MEWSLETTER 27:  May 30, 2004

by Pauline Dewberry

Hi Everyone, and I'd like to welcome all the new subscribers. You are all very welcome and I hope you enjoy reading the latest MEWSLETTER. Thank you to all of you who contacted me on Garfield's latest set back (more news of this further in the MEWSLETTER.) Your prayers were
all very much appreciated and I'm sure that's why Garfield is doing as well as he is.

First of all: the answers to last month's quiz:

1. Lady Jane is a sinister, large grey cat that appears in which novel by Charles Dickens? C) Bleak House.
2. What is the correct term for neutering a female cat? Spay.
3. What is a `haw'? A nictitating membrane or inner protective eye membrane.
4. What is the largest number of kittens ever recorded in one litter? B). 19. On 7 August, 1970, a four year old Burmese called Tarawood Antigone gave birth to 19 kittens! Poor kitty - she must have been very tired after that! (Pity her owners didn't think about having 'no. 2!'
5. What is the largest of the big wild cats? Tiger (Bengal).

The outright winners are:
1. Paul, from Monroeville, Alabama
2. Trisha Morales

Well done to Pam Pretty for trying her best! Better luck next time.

Now for this month's quiz:
1. What is the name of President Bush's cat?
2. What is autogrooming?
3. What is the gestation period for a cat?
4. What specific amino acid does a cat need to stay alive?
5. Which rare breed of cat won the Supreme Cat Show in 2003?

The winners will have their names and websites listed so please be sure to include this information when you send your answers. GOOD LUCK!!!!

RESULTS OF THE POLL:

Despite having to nag some of you I received a staggering 220 names to be entered into the poll and listed below are the top 20. These were arrived at where duplication occurred.
1. Tom, Tomi, Tommy
2. Charlie, Charley
3. Sam, Sammy
4. Tigger
5. Angel
6. Casper
7. Chrystal, Crystal
8. Homer
9. Joey
10. Johnnie
11. Lily
12. Lucky
13. Max
14. Moma, Momma
15. Penny
16. Queenie
17. Rosie
18. Roxie
19. Sabastian, Sebastian
20. Smudge

I was amazed at the ingenious names your cats have been given and wondered how Inkie Doodle felt at being called, or Funny Face. I could well imagine a thespian calling out from his back door 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo' and thinking that Romeo would be skulking in the shadows going a purple shade of embarrassment every evening!

Thank you to all of you who submitted names – and if I had to choose a name that I think is the most fun, I'd go for Portafoy, who lives in Monroeville, Alabama and owns Paul! Actually, it's a hard choice because all the names are incredible.

Now, on with the MEWS.

Do your cats talk to you??? Most cats meow using various sounds and tones. And I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that most of us would say that cats can 'say' various 'words'. Garfield has a specific 'hello' miaow and a 'Mum' miaow, whereas Billy calls me with a questioning miaow. Sam, when he can't see me, calls out 'oohoo' and when I tell him where I am, he responds with 'oho'. Timmy has a specific word for 'birdies' which is 'rraa rraa' and if I say 'shall we go and feed the rraa rraa?' he'll run upstairs and climb on the ottoman under the window where we throw bread out to the 'rraa rraa.'

Biggles used to imitate a sound that I made when I was putting their food down: I'd say 'one, two, threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' and he'd join in with the 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' bit! All the cats say 'Naaaaaoooow' if they don't want to be picked up and all of them have their own sounds for different occasions.

So to receive Pam's email with more conversations with her cat, Rebel, gave me the excuse that I needed – namely to boast at the words my cats can say!!! Now it's your turn – let me know what your cats 'say' and how they talk to you. Read Pam's amusing gem, here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/moreconversationswithrebel.htm

Check out the Home Page: there is an ad for the North Shore Animal League America as they publicise that June is 'Adopt a shelter cat' month. Further down on the Home Page and you'll see the latest pic sent by Mollie of www.molliesbigheart.com  - you will LOVE this one!

www.fatcatinc.com are the makers of some fantastic cat toys, most of which contain 'zoomaroundtheroom' catnip! It is a great website and currently has a photo competition. If you submit a photo of your cat playing with one of their products they'll select a category, cute,
funny, etc, and a top artist, Auntie Lynn, will paint a portrait of your cat as a prize. Unfortunately, this competition is only open to the lucky people living in the States.

But, to get our own back, here in the UK, June is Pet Smile month, which is sponsored by Felix Denta Paw meaty treats. Log on to www.petsmile.org to find a participating vet in your area (you type in your post code) and take your cat along for a free dental check up. Gum disease isn't just about having sore gums. It can lead to all sorts of other diseases, kidney disease, being one of them, so make sure you treat your cat's mouth with respect. This is open to dogs too, thanks to Bonio and Pet Smile month. So take your dog along. Feeding your cat Felix Denta Paw meaty treats is proven to reduce tartar over 28 days – so give it a try and let me know how you get on.

