Family loses cat in house fire
Family loses cat in house fire
UPPER HANOVER — A house fire at Church Road and Third Street around 10:35 a.m. Monday reportedly caused damage to the back of the home and killed a pet cat. The fire was reportedly caused by a lightning strike.
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Categories: Cat and Kitten Stories Tags: Family, fire, house, loses
Earth Day: 10 lessons for building a green house
Earth Day: 10 lessons for building a green house
What one reporter has learned trying to build an ultra-efficient, right-sized home, from cost issues to sunshine, space and walkability considerations.
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A Safe, Clean, Odor Free House With Cat Litter
You should be able to find several indispensable facts about cat litter in the following paragraphs. If there’s at least one fact you didn’t know before, imagine the difference it might make.
People love their pets. In the United States alone (the world’s biggest lover of our feline friends), there are an estimated 75 million pet cats. However, 75 million cats can create one humongous mess. For your cat’s hygiene and the collective safety of everyone in your household, you’ll most likely use cat litter to keep your house clean and dispose of your cat’s waste. Cat litter has been around for the better part of the past century, and it continues to be improved as new materials are discovered or designed to cover the scent and become more efficient in a given volume than previous types of litter. In many ways, it is the single most important foundation of your cat’s health in addition to a proper diet.
From the Origins to Modern Litter
In the first few years after World War II, a man by the name of Ed Lowe designed and sold the first mixture of cat litter to families. He became so successful that his company, built entirely from this one product (and expanded later), was worth half a billion dollars by his death in 1995. That’s how important this product is to families today. At first, sand was primarily used in cat litter, but clay quickly became the standard because of its superior absorbency. Then, clumping cat litter was invented. Cat urine and feces cause the tiny particles to clump together so that it can be easily scooped out and replaced without having to change out all of the cat litter at once.
New advances such as biodegradable and silica gel cat litter promise even more options for cat owners. There are a couple of reasons why cat owners should absolutely consider what type of litter is best for their pet. Cost is a consideration for the vast majority of families out there, so it’s important to keep litter cheap enough for people to purchase. This generally means that litter technological advances are slow and far apart as functioning, cheap products already exist. There simply isn’t a great demand for new types of cat litter, although biodegradable litter was a large concern several years ago.
Cat litter is primarily used to cover up the foul odors associated with fecal matter and urine, and it provides a safe product to handle to get rid of those wastes from your household. However, there are some concerns with the use of litter. Flushing litter down the toilet can introduce the tiny parasite Toxoplasma gondii into the water ways, possibly harming a variety of marine life such as otters and sharks. Also, pregnant women should avoid handling cat litter if possible as T. gondii can harm the early fetus. Also, environmental concerns continue to linger about the estimated 2 million tons of litter that gets deposited in US landfills each year, so further research will be conducted into how to combat these various problems.
There’s a lot to understand about cat litter. We were able to provide you with some of the facts above, but there is still plenty more to write about in subsequent articles.
Rolf Joho is the owner of Internet InfoMedia and writes on a variety of subjects. For further information, go to => Dog Food.
Stop Cat Spraying Inside your House
Do you have a cat that sprays outside the litter box? If yes, then you have smelled the horrible odor and experienced frustration when attempting to get your cat to stop spraying. To resolve the problem, you must first figure out what is motivating your cat to spray.
Territorial marking is the number one reason why cats spray. Felines are compelled to let others of their kind know that they are around. They may also spray when they are looking for a mate. If you have another cat in your home that fights with the culprit kitty, the spraying may be done to show aggression. Cats hanging around outside of your house can also cause your cat to spray. A move to a new home, the arrival of a new child, or other upsets to the cat’s daily routines can cause the behavior. A cat that is under any kind of stress such as living in a noisy household can also resort to spraying.
Generally, male cats are the prime spraying offenders. But, some females will also spray, especially if they are in heat. The unique smell of spray is due to chemicals in the anal glands that are expressed along with a small amount of urine.
If your cat has not been neutered or spayed, doing so is likely to solve the problem. But, some altered cats will still spray. For the best results, the surgery should be performed before the age of six months.
One thing that you should not try is punishing your cat. Kitties do not understand the relationship between behaviors and punishment, and the stress may cause your cat to spray even more.
Regular cleaning and scooping of the litter box is important as some cats will spray as a form of protest against poor litter box maintenance. Keep routines consistent including bed time, play time, and feeding. When your cat sprays, be sure to clean the area with enzyme cleaner so that no odor remains. Otherwise, the cat may return to the same spot to spray again.
After trying measures to curb spraying, take your cat to a veterinarian. Bladder infections and other health issues can lead to the behavior. Drugs for anxiety such as Prozac can also be prescribed, since your cat could be anxious even if you are not aware of it.
For fighting cats, put them in separate parts of your home if possible. Unfortunately, sometimes the best choice is to give the spraying cat to a new owner. Neither cat will be happy if they are constantly picking fights. Especially if no other cats live in the new home, the cat may stop the behavior.
Another option if the spraying appears to be over territory is to confine the cat to a small area of your house. The feline will not have as large of an area to defend, and may decide to stop spraying. At least the number of messes to clean should be lessened.
Cat behaviorists analyze cat behavior and develop plans to change unacceptable actions like spraying to more desirable behaviors like using the litter box. They can be successful in working with you and your cat to develop better behaviors.
Ten people, four dogs, two snakes and a cat safe after Post Falls house fire
Ten people, four dogs, two snakes and a cat safe after Post Falls house fire
POST FALLS, Idaho- Ten people were evacuated from their rental home at 1530 N. Lincoln Avenue in Post Falls early Tuesday morning following a fire. Fire officials say one woman suffered minor burns in the fire and was transported to an area hospital, but there were no other injuries. Kootenai County Fire Information Officer Jim Lyon tells KHQ the fire broke out just before 1:30 a.m.
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Categories: Cat and Kitten Stories Tags: after, dogs, Falls, fire, four, house, people, Post, safe, snakes
Hero cat ‘Baby’ saves owners from fierce house fire
Hero cat ‘Baby’ saves owners from fierce house fire
A couple in the northwestern Chicago suburb of Wonder Lake are searching for a 13-year-old house cat who probably saved their lives during a house fire.
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