Halloween Safety

With Halloween fast approaching, we have seen quite a few safety tip lists for keeping your kitty safe. For the risks associated with costumes to candy to trick-or-treaters, the best list we've seen is here from Catster.

Have fun and be safe!

Nutro Pet Food Recall

There is another pet food recall going on for Nutro products. Small pieces of plastic were found in the production line of some varieties of Nutro dry dog and cat foods, according to the company.

Although no affected cat food products made it to the retail stores, we can't forget about Fido too! Two affected dog foods made it to a small number of Petsmart and Petco retail stores here in Arizona.

Click here for the full article in the Veterinary Forum and what you need to do if you feel your pet has been compromised.

Have You Rescued An Animal?

The United Animal Nations wants to hear your Animal Rescue Story!

The Scottsdale Cat Clinic loved this idea and thought we would share this with all of you. Let's think positive and remember all the ways we've helped our furry friends!

Have you rescued a stray or abandoned animal? Nursed an injured animal back to health? If you have brought an animal out of crisis and into care, the United Animal Nation wants to hear your story!

The winning story will be published on our Web site and featured in the next issue of UAN's quarterly Journal magazine.

Entries should be no longer than 250 words and must include a high-resolution photo. Submit your story and photo by Friday, October 30 to info@uan.org.

Click here to view the UAN Monthly News ~ Bringing animals out of crisis and into care.

It's a big week for our Felines and their Medical Caretakers

National Veterinary Technician Week

For those of you who may not be dialed into the veterinary network, we wanted to let you know that it is National Veterinary Technician Week and the theme this year is 'The Heart of Pet Wellness'! It's a full week devoted to celebrating what these kind hearted souls do on a daily basis for you and your pet. When Fluffy is feeling a little under the weather or Fifi just isn't quite herself your vet tech is there to help you get settled in and ready for the doctor. For some of you this isn't always an easy task...and you know who you are! Fluffy is scared and doesn't feel well and now she's spitting and hissing.....ahhhh!! You think no one is EVER going to be able to handle her, but to your surprise your vet tech has it all under control. They make it look effortless at times. What you thought was going to take hours to accomplish, as Fluffy is running around the room bouncing off the walls, is done in moments. Her temperature is taken, heart rate and pulse are monitored, blood pressure is recorded and you now you're wondering whose pressure was higher, yours or the cats!

The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America will celebrate the week with national media coverage, a poster campaign sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health, and acknowledgement of NAVTA members. It also provides the opportunity to honor all veterinary technicians for the outstanding job they do.


National Feral Cat Day

On top of it being National Veterinary Technician Week it's also National Feral Cat Day on October 16th. Dedicated to protecting and improving the lives of our nations cats, Alley Cat Allies is an organization advocating Trap-Neuter-Return as a method of reducing the feral cat population. They are promoting this day and stressing all year long, that feral cats are quite happy and healthy outdoors and that Trap-Neuter-Return actually improves cat's lives.

To learn more about how you can get involved and show your support visit the Alley Cat Allies website today!

Enriching Your Cat's Life

Tips To Make Your Cat's Life More Invigorating

Many of our cats are left alone for hours a day while we go off to work and tend to our busy lives. As we drive off we don't realize our cats could get lonely or worse, bored or depressed. Meeting the needs of your cat may it be social, play, or exercise is essential to their well being. When we as pet owners are unaware of the specific needs of our cats and their inability to express normal behavior patterns it may lead to those dreaded undesirable behaviors. Many of those behaviors include eating disorders, attention seeking behaviors, anxiety issues, compulsive disorders, self injury and/or aggressions.

Outdoor cats spend a great deal of time hunting which is why a cats natural instincts must also be considered when they live solely indoors. You may notice your cat being playful but it will suddenly turn into an agressive attack on you or other animals in the the home. Your cat may often perch on places you don't approve of due to their innate climbing abilities. Lastly, marking its indoor terrirtory using nails and/or urine is another normal but highly undesirable behavior.

All felines need an environment that is safe and novel but complex enough to meet their needs. Cats to some extent need to control their environment and what happens to them. They also must have meaningful human interaction. By better understanding your cats needs and wants, you can give them a more enriching environment for a long and happy life.

The following will describe simple techniques for keeping indoor cats happy:

Toileting Areas
Litter boxes need to be in a private quite area. If you have more than one cat in your home, you should hav etwo boxes and try to use boxes without a cover to cut down on trapped smells. Most importatnly, scoo the box on a daily basis.

Toys
Rotating toys increased play and minimizes habituation of the play response. Cats are easily bored so if your kitty stops playing with a certain toy, take it away and add a new toy. Cats enjoy toys that are light, move easily and can be picked up easily.

Scratching Behavior
Try to keep a scratching post in areas that are easily accessible and visited by the cat frequently. Purchasing a scratching post with Sisal (a strong rope like material) will last longer than just carpet and provide better results for your cat.

Feeding
Try to increase the complexity if obtaining food in your home. You can try feeder toys, multiple food bowls throughout your home, hiding treats in boxes or food puzzles.

Climbing or Resting
There are simple structures that can be used for your cat at home. A tall bookcase with an empty shelf, window perches and/or cat towers. Cat beds, tunnels, boxes and/or large paper bags can be used as resting or hiding places.

Human Interaction
A high percentage of cats enjoy being with their owners. Simple pleasures such as sitting on your lap, being pet or even training are meaningful interaction to your cat.

From all of us here at the Scottsdale Cat Clinic, we hope this article helped inspire you to enrich your cats life!

Food Recall Announcement

Although it looks like most of the incidents have been occurring in the New York area, the Scottsdale Cat Clinic feels it is our responsibility to let you know there is a cat food recall happening.

Diamond Pet Foods has withdrawn from distribution the following date codes of Premium Edge Finicky Adult Cat and Premium Edge Hairball cat: RAF0501A22X 18lb., RAF0501A2X 6 lb., RAH0501A22X 18 lb., RAH0501A2X 6lb. The calls from pet owners or veterinarians regarding this issue have been centered in the Rochester, NY area. All retail outlets shipped the above lots were contacted, asking them to pull the product from the store shelves. The retailers were also asked to contact their customers via email or telephone requesting them to check the date code of the food. However, if you or anyone you know has these date codes of Premium Edge cat food, please return them to your retailer.

Symptoms displayed by an affected cat will be neurological in nature. Any cats fed these date codes that display these symptoms should be immediately taken to a veterinarian.

Product testing proved no contaminants were discovered in the cat food; however the cat foods were deficient in thiamine. Diamond tracked the vitamin premix lot number that was utilized in these particular cat foods and have performed testing on another lot of Premium Edge cat food that used the same vitamin premix, and it was not deficient in thiamine. No other neurological signs have been reported on any other product manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods.

To view the article by PremiumEdge click here.