Advice needed on cats / local cat services

[craftymonster]

Hello!

I know a lot of East Dulwich-ians have cats so am seeking some advice. My husband and I are getting a kitten in the next few weeks. I was wondering if anyone could recommend:

- A good cattery in the area? We are planning on going away sometime later in the year and at Christmas

- A good vet? We'd need to get the cat neutered (also any ideas on how much this might cost for a female cat?)

- A good pet shop for buying all the initial bits and pieces

It's the first time I've had a cat - although my husband grew up with them - so any advice will be gratefully received!

[woodrot]

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[theasidonio]

search for DeptfordDiva on here, she's the best person for advice IMO.

[tallulah71]

Lisa Marks at Bowwowmiaow...has looked after my family's 2 cats for years - they hate people, ADORE lisa.

Petsathome in Greenwich/Whites in Sydenham High st./Dr Doolittle in Streatham - Downton Road / Ladywell pet store depending on where you live but there are numerous online sites for good stuff for things you need. You just need to research I guess and find what best for your babies!!

[Saffron]

The vet on Barry Road seems to be very highly rated on the Forum. There is a petshop on North Cross Road, where the owner/manager is very knowledgable. They sell everything from hairball remedy to scratching posts. You can also check the big Sainos or similar for good deals on food, toys etc.

If there's somewhere you don't want your cat to scratch, put double sided tape over that area for a while, and in the meantime be sure to offer lots of other places to scratch like a carpeted post or natural wood. Also, it's ok to trim their nails a little. Ask your vet to show you how.

Feliway spray or plug-ins are very good if your cat becomes stressed. Ask your vet if you can't find them, but I got ours online.

Advocate drip does fleas/ticks/worms without having to give tablets. Soooo worth the cost.

Try to discipline your cat by removing it from the source of disturbance, or clapping loundly and say NO. Hitting cats makes them fearful and likely to become the kind of pets that lash out with claws and teeth. A squirt a water is also a good deterent and doesn't hurt at all.

Make lots of cozy places for kitty to sleep, then expect to find her (a) in a carboard box or (b) in your drawer of best silks.

Never ever leave your tumble drier open. It seems warm and inviting, but it's a terrible place for kitty to sleep. I don't think this one needs anymore explanation!

Cats should not have alliums (onions/garlic/chives/etc) in any form. These interfere with cats' red blood cell metabolism and can be fatal in large or repeated doses.

One of my cats likes milk but is allergic (projectile vomits!) to cows' milk. She's fine with a little goats' milk.

Because the drive for thirst and hunger is different, many cats look for water in a different area than their food. It's worth putting an extra bowl of water somewhere in your house to keep kitty well-hydrated. Cats do dehydrate very easily. If your kitty will go outdoors eventually, he'll need water out there too, somewhere out of the sun (but you probably won't be letting kitty out for a couple weeks anyway). Water should be changed daily, but if you forget sometimes it's not a big deal.

Clean accidents of the poo/pee type with biological detergent. Never use ammonia-based cleaners. Some people think the ammonia makes cats more likely to wee there again the future. Always make sure the litter is clean. Sometimes the top looks clean but underneath is wet. Kitty will look for somewhere more inviting to wee if the litter isn't clean... like the pile of clothes you've set aside for the drycleaners.

Do you have a cat already picked out? We have kittens. Please PM for adoption details.

[craftymonster]

Thank you for all the advice!

[Alex K]

"Cattery"? Bite your tongue. If you even consider that again... well, I have Cat Protection Services on speed-dial.

You need never use a cattery during your holidays if you know Jane Matthews at CatCalls (Matthews, Jane / [email protected] e-address), who deserves to have her fingernail clippings collected and placed in a shrine. For years when no human(s) has / have been in the house she or a member of her team have dropped by and at a VERY reasonable rate have provided cuddles, litterbox emptying, feeding, and watering (both catz and plantz).

And if Moggers needs twice-a-day visits, medications, injections... CatCalls will do. For a few shekels more.

We in ED are immensely lucky to be able to rely on Jane and her crew.

[Jenjeroo]

Hi!

I'm one of the vets at Lordship Lane Veterinary Surgery.

It's a very exciting time getting a new kitten! Where are you planning on getting your kitten from? I would always recommend to get one from a charity or shelter as there are too many unwanted kittens in the World. Gumtree isn't a great place to get them from as this encourages unscrupulous breeders and they tend not to have been very well looked after. A lot of kittens we see from Gumtree are too young to have parted from their mothers and/or have signs of cat flu and worms.

A good breeder or a charity will usually have already done deworming as they can catch them from their mother's milk. Often they need defleaing too. Some charities will also give them their first vaccinations.

Kittens need vaccinating at 9weeks of age then again 3weeks later and then every year for the rest of their lives. Some studies show you can get away with every three years after the second year but then you miss out on regular check ups with the vet and your insurance will be invalid. The vaccinations cover FeLV, enteritis, herpes virus and calicivirus. Many shelters and pedigree breeders will also vaccinate against chlamydophila. At LLV a full course of kitten vaccines is ?70.15 and boosters every year are ?39.75. There is no vaccination against FIV (cat AIDS), the best way to prevent your cat from getting this horrible disease is to neuter him/her.

We can neuter cats from 5months of age and at LLV the cost for a male is ?52.40 and a female is ?62.60. We recommend microchipping at this time too which is ?20.

