Purrfect Pets

The Denver Dumb Friends League telethon is currently taking place. You can watch it on channel 31 until 5pm Mountain Standard Time.

I just made a pledge of $5 per month for one year in memory of Emma, a calico kitty we had to put down about a year and a half ago due to kidney failure. I hope she is smiling up there in kitty heaven.

The Denver Dumb Friends League does incredible work, and I wish I could do more for them. They take care of thousands of homeless cats, dogs, and other small animals every year. They provide spay/neuter services to every cat and dog before they are adopted out as well as providing each cat and dog with a microchip and collar and tag so that your pet can more easily be reunited with you if he or she becomes lost.

The Denver Dumb Friends League also provides a free behavioral hotline you can call if you are having behavioral problems with your cat or dog.

If you’d like to make a donation or a monthly pledge to the Denver Dumb Friends League please call: 720-249-5000 or visit their website here.

You get a gift with every pledge of $5 per month or more or one-time donation of $60 or more. I encourage you to help this great organization care for homeless animals where they reside until they find forever homes.

“Do you want a silver bullet for your cats?” That’s what my allergist asked me a year ago as I was walking out of his office. He was joking, of course, but he wasn’t terribly happy with me keeping my beloved cats even though I have cat allergies. The fact is, though, my cats are my babies - I will never give them away due to my allergies. I’ve learned to deal with my allergies with medication and household practices.

Are you like me? Do you have pet allergies, but refuse to give up your beloved pets?

Unfortunately, Benadryl, Allegra, Allavert, Zyrtec, and other allergy medications can make you dizzy, droswy, and/or unable to function. The United States Food and Drug Administration has recently approved a non-drug over-the-counter gel for allergies, which may help you combat pet allergy symptoms, such as runny nose, itchy eyes, and sneezing.

You simply apply the gel, called Allