Dr KIM'S DOINGS
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It is one of the places where the earth breathes deeply. Dr Kim and husband John waded through mud and cycled on rocky paths to be rewarded with sightings of wild elephants and gibbons! Only fresh, locally grown food was on the menu, and the daily massages made the whole experience a delightful mental, physical and emotional salvation. And then there were the trained elephants to engage with. www.ecolodgesindonesia.com
Three days interacting with Police, Forensics specialists (all about bugs, blood spatter and clandestine burials), detection dogs and detective people. CSI for real. Sadly, most of the topics involved dastardly deeds done by drug dealers and desperados, to dogs and other beasts. However, the energy and enthusiasm with which the 'perps' were hunted, on behalf of their voiceless victims, was heroic and inspiring. The good news is, sometimes the ending was great - preventing the exploitation of other animals. The brightest note was the surprising fact that of 500 fighting pitbull dogs confiscated from the premises of professional dog fighters (and drug dealers), over 400 were rehomed, never to have to fight again. Against all odds, some of these dogs did settle into multi-dog homes, grateful for another chance. Wonderful.
There is a growing recognition that 'The Mind Matters to the Medicine'. Even if we do not understand quite how and why, animals, other than humans, can suffer psychosomatic illness. This just means that how a cat lives and the choices it can make (which is what behavioural medicine is about) are important to its medical health. Dr Kim presented the things she has learned from the cats she has seen over the years. In sensitive cats, cystitis is a reaction mechanism to environment issues (often 'the other cat' or a disruptive routine) and abscesses are a breakdown in local cat communication. Many thanks to all the felines who have helped her learn about these and other things!
FELINE MEWS
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Consult and health check with
Dr Kim. Urine test and blood pressure analysis for $100 (half price!) but mainly because these tests detect the 40% of cats over the age of 8yrs with hidden problems!
BOOK NOW 0400 756 331 ONLY AVAILABLE AUGUST 23 - 27.
Oral pain is significant and under diagnosed. And even human doctors now recognise dental disease as a major contributor to heart and kidney problems in our species! BOOK NOW 0400 756 331
A RESPECTFUL FAREWELL
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Dr Kim has been in Chatswood for 16 years which is about one cat's lifetime. She is now seeing the end of life crisis for many of your long-term feline friends. So how do you know when enough is enough for your feline friend? How do you deal with the decisions that have to be made? What are your options?
Cats age more quickly than humans, but they are living longer. The average cat is only 13 years on this earth which would be the human equivalent of about 70.
Every owner-cat combination is unique, and each relationship needs to be approached differently. We know Dr Kim's clients love their cats - as friends, confidants, bridges (between and across other relationships) and always just for 'being'. Owners spend a long time learning a cat's ways (and they are very good at training us!). Eventually however, there comes a time to accept that time with a feline friend is finite and has come to its conclusion. Regardless of our beliefs eventually death comes. And then grief. How you approach this for your furry friend will either enrich your shared experiences or deprive you of your memories of your four legged friend. Making decisions are never easy and sometimes we're tempted to put our needs before those of our furry companion.
Dr Kim sees her role as speaking for your cat's dignity and peace. It is all about comfort and grace. Few cats die quietly at home. Their hearts are stronger than ours and their terminal health issues (kidney failure, cancer, malabsorption) mean that death comes slowly, after prolonged wasting. Most cancer patients die of starvation, as the cancer hijacks the body's metabolism and feeds itself first. Unfair.
We do not know whether cats have a concept of their own death and they do live very much in the moment. If you are aware that their moments are not going to increase in quality, then we have to acknowledge our pain as fear of loss, but their pain as being 'in the now'. How will you know? Enough is when your cat stops eating (a sign of pain or nausea is not just being finicky as we used to think), or stops drinking (their metabolism crashes then). They might be telling you it is all too hard by not getting out of bed or greeting you. You will know.
What happens then is between you, your cat and Dr Kim. Euthanasia can give you an opportunity to be with your beloved cat at a time and place that works for you both. Afterwards, there is sadness, but also relief - your feline friend is safe from suffering. We all feel that.
Commemoration of your feline friend can come in many forms: from simple burial, home burial or cremation with the ashes returned for scattering or preserved in urns and wooden boxes. Some people like the taxidermy option (in the Dickens Victoriana tradition). Talk about it within the family - it is important for lots of reasons, none the least being the importance of dealing with the grieving process. Some adult emotional crises stem back to childhood when pet loss that was unresolved. Pet grief counsellors include: Jansen Newman Community Clinics (02) 9436 3055 www.jni.edu.au and David Foote (veterinarian and counsellor) Phone: 0425 281 424 Email: david@davidfoote.com.au
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And remember to remember the happy parts of the relationship. Memories are perhaps fragments of spirit left to comfort us. For truly, only time can give you an old friend. So let me share this: Happy 21st Birthday to Peppa Kolarik (which makes her 100 human years old!) who Dr Kim has looked after from kitten hood. A long story, worth the telling another time!
THE EYES HAVE IT
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Cat Fact or Fiction: Cats are Colour Blind. Well, true and false. You see, people have been trying for years to see if cats can distinguish red and blue (we know they see yellow and green). The answers were a bit confusing and conflicting. Now that we can measure the wavelength detected by the individual cones (coloured light-sensitive cells in the cat's eyes) in the retina, we know cats CAN differentiate blue and red, so they CAN see colours - they just don't care! How Catty!
