ForestWind Siberian Cats

Now that you know what not to do for your Siberian during warm weather months, follow these suggestions for keeping your cat cool:

• Provide a Cool and Comfy Living SpaceCool down your house as much as possible before you leave for work. Cover the windows and leave the air conditioning on "low," if you can.
• If you don't have air conditioning, place fans in the windows and run them on "exhaust" to circulate the air without sucking in the hot air from outside, suggests Karen Commings, author of The Cat Lover's Survival Guide.
• Put small plastic containers filled with water in the freezer overnight. During the day, place these containers (now filled with blocks of ice) around your cat's favorite sleeping spot.
• Freeze a bottle of water and place it in your cat's bed, or place a package of frozen peas just under the covering of your cat's bed. You can later eat the defrosted peas for dinner!
• If possible, allow your cat access to your basement, says Commings. This could particularly benefit older cats, which may not be as mobile, or able to locate a cool spot for themselves.
• Consider keeping your cat in the bathroom during the day, says Dr. Cruz. Cats sometimes like to lie on the cool tiles, in the bathtub or in the sink.
• If you have a screened-in patio where your cat likes to hang out, put up shades on the sides that face the sun. Provide plenty of fresh water. Check on the bowl throughout the day to make sure the water hasn't evaporated.

KeepingKittyCool.02.18.2012

Feline Marking and Spraying

If you are finding urine outside the litter box and have ruled out medical problems, and litter or litterbox aversions, your cat could be displaying urine-marking behavior.

Cats do  this to inscribe a pheromonal message for later passers-by. It's like posting a sign ... “Tigger was here. Keep out.”

Urine-marking can be performed by a cat from a standing or squatting position, on either vertical or horizontal surfaces.

Spraying is the most common form of urine-marking behavior. When spraying, the cat backs up to a vertical surface, the tip of the tail quivers, and s/he delivers a fine stream of urine onto the surface.

Marking behavior is testosterone-enhanced, so non-neutered males have the greatest motivation to mark. However, both males and females can mark.  Females in heat will urine mark, generally from the squatting position. Males will marksexual availability in the upright position. Neutering and spaying will eliminate 90-95 percent of urine-markingbehaviors in cats.

When cats are stressed, they have a much higher tendency to mark. Stress can come from many sources, but some of the more common sources are:

• Arrival of a new person in the home
  
• Departure of a key caretaker
• Arrival of a new cat
• Inadequate number of litter boxes for the number of cats in the house (the general recommendation is to provideone for each cat, plus one extra box)
• Conflicts with another household cat
• Moving to a new house, or
  
• Renovation of the house

Sometimes cats will urine-mark because they don’t like the location of the litter box, or the size of it. In fact, the place cats mark is often where they would prefer to go - but there is no box there! Of course, you can’t always accommodate such “suggestions,” so kitty will have to be encouraged to a more convenient location.

In cases of spraying/marking, the solution lies in determining what is stressing your kitty and addressing it. Begin by analyzing what might have changed in your cat's world around the time the marking began.

Ways to decrease marking:

• Cats do return to mark areas they have previously marked. Thoroughly clean up all urine-sprayed areas with an odor neutralizer/enzyme product that naturally breaks down the urine molecules completely. You may need to repeat several times. Use a black light in the dark to check and be sure all urine has indeed been removed.
  
• Try using a product called Feliway-  a synthetic pheromone designed to mimic feline cheek gland secretions. Using the feliway plug in diffuser emits a calming scent to your cat with the message "all is safe here."  You can also buy spray Feliway. Spraying it on areas where cats have urine marked encourages them to rub with their cheeks instead of marking with urine. 
  
• Make sure your cat’s environment is not overcrowded. Cat trees are one way to increase kitty’s territory, since cats include vertical space as territory.
• Make sure litter boxes are large enough for your cat. Kitties want some privacy, yet they don’t want to feel vulnerable when inside the litter box. Keep it very clean, since cats are meticulous creatures. Do not place any litter boxes next to their food and water since that is a turn-off for most cats.
• Reassure kitty he is loved by offering extra affection, taking a nap together, grooming him, or playing with him, and you can greatly reduce his level of stress and sense of competitiveness with other members of the family.

