Little Miss(ed) Pancake Needs A Home

You may recall how a stray kitten was brought in to us a couple of weeks ago after colliding with the wheel of a passing car. She had a head injury and some cuts and scrapes and bruises, from which she has completely healed.

Little Miss(ed)Pancake (called that because she just missed becoming a pancake) is 10 weeks old, using her litter box uneventfully, plays normally with people and toys, and loves to lie in your lap and sleep. She has been dewormed and vaccinated once against FVRCP, and is ready to go to a new home.

Unfortunately, the kind man who saved her life by bringing her in has not followed through with his plan to adopt her, so we are putting her on the open market. Please contact the front desk to arrange to meet her if you are interested. We will be insisting that she be kept 100% indoors, and that she go to a home with another cat (she obviously misses having her mom/littermates around). She will need two more visits for preventive care over the next 2 months, and will need to be spayed after that.

Halloween Safety

Just a quick reminder to keep kitties indoors as much as possible this weekend and especially Sunday night. There will be lots of strangers on the loose, and cats can get frightened and disoriented, and wind up lost or stuck in somebody's garage. The risk of being hit by car is also greater when cats are distracted or frightened.

Have a Happy Halloween, and don't eat too much candy! If you have extra or leftover chocolate, we can help solve that little problem, by the way.

Now that it's flu season, a request

That time of year is upon us again, when people start coming down with all sorts of nasty viruses. Alison and I both managed to pick one up at the same time this week, and I think I even know who it was. This caused half a day of lost work (and a ruined day off) for Alison, and 1 1/2 days of missed work for me.

PLEASE, if you are ill with something you suspect is contagious, stay home unless it is absolutely imperitive that you go out and about. The close quarters of an exam room is a perfect place to spread your viruses - just think how close our heads get when I am examining your cat. And also think how often I handle your carrier or other possessions in the process - these fomites also help to spread illness.

Just remember this: contagious diseases are CONTAGIOUS.

Oh, and H1N1 flu, which can kill cats, is still out there.

Donations Needed - Charity Case

Somebody I know in VA has a cat that needs I131 treatment to cure its hyperthyroidism because it CANNOT take methimazole. The treatment is estimated at about $1300. I figure if we can find 130 people around the US to give $10 each, nobody will even notice the dent in their wallets.

Donations for the care of the cat "Delenn" (owner's name Mary ___) may be sent to Radiocat at: Radiocat, 6651-F Backlick Rd., Springfield, VA 22150

You can speak to Lynn on staff there - she is coordinating the effort. 703-451-8900

If you have any more questions you can call and ask me and I can contact the cat's owner online but this case is legitimate. She is on a fixed income due to a permanent disability.