Hello There Furiends,
I hope all is fine in your neck of the woods. It’s been quite chilly here and it’s always a bit of a transition for these heat loving felines to get used to the chillier weather. Oliver prefers to hang out in front of the fire, Lily likes to sit under a map to warm up and me, well I just head back to bed and under the covers.

I hope you enjoy this week’s web wanderings and stay warm!

The Home Detection Test Aims to Detect Early Signs of Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats

Did you know that about 50% of felines who have one episode of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) will have a recurrence? That’s the bad news. The good news is that Royal Canin USA and Blücare have teamed up to create an in-home system that works as an early detection of blood in cat urine. It’s a non-invasive test that cat owners can use at home.

Dr. Brent Mayabb, Global Chief Medical Officer for Royal Canin noted, “Cats are very good at masking, meaning that many cats show little to no clinical signs in the early stages of common diseases, It is our objective to create a convenient experience that is less stressful for both cats and cat owners. Hematuria Detection, technology by Blücare, allows vets and their clients to work together to manage the health of the pet and provide peace-of-mind for the owner.”

This detection, technology by Blücare, is an easy-to-use product with white granules designed to be evenly distributed over clean cat litter. Features and benefits of this product include:

•           NON-DISRUPTIVE: The non-invasive, at-home test reduces stress for cats as the test is administered in the comfort of the cat’s environment.

•           RELIABLE: Allows detection of microhematuria, which is blood invisible to the naked eye.

•           SIMPLE AND QUICK 2: The granules are easy to spread into existing, clean litter while achieving clear results within a few seconds. Results remain visible for 48 hours.

It’s easy, just three steps; 

1.         SPREAD: Evenly spread the granules over clean litter and wait for the cat to urinate.

2.         INSPECT: After the cat urinates, inspect the litter box. If the granules are white or yellow, the test is negative. If the granules are blue, the test is positive as it shows the presence of blood in the cat’s urine.

3.         CONSULT: Contact a veterinarian if the granules are blue to confirm the results and determine next steps

The Royal Canin Hematuria Detection, technology by Blücare is available now through veterinarians nationwide. To learn more about this product, click here.

Video of cat running the wrong way down an escalator has over a million views

An eyewitness filmed a cat attempting to descend an escalator that was going up. This 25-second video has already had more than –6 million clicks.

His antics also attracted quite a crowd at the bottom of the escalator. The presumably exhausted feline finally came to a stop and let the moving stairs carry him to the top.

There were a number of opinions on the felines purpose. Some called him stubborn, some stated the cat was using the escalator as his private treadmill and someone referred to him as a sports lover.

Whatever the cat’s reason, we will never know but it sure provided 25 seconds of entertainment! You can watch the video on the website.

Campaign to elect a feline mayor of Oakland heats up

 

Now I normally have a strict NO POLITICAL STORIES rule in my Wednesday feature as  you humans can’t talk about this subject without hissing and howling at eachj other. I do, however, make an exception when a feline throws  his hat into the ring. Many of you may remember, our very own Oliver ran for Purresident and we were quite busy campaigning for him and his running mate, Olive from Three Chatty Cats.

Sadly, none of the Tribe was interested in a purrlitical career but this doesn’t apply to Wally, a handsome ginger man-cat. Wally doesn’t have an official owner, he just showed up at the block where Heather La Mastro lives over five years ago. The neighborhood fed him and looked after him so he stayed. He is well loved and has been dubbed “Mayor of 55^th St.” With so many of the good folks on 55^th street in lockdown and bored, they began to float the idea of approaching Wally to run. He does have three opponents, Betty, a gray tabby and two dogs, Mimi and Macy. The Tribe has decided Wally has their vote and are urging you all to support him with his Twitter hashtag #Wally4Mayor. Oliver is busy contacting his former supporters to ask them to back Wally.

These rescue organizations are good luck for black cats

Since National Black Cat Day was yesterday, I wanted to give a shout out to all you house panthers. This time of year is not such a good time for black cats but fortunately, black-cat rescue organizations across the United States are working hard to change the misconceptions about black cats and find them furever homes.Tracey Lenac runs Black Cat Holistic Rescue in Los Angeles, California and rescued her first black kitten 23 years ago. Across the country, Susanna Finn is assistant director of Black Cat Rescue in Boston, Massachusetts. Her organization finds homes for black cats, including a pudgy three-legged cat named Shelly and a skinny, mostly-bald cat named Snoopy. Finn and her co-workers promote black cats as funny, friendly and loving.

It is challenging to capture the beauty of black felines in photos. Our Human always had difficulty catching our Angel Buster in the proper lighting. Natural lighting is always best or a brightly colored background.

Jaggers Journey in Oregon finds homes for blackcats. The director,  Leah Lyman says, “Black cats have amazing personalities,” she says. “People need to open their hearts to them.”

And while we’re celebrating the beauty of black cats,  here are some interesting facts’;

• The Egyptian goddess of protection, Bastet, is often depicted as a black cat.

• Sailors used to believe black cats on a ship brought good luck. Fishermen’s wives kept black cats, hoping to ensure a husband’s safe return from sea.

• Some theaters have historically kept black cats to bring luck to a performance.

Biotech Company announces two pilot clinical studies in treating feline diabetes

 Scout Bio is working on two potential  therapeutic applications for cats with diabetes. The goal is to first, replace daily insulin injections with a single injection of SB-009 to treat feline diabetes and second to significantly increase the percentage of cats entering remission when SB-009 is given with insulin.

Mark Heffernan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Scout Bio remarked, “This one-time injectable therapy for feline diabetes has the potential to provide a convenient single treatment that is an alternative to the burden of twice daily insulin injections. We believe SB-009 has the potential to be a blockbuster product for animal health.”

This product is being developed in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program.  We are purraying that this product will work!