Cat camp offered much more than hiking & water sports

                                                                   Catster pic

When a virtual event lingers in the mind for weeks afterward, it must have been a notable offering. That’s 100% true of “Jackson Galaxy’s Cat Camp: @ home for the holidays!” sponsored by Petco, an all-day production on Saturday, Dec. 5. 

Apparently the latest annual Cat Camp in a series, this one offered myriad options, with a focus that couldn’t lose: “A Life Well-Lived” for cats of all ages.  Who doesn’t want that for their cats?  The day’s programs dealt with kittens, winter shelters for community cats, forms of play, prime time, making homemade toys and senior cats, among others. 

I “attended” the session on senior cats hoping as always for tips on caring for Harry (15) and Billy (13) Summers.  I learned much that I’m still mulling over and acting on as possible.  (Some key ideas appear below for other cat parent-worrywarts.)  

But first, basic info to use if you want to attend Cat Camp now.  The basic link – catcamp.com – still gets you to all the day’s programs, running about 5 hours, give or take.  You can check the schedule and scroll around, visiting different sessions.  

With no regrets, I revisited the Senior Cats segment to fill in blanks after the first go-round, when I couldn’t keep up with the lively conversation between Galaxy and Ellen M. Carozza, an LTV who lectures widely.  The two seemed like kindred spirits in their devotion to cats and to felines of all ages living vital lives. 

                                                                          ASM pic

As for senior cats, they advised seeing your cat for what she is, not what you fear is happening.  Don’t apply your own fears about aging or sickness to your cat!  Same with dementia: age-related changes are not always dementia.  Because many other health issues have similar symptoms, it’s crucial to get the broadest possible picture through vet testing. 

By age 12, 99% of cats have arthritis, which can happen all over the body.  That’s a big deal for cats, who need to balance their weight on all 4 paws.  Observe: can the cat “go to the bathroom,” eat and drink, curl up in a ball to sleep . . . comfortably?  

It may be time to raise food and water bowls and consider litter pans with an open side (as in “puppy pans”). 

Is the cat grooming at all, or properly?  If not, expect dander accumulation, greasiness and mats.  (Mats, BTW, are my current challenge with long-haired Harry, who fights any brushing near them!) 

Galaxy and Carozza offered much, much more – and you can get all that plus the other sessions by visiting catcamp.com.  Commit some time, listen and take notes if that’s your learning style, and like me, you too can become a “happy camper”! 

2 seasonal reminders 

One easy cat tip: Remember that this is (gift) box season, and cats love ’em.  Instead of re-cycling boxes, save them to re-style into fun places for felines – and their fascinated families. https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/turn-excess-holiday-boxes-into-hangout-spots-for-your-cat?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Catster%20Ful%20ListAol%20yahoo%2030%20day%20actives%20and%20all%20others&utm_campaign=CED20201202 

Br-r-r-r-r-r!

With the cold setting in, it’s important to be alert to pets left outside. The HSUS reminds us that body fur isn’t enough protection, and it can be a crime to leave pets outside in extreme temperatures without 

food and shelter. 

If we see animals left out in the cold, we should speak up.  Here are some specifics. https://www.humanesociety.org/news/what-do-if-you-see-pet-left-out-cold?s_src=em_ha_12192020_132738.0&utm_source=convio&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=monthly_donor_update&utm_term=132738.0&utm_content=image4 

                                                                                                         HSUS pic

AnimalBeat II will return in January ’21.  For now, wishing all animals and their advocates the happiest, healthiest new year possible!  And, at any time, readers are invited to comment on blog posts and suggest topics for future attention. 

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Bear hunt underway casts a pall over other animal news

                                                    APLNJ/Bear Group pic

As I write, and probably also as you read, New Jersey black bears are being killed by trophy hunters, many from out of state.  (Yes, we’re still at crisis level in this pandemic, but hey, that shouldn’t stop hunters from flocking here to kill bears, now should it?) 

The second part of this year’s bear hunt began this morning, Monday, Dec. 7, and it will run through Saturday, Dec. 12, with a possible 4-day extension Dec. 16-19. 

Bear hunters must be accommodated. 

The Animal Protection League of NJ plans protests and daily vigils, with the latest information at https://www.facebook.com/AnimalProtectionLeagueNhhtJ. Contact Doreen.Frega@aplnj.org with questions about vigil times. 

The black cloud of the bear hunt hangs heavy over any other animal news there might be.  So I’ll open with the best thing I’ve heard lately, about an Asian elephant named Kaavan.  Long described as “the loneliest elephant in the world” -- elephants are highly social, family-oriented beings, remember – he lived alone for years in a “decrepit” zoo in Pakistan. 

Then, thanks to pop star Cher, her charity and other animal rights groups, Kaavan was flown to a conservation park in Cambodia, where he’s temporarily quarantined before exploring his new habitat, which includes three other elephants. https://www.npr.org/2020/12/05/942214125/he-will-be-a-happier-

                     Asian elephants                                 Wikipedia pic

elephant-vet-describes-what-it-was-like-to-rescue-kaavan 

Scorpions, anyone?  

My last post in October, a lengthy poem, (https://1moreonce.blogspot.com/2020/10/evolution.html) included an image of a scorpion, and the more I looked at it, the more it looked like a lobster to me. This, despite the significant differences between the two animals, starting with size. 

Later checking out the similarity, I learned the two are related.  Both have pincers and are part of the same group (Phylum Anthropoda).  However, scorpions are even more closely related to spiders (Class Arachnida), and unlike insects which have 6 legs, both scorpions and spiders have 8 legs. 

Fierce hunters, scorpions prefer their own species after insects; the link below contains an un-appetizing description of “sticky stew,” or what happens when a scorpion meets up with a cricket. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/scorpion-anatomy#:~:text=Anatomy%20of%20a%20Scorpion,part%20of%20the%20Phylum%20Arthropoda. 

Ahhh, dogs!

From the most grizzled oldster to “Teddy,” the 8-week old Lab puppy I met this morning, dogs are undeniably lovable and unarguably the best friends of many humans.  They also have great sniffers, which accounts for their behavior on walks when often their heads are not up, but down, to pick up scents their people could never detect. 

That’s because “a dog’s sense of smell is estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times better than that of a human.” (Humbling, isn’t it?) They have 300 million olfactory receptors to our 6 (measly) million of them. That difference is like “detecting one teaspoon of sugar in enough water to fill two Olympic sized swimming pools.” 

Little wonder dogs love “sniff walks” for learning so much about the world around them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/dog-love-working-home/2020/10/30/75adc50e-1895-11eb-befb-8864259bd2d8_story.html 

“Cat Camp” 

Its name alone sounds like a good place to be: "Cat Camp."  And last weekend, it was.  I learned about it late but still got in on a session about older cats that offered excellent, helpful info. Jackson Galaxy (of “My Cat from Hell” fame) headlined the event, joined by a number of cat and kitten specialists. 

I’ll share what I got from Cat Camp next time here, when I hope to have found links too.  For now, this was one major point made and stressed: The goal with older cats is not merely their surviving, but their living a vital life.   And the person-cat relationship must be kept vital if the cat will have a vital life.

Think about that . . . .

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