Princess Chunk

This cat is certainly overweight - and while some people think fat cats are cute (I plead guilty), there is such a thing as TOO fat. This cat can barely walk. Bear in mind that cats that are overweight are more inclined towards diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems and make sure to put your cat on a diet if it needs one. How do you know if your cat is overweight? Check out this link.

Also please remember - keep your cats in. They could get lost easily otherwise.

TC poster

Thanks to Chinky for sending in this blog post on a better TC poster. TCs still don't quite get that caregivers are not 'owners' of community cats but it's still a better poster than the 'don't feed cats' posters we see.

Bird flu

It seems that a cat found dead in Korea in April died of Bird flu, but that bird flu cannot be spread by cats. Cross your fingers and hope there's no hysteria.

National Day Dog Walk to save Strays

National Day Dog Walk to save Strays, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

Thanks to Chinky for sending this in. I'm sure some of you will be taking part :)

Today (27-7-08)

Thanks to Chinky for sending in these two great letters from Today :- Relaxing pet ownership rules may be the answer and We donate to humans but not to animals.

Cats not the danger, inattentive drivers are

Thanks to chinky who sent this piece in, in response to the article about cats being a danger on the road in Jalan Penimpin. I especially like the line about how cats aren't a danger, but inattentive drivers are. How true.

Just the other day, a child ran behind my car as I was reversing. Do we then ask that children be banned from the roads because they could potentially be a danger?

Article on dogs

This is one of the perennial problems that the dog groups face - the fact that whether or not they sterilise, the dogs still get rounded up. It really is a disincentive to sterilise - and it means that less dogs will get sterilised overall. If the idea is to make Singapore 'safer' than sterilisation should be encouraged.

I remember meeting someone at a conference a few years ago, and he mentioned that because rabies is rampant where he's from (someone had just gotten bitten), sterilisation of dogs was pursued aggressively and they saw fewer people get bitten, and better results healthwise. With less dogs, there will be less attacks, and less incidents obviously. Try and round the dogs up, and there will always be those that elude the traps and will just run around reproducing, meaning there will always be more dogs.

Community cat photo exhibition

Thanks to Chinky for sending this in - it looks very interesting!

Hoarding

This is the problem when people have an issue of pet hoarding - how do you stop them from taking in more cats? Often when I was with CWS, people would ask us to remove the cats from an overcrowded house - only to find the person took in more cats again, just like this woman.

ST (19-7-08)

Thanks to Eslina who sent this in. I missed it as I was really busy over the weekend - again, it's a case of the writer not being aware of what is really going on here. This is very likely someone's cat not a 'stray cat' or a community cat someone is feeding upstairs especially as the writer says she's lived there for years and the cat only recently started defecating in her pots -and the caregiver has said it's not one of hers. Stopping the caregiver from feeding will not help - it's important to find the person who is letting their cat roam. Also it's not about 'toilet training' - the problem is that if the cat is wandering down from a flat and has done it in that pot, it considers the pot it's 'toilet' so in fact, it IS toilet trained. To quote the writer none of the solutions she suggested go to the 'root cause'.

Cats in accident

Here's an article about cats in the Jalan Penimpin estate. Apparently one of them was run over and now people are complaining about the cats being a traffic hazard. The caregiver says that she was misquoted and that the two security guards there were actually new and not very aware of the situation in the estate. It is a shame that a situation like this, while undoubtedly unfortunate for the man and the cat involved, should make it to a national newspaper. Also how this has become 'cat town' is also beyond me. One can only assume it was a slow news day.

Cat Licensing

Here's an interesting article about why cat licensing should not be supported and I think it's a pretty succinct summation of the reasons why. If cats are licensed, then all community cats are at risk - and much more money would be wasted on enforcement, money which could be spent on TNRM programmes.

No feeding of cats

No feeding of cats, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

Certainly yesterday's poster was better than this gem sent in by coboypb. Is one of the cats chasing the others? And if it's about stopping irresponsible feeding why is there no evidence of feeding at all? If I didn't read English, it'd look to me as if it said no cats - perhaps the subliminal message the TC is trying to put across?

Feeding Poster

Feeding Poster, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

Thanks to Chinky for sending this in. As he very succinctly put it, this is better than a 'no feeding' poster but still isn't a responsible feeding poster. Would it really kill TCs to put up a poster telling people to feed responsibly?

Travelling dogs

Here's a great little video about two traveling dogs.

Animal Issue

Here's an interesting article about cats in the Urbanite magazine - this month's whole issue is on animals so you might want to read the rest too.

Voices

Thanks to Chinky for sending in this scan - nice to know that the most touching stories were about cats, but then we already knew that I'm sure!

Frank waiting for food

Frank waiting for food, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

I was at a friend's house today - and this is her cat waiting for his dinner (you can see the bowl on his right) :) He would poke at her when she took too long with the food. This got my friend and I talking about the various ways your cats tell you that it's time to eat. How does your cat remind you that you've forgotten feeding time?

Today (9-7-08)

Nice letter in Today - thanks Chinky for sending it in.

Morning blues

Morning blues, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

Just a funny photo of Scout who can barely get her eyes open - something I think all of us can sympathise with from time to time!

Reunion with lion

A while ago, Wiggie sent me this story about a lion that was brought up by two young men in London and how they were reunited a year later when the lion had been released in Africa. This is a video of the reunion sent in by Tarsier Girl - see if you don't sniff at least once while watching it :)

ST (5-7-08)

Sounds like a neighbour dispute to me - I have to say that if someone does come and tell you that your cat is wandering, it is best to do something about it, whether it be to keep the cat in, or to work with your neighbour to ensure that the soiling doesn't happen again. I have to say though I'm not sure how the cat dirties cars (walks on the car with dirty little paws?). I also don't think the cat intends to hide in corners and 'startle people'.

Sleeping cats

Sleeping cats, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

Someone had made a little shelter for these cats. Unfortunately right next to the cats was a huge lump of food left on the pavement which was already beginning to attract flies.

Cats in the heartlands

Great article - thanks Chinky for sending this in. I think one point that perhaps wasn't emphasised enough (if the comments are an indicator) is that if the cats are sterilised, they won't breed.

Prosthetics

Some interesting news on prosthetics used for a dog. I've seen the little wheel cart used for hind legs - but this is the first I've seen for a set of missing front paws. This design also looks quite sleek.

Here are some photos to melt your heart - Odd couples.

Puzzles

For a bit of pointless fun - and we all need that once in a while.

Abandonment not 'cruelty'

I read this post from Meowies and was disappointed to see that yet again, it seems that there are some police officers still unaware that abandonment is an offence. They met some people who abandoned their cat and admitted to it. However when they went to the police to file a report they were told there was no 'cruelty' involved.

If you go to the Animal and Birds Act at the Singapore Statutes online however and look at Section 42(1) (f), you'll see that not only is abandonment a crime, it is defined specifically as cruelty to animals.