There is nothing quite so fine as the quiet comfort and love of a cat when you are feeling down or stressed out. Cats seem to have the amazing ability to make any situation seem a little less grim.

My cats love furry cat toys. There’s something about real fur that brings out the primal kitty in them. With real fur toys they play longer and more enthusiastically and they just seem to enjoy their toys more.

By far one of their favourites are Hartz Mini Mice and Kitty Frenzy – both real fur mice with a rubbery centre. They have a bit of weight to them and they bounce nicely and make for hours of fun.

However, despite my cats’ great love for real fur toys, I don’t buy them any more.

Ethical problems with fur

Before you bristle in indignation (or pat me on the back) please understand – I don’t have a broad ethical objection to fur in general. I eat meat, I feed my cats meat, I wear leather and I don’t have a problem with hunting or farming animals. As long as it is done humanely.

And there is where I have issues with real fur cat toys.

Most fur trim on novelties and small items, such as on cat toys, is rabbit fur imported from China. If you’re not familiar with China’s horrific track record when it comes to animal welfare abuses, there’s plenty of reading on Google. To briefly sum up some of the issues with imported fur:

• Animals are often kept packed together in tiny, filthy cages, with not even enough space to turn around.
• Animals are frequently skinned alive and then tossed aside to suffer horribly in their last moments.
• Fur is often mislabelled. What is sold as rabbit fur may actually be dog, cat, raccoon dog or any number of other fur bearing animals. In fact, once you remove the head, paws, tail and internal organs, cat and rabbit carcasses are virtually indistinguishable.
• Many animals are raised for their fur, but that imported fur could be someone’s pet that was snatched off the street.

And while it’s easy to focus on China, North American and European fur trapping and raising practises are also barbaric. Again, we have animals that have a wide natural range confined to tiny cages, normally solitary animals confined in close proximity to each other, poor care, inhumane killing methods, inhumane trapping practises and all sorts of other acts of cruelty. There’s also the matter of waste – raising an animal for nothing but its skin.

What about humanely farmed fur?

I spoke with a Hartz representative a while back, as I was concerned about the source of the fur that was used in my kitties’ favoured toys. They confirmed that the fur came from China, that it was rabbit fur and that it was obtained humanely.

I’m a naturally sceptical person, but I’m inclined to give Hartz the benefit of the doubt. If they say that their fur is humanely obtained rabbit fur, then I believe that they believe that is the truth.

But I’m still not going to buy anything made with imported fur, because in the end, I just don’t know enough about the source. The fact remains that suppliers have deceived their buyers in the past and it could happen again. People who thought they were buying rabbit fur, fur that was labelled as rabbit fur, have received fur from companion animals. I’m not willing to entertain that risk. I don’t know about you, but even the slight chance that my cats’ toys might contain the fur of another cat that was skinned alive is too much of a chance for me.

Left: cat fur; centre: unknown animal fur; right: rabbit fur. Would you be able to tell the difference?

Have your cake fur and… eat it too?

However, just because I’m not going to buy mass produced fur toys from corporate giants (or unknown dollar store brands), doesn’t mean my cats have to give up real fur toys for good. There are still sources of fur that I can feel comfortable with:

• Second-hand fur coats. Readily available at the Salvation Army and other second hand shops. While there are no guarantees about the original source of the fur, you won’t be contributing to the proliferation of the fur industry. Coats in good condition have gone up in price lately (around here anyway) but you can get a ridiculous number of cat toys out of a full length fur coat. If you can find a coat that is slightly ratty and cheaper, bonus! The cats won’t care if the fur is slightly worn. They’re just going to chew the hell out of it anyway.

  Note: Clean the fur with a cat-friendly cleaner before you turn it into toys. It may have been sprayed with Febreeze, stored in mothballs or treated with some other chemical cleaner that would be bad for kitty.