Regarding diet, often people do not realise how important nutrition is. Kitten's require kitten food until they are neutered. We recommend Hill's at LLV and that is what I personally feed my dog and cat. GoCat is a particularly rubbish diet; full of wheat, colourings, salt and sugar. Cats are lactose intolerant so should never be fed milk. Over 60% of cats are now overweight so ensuring they get a good quality diet and lots of exercise is very important.

If you go on holiday, cat sitters are great as cats do not like being removed from their home territory. CatCalls are lovely. I have my dog walked by Angela at Companion Pet Care and she also will do cat sitting. But if you need to board your cat we offer very reasonable cat boarding at our practice.

If you want to discuss any of these things further feel free to call us at Lordship Lane Vets on 02086934677. We are at 509 Lordship Lane at the corner of the South Circular oppositte the pub that used to be The Harvester/Grove.

We offer free kitten checks and of course a full health check is done at the time of vaccination.

Good luck and hopefully we'll see you soon!

Jen

Lordship Lane Veterinary Surgery

509-511 Lordship Lane

02086934677

[Alex K]

Jen, this fascinates me -- worms transmitted through the feline breast? In the milk? A life-cycle that involves secretion of a parasite into the lumen of the lobular acinus, into the lobular duct, into the milk duct proper -- for the parasite then again to migrate into the wall of the gut and thence into the bloodstream, to re-gain access to the milk?

Uncanny. But when one considers schistosomiasis, or the dopaminergic effects of cerebral toxoplasmosis upon normally cautious mice... Well, ma'am, I'm here to learn.

Thanks for any additional information that you can supply.

[catwoman]

Hi Saffron, I'm just interested....are you a breeder? If so of what sort? Always good to know folks that I can recommend....

[catwoman]

Hi Craftymonster..hope you've got enough info! Saffron obviously knows her stuff, Alex K is very clever and usually right, and Jenjeroo is a qualified Vet, so you should have everything covered!

All I'd add is thet Whites Petshop in Sydenham stock a full range of EVERYTHING, all staff give excellent advice, but talk to Dianne or Liz if you want to go straight to the boss-lady. They deliver FREE 2 evenings a week ( great for heavy litter etc )and their number is 0208 778 6981

[Jenjeroo]

Alex K Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Jen, this fascinates me -- worms transmitted

> through the feline breast? In the milk? A

> life-cycle that involves secretion of a parasite

> into the lumen of the lobular acinus, into the

> lobular duct, into the milk duct proper -- for the

> parasite then again to migrate into the wall of

> the gut and thence into the bloodstream, to

> re-gain access to the milk?

>

> Uncanny. But when one considers schistosomiasis,

> or the dopaminergic effects of cerebral

> toxoplasmosis upon normally cautious mice...

> Well, ma'am, I'm here to learn.

>

> Thanks for any additional information that you can

> supply.

Here's a good link to Cornell Vet school parasitology pages. I did my final year dissertation on parasitology at Cornell. I find it all very fascinating! You know there's a parasite that infects cattle that is passed in their faeces that is then taken up by snails and then passed in snail slime. Ants use the snail slime as a source of moisture and also become infected. The parasite then travels to the ant's brain makes it sit at the top of grass blades. Thus the cows eat the infected ant and the circle continues! Madness!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicrocoelium_dendriticum#section_8

[Saffron]

catwoman Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Saffron, I'm just interested....are you a

> breeder? If so of what sort? Always good to know

> folks that I can recommend....

I'll PM you with some more info about how/why we have kittens. I'm happy to PM anyone who wants more info.

Jenjeroo, why do you not microchip before 5 months? Have you found that the chips tend to migrate in younger animals? The kitten we adopted 2.5 years ago was microchipped around 10 weeks old, and we were very happy with that.

[the-e-dealer]

My Cat was Bowwow miaows first cat . He had Diabetes and needed injections twice a day. She did all that and spent time with him. Unlike other services who said "couldn't see cat so no injection"

[PeckhamRose]

My darling cat has just died and I have a CATMATE available you can have in exchange for nice bottle of red.

If you are away all day or overnight (probably later when she's grown up!) then you can set the feeder to open at say 4 and 8 hours for example. It goes to 48 hours and there are two compartments.

I also have a freezer section that goes in the base to keep said food cold, and if you come TODAY I'll give you a ball of wool. Hours of fun...

We're on east Se15 side of Peckham Rye Park.

[Jenjeroo]

We can microchip earlier than 5months, not a problem. We just recommend that they don't go outside until they're neutered. Plus it's a big needle so I prefer to do it when they're under GA for neutering! But we can do it at 2nd vacc.

[Saffron]

Yes, our cat must have been chipped around that age. Even though we were keeping her indoors initially, there was always a high possibility that she could escape. We have an older cat who goes in/out all the time, plus me, baby, buggy trying to go in/out. So I'm glad she was chipped early, though it's nice that you offer it under GA during neutering.

[catwoman]

Peckhamrose, I'm so sorry to hear of your sad loss. : - (

[catwoman]

Lisa is nice. I expect the other "services" are no longer in business...or at least, you'd hope so!

[the-e-dealer]

No the originals are still advertising.

[catwoman]

: -(

[the-e-dealer]

I know op wasn't actually looking for a visiting cat cater but im sure most cats would prefer to stay at home. And Lisa would definatly spend time with your cat