Our new Anni- FUR- sary Mugs

In celebration of our 30th year, we thought it would be nice to establish a charity for less fortunate cats. Those cats who people find on the street that are hit by a car, or the ones we save from the Oakland county shelter who are to be euthanized. There always seems to be a need. We are calling it the Feline Friendship Foundation. We are selling Thermal Mugs to help raise money for this foundation. Please come by and help us with our charity, as well as get a cool mug to drink your favorite hot drink. They are $10.00 each.

We have two different ones to choose from. But the back is the same on both, it has our Ann-fur-sary banner on as well as our new logo.

Traveling Cat-Owen

As part of our celebration of our Anni- FUR- sary

We wanted to tell stories of our clients who have been with us most of those years.

What to do when you are retired and spend the winter in Florida? You bring your kitty along. They are part of the family.

Meet Owen and Carol Petersen.

Owen is fairly new to Carol; he is only 2 years old, and a very handsome brown tabby cat.

He enjoys: long car rides, and sun bathing, as well as his trips to The Cat Practice.

Carol’s son in law has built Owen his own 4-story condo outside! It has 5-carpeted platforms, and real Earth on the bottom for him to dig in. He can get in and out of his condo through her bedroom window. They are so happy to be able to spend our cold Michigan winters in the Florida sunshine ( the condo faces south, so Owen gets plenty of it).

Carol enjoys this time with her daughter and son-in-law, as well as the sun.

Thank you for sharing Carol & Owen.

Dawn

.

March's Anniversary Promotion

Just a reminder, we are celebrating our 30th Anni fur sary this year.

Every month we are offering a special promotion.

For March we are giving away a 30 days supply of Greenies when you come in for a wellness exam. ( 1 bag)

Why we ask for Stool samples

What’s in the Poo? Erin Peterson, LVT

Do you wonder why we ask you to bring in a stool sample when you come in for a visit with your cat or new kitten? Well we want to make sure they are not carrying any type of intestinal parasites. Even though your cat may stay indoors all the time or is supervised outside, it is important to make sure they are not carrying any of these unwanted critters. If your cat goes out and hunts mice or small animals it is imperative that we check a fecal sample twice a year as they tend to be more prone to these parasites. Some of these parasites are found in small rodents and can also be transmitted by fleas.

Kittens especially need their stool checked as most of them are born with “worms”. They get these from their mother usually when they nurse and may need to be dewormed multiple times, and have at least 2-3 fecal samples checked on them. This is because sometimes the parasites are not producing eggs and we want to make sure we rid your little kitty of the adults and the eggs. Even if the fecal is negative or no worms are seen, we may choose to deworm your cat. Deworming is quite easy to do, depending on the type of parasite or as a general deworming. It may come in a liquid, topical application that goes on the back of the neck or in a pill form.

How do we check for parasites? Well we sometimes send the sample to the lab or if it is the weekend, we will run the sample in our in house lab. We take a small amount of stool from the sample you brought in (fresher the better within 12 hrs) and place it is a small cup and mix it with water to make a poo slurry. We then place that sample in a small tube and place it in a machine called a centrifuge which spins the sample down really fast and at a high rate of speed (just think of the amusement park and the ride the gravitron). It spins for 5 mins and then we drain the water and add a special fecal solution that will help draw any possible parasite eggs to the surface. We then spin it down again for 5 mins and then add more fecal solution and place a small glass piece or cover slip over the sample for 10 mins. We then place the cover slip on a glass microscope slide and look at the sample under the microscope. If the eggs are present we will see them.

Some of the most common parasites we see in these fecal samples are roundworms, coccidia (protozoa) and tapeworms. If your cat or kitten is heavily infested with roundworms sometimes they will vomit them up as long spaghetti shaped objects or you may see them in the stool. Other signs of infestation of intestinal worms include diarrhea, sometimes bloody or mucousy. If your cat has tapeworms you may see small rice like segments in the stool, around the rectum or dried up around the house. Tapeworms are passed by fleas and small rodents. For more information of intestinal parasites that may affect your kitty please check out our website at www.thecatpracticepc.com or you can always ask one of your technicians or doctors.

Dr. Callahan's Adventure

Recently I was blessed with the opportunity to talk to my son's preschool class about being a veterinarian. I've done it a few times before and I really treasure doing it. Especially when the kids are given the opportunity to "ask" questions. Usually the kids are eager to raise their hand and say random things like, "my dog died," or "my cat sometimes likes to scratch." It always cracks me up to hear them. It's so cute to see the excitement in their eyes, especially when I bring out the furry (or feathery!) creatures - usually kittens - that I've brought to show them and keep their attention. This year we were fresh out of kittens at The Cat Practice. The last one had just been adopted. (Yeah!) So as to not disappoint the kids, I took Angel, a one year old slightly chunky female spayed cat. She had recently come to TCP from the Oakland County Shelter because of down-sizing. And we were her best chance to stay alive. I had no idea how things would go with an adult cat that we didn't know very well. But as soon as I opened her carrier door, I knew it was going to go well! She came out on her own, eager to see all the kids that she had heard from her carrier. From that moment on I was amazed by her. She waited in my arms so patiently while 45 four year old kids came up to pet her. She was so sweet. She is the perfect family cat, even with small children. Now I can say that any family would be lucky to have her!

St. Patrick's Day

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up quickly I wanted to post this so you too might be able to enjoy these shirts. I was in Target the other day (the Bloomfield Hills store) and saw these shirts for animals. Can you believe they were in the dollar bin? They come in different sizes based on weight.

Mine needed the larger size. Hopefully your cats can be styling for St. Patrick’s Day as well. The shirts do say “pet me I am Irish” However my cat thought it said “kiss me” What can I say he is only two.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day.

I Hope everyone will have a good day. But keep in mind sometimes on the holidays there can be hidden dangers for our cats. (Yes that includes Champagne)

Caren: of the Oakland Press writes a blogg called Cat Chat. This week she has a great guest blogg from our own Dr. Houlihan that covers many of these dangers in greater detail. Please visit her blogg at:

http://opcatchat.blogspot.com/

Enjoy Valentines day with all your loved ones, furry or not so furry