The right department?
Please may I remind you that at OUR CATS, we have different departments, for different needs? As Editor, I deal with the show critiques (reports), club news, BAC news, directory amendments and of course, editorial content such as articles, show features etc. However, for all other matters - we have a great team waiting to help you!
Trina and Jackie can help you with your subscription enquiries – 0870 731 6503.
Anne will take care of your advertising needs (those super new SHOW BRAGS and Classified), your Club Directory payments and your show advertisements – 0870 731 6506.
Adam or Chris can help if you have any questions about the OUR CATS Website – 0870 731 6700 and Fiona will take your Book and Stationery Orders on 0870 731 6502
Please call the team if you need help with any of the above, between 9am-4pm Monday-Friday.
Cat Island
I recently saw an article about a historic church, St Peter’s Anglican Church, in Knowles’ Cat Island, which had been rededicated.
I had not heard of Cat Island before and I decided to see what I could find out about it… One theory is that the island may have derived its name from Arthur Catt - a British sea Captain or notorious pirate; depending on whose side you were on! Another source credits the name, Cat Island, to ‘the hordes’ of wild cats that the English encountered on their arrival in the 1600s. The cats were said to be descendants of their tamer cousins orphaned by the early Spanish colonists in their rush to find the gold of South America.
Has anyone visited this island in Barbados or can you shed any more light on its romantic name?
Ban on home boarders? – another viewpoint
In the last issue of OUR CATS, Nick Mays (see ‘On the Prowl’, 29 July) reported on The Pet Care Trust’s recent call for home boarding of animals to be banned under the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Bill and also Westminster’s Animal Welfare Bill.
Following his story up, Nick contacted Monica Loosley, founder and joint owner of Pals 4 Pets - a home boarding and pet sitting service. Ms Loosley said that she agreed with licensing of home boarders, but was opposed to any plan to ban them.
“The public have a right so to where and with whom they leave their pets,” she declared. “I’m a great advocate that whether it is called licensing or regulation, that there are set requirements for animals’ welfare and annual inspections before a license is granted to a home boarder should be carried out.”
Ms Loosley added that Local Authorities would ideally inspect and license homes as suitable for home boarding, as they do for pet shops, but also pointed out that it is likely they would not have adequate resources.
“As the first home boarding company in the country, we have spent thousands of pounds over the years on being properly licensed”, she said. “Currently, there are no minimum set standards required for boarding kennels, and this is a grey area that needs addressing if home boarding is to be regulated or licensed too. As things stand now, anyone can set themselves up as a home boarder and take in as many animals from different homes as they like, with all its inherent consequences for the pets’ welfare. That said, I don’t think it should be down to the Pet Care Trust, or DEFRA or anyone to say that pet owners should not have the choice as to where there pets are cared for. In the 21st century, pets have gone being just animals, they are members of peoples’ families, although because of changes to social structure, families breaking up, longer work hours, people have less time to care for them, so they have to pay other people to care for them at times. And pet owners are better aware of the options of care open to them – it is their choice. Of course it should be an informed choice, but the right of choice should not be taken from them.”
What do readers of OUR CATS think about the proposed ban on home boarding and the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Bill and also Westminster’s Animal Welfare Bill? Please write in and share your views.
What a cat!
Well, not a cat really – did you see the photographs in the press about the record breaking Catfish that a chap from Woking caught whilst on holiday in Spain? The 15 stone, seven foot, fish was released after it was photographed and registered.
My immediate thought on reading this article was that it would have fed an enormous amount of pussycats! Catfish is often used in prescription pet foods (for allergies and digestive disorders), as it is a novel source of protein for the vast majority of felines. The Spanish catfish monster however, has escaped this fate!
FIV positive risk
A cat lover in Berkshire recently rescued a stray cat and took him to her vet for treatment. The cat tested positive for FIV and his rescuer was dismayed to realise her own pet cats had inadvertently been put at risk.
Of course any pet cat that goes out and can meet other cats, is at risk of this disease as the disease is spread most commonly via the infected saliva being introduced through biting. The same is true of Felv. As this lady had been an RSPCA volunteer, I was surprised that she did not know about the potential dangers involved. I hope her cats are vaccinated for the other diseases which are preventable, unlike FIV, for which there is no vaccine available. Sadly the cat involved had to be euthanased.
Bumper issue
This edition of OUR CATS has, unusually, more editorial than ‘show pages’. Our typesetter does have copy ready to print, so please bear with us and we will do our best to bring you more 60-page issues over the next few months. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the added reading!
OUR CATS on the road
OUR CATS are at Chester & North Wales Show (at Deeside, Flintshire, this year) this weekend and will be at Teesside, Wyvern and the North West Cat Club shows over the coming weeks. Visiting the OUR CATS stand at shows is a good idea if you wish to take advantage of the ‘extras’ on offer with subscriptions and to book a SHOW BRAG.
In case of fire
When the fire bell sounds at a cat show, the ‘official stance’ is to evacuate the building without delay, not stopping to collect belongings, or I presume, our cats. However, I cannot imagine that one would leave one’s cats/s unless the flames were actually licking around our legs. What has happened in my experience is that, on hearing the alarm, everyone dashes back to their own cat’s pens and retrieves their own cat/s. A fellow exhibitor recently suggested that a better system might be to go to the pen closest to us and remove that cat, placing its pen number within its basket. Each person then taking at least two cats with them as they leave the hall.
The reasons behind that suggestion is that it avoids people bumping into each other on their way to their cat’s pen and therefore inadvertently causing delay. Also, it would mean that the cats belonging anyone who was in the car park, toilet, bar, or café etc would be removed safely, in their absence.
In order to remove a cat quickly, its basket of course, must be empty! I have been guilty, in the past, of putting my coat, or purchases into my cat’s basket, during the show – so I did not forget to take it home. This was before I had experienced a fire alarm going off at a show. I now make sure the basket is empty and therefore there is room in the basket to pop a cat into it, immediately – without having to remove coats etc.
On arrival at a show hall in the morning, how many of us look around and note where the fire exits are located? Would it be a good idea if, when we are asked by the Show Manager or Hall Manager to leave the hall before judging, we were told to note the whereabouts of the fire exits and have these pointed out to us?
Another exhibitor wondered about using luggage labels on our cat’s baskets (like we do at the Supreme) and writing our pen numbers on them, to save time in an emergency.
PLEASE WRITE IN AND GIVE YOUR OPINION ON THIS MATTER.
