A porcupine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We have to believe that this poor porcupine, Stinkers hasn’t gotten much attention in his life.

If you listen closely you will hear him squeak!

Not sure if he could be any cuter.

Learn more about porcupines here

Support Feral Cats!

Please remember our little feral friends on this their special day.  Alley Cat Allies established National Feral Cat Day 10 years ago to draw awareness to the plight of the feral cat.  Of course, it’s a good time to donate to ACA or other feral cat groups!  It’s also a good time to become more cognizant of the ferals who live near our homes and businesses.

Many ferals are former house cats.  If a stray cat will approach you, rub up against you and eat while you watch them—they are not really feral.  See if they will allow you to capture them and take them to the vet to check them for an identification chip.  Also, please consider setting up a Trap Neuter, Return (TNR) program in your community.  The only way to keep the outdoor cat population down and to ease their suffering is by spaying and neutering them, so they can’t reproduce.

Every year, people in communities across the country hold hundreds of events on National Feral Cat Day to draw attention to the cause and make a difference in the lives of cats.  Please find an event or consider hosting one yourself soon.

Adopt a Shelter Pet Today!

Did you know that October is adopt a shelter pet month?  Why not go find a friend or two to keep you warm this winter?

Walkies supports adopting animals from all types of shelters, stray pets or partially feral animals.  We believe in spreading the word about the need for a no kill nation through the banning of puppy mills, education,trap and release programs and lobbying our elected officials to speak on behalf of those who don’t have a voice. We support  education  programs to help improve the life of animals who are abandoned and left homeless due to one situation or another.  We also support the adoption of older animals and the promotion of the great need for adopters who are open to animals with special needs.

We are located in Chicago where there are some phenomenal shelters doing great work for our four-legged friends in our city.  Here are links to some of our favorite shelters, brought to you by PAWS, the largest no kill shelter in Chicago.  Please consider adopting and making either a cash or in-kind donation to one or all of them.  These shelters also need foster homes, volunteers and many need food donations for the animals they house and the pets who have been badly affected by the economy.

Please spread the word and be an advocate for the animals who can not speak for themselves.   Thank you!

I got them all right!

Ever wonder if you are doing right by your kitty?  Do you have a friend(s) or family member who wants to give away their cat for what you believe is a silly reason, but aren’t sure if you’re right. It’s not easy sometimes, since your cat doesn’t come with a rule book.

Here’s a quick and fun quiz courtesy of our friends at Cat Stuff that may put your mind at ease.  Once you’re on the Cat Stuff site, look for games: “I Can’t Keep This Cat Because…” to take the quiz.

Nice kitty!

I am asked quite a bit about how to trim cat’s claws.  The trick is developing enough trust between you and your cat and respecting the cat’s comfort level.  Here are a couple of good videos that will help you get accustomed to the method and show you that it is possible to clip your cat’s claws at home.

Please be careful and if your cat is upset only continue trim until it is safe for both of you.  One of my cats requires at least four to five sessions to get all of his claws clipped.  Using a proper claw clipper will make this task a lot easier to accomplish.  Also, you may want to ask a friend to help you to wrap your cat in a towel and expose one paw at a time. This will help you keep the cat comfortable and you scratch free.

While this video is cute, please be careful and don’t allow your cat to flail around and possibly scratch your face.  This video made me nervous, because I kept thinking that the cat was going to reach up and scratch his person’s face.  Better safe than sorry when it comes to cat’s claws!

Retriever Recovering After Rescue

Experts agree that every family should have their own disaster plan and many do.  Unfortunately, many families forget to include their pets in the plan and that’s how they become separated from their pets, sometimes for good.

September is National Disaster Preparedness Month, so why not seriously put together a plan to take care of your pets if the unthinkable happens?

FEMA has assembled some phenomenal information about disaster preparedness that will walk you through how to prepare for a disaster and how to handle the aftermath.  FEMA has also put together a great disaster fact sheet that is easy to refer to in an emergency situation.

The occurrence of pets being left behind in a disaster is so prevalent, that FEMA even offers a free online course to train people on how to take care of animals in a disaster.  You’ll find it here.

Hmmm…not sure if i want to use this

The biggest reason for an owner to surrender a cat to a shelter is not a child developing allergies, their home situation changing, new boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t like animals, economic troubles, it’s my cat is missing the litter box.  Most times this is a problem that can be corrected.  Typically, it’s because your  cat is having a health problem not a behavioral problem.

We took in a stray cat who we called Shane.  We named him Shane because he had broken teeth and a lot of battle scars, so he reminded us of English/Irish musician Shane MacGowan.  Shane was very rough around the edges, but after a couple of weeks he stopped marking his territory in the four corners of our house (thank you Feliway!) and began to groom himself to look like a nice big house cat.

A lot of progress was made, but about a month into our life together Shane started to relieve himself in strange places.  One day I walked into my office to find cat droppings on my desk, yes ON MY DESK!  We also caught him and stopped him from trying to urinate down a floor vent.  AHHHH!  Well, needless to say my roommate was not thrilled with this new habit, so he threatened to take Shane to the city shelter, unless we could figure out why he was acting this way.  So, I did some research by calling our vet, calling friends with cats and searched the internet for clues.  As it turns out, Shane had a urinary tract infection that was making him shy away from the litter box.  He associated the litter box with pain, so naturally he didn’t want to use it.  A quick trip to the vet, some medication and in a few days Shane was back to using his box.  We had 5 more problem free years with Shane before he succumbed to the damage that living on the street did to his body.

Here is some advice from noted vet and blogger, Dr. Karen Becker.  Hopefully, you will be able to help your cat maintain their permanent status in your home or in a friend’s home based on her advice.

Homes with more than one cat may also want to consider that you have a bully in your brood, who is causing your other cats to act out and not use their litter box.  Consider some of this advice to evaluate your situation.

A very chatty kittyman met me at his door today!  NOM!

Ms. S is our new client.  She is a rescued pup who is still a bit timid due to her past life. Once she gets to know you, she could not be a sweeter little girl.