cats! Capturing a special moment or one of the quirks of our pet’s personality in a photo is something to treasure. A good picture is something for us to enjoy, whether it is on our phone or the wall, and it is a memory recorded forever of someone special in our lives. However, being independent with penchant for not doing what we’d always like, cats don’t make getting that perfect picture easy! So, we decided it was time to ask for help from an expert. Your Cat sat down with Kirsty Bevan of Furreal Photography, who…

BUYING YOUR CAT IN THE SHOP £4.99 VS THE Your Cat MEMBERSHIP £2.50 A MONTH WHAT’S INCLUDED? ● Full access to all our Cat Books and Collections — read any title instantly on your phone, tablet, laptop, or computer. ● Get every new (monthly) issue of Your Cat, plus access the full library with over 70 issues! ● Every new title or Collection is included as part of your membership at no extra cost. ● Perfect for cat lovers, readers and owners who want trusted, authoritative advice. ● Your payment also goes to helping our Good Causes projects by helping hundreds of cats in the UK. ● Available at the same price worldwide. READ ANYWHERE, CANCEL ANYTIME. AVAILABLE ON YOUR SMARTPHONE, TABLET, LAPTOP, OR HOME COMPUTER. www.yourcat.co.uk/apr23…

The war in Ukraine has been dominating headlines around the world since Putin’s Russia invaded its neighbouring country in February 2022, with countries from all corners of the world coming to the aid of Ukrainians. While many have been offering their homes to refugees and bringing aid to its borders, many charities have also been doing what they can to help the country’s animals too. Wendy Lloyd, from Solihull, has been one such person distributing aid at the Ukraine border, and seeing locals and aid workers evacuating thousands of cats and dogs. “Every now and then, there would be a huge kerfuffle as someone would turn up with a van full of animals that had been rescued and we needed to find somewhere to take them,” she said. “NO-ONE WANTS…

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 island of Ireland has two distinct Cat Fancy organisations, linked not only by geography, but by common values and supporters. In Northern Ireland, the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) is the registration body for pedigree cats and licences their annual shows. There are three clubs that have been in existence for many years and hold championship shows: the Northern Ireland Cat Club, the Ulster Siamese and All Breeds Cat Club, and the Erin Cat Club. These shows are supported by cat fanciers…

Peter Neville has spent over 30 years as a professional pet behaviourist, writer, and educator. In 1993, he co-founded COAPE International (coape.org), now a leading online provider of education courses in pet behaviour. Peter is the author of 20 books, including the international best-seller, ‘Do Cats Need Shrinks?’ He now lives in Zagreb, Croatia, with his partner Stella, and two cats, Asla and Trista. Last month, we explored some of the latest research about how much we are really in tune with our cats. One finding was that the more years we have lived with cats provided the best indicator of how well we subsequently follow ‘best practice’ when interacting with cats. Yet those who described themselves as more experienced and knowledgeable with cats were no more likely to follow…

Sonja K Steiner wrote for Cat World magazine for over eight years. She’s worked in veterinary practice and previously volunteered at her local rescue. Her cats Willow and Fifi are the Brand Ambassadors for Natures Menu and Natures Variety cat food. “The benefits of neutering cannot be ignored…” Veterinary surgeon Dr Allison Gleadhill, MA VetMB Cert SAD Cert SAM PHD MRCVS, is the owner of Crab Lane Vets, Harrogate. She has previously worked in referrals at Bristol Langford University and has over 35 years of knowledge and experience when it comes to treating cats. When she was asked if she would have capacity to take on a newly formed rescue in Harrogate she readily agreed as she thought “there would only be a few cats!” Celia Dakin only set up…

CHARITY ProtectaPet reveals first winner in ‘Superfosterer’ giveaway International cat fencing specialist ProtectaPet has donated a cat enclosure to Staffordshire-based cat rescue Iris’s Cats in Need — the first of four projects in its £10k Superfosterer Giveaway. The cat enclosure, which retails at £2,384, was installed by ProtectaPet-trained installation engineers to cat proof ‘Superfosterer’ Claire Jones’ garden. The enclosure will provide multiple cats and kittens with the opportunity to explore the outdoors in safety while they are temporarily cared for by Claire, awaiting placement in their fur-ever home. Claire, who has volunteered at Iris’s Cats in Need for over 15 years, has a range of responsibilities at the rescue, from hand-rearing kittens through to caring for poorly cats who might not otherwise be able to lead fulfilled lives. She says:…

Your Cat Good Causes has donated a brand-new incubator, from The Incubator Shop, to Hector’s House Cat Rescue to help them look after the increasing amounts of vulnerable, stray kittens taken into their care. Hector’s House Cat Rescue is a local cat rescue based in Devon, working predominantly with stray cats who, through no fault of their own, cannot easily be housed. Because of this, most other charities cannot give these cats the help that they so desperately need. Hector’s House is formed of volunteers who have previous experience working with cat rescues, but have a passion for strays. In Devon especially, there are some great local charities who do amazing work to help all animals who need it. Unfortunately, because of the huge demand for these charities, strays can…

Chris Pascoe is a cat-sitter and author. He has written five books, including ‘A cat called Birmingham’ and ‘You can take the cat out of Slough’, which are available to buy from Amazon. I decided recently that it’d be very interesting to go on a three-hour NED WATCH. Regular readers may remember that Ned is a cat I looked after a few months ago; a tabby who spends most of his waking hours living the ‘man dream’ — namely dozing in a shed (actually, a giant carboard box) and sitting on his litter tray reading the newspaper, or rather, eating the surrounding newspaper floor covering. As that week with Ned progressed, I saw him engaged in so many inexplicably strange (or more correctly, stupid) activities that I decided, in the name…

Got a question? The Your Cat experts are here to help with all your feline dilemmas! Send your question to our experts by email (catcare@yourcat.co.uk). CAT BEHAVIOUR Scratching the sofa Q I recently adopted an adult cat, Maureen, who is wrecking my furniture. She has a scratching post but will not use it. Instead, she is scratching the corner of my sofa. My neighbour told me to spray water on her when she does this, but I wonder if there is a kinder way. She is quite a nervous cat, and I don’t want to hurt her, but I do want to stop the damage to my sofa. A Celia Haddon says: There are several reasons why cats need to scratch, and one of them is anxiety. If you punish…

Alison Gallagher-Hughes is a journalist and PR consultant. She specialises in public relations for the pet trade and is the owner of Tillymint Communications. She is an animal lover and currently has four cats and five dogs. “It is a condition commonly seen in older cats…” A few years ago, one of my cats, Smudge, then aged 12, began to lose weight. It was almost indiscernible. Initially, I thought I might be imagining it. Having previously lost cats to cancer and kidney failure, for which weight loss may also be an indicator, I had her checked out. The scales confirmed my hesitant observation and blood tests found her hormone levels to be consistent with hyperthyroidism. Smudge was prescribed Thyronorm and Felimazole to counter the effects and stabilise her condition. Sadly, they didn’t…

Already a photoshoot veteran, our ginger cat, Gordon, had some company when we met up with Kirsty at Furreal Photography. It was the turn of our beautiful black kitten, Nori, to be a model. On the morning of the shoot, we cat carriers for our two willing volunteers. We secured them in the car with our supplies for the day and travelled the 30 minutes to the Furreal Photography studio. We are incredibly lucky to have such confident cats who travel so well. On arrival at Kirsty’s studio, we door and opened up the carrier doors. The cats both began to explore and Gordon investigated every nook and cranny of the building. He to open up the kitchen cupboards to have a rummage. Nori quickly found the window ledge and…