Laura Dumm has created another brilliant cartoon that you can see here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/canopenercat.htm

Laura has drawn a couple of other pictures to illustrate some of my articles as well. Check out Timmy incognito trying to escape from the jeering insults of the birds in Ollie's latest diaries.
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/kittendiaries16.htm

Finally, the article on polydactyl cats has been written, and Laura did the great cartoon of the polycat juggling at the head of the article. See it – and read the article here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/polydactylcats.htm

Helen Dowd has written another lovely poem about one of her cats: Buddy Boy – and you can read it here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/buddyboy.htm

In the Mews

When Garfield went to see Kevin on 14th May we discovered that the lump in his mouth had grown and now it had a name `tumour'. We don't know if it is cancerous or not, and this won't be known until it's been removed. With an operation scheduled for one day the following week, a routine blood test was taken which revealed Garfield's blood sugar levels to be extremely high so a further test was done, which was sent off to a laboratory and the results came back on the Saturday. They showed that Garfield now has diabetes.

So Garfield went into the hospital on 17th May to have insulin and his blood sugar levels monitored. He'd had an early breakfast about 6.45, and then he went out for a rickety stroll around the back garden. Already the signs were in place that a warm day was on the cards so I asked him if he wanted the sun lounger out. He stood by the shed where it lives so I took that as a 'yes'. At 7.00am, he was lying there in readiness for the morning sun that was just completing
its toilette before dazzling us with its radiant smile.

Two hours later, having packed his overnight bag with his bed, food and water bowls, tins of cat food, tins of tuna, a container of dried food, a tee-shirt of mine that I hadn't washed (so my scent would still be on it) and a toy, I went to get him so that we could have a cuddle before the taxi came to take us to the Vets.

The vet said to bring his familiar things with him to help him feel less stressed. I tried to disguise myself as a catnip mouse so that I could go with him, but I was rumbled!

Garfield and I had more cuddles at the Vets before he was taken out the back to the hospital ward and I walked home.

The sun lounger hung around, ever hopeful of a customer, but it remained eerily empty all day, despite the sun shining down. Ricky alternated his positions between being spread-eagled on the drain cover and under the Mexican orange which is covered in heady blooms and Timmy preferred to lie in next door's long grass to keep cool. Sam, Billy and Ollie all found their usual spots in the house.

Garfield is not an exuberant cat, but he does have presence and the house bore his absence with stoical resilience. The hours rolled on and despite being busy, the end of the day seemed to take forever to arrive and by suppertime, all the cats were looking for Garfield. They all decided not to eat their supper and I went to bed sadly, realising that this, perhaps, was a foretaste of what was to come eventually.

Tuesday evening came and I received the call to say I could go and collect Garfield. He looked at me in disbelief when I got there as if to say: 'Oh, so you finally got here!' Kevin showed me how to give him an insulin injection and that was that! Garfield has made it easy for me so far by either lying on the sun lounger or in his bed where I can give him the injections with ease. Then we have a cuddle before he has his breakfast. He doesn't realise I'm giving him an injection and already I can see a huge change in his daily routine.  He sleeps less, and is more alert, and ready to interact with me, and the others, a bit more.

As all the others hadn't eaten any supper or breakfast while Garfield wasn't around, I assumed they'd make a huge fuss of him on his return. They all ignored him! I don't think this bothered Garfield too much as he isn't an 'in your face' cat, but I did expect a bit more of an enthusiastic welcome for him. While he was tucking into his supper, Sam spent rather a long time sniffing his bottom and, satisfied that it was indeed, Garfield, he then ate his own supper. Sam has a weird sniffing foible – he often sniffs at my mouth, which I have to open for him, and he puts his head right up to, and almost inside, my mouth and quite loudly sniffs. This is a new take on the lion tamer putting his head in the lion's mouth! I don't know what he's hoping to find out – what I've had for my breakfast/lunch/dinner? Or maybe I need to clean my teeth? < Note to
self: Make sure Sam sniffs my mouth BEFORE he spends half an hour sniffing Garfield's bottom (or anyone else's for that matter!) >

Garfield has been back to the vets a couple of times to have his blood sugar levels monitored, and I'm getting the hang of giving him injections. When we went on Wednesday, 24th his blood sugar level had dropped down to 8.something from 22.something the previous Friday. Now he has to have two injections a day so that he doesn't experience deep peaks and troughs between injections.

As the tumour has been growing Garfield's surgery is now scheduled for Tuesday, 1st June. Kevin has gone through the procedure with me so I know exactly what will be happening, in the order it will happen, and as Kevin is carrying out the operation, I know Garfield is in safe hands. Your prayers and thoughts would be much appreciated on Tuesday both for Garfield to come through the op, and for Kevin as he performs it. Thank you.

Alternative Healing for Domestic Pets

June 19th I'll be attending a workshop for Bach Flower Remedies and I'll be learning about different types of alternative therapies and remedies for our pets, including Bach Flower, homeopathic and massage. Sadly the venue is not as wonderful as the historic building I went to a couple of months back – luckily, this one is closer to home so no having to get up at the crack of the night before to catch trains. I'll let you know what I learn. I've been using some of the Bach Flower remedies myself and they really do work.

Well this MEWSLETTER is quite lengthy – my apologies to you if you find it too long but I hope you do find it interesting. Feel free to pass it along to your cat-loving friends and maybe encourage them to subscribe – it is FREE!!

It's Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK today, and I know it's Memorial Weekend in other parts of the world – so whatever you're doing, wherever you're doing it – have a wonderful time.

Until the next MEWSLETTER – have a purrfect month.

Pauline – Editor-in-Chief
MEWS TEAM:
Garfield – Chief Technical Adviser and Consultant,
Billy and Timmy – Wildlife Consultants
Ricky – Big is Beautiful Consultant
Sam – Ethnic Minority Consultant
Ollie – Fun and Games Consultant

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