Remember to always make changes gradually since cats are creatures of habit. You will only discover what works by changing one thing at a time.

The most common behavioral problem for which cat owners seek Veterinary assistance is house-soiling. In fact, house-soiling is also a leading cause of cats’ relinquishment to shelters.

There are reasons for this behavior, and your kitty is limited in the ways he can communicate with you when something is wrong. If you can view his behavior as a form of communication and not an act of defiance, you and kitty will have a better chance for finding a solution to the problem, instead of entering into a battle of wills, which will only make a behavior problem worse.

Today's detective work will focus on the Litterbox itself.  By getting the latest scoop onlitter, you will be better prepared to prevent and resolve litter- andlitter-box-related toileting problems. Every cat has unique preferences, and the best way to identify an individual cat’s set of toileting preferences is to experiment with a variety of litter choices and box styles.

5 Factors to Consider:

1. Litter or box fragrance

2. Litter cleansliness (or, "how often do you scoop, and how often do you dump your litter boxes?")

3. Litter texture (are you using clumping, sand, clay, recycled newspaper, corn cob, wheat, pine, or other organic pellet material ?)

4. Litter box location and number (how many boxes per cat are appropriate?). 

5. Litter box style (size, height of sides, is there a top? )

Fragrence Problems

Many cats find deodorized or scented litter highly objectionable.The worst culprits are litters such as Tidy Cat's new product "for small spaces." We tried this one time and were choking! It smelled like a bomb of scented candles went off - any cat that used the box smelled like the fragrance for hours afterwards. Needless to say we threw the rest away. We found in the few days it was out that it was the last box of choice for our Siberians...

Also be sure not to use plastic box liners since kitties  get their claws stuck in the plastic when digging, leading to urine seeping under the liner and creating an unpleasant scent for you and your cat.

Humans can add to that problem by using strongly scented cleaners when disinfecting and cleaning the litter box. Use plain hot water and low scneted Dawn Dishwashing detergent to clean boxes and scoops. Then spray with white vinegar and leave to dry (this dinsinfects the box and scoops. When fully dry rinse well with hot water to remove as much vinegar scent as possible. Many cleaning products leave a lingering smell, which cats find distasteful.

Scooping problems

How often do you scoop? We are horrified when we hear people saying "every few days" or even "once a week - it's a large box." No, no, and no! Boxes should be scooped a minimum of once a day for one cat and twice a day for two or more cats. The more you scoop the happier your cat (and your nose!) is. Using a "Litter Locker" next to the litter box will encourage you to scoop since it is easy to dump the clumps and seal in yuck and smell with a twist of the handle...

How often do you dump? Dump the entire litter box - and clean and disinfect - no less than once a week. Dump prior to that if more than 1/2 the litter granules now look darker than the original litter. This is from broken off peices of the used clumps - even if you can not smell the old litter left behind, you Siberian can!

Litter Texture Aversion

Cats have lived in the desert for thousands of years, using fine sand for their toileting.

Even though commercial cat litter is generally a pretty fair substitute for desert sand, sometimes cats develop a litter aversion—not liking the odor or feel of the litter -- resulting in urinating or defecating in in appropriate places. Cats especially hate any litter that is sharp (crystal litters being one horrible example of this style); or soggy (think reused newspapers); or sticky (think many of the natural litters like corn pellets or pine). Using one of these litters is begging for a litter box problem.

Other times a  kitty has  learned to associate the litter with something unpleasant, such as lack of privacy, pain, being cornered by another cat, or being caught there in order to administer medications.

Common signs of litter aversion include:

• House-soiling (going outside the litterbox)
• Scratching at the sides of the box,
• Scatching on the floor, or scratching other nearby objects instead of in the litter
• Using the litter but shaking his paws a lot during and after use
• Not digging in the litter before eliminating
• Straddling the box to avoid touching the litter
• Jumping out of the box quickly after finishing
• Meowing at the litter box

Litter box location and number of boxes out.

Litter boxes should be located in  private areas with at least two sides protected by a wall to give you cat the privacy she or he needs to feel safe. This is especially true in multiple pet households or ones with small children or lots of activity. 