• Rabbit farmers. While rabbits certainly aren’t the most popular meat animals, there’s a good chance that there’s a small rabbit farming operation near where you live. Some meat rabbit operations may tan the hides, while others just throw them away. Whether you buy pre-tanned hides, or get the untanned hides and do it yourself, buying locally means you can check out the farm before hand and find out how the rabbits were raised and killed. You might even be fortunate enough to find that they make cat toys and other items from their pelts.
• Hunters. If you know any responsible hunters, ask them to save unwanted pelts for you. Most hunters will just dispose of the pelts after the finish dressing their kill, so chances are they will be up for grabs.
• Your cat (her shed fur that is). If you prefer an option that requires no animals be harmed, you can collect your cat’s fur when you have a brushing session and felt it.

* Tanning is a learned skill and quite a bit of work, so unless you have an interest in it or are really determined to prepare your own pelts, you’ll probably want to opt for sources of tanned pelts. Rabbit fur is ideal for cat toys, because it is soft and the thin skins are easy to sew. These qualities also make it one of the more challenging pelts to tan.

We need not sacrifice our ethics or turn a blind eye to cruelty in order to give our cats the things they enjoy.

What I’m doing

I still have a few fur toys kicking around the house, purchased before I clued into the major issues with imported fur. I’ll keep these around till they’re worn out, and then start making my own fur toys. I’ve made one attempt at tanning (epic fail) using the pelts of a couple of meat rabbits I bought at a local farm, and I have another fresh pelt from a wild rabbit sitting in the freezer. I’ll tackle it one of these days.

What are you thoughts on real fur toys? Do you buy them, avoid them or just not think about it? Do your cats love real fur, and would you go to the effort of making toys for them from safe sourced fur? Share your thoughts.

Toy photo from hartz.com
Fur photos by Michal Zacharzewski, Asif Akbar & Sirkullay.
Fur coat photo by RebeccaJBuckley.

Today is Earth Day. To celebrate, here are a few things you can do to be a greener cat owner.

Clean up your litter box

The litter box is a big source of waste. Thankfully, there are some easy steps we can take to reduce the impact our litter boxes have on the environment.

Choose a biodegradable, recycled litter

Clay may feel great on the paws, and it’s certainly the most common litter substance on the market, but unfortunately, it’s terrible for the environment. Clay is strip mined and then sits in land fills when it is thrown out.

Fortunately, there are many great alternatives out there, that are much more environmentally friendly such as:

• Paper litters, like Yesterday’s News, made from recycled paper.
• Wood litter, like Feline Pine or Feline Fresh, made from wood reclaimed from the lumber industry.
• Grain-based litters, like World’s Best Cat Litter or Swheat Scoop, made from non-food grade grains or corn cobs.

As a bonus, all these litters are biodegradable and can be composted.

Use a biodegradable bag or box liner

Don’t add to the plastic going into landfills – use biodegradable liners and scoop your litter box into a biodegradable bag. Biodegradable bags, such as the ones made by BioBag, are made from corn, contain no polyethylene and decompose at about the same rate as other organic material.

Compost your litter

If you choose a biodegradable litter then its easy to start composting your litter. Remove the feces and then dump the rest of the box into your compost pile (bonus – the nitrogen in urine is great for your compost pile.)

You can compost the feces too, just be cautious. Because certain zoonotic diseases, like Toxoplasma gondii, can be passed through contaminated feces, you should use a composting toilet or other composter, like a NatureMill, that heats the compost to high temperatures. Don’t put poop into your regular back yard composter – it will never reach temperatures high enough to ensure that parasites are killed. If you have an indoor cat then it’s unlikely they are infected with parasites or disease that will b passed on in their poop, but better to err on the side of caution when it comes to your vegetable garden, right?

Eco-friendly eating

Food animals are a huge strain on the environment, but whether or not we choose to eat meat ourselves, we know that cats require meat to live and be healthy. That doesn’t mean we can’t make more environmentally friendly food decisions for our fuzzy little obligate-carnivores.

Can it

If you feed a commercial cat food, make sure you recycle those cans. Pretty much all municipal recycling programs can recycle tin, aluminum and steel cans, and curb side pick up is available in many areas, making it very convenient to recycle. Most kibble bags should be recyclable,  too.

Reduce packaging by buying larger containers – those tiny, single serve cans of premium cat food might be cute and convenient, but over the course of your cat’s lifetime you’ll save on a lot of packaging if you opt for the larger cans.

