“Easy with the tongue, Shep”

From: freewebs.com

Hopefully you won’t have to give your cat or kitten an injection, but, just in case…

Setting the Mood

It is important for your cat to be relaxed up until the time of the injection.  My cats respond well to having a favorite treat.  Make sure you pet and cuddle with your feline also.  Some also recommend that an injection be giving about the same time everyday.  Also, make sure you get down on Fluffy’s level – you don’t want to come across as threatening or domineering.  Try to make yourself as comfortable as possible.  For those of you who are not comfortable on the floor, you can bring your cat up with you a couch in your lap.

Disguise the Needle

You don’t want your cat to make the connection between a syringe in your hand the slight and momentary pain he or she will feel.  And really, this is important, usually in the very beginning of a injection routine.  You can try to hide the syringe altogether.  I like to use the capped syringe as a play-thing – pet your kitty with it, stroke him.

Confidence

If this is your first time doing this, you are apt to be a little nervous.  Try to relax.  Cats can read your mood and feelings.  The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed he or she will be.  Also, keep your movements fluid and smooth – try to avoid sudden, jerky motions as this signals stress or can over-stimulate your cat.

The Place

The scruff of the neck has long been used as an optimal place for the injection, however, there is research to show that blood supply is lower there than what is optimal to deliver the drug to your cats body.  It is much better to use an area on the stomach (avoid the nipples and navel) or an area near his or her hips.  Also, it is important to not use the same spot over and over again because this may cause a nodule of tissue to form, called a ‘granuloma’, which has poor blood supply.

The Technique

You want to pinch the skin up, pulling it slightly from the cat’s body.  Don’t pinch too hard, just enough to raise the skin.  You are going to inject into the pinched skin because the act of pinching it helps to numb the area.  You want the need angle to be almost parallel with the cat, but slightly raised.  Look at the needle length and then look at the amount of skin you’ve pinched – you want the need to penetrate into the middle of skin mass that you’ve pinched.

Be as quick as possible because you want to puncture through nerve-laden skin as quickly as possible – most of the nerves are at the very surface of the skin.  Once the needle is in, you can slow down a bit since the worst is over.  Slowly push the syringe plunger down until the contents are in your cat and then quickly remove the needle.

Post Injection

It is important to have some cuddling/play time with your kitty just after an injection, doling out lots of affection.  Give lots of verbal praise also.  This helps Fluffy associate positive with the experience.

Cat Injection
Cat Injection

Kittens/cats can suffer from allergies, just as we humans do.  The kitty allergy stems from coming in contact with a foreign substance which releases histamines in his/her body.  This allergy predisposition is often times hereditary.

Here are some of the common triggers for this allergic response:

• Pollen from nearby flowering plants
• Dust accumulating in the house
• Fungi, Mold – the spores can be inhaled by Fluffy

Some of the common symptoms your cat/kitten my experience:

• Torturous itching in their faces and feet and other parts of the body
• The emergence of sores and discharges
• Loss of hair
• Inflammation in different parts of the body

Watch for these symptoms, especially in spring and summer.  If you kitty starts to display any of the above, have your vet perform some skin test to determine if he/she is suffering from inhalant allergies.

The best treatment is ultimately prevention – in other words, remove the source of the allergy.  If the allergy is a resulting from dust or dust mites, this is easily remedied from a good cleaning.  If the allergies are from pollen, for example and your cat is an outdoor cat, this might be more difficult.

There are two main treatment methods:

• Medicines that suppress the histamine response.  This can be given orally or massaged gently on the affected area
• Allergy shots, which help to build the cat/kittens natural resistance to the allergens.

Cat Allergy
Cat Allergy

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Cat dander allergies are not new phenomena – people have been sneezing, wheezing, itching for centuries in the presence of our feline friends. The allergic reaction response varies from person to person and is largely related to the genetics of the cat and the genetics of the ‘human’. This complex interrelationship of feline and man allows a person to be more allergic to ‘this’ cat than to ‘that’ cat, which makes this a difficult problem to treat.

Many Myths About Hypoallergenic Cats

There are many myths and urban legends that surround this whole topic of cat dander allergies. Why, even the pop TV show ‘Friends’ spun a tale about a fictional breed of cat called the ‘Allergy-Free Egyptian Hairless Cat’. The marketplace went wild after the episode aired and many Egyptian Hairless Cats were purchased (and later disposed of) by people looking for a marriage of two great desires – to have a kitty and to not suffer.

We Have a Love-Affair with Felines

Here is the crux of the problem. God created a creature so fascinating, so unique, and so incredibly fun that humans want to have them as pets. Even mighty, Egyptian kings gave prominence to these furry, purring creatures. There is something very special about these fur balls of independence.

It All Comes Down to Cat Proteins

So what is the cause of these cat dander allergies? Well, it is predominantly caused by a protein called ‘Fel d 1′, which is found on the surface of a cat’s skin, urine, mucous as well as in a cat’s saliva, secreted by the sebaceous glands. So you see, short-hair or long-hair, it makes no difference – all cats produce this protein.  Long-haired cats have been linked to increased allergy symptoms for many of the wrong reasons – the allergen was thought to be from their long fur.  In reality, their long hair was simply more surface area on which the saliva dander could collect – more fur meant more dander.  And more dander meant more allergens.

Geneticists have been exploring the options of altering the Fel d 1 protein in order to neutralize its allergen characteristics.  However, this practice has been met with resistance from animal rights groups because the Fel d 1 protein plays a critical part in managing a cat’s metabolism.  The long term affects are just not known at this time.

The Cat Allergy Relief Solution

So, we have this fatal attraction with our favorite allergy-causing felines – how do we have our cake and eat it too? It’s quite simple actually. You must eliminate the residue of the cat – this ‘Fel d 1′ protein. That means the dander must be contained and disposed of before coming into contact with an allergy sufferer.  This means regular kitty baths – I can hear the scowls now. In addition, any surface that is frequented by our cats needs to be sanitized continually. The use of vapor steam cleaners is recommended for the carpets and upholstery. Also, it is recommended quality HEPA air filters be used in rooms where you kitty visits. It’s really common sense stuff.

Isolation is another way to fight the problem – keep kitty out of the sleep areas of the house. This is tough to do, especially if you love to snuggle with ‘fluffy’ at night, but this is a sacrifice worth making.

Of course, many also rely on cat allergy relief by the use of antihistamines.  However, it is far better to eliminate the root cause of the allergic response than to just mask over the symptoms.

Try before you Buy

If you are a perspective cat owner, it is wise to ‘try before you buy’ before embarking on a feline purchase or adoption. Spend a significant amount of time around a ‘cat’ house if you can, just so you can a least know what you are up against.

If you are a perspective cat owner, it is wise to ‘try before you buy’ before embarking on a feline purchase or adoption. Spend a significant amount of time around a ‘cat’ house if you can, just so you can a least know what you are up against.

Test before you Rid

If you are already a cat owner and are suffering, take the courses of action that I’ve recommended before tossing kitty out on his ear. If you still find no relief, consider having your doctor run some tests between you and your cat to see if ‘Fluffy’ is really the problem. You may even want to board ‘Fluffy’ for a couple weeks, just to see if your cat dander allergy symptoms subside. Remember, many discarded kitties end up euthanized, so make this decision carefully.  Adopting or purchasing that bundle of furry joy should be done with eyes wide open.  The more you know the facts, the happier you will all be, together!

Cat Allergy