The rule of thumb for number of litter boxes out at a time is one box per cat plus one. This is two boxes for one cat, three for two cats, four for three cats and so on.

It is well to remember if you have several cats or a large home, to have the boxes in several locations both for ease of access and so that a bully cat can not block a milder cat from using the box.

Litter Box style and size

Siberians are large cats. The box that fit your Siberian kitten so nicely may be much too small for your Siberian adult. At ForestWind Siberians we use the largest sized litter boxes we can find - the ones with the tallest sides and broadest widths and longest lengths. We never use a top. Siberians are large cats and all cats couch (almost sit up) to use a litter box. A cat can not use a litter box in the proper position if the top is on most boxes - there simply is not enough head room...  Although some of our kitten families find that the automated litterboxes work well, we worry about how to adequately clean them as well as any sudden movement the mechanics make scaring off the cat. Finally, the new litter robot is fully enclosed and by measurement is not technically large enough for an adult Siberian. Unless you have medical reasons for avoiding litter, manage with the old fashion scoop it yourself box to keep kitty happiest.

Now that you have considered the various reasons your cat may simply not like the litter box you have made available, perhaps you'd like to offer your cat a “litter buffet” for a week or two, complete with separate boxes and litter types to see which products your cat prefers. Some cats even prefer to have one box for urine and one for stool. Above all... Make any changes very gradually - always maintain at least one box in "the old way" to be sure that you are indeed dealing with a dislike issue and not a health or emotional issue in your cat.

So, whenever changing type of litter, or anything about a litter box, first use an additional box with the new litter, and gradually take away the old litter once your cat is happy with the new one. The same strategy applies to changing to a new type of box or a new box location.

Our next post will address marking and spraying issues.

Has your kitty been making unwanted deposits outside the litter box? Are you at your wit’s end trying to make sense out of your cat’s house-soiling behaviors? If so, you are not alone.The most important point is to not assume that your cat is being “bad” if he urinates or defecates outside the litter box, instead realize he is trying to communicate something to you.

There are three main causes of house-soiling in cats:

1. Underlying medical problems - such as  feline lower urinary tract disease, or feline urologic syndrome (FLUTD/FUS). 

2. Urine marking

3. Toileting issues.

Toileting problems can stem from a variety of causes, including factors unrelated to the litter box. So it is always critical to carefully consider the cat, its home, and any recent changes in order to correctly identify the motivation for the problematic behavior. Over the next several posts we will address each of the above issues to help you – and Kitty – get back to thinking  Inside the Box.

Today's post will focus on Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease

Urinary issues top the list of why cats visit vets. Urinating outside the litter box can sometimes be a sign of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), also known as feline urologic syndrome (FUS) -- a collection of conditions that can affect the bladder and urethra of cats. In addition to urinating in in appropriate places, affected cats exhibit other recognizable signs, such as:

• Frequent and/or prolonged attempts to urinate
• Straining to urinate
• Crying out while urinating
• Excessive licking of the genital area, and
• Blood in the urine

**Cats with a urethral obstruction will also show the above signs, but will pass little to no urine, and will become increasingly distressed. Urethral obstruction is an absolute emergency, requiring immediate veterinary treatment.

FLUTD can be seen in cats of any age, but it is most often seen in middle-aged, overweight cats that get little exercise, have restricted access to the outside, and eat a dry diet.  Environmental factors, such as your cat's relationship with you and with other household cats, and changes in routine may increase your cat’s risk forFLUTD/FUS.

A few cats with FLUTD will experience frequent recurrences of bladder symptoms, but most cats have only occasional or rare episodes. Although treatment depends on the exact cause, there are some steps you can take to help reduce the frequency, severity and duration of attacks:

1. Feed small, frequent meals
2. Increase moisture in your cat’s diet by weaning him/her onto wet food
3. Provide clean, fresh water at all times, consider offering fresh water in a ceramic or metal fountain (clean daily).
   