Make your carnivore an organic locavore

If you prepare cat food at home, you can reduce the environmental impact of your cat’s meals by feeding locally grown organic meat. While any health benefits from eating organic are questionable, it’s easy to see the environmental benefits of local, organically grown food. Shorter shipping distances reduces the amount of pollution released into the atmosphere through transportation and going organic means that raising those animals didn’t contribute more chemical pollution to our ecosystem (certified organic meat comes from animals that were raised on organically grown feed. Non-organic methods of growing crops contributes to chemical run-off from herbicides & pesticides getting into the water table and impacting native flora & fauna.)

Grass-fed/pastured/free range meat is also good for the environment in many ways. Pastured animals graze on the  plants grown where they are raised, rather than having heavily processed feed shipped in from far away. The ground is covered with green growth for a long portion of the year (or all year, if you live in a place with mild winters), pulling carbon from the atmosphere. Manure benefits the earth by adding nutrients back into the soil where it falls. Grass pasture helps reduce soil erosion…  responsible management of pastured animals has all kinds of environmental benefits.

As an added bonus, pastured meat has health benefits, such as higher levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and is a more humane way of raising meat animals than factory farming, where animals are penned into over crowded or undersized feedlots or cages, where they are unable to engage in normal animal behaviour.

Other things you can do

• Compost cat hair. After brushing your cat, toss the mat of hair into your compost bin instead of the trash.
• Make toys out of houehold items or recycle materials that you would otherwise throw out into cat toys or bedding.
• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products to wash litter boxes and cat dishes (and around the rest of your house.) Not only will they benefit the environment but they can also benefit your cat. Cats tend to be very sensitive to chemicals in their environment. Vinegar and baking soda are great natural cleaning products that are cat- and environmentally friendly.
• Donate unwanted cat supplies to your local shelter or Freecycle them, instead of throwing them out.

What are you doing?

What are you doing to reduce the impact your cats have on the environment? Do you have any ideas or suggestions on being a more eco-conscious cat owner? Share them here.

Cat in the grass photo by Sande Hamilton.
Compost kitty photo by Birrell Walsh.
Free range chickens photo by woodleywonderworks.
Cans photo by N-ino.

One of the things I enjoy most about having cats is watching them play. Clover in particular has the most amazing imagination, which is really evident in her play.

We might think of imagination as being a human trait, but it’s very evident that Clover’s imagination gives life to her toys. When she really gets going the toys seem to move with a life of their own. She’ll throw one up into the air and then leap after it; kick it away with a back paw and then dart after it as it tries to make its escape; kick, bite and struggle like it’s putting up a fight and fling it along the floor so that she can stalk and catch it unawares.

Watching the cats play together or playing with them myself brings me a great deal of pleasure, but watching Clover’s solo play is a genuine treat. It’s amazing to watch her creativity and imagination and it’s really clear that she’s having a great deal of fun.

Do your cats enjoy solo play and active imaginations?

Well, we went to the vet over the weekend, Violet on Saturday, Cajun on Sunday. Overall both trips went well.

Violet at the vet

Violet was wonderful in the car, as usual, but was a little stressed out in the waiting room. She doesn’t mind other cats but she hates dogs – really hates them, and the waiting room was just packed with dogs, including one that was parked right next to the door when we walked in. I’ve never seen the place so busy before. It was difficult to find a quiet spot to sit, so there was no exploring, but she did sit quietly in my lap while we waited. There was a bit of puffing but strong reactions otherwise.

The stress from the dog-filled waiting room carried over to the exam room and she was none to pleased to have the vet poking around her bum. We had a few hisses but other than that she was very good. Good news is that her bottom is fine – her anal glands look clear and didn’t need expressing, which is just as well. I’m sure that would not have improved Violet’s mood.It was an expensive trip to find out that she’s perfectly fine, but well worth it. I got a very informative lesson from the vet about anal glands, which I didn’t know too much about (they’re not something I’ve ever had to deal with before.)

