The first step is to visit the ASPCA’s website and request your FREE Pet Safety Pack. It includes a pet rescue window decal that alerts rescue personnel that pets are inside your home. The safety pack also includes an ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center magnet. It has the ASPCA’S toll-free number and website so you can call in case your pet gets into something they shouldn’t.

Second, set up a first-aid kit for your pets. You can find them online ranging from 9.99 on up. If you prefer, make your own. The following is a list of items you should consider putting in your kit.

• Sterile gauze pads (3″ x 3″ and 2″ X 2″) and gauze bandage rolls (1″ and 2″)
• First-aid adhesive tape, 1″ roll
• Cotton swabs (Q-tips®)
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Plastic freezer/sandwich bags
• Small bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide
• Styptic pencil or cornstarch (stems blood flow from minor cuts)
• Antibacterial ointment
• Antiseptic cleansing wipes
• Kaopectate® or Pepto-Bismol®
• A current pet first-aid book
• Eyewash
• Eyedropper
• Mineral oil (a lubricant and laxative when given by mouth)
• Digital or rectal thermometer in a plastic case
• Leather work gloves (to protect you from being bitten)
• Latex gloves
• Leash
• Thin rope
• Splint materials (tongue depressor, 12-inch wooden ruler or thick magazine)
• Pet first aid or animal health book

Third, Read about pet first-aid and take a class if you can find one in your area. Check local vets and your local Red Cross.

Lastly, Familiarize yourself with pet emergency clinics – in your area and to places you travel to.

I hope you don’t ever have to use your kits for yourself or your pets.

*purrs*

Oh did I mention we have a table and chairs? Except for Mimi, we all take turns sleeping on the chairs until someone boots of off. As soon as they eat, we can take back over. Meowmie even put one of our beds on the chair that is least used. SPOILED!!

Here are a few pictures of us packing.

*purrrr*

5 Things to know about catnip

An early morning St Patrick’s day fire took the lives of several pets, but spared one lucky kitty.
When firefighters arrived at the Missoula home they were relieved to find no people, but soon realized there were some four-legged residents still there. A neighbor saw an adult cat on the roof leap to safety. Inside the front door was a tiny kitten.

“He wasn’t breathing too well,” said Firefighter Brett Cunniff, who scooped up the tiny body and gently carried it outside into the fresh, cool air. “So I put some oxygen on him.”

Minutes later, the kitten was in the back of an ambulance, cradled in the arms of emergency medical technician Paige Ostanhowski, who held an oxygen mask to a button nose turning a healthy shade of pink.

“He’s awake – and scratching,” said Cunniff. “He” eventually turned out to be a she.

The casualties included an adult female cat, two other kittens and a pet rat. An adult male cat and another kitten remain unaccounted. As for the kitty:

“Animal Control has checked on her several times. So have the paramedics and the EMTs,” said technician Char Ross.

“She’s a little scared. Anything that crinkles or sounds like fire, she runs into her box,” Ross said.

But the kitten, which Ross estimated to be about 4 to 6 weeks old, was chowing down on canned cat food. “She’s doing really good.”

Animal Control’s Johnson said she spoke with the kitten’s owner and left it up to her as to when to retrieve it.

“She’s got a lot on her plate right now,” Johnson said.

The folks at Pruyn didn’t know the kitten’s name.

But Missoula Police Sgt. Sandy Kosena, who was at the scene when Cunniff brought the kitten out of the burning house, had a suggestion.

“They gotta name it Smoky,” she said.

For the entire article by Gwen Florio click here.

It’s been over a year since my last (or the cats’) post. A year? REALLY? ouch!

Ok to date Pandora has let me be her slave for 7 years.
Elvira 6
Lucien 4
Mac 3
Mimi 3
Aside from being VERY fat, they seem happy and healthy.

“Feral cats live healthy, quality lives outdoors, but there are ways to make their lives even better, including programs like trap-neuter-return,” said Becky Robinson, National Director of Alley Cat Allies. “National Feral Cat Day is a great opportunity to learn more about feral cats and why trap-neuter-return is best for the cats and the community.”

So what’s the difference between a feral cat, stray cat or free-roaming cat? Free-roaming cats are usually pets that are allowed outside, but are still family pets. Stray cats were once pets, but were lost or abandoned and live permanently outdoors. Feral cats are the offspring of lost or abandoned cats or other feral cats who are not spayed or neutered. Females can reproduce two to three times a year, and their kittens, if they survive, become feral due to lack of contact with humans.

Here are ways to prevent feral cat colonies or assist existing ones in your area.

* Spay or neuter your cat and encourage others to do the same.
* Keep cats indoors or, if outdoors, in contained spaces.
* Donate cash or time to shelters.
* Adopt from shelters.
* If you see feral cats, report them to your local animal shelter or a trap-neuter-release group.