4. Provide an adequate number of litter boxes in quiet, safe areas of the house
5. Keep litter boxes extra clean
6. Minimize major changes in routine
7. For cats with struvite stones, a special acidic stone-dissolving diet may be prescribed to eliminate the stones

Learn more about Feline Urinary Tract Disease from Cornell UNiversity's Vet School

Are you Bringing Home a new Baby? Congratulations! This is an exciting and joyous occasion, but remember that things are about to change in  a big way for your first “baby”, your pet Siberian. Your kitty has been the center of attention for the past few years, so this new addition is going to mean lots of changes. Here are some steps to make this transition easier on everyone:

**The most important thing to remember is that no child should ever be left alone with a pet. Even the gentlest pet may hurt a baby accidentally. Close supervision is mandatory

**If any pet has a history of aggression to adults, kids, or other animals, please consider rehoming it for the safety of all concerned. Discuss this in a consult with your veterinarian long before your baby is born.

Before Baby Comes Home:

Try to anticipate schedule and household changes that may occur with the new baby.  Implement these changes before the baby arrives.  This may mean keeping your pet out of certain areas of the house (nursery or playroom), teaching them to stay off the furniture, or even being confined for periods of time.  If you don’t want your dog to sleep in your bed when the baby comes, you need to teach him that now.

Review training.  Go over commands such as sit, stay, and down.  Also work on crate training or confinement.  Your pet needs to be comfortable and relaxed away from the family if needed.

Familiarize your pet with the new sites and sounds.  If you are going to allow your pet access to the nursery, let them investigate before baby comes home.  They need to adapt to new furniture and odors.  Reward calm behavior with praise, treats, or play.  However, do not allow your pet to get into the crib or into other areas where the baby will be sleeping or resting.  Rehearse new activities that will occur with the baby.  Simulate rocking a baby, carrying a doll wrapped in blankets, diapering etc.  Reward your pet for a sit/stay and remaining calm during these actions.  You can also buy a CD recording of a baby crying.  Play on a low volume for a few minutes multiple times a day.  During these sessions, work on basic obedience commands and reward good, calm, and obedient behavior.  Increase the volume gradually over successive sessions  Get your pet used to hair pulling, ear/tail tugging.  Initially tug very gently and reward good behavior.  Gradually increase the intensity until you mimic what a toddler might do. Once the baby is born, bring home some of the clothing or blankets from the hospital for your pets to smell. 

After Baby Comes Home:

Introductions- Try to have another person hold the baby at first so you can greet your pet. Do not start introductions until your pet has calmed down. Then, introduce your pets one at a time. Make sure your pet remains controlled during this time. Use a leash, harness or head halter. One person should hold the baby while sitting in a chair and another person should be monitoring your pet’s behavior.

Any signs of aggression or unacceptable behavior (crawling on top of the baby, etc) should be interrupted. Be careful not to yell or punish your pet. This can result in your pet associating the baby with negative experiences and lead to increased fear or aggression. Aggressive behavior should result in immediate confinement for safety and then contact with your veterinarian.

If your pet does something undesirable, redirect them into a sit/stay and reward only good behavior.Take your pet’s point of view. When you are focused on your baby, your pet may be ignored, disciplined for coming too close or confined, all of which creates anxiety.

Often, your pet will only receive play, attention, affection, food, etc when the baby is asleep. This may teach your pet that the baby is something negative. Make a point of paying attention to your pet when the baby is awake and active. If both parents are present, one can play with the pet while the other attends the baby. Try to pay less attention to your pet when the baby is asleep.

Handle aggression early. Again, at any sign of aggression, you should gently interrupt your pet and immediately isolate it for safety. You should also contact your veterinarian or even a board certified behaviorist. Do not assume that things will get better without intervention. If one parent is home during the first few weeks, your pet should be restrained or confined in the presence of the baby. Use a crate or even a baby gate.

With advance planning, training, and attention, most pets can adjust to the newest family member.

When the thermometer shoots skyward during the summer months, your fur-covered feline may be at risk for the same kind of health problems that plague overly hot humans: heart difficulties, heat stroke, breathing issues and more.

"Cats are like people," says Humane Society spokesperson Nancy Peterson. "They can become dehydrated and suffer organ failure and die if they get too hot." Because summer temperatures in general appear to be on the rise, it helps to be aware of the dangers heat poses for your cat and ready to enact measures necessary for keeping kitty cool.

First, here's what not to do:

Do NOT leave your cat in a parked car. Don't do this even for a few minutes. The inside of a car can heat up rapidly, making it much hotter than the outside temperature. Leaving the window open a few inches does not make the car cooler inside.