As soon as we got back out to the car she settled right down. Nothing like familiar territory to relax a cat. We went grocery shopping on the way home (well I did – Violet napped in the car while I was in the store) and then came home.

Cajun at the vet

Cajun was also very good in the car. She rested quietly in her carrier the whole trip.

Fortunately, the waiting room was a lot quieter on Sunday. She did some investigating our corner of the room and sat on the window sill, watching the parking lot.

She’s lost a few ounces since her last visit, so I’ll be upping her food intake a bit. She’s still feeling pretty muscular around her back, which is good, but she could use a little more fat on her. She loves her food and eats as much as Violet and Clover, who are about three pounds heavier than her. Asked about the possibility of hyperthyroidism, but the vet didn’t think it was likely, as her heart beat is good and she’s very young.

Her ear is also looking great too – she had a chronic ear infection for about nine months which persisted despite repeated treatment. We finally got rid of it with an aggressive run of oral antibiotics and ear drops, and it doesn’t look like it’s coming back (knock on wood.)

She still has mild conjunctivitis in her one eye (which was the reason for the visit.) We’ve tried BNP and tetracycline, and now we’re on a week of erythromycin which will hopefully clear it up. Just in case, we’re also doing a virus panel, since the conjunctivitis has been stubborn.

I’m very fortunate that Cajun is a very cooperative cat. She’s gotten more feisty as her health has improved, but she still lets me tend to her her without any trouble. Since I’ve brought her home she’s had her teeth brushed regularly, been on daily pills for a month, been on ear drops for over a month, and eye ointment for weeks. She’s also pretty good about brushing and claw clipping (except for one paw, which I suspect was injured at some point.)

Anyway, we got our meds and directions to call in a week, then came home. Cajun hung out under the back seat on the ride home but came out easily. We’ve just started the new eye meds so it’s a little early to see results, but I’ll keep you updated.

Planning for next time

I think next time I’ll try and avoid scheduling appointments on Saturday, though weekend appointments are better for me, as I don’t have to miss work for them. I think though, it’d be better to miss a half hour of work and avoid the super crowded waiting room. Too many dogs made Violet’s visit more stressful than it needed to be. Hopefully there won’t be a need for any more vet visits for a while though – other than Cajun’s eye, everyone seems to be in good health.

I have to take two cats to the vet this weekend – Cajun for her runny eye and Violet because I suspect her anal sacs need expressing. I’m not worried though – going to the vet is not a stressful event in our house. I don’t have to deal with cats that run and hide when we need to leave, cry in the car or huddle terrified in the carrier in the waiting room. There’s no fight to leave the house, car rides are calm and our small section of the waiting room gets courageously explored.

I suppose the fact that my cats come from a shelter environment, with the regular stream of strange people and animals, provides a small advantage. But I’ve also spent time getting them adapted to leaving the house and being in the car, under less urgent circumstances than a vet visit.

I take my girls on regular, short car rides – usually when I’m going to pick someone up, make a very short stop or go for a drive in the country. This gets them accustomed to the car with  rides that don’t end at the vet or any other place scary or unpleasant. It helps that Violet is a natural car cat – she has always love going for car rides. Clover and Cajun were less enthusiastic about car rides at first, but once I got the right style of carrier they adapted quickly. Rather than using a closed carrier, which results in a lot of crying and distress (and in one case, a bloodied nose from trying to push through the mesh sides) I bought an open dog tote. It lets them look out without obstruction and the padded, opaque sides create a nice, safe little cave.

In the warmer months, we do harness and leash training in the backyard or by the lake to get them adapted to the leash, being in unfamiliar places and around strange people and animals.

When it’s time to go to the vet I just get kitty harnessed up, clip on the leash and put her into the open carrier. She sits quietly during the ride, doesn’t freak out in the waiting room, and is well behaved for the vet. By doing regular, low stress preparation, our vet visits are uneventful, instead of the nightmare it is for so many cat owners. Stress-free vet visits are well worth the bit of extra training effort (and we reap the benefits when we travel or introduce other new situations, too.)

What are your experiences taking your cats to the vet? Have you done anything to make things more pleasant and less stressful?

Vet photo by Brit.