Dear Fisher,
This is me acting like a jungle kitty. I love to climb in trees but I never leave my yard. The other day, I was lurking from the branches and I heard a lot of commotion coming from the yard next door. My human heard it, too, and ran down to help.
Turns out my skittish neighbor cat that rarely gets to go outside escaped from his house, got scared when a car drove by, panicked and ended up in a high tree. It took two days to get him down. What would you suggest to get the situation corrected quicker?
Arielle
Dear Arielle,
Oh dear, that is an event when one of us is up a tree without a parachute. There are two things going against popular opinion here. First is, firefighters will come to the rescue – not so. They are no longer first responders to such emergencies. That is not to say they are not wonderful compassionate human beings, because they are. It is just against company policy. There are still some who will come to help, especially if you live in a small town.
Secondly, the theory that cats always land on their feet, therefore avoiding serious injury, is not true. Cats have always known this. When they are afraid, they tend to dig their claws into whatever they can and hang on for dear life. If their human were to pull them off the tree limb, the human arm would become the object of safety, often causing profuse bleeding. Obviously sending up a helium filled balloon to transfer the cat down would not work either.
A cat’s claws are designed to climb up but not down. If the human rushes to the garage to get the ladder which will likely be too short anyway he may just drive the cat further up the tree. Cats are very resourceful and given time, space and dignity, they can master just about any situation.
Cats also know that the higher up they are, the harder they are going to fall. The overriding issue here is fear. That is how the cat got up the tree in the first place, and fear of falling might keep him there. It will be very helpful if the collection of people gathered on the ground remain calm. Or just go away. The commotion of people and other animals milling about down below can be scary, if not totally embarrassing.
What should your people do and who are they going to call?
1. Do not panic.
2. Have a plan before you need it. Visit Cat in a Tree Rescue for a list of rescue sources in your area. Call early to put them on notice in case you need their services later.
3. Place a bowl of water and some food at the bottom of the tree.
4. Pull up a lawn chair, make yourself comfortable, and read a good book.
And one other thing: do not even try “Here kitty, kitty.” The cat is already embarrassed and scared, but he is not stupid. Kitty can SEE “here” from “there”. Give him a chance to work things out on his own.
Your friend,
Fisher
Dear Fisher,
I’ll get straight to my issue. I am so sick of hearing, “Chuck you are shedding so much!” That’s always followed by the “I thought short hair cats would shed less than long hair cats, and you shed twice as much as Angel.”
Well there you have it. We have a Chuck and an Angel. So who do you suppose the sweet one who never gets into trouble is? Angel is my long-haired housemate who joined us a few years ago. Somehow her shedding isn’t as abundant as mine. I don’t think I can do anything about my shedding, but if you have any answers, I’d sure love to hear them. Thanks!
Chuck
Dear Chuck,
The age-old question of who sheds the most – long-hair cats or short-hair cats has never been resolved. We are all so individual and there are several factors involved in the why and how much a cat will shed. For example, as you grow older, you naturally tend to shed more. As cats age, their skin becomes drier and sometimes even scaly. Your fur may not be as shiny and may even tend to fall out in bunches. Baldness may become more prominent, especially on your belly. Your humans can make a quick check of your skin. If any of these symptoms seem extreme, you must seek the advice of your veterinarian. It could be normal aging, but there could be an underlying problem.
Your humans are likely not mad at you and knew that shedding fur is normal for any cat when they invited you into their home. Change comes to all living beings as they age – even them. As you grow old together, they may be getting a little more irritable and you may be getting a little more prone to sloughing off dead fur. Also with age comes diminished eye sight. For you, not so bad, but for your humans who do not readily see the extra amounts of cat hair floating around, finding a few pieces in their half-eaten bowl of ice cream could lead to a scolding.
There are no procedures to totally eliminate shedding, but there are some simple routines that can help. You need to keep grooming daily in order to help your situation. If you have slacked off, you need to get back on schedule. Your humans, of course, can lend a hand so you will all live happily every after. Here are some tips:
- • Do not give you too many baths. Good news for you! You could become more anxious every time you hear a faucet drip, hence more hair falling out.
• Do not feed cats table scraps. Bad news for you. Eating table scraps can push the limits of a cat’s digestive system which can lead to unhealthy skin – and more shedding.
• Brush your pets regularly (learn more about brushes and combs from
Healthy Pets.)
I would like to leave this thought for both you and your humans: Shedding is a result of your having dead hair in you furry coat. It needs to either fall out in the ice cream bowl or all over the chair, or combed out with much civility. You of course can remove the dead hair with your very spiky tongue, but that leads us to another issue. It is called hairballs. We can discuss that at a later time. Not before my lunch.
Your friend,
Fisher