Don't forget to leave fresh water for your cat. Leave several bowls of water in the house so your cat will be sure to get plenty of it.

Don't shave your cat's fur. Your feline's fur offers some protection against sunburn. Cats that are pale or have light-skinned fur must stay out of the sun. "The ears and tips of noses of light-colored cats can get skin cancer," says Bernadine Cruz, DVM, of Laguna Hills Animal Hospital, a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Applying sunscreen could help, but most cats will find a way to lick off the potentially toxic substance pretty quickly, says Dr. Cruz.

Don't tether your cat outside. Even if you think shade will protect your cat, the sun may shift, exposing the cat to direct sunlight before you realize it.

Don't ignore signs of heat stroke "The signs include panting rapidly, having trouble breathing and increased heart rate," says Peterson. "A cat may act like it's drunk by walking strangely, and its gums will be redder than normal." If you notice any of these symptoms, wrap your cat in a cool, wet towel, and get it to your veterinarian or an animal hospital as quickly as possible.

Next post: How to Keep Kitty Safe

If you own a companion animal and feed him store-bought pet food, chances are you’re aware of the many pet food recalls in recent years. Both animals and humans have been made sick by tainted pet foods.

There was the massive 2007 recall for pet food containing melamine. Melamine is a toxic chemical used in plastics, cleaning agents, laminates, fertilizer and other products. It was found in combination with cyanuric acid in the wheat gluten in certain pet foods, and traced to ingredients imported to the U.S. from China.

The combination of melamine and cyanuric acid is known to cause renal failure in pets, and many dogs and cats became severely ill, some fatally, after eating contaminated food. Well-known names like Iams, Eukanuba, Purina and Science Diet were some of the over 40 brands involved in the melamine recall.

Most major pet food brands and manufacturers have recalled products known or suspected to be contaminated, in particular with the salmonella bacteria.

In 2008, following massive recalls for salmonella contamination, major pet food manufacturer Mars Petcare US was forced to close its doors. The CDC traced the salmonella to the flavoring room of the manufacturing plant where dry pet food was sprayed with flavor enhancers prior to packaging.

For a complete list of recalled pet foods by product name, visit FDA.gov. As you scan the list, note that even pet food brands considered very high quality are not exempt from contamination.

The List of Best-to-Worst Foods

Dr Karen Becker, DVM

1. A balanced, raw, homemade diet is the best food you can feed your dog or cat. It will be nutritionally balanced because you're following a recipes. Raw means the food is unadulterated and still contains all the enzymes and nutrients that are typically destroyed during cooking or other types of processing.

Homemade is the best option because you are in complete control of the quality of ingredients in your pet's diet.

2. Commercially prepared raw diet, like Nature's Instinct. This is a prepared raw food. It's important that the diet is balanced, and you should be aware that there are raw food pet diets entering the market that are not yet proven to be nutritionally complete. These foods often say "For supplementation or intermittent feeding" on the label. Others will be simply all meat and bone with no heart or liver added. If you can't tell, be sure to ask.

You'll know if the raw food you've selected is balanced because it will say it right on the packaging: "This food has been proven to be nutritionally complete or adequate for all life stages."

3. Cooked, balanced homemade diet. It's the same diet found in # 1, except it's cooked. This means some of the nutrient composition has been diminished through heat processing.

4. Human-grade canned food. If the label doesn't say the ingredients are human grade, they're not. Pet food made with human-grade ingredients is also a great deal more expensive, so that's another way to tell what you're getting.This type of diet is the most expensive you can feed your pet.

"If you have more money than time, you can purchase human-grade canned food for your dog or cat. But if you have more time than money, I recommend you make a balanced, homemade diet right in your own kitchen for a fraction of the cost."

5. Human-grade dry food. Dry food is not as species-appropriate as a moisture-dense diet. Human grade is very important because the food is approved, in theory, for human consumption, which means it doesn't contain low quality rendered by-products.

6. Super premium canned food which can be found at big box pet supply stores like Petco and PetSmart. 

7. Super premium dry food. 

8. Veterinary-recommended canned food. Vet recommended canned foods are purchased at your vet's office or clinic. Typical brands are Science Diet, the Purina veterinary lines, Royal Canin and Waltham.