Cats see better than we do in the dark: True of course, but not because their eyes 'emit light' as was once thought. Cats are as blind as us in complete darkness. However, because of their ears, whiskers, smell and 'who knows what else' senses, they can find their way around very well. Blind cats will jump onto tables, even those blind from birth.
Cats are Blind as Bats (as in myopic - cannot see far away): True. Cats have 20 / 75 vision - which means that what is clear for us at 75 feet, is not in focus for a cat till 20 feet away. All fine if you are looking for small moving mice in the half dark. However, Dr Kim thinks it leads to the often fatal tendency to 'play chicken' with cars. Since a cat cannot focus till 20 feet away, and judging the speed of a moving object need serial focussing, cats wait till the car is close enough to judge their sprint across the road. since they are fast, it usually works. However, if the cat is distracted or chased (by another cat or a dog etc), then they get it wrong and there is no room for mistakes. Proof is that 1 in 3 kittens who go outside in Sydney do not make it to their first birthday, and another 1 in 3 do not make it to their second birthday. Sad, but true, and a GREAT REASON to keep 2 kittens (and a scratching post) as INDOOR ONLY CATS.
CHAT CENTRAL
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If you are even THINKING about celebrating Xmas 2010 away from home PLEASE PHONE 9417 6613 NOW and make or check your Christmas booking. Cat Central can only take a finite number of felines over this very busy time of year - make sure yours is one of the favoured few to enjoy indoor air conditioned comfort and full supervision. Ph: 9417 6613. or email enquiries@chatswoodcatcentral.com.au NOW!
Open 7 days - can board your feline friend safely and in comfort. Provide good advice on Nutrition, Entertainment and Flea Control for your cat - at all life stages! And help with Basic Behavioural advice regarding cat interactions, litter tray issues and how to keep your cat happy! We have homed out over 4,000 cats and kittens - we've seen it all (well, nearly - cats can always surprise you), give us a call. Our cats and kittens come socialised, flea-free, desexed, microchipped and accompanied by excellent 'tried and true' advice to set you up with a feline friend for life.
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RECOMMENDED READING
WHAT CATS WANT
by Claire Bessant
Barron's Educational Series, Paperback - 2003-07-01, ISBN 0764125702
and newer Cat Manual:
The Complete Step-By-Step Guide to Understanding and Caring for your Cat
by Claire Bessant
Haynes Publishing, Hardcover - 03-2010, ISBN 1844256758
The Domestic Cat - The Biology of its Behaviour
by Dennis Turner,
P. P. G. Bateson, Patrick Bateson
Cambridge University Press, Paperback - 04-2004, ISBN 0521636485
FERAL CAT CONTROL
There are those who would like to blame felines for all this nation's wildlife issues, without ever mentioning that habitat loss is the biggest threat. Which means it is CARS not CATS who are the root of all evil? Most interesting, however, is the insight that feral cats specialise in their preferred prey species.
All will hunt and eat rabbits and rats, but in selected habitats, they will specialise in reptiles, birds or individual species of small mammals. Very few fish for a living. The upshot of this is that if there is a species under threat, the individual cat who hunts it must be caught in order to stop the predation. Just removing a percentage of cats will not help. How infuriating. How Cat.
Adaptation is truly their speciality, and the small felines are found in every ecological niche in the world (except Antarctica). As an aside - removal of the cats from Macquarie Island has resulted in wide scale erosion due to rabbit activity - and enormous destruction of bird breeding grounds and losses. Sometimes, it is just people who are the problem.
FUN STUFF
Cat Cam:see what they do when you aren't watching!
www.FABcats.org.uk
Bionic Cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CSoroo-bkg He tried to jump within seconds of getting his prostetic paws! Cats Jump. It is what they do!
New 'microchip activated' Cat Flap: Fabulous - now only YOUR cat can come and go. And as Dr Kim identified at a recent conference - the ability to escape from other cats, can resolve abscess and cystitis issues for a lot of 'victim' cats. Now they can run AND they can hide! And a catflap installer Leonard Donde ph 9440 7525 - now there is no excuse!
WHEN IS DR. KIM AVAILABLE?
Dr Kim is available by appointment only. Cats who are booked for operations or grooming, as well as cats coming for consultations need to go to the ‘new’ premises. Dr Kim Kendall Cat Vet is 50 metres down the road from the Cat Central premises, at 131 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood (2 doors up from the Snow Shop).
Dr Kim will fit you in as best possible within the following general timetable Bear in mind she works every weekend, and till 8pm on Mondays and Fridays. So it is a five day week - Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. If you have an emergency, you can just turn up during the opening hours, but much better to phone first.
FRIDAY from 8am - 10am - drop off your cat for Operations (surgeries)
Friday consulting (by appointment) 8am - 8pm
SATURDAY consulting (by appointment) 9am - 4pm
SUNDAY consulting (by appointment) 12noon - 4pm
MONDAY from 8am - 10am - drop off your cat for Operations (surgeries) and Grooms with Jo Marsden-Grey Monday consulting (by appointment) 8am - 8pm
TUESDAY consulting 10am to 6pm (sometimes later)
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY and PUBLIC HOLIDAYS - RARELY AVAILABLE but phone 0400 756 331 anyway - if Dr Kim is in the area she will usually come and see your cat. Otherwise, the receptionist will advise you. Fees are the same on weekends as weekdays - cats don't care what day it is so Dr. Kim just makes herself available.