Dear
We wish you all a great Valentine's Day. Remember to be careful about chocolate and your pets. Below are some useful tips to remember during this time.
Pet-Safe Bouquets
Many pet owners are still unaware that all species of lily are potentially fatal to cats. When sending a floral arrangement, specify that it contain no lilies if the recipient has a cat—and when receiving an arrangement, sift through and remove all dangerous flora. If your pet is suffering from symptoms such as stomach upset, vomiting or diarrhea, he may have ingested an offending flower or plant. Use the ASPCA online toxic and non-toxic plant libraries as visual guides of what and what not should be in your bouquets.
Forbidden Chocolate
Seasoned pet lovers know the potentially life-threatening dangers of chocolate, including baker’s, semi sweet, milk, and dark. In darker chocolates, methylxanthines (caffeine-like stimulants that affect gastrointestinal, neurologic and cardiac function) can cause vomiting/diarrhea, hyperactivity, seizures and an abnormally elevated heart rate. The high-fat content in lighter chocolates can potentially lead to a life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas. Go ahead and indulge, but don’t leave chocolate out for chowhounds to find.
Careful with Cocktails
Spilled wine, half a glass of champagne, some leftover liquor are nothing to cry over until a curious pet laps them up. Because animals are smaller than humans, a little bit of alcohol can do a lot of harm, causing vomiting, diarrhea, lack of coordination, central nervous system depression, tremors, difficulty breathing, metabolic disturbances and even coma. Potentially fatal respiratory failure can also occur if a large enough amount is ingested.
Life Is Sweet
So don’t let pets near treats sweetened with xylitol. If ingested, gum, candy and other treats that include this sweetener can result in a sudden drop in blood sugar known as hypoglycemia. This can cause your pet to suffer depression, loss of coordination and seizures.
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Don’t let pets near roses or other thorny stemmed flowers. Biting, stepping on or swallowing their sharp, woody spines can cause serious infection if a puncture occurs. De-thorn your roses far away from pets.
Playing with Fire
It is good to set your evening aglow with candlelight but put out the fire when you leave the room. Pawing kittens and nosy pooches can burn themselves or cause a fire by knocking over unattended candles.
Wrap it Up
Gather up the tape, ribbons, bows, wrapping paper, cellophane and balloons after presents have been opened—if swallowed, these long, stringy and “fun-to-chew” items can get lodged in your pet’s throat or digestive tract, causing her to choke or vomit.
The Furry Gift of Life?
Giving a cuddly puppy or kitten may seem a fitting Valentine’s Day gift—however, returning a pet you hadn’t planned on is anything but romantic. Companion animals bring with them a lifelong commitment, and choosing a pet for someone else doesn’t always turn out right.
Announcement
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How Old Is My Cat?
By: Susan MacArthur
For years, many of us have been led to believe that the way to figure out how old our cats or dogs were in "human" years was that "one year equals seven 'human' years." This way of calculating the age of a dog relative to humans has never actually worked well.
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Cats and the Causes of Stress
By: Susan MacArthur
Cats are creatures of habit and routine. Changes that upset their habits and/or routine can cause a cat to become very anxious. A cat that experiences anxiety as a result of changes like this becomes stressed and possibly resentful. The types of stress that a cat experiences can come from three basic sources:
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We had no submissions for this month.
In order to keep this section going, email a picture of your cat (it does not have to be a Persian), along with a short biography, date of birth, breed, color of cat, and your name, and the city and state you live in.
Send Us Those Cat Pictures
Does your cat do something that you think nobody would believe unless they saw a picture of it? Send us that picture. Is your cat having a love affair with another species? Send us the picture. Is your cat the life of any gathering? Send us the picture. You get the idea. We thought it would be fun to show a Cat of the Month photo every month which will be posted in our newsletter. If you submit a picture, please include your full name (this information is just for us and will not be shared), the name, age or date of birth, color, and breed of your cat. If there are other animals in the picture, please let us know who or what is appearing with your cat. You MUST be the owner of the picture in order to submit the picture to us. The cat does NOT need to be a Persian cat, nor does it have to be a purebred. We just want to make this fun.
Send the pictures to: susan@pelaqitapersians.com
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Featured Persian Color
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Blue Tabby & White Persian Cat
The Cat Fanciers' Association Persian cat breed standard for the Blue Tabby & White:
Other Tabby and White (classic, mackerel): a cat of white and colored portions, the colored portions of the cat to conform to the currently established classic and mackerel color standards (with the exception of red, brown and patched tabby) color description. As a preferred minimum, the cat should have white feet, legs, undersides, chest and muzzle. Less white than this minimum should be penalized proportionately.
Eye Color: brilliant copper
The Blue Tabby & White is in the CFA Bi-Color & Calico Color division.
The photographer is the world renowned animal photographer, Richard Katris:
Chanan.
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Did You Know?
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Persian cats have what is known as a "flat" face (which is the breed standard). The other type of face is known as the "doll" face as they have a longer nose that is below the eyes rather than aligned with the bottom of the eyes.
When well-treated, fed a premium diet food, and healthy, a cat can live twenty or more years. Cats live 14-20 years, some 30 years!
If you sneeze whenever you are around cats, chances are it is the saliva on their fur that you are reacting to. There are products that you can spray or wipe on the cat's fur to reduce or eliminate how severely one reacts to the cat.
On average, owners have two cats (2.45)
Humane Society survey - 2009-2010.
"Cats can be very funny, and have the oddest ways of showing they're glad to see you. Rudimac always peed on our shoes." ~
W.H. Auden
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Litter Box
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A couple of our girls have cycled in and out very fast, and while they were with a male I am not sure if a mating occurred as the heat cycle was so fast. The girls are starting to react to the longer daylight hours. Hopefully, in the next 30 days, they will be back to having a regular cycle and we can get them bred.
Check out our
Facebook page for up-to-date news.
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