9. Veterinary-recommended dry food.

10. Grocery store brand canned food.

11. Grocery store brand dry food.

12. Semi-most pouched food.The reason this type of pet food is so far down the list is because in order for the food to remain "semi-moist," an ingredient called propylene glycol is added. This is a scary preservative that is a second cousin to ethylene glycol, which is antifreeze. And while propylene glycol is approved for use in DOG foods, it can kill cats. I do not recommend feeding any food that contains this additive.

13. Dead last on the list and the worst thing you can feed your pet is an unbalanced, homemade diet – raw or cooked. I'm seeing an increasing number of misguided pet owners in my practice who think they're doing the right thing by serving their pet, say, a chicken breast and some veggies and calling it a day. Yes, the food is homemade, but it's nutritionally unbalanced. Pets being fed this way are showing up at my clinic with endocrine abnormalities, skeletal issues and organ degeneration as a result of deficiencies in calcium, trace minerals and omega fatty acids.

For those of you who now know you're feeding your pet an unbalanced, homemade diet, there's an extremely quick and easy way to soar to the top of the list. All you need to do is add ingredients to balance out the nutrition in the diet you're already serving your dog or cat. This is a fast, simple fix you can apply to turn an unbalanced homemade diet into a balanced one.

One of the adoption questions we are asked a lot is about predicting allergy levels  in Siberian cats. Folks would like to know if there is any relationship between coat color and allergen level. The short answer is "no." Folks would like to know if there is any relationship between sex and allergen level. The short answer is "sort of." Folks would like to know if there is any way to predict allergen level in a litter if both Siberian parents are tested low allergen. The short answer is "statistically, yes; for a given, kitten, no"

So, let's talk more about allergen levels in Siberian cats. First, it is important to remember that there is actual published research that documents that some Siberian cats inherit one of a few mutations that results in a lower production of fel d 1, the protein all cats make that some people are allergic to.This research was conducted at University of California Davis Veterinary School by Dr Leslie Lyons.

Second, it is also important to note that not one other breed of cat,  including domestic cats ("moggies"), have the genetic mutation that some Siberians have that results in a lower level of fel d 1 production. Not sphynxes, not rexes, not ragdolls, not any of the breeds that some breeders claim are "hypoallergenic." Not one breed other than the Siberian Cat.

Now that we know there is a scientific basis for some Siberian cats to cause little  or no allergic reactions in some people, let's look at other research that purported to connect a cat trait to lower (or higher) allergen levels.The biggy is coat colour.

At least weekly we get questions about coat colour and allegen levels: "We read that white cats have lower (higher) levels of fel d 1." "We read that dark cats have lower (higher) levels of fel d 1." "What colour cat has the lowest level allergen?"

Unfortunately there is no good science to indicate any correlation between coat color and allergen production level in any cats.

No, light colored cats are not less allergenic.

No, dark colored cats are not less allergenic.

No, silver cats are not more allergenic.

No, black cats are not more allergenic.

Causing this confusion are two situations. One is a set of now debunked research claiming a connections between coat colour and allergen level. The first is a much quoted (and very wrong) study that: light coloured cats were less allergenic AND a second study that indicated that dark coloured cats were less allergenic.

Both of these studies researched allergen levels in mixed breed (stray / domestic) cats. None of the cats tested had genetic mutations (like about 50- 60 % of the Siberians do), resulting in a  lower production of fel d 1 for those cats. However, all cats have differing levels of fel d 1 production, and these different levels also carry according to time of year, diet, and sexual maturation of the cat.

The other contributing confusion to the coat colour and allergen level association is that light haired cats who are related to the Siamese tend to have higher allergen levels, as the Siamese breed over all does. The Siamese cats have a light coat, as do many of the breeds derived from them, so the light colour became associated with a higher allergen level. This can be seen in the Neva - or "colourpointed Siberian" who was created by planned matings between the original Siberians and both Ragdolls (a Siamese x breed) and Himalyans (another Siamese x breed). Until there were enough matings between the breeds to pass on the Siberian low allergen mutations, Neva cats tended to be high allergen.

Like coat color, there is no connection between the Siberian cat's genetic mutation and sex of the cat. With regular domestic cats, a male cat who is not desexed typically produces top levels of allergen, while a desexed female typically produces the least amount allergen.

Before laboratory testing for fel d 1 level became available, we woudl recommend females be adopted to allergic and asthmatic families based on the odds of a desexed female having a lower allergen level than a desexed male. Now that the research has been done at University of California Davis Veterinary School, we know that the lower alelrgen production in some Siberian cats is caused by one of several possible genetic mutations (there are severalin the Siberian breed) and furthermore that the protein production levels are individual to each cat - not related to the sex of the cat.

While allergen level testing is now available for Siberian kittens, it is extremely expensive and the kittens must wait to be adopted until they are older.  ForestWind does provide this option to adoptive families, but most of our families decide to adopt successfully by implementing several of the anti-allergy, anti-asthma strategies we recommend - from air filtration to bathing to feeding guidelines. To date, we have only rehomed three our of Siberians due to allergies. The most recent rehoming was this winter, 2012, and in that situation a family member became cat allergic several years after adopting, and no one had been allergic prior to the adoption taking place.

As a cat allergic and asthmatic family ourselves, we are well aware of the needs and interests of the allergic family and work closely with you to ensure your successful adoption.

You'll never forget the first time you see little wriggling rice grains on your kitten's behind, probably because you'll be so grossed out by the sight. It may be the first time, but it probably won't be the last…unless you use the information below:

Two types of intestinal worms, tapeworms and roundworms, are commonly found in cats.

Tapeworms are the source of the wriggling rice grains, known as proglottids—essentially, body segments full of tapeworm eggs. Cats can also be hosts to hookworms and whipworms, two other types of roundworms. Although it's almost impossible for humans to get tapeworms from cats, roundworms and protozoan parasites such as giardia and toxoplasmosis, can be transmitted to people. If you allow outside (cat run) access, or raw feed, worm for tapeworms monthly with Drontal. Do this two weeks before or after her heartworm preventative treatment. Drontal can be purchased from your Vet.

Heartworms are found mostly in dogs, but cats can be infected. Vets think one reason cats don't get heartworms as often as dogs is because their immune systems fight off the microfilaria (baby worms). But because cats' hearts are so small, even one or two worms can cause very serious problems, and treatment is complex and potentially very dangerous to the cat. To avoid this death sentence, be sure to keep your Siberian on the product Revolution year round. You can get this at the Vet's.

The best way to control worms is to keep your kitten inside and prevent fleas. Fleas, lice, cockroaches, beetles, and waterbugs are intermediate hosts of tapeworms and roundworms, so you must keep your home free from pests. Mosquitoes are the primary vector for heartworms. If you keep your cat indoors, she is much less likely to come in contact with the pests that are the sources of intestinal parasites. The product Revolution kills fleas and flea eggs.

If you let your kitten outdoors in an enclosure, make sure it has a waterproof floor, hose it down daily, and let it dry in the sun. Remove stools from the enclosure every day. Clean up areas of stagnant water that can serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and for the protozoa that causes giardia. Keep your lawn short and water it only when necessary; shaded and moist earth is an ideal breeding ground for worm eggs and larvae.

Clean your kitten's litter box every day, removing the stools and wet spots. The box should be kept clean and dry, and if your cat should bring home worms or other internal parasites such as giardia, dump the box daily and sterlize while treating for giardia under your Vet's supervision. Always be sure to wash the litter box weekly or more frequently with boiling water and bleach. Let the bleach stand wet on the cleaned litter box for at least 10 minutes to disinfect. Rinse box and let air dry. Cleaning the litter box at least once a day will eliminate risk of contracting toxoplasmosis if your cat is a carrier (many cats are not), because cat feces don't begin shedding the toxoplasma parasite until one day after the stool as been deposited.

If your kitten does get worms, ask your Vet for a dewormer. Some over-the-counter wormers are effective, but worms have developed a resistance to some of them. The way to be really sure your dewormer will work is to get it from your vet and to give it to your kitten as directed. Again, ForestWind Siberians urges you to use the products Revolution and Drontal.

IntestinalParasites.02.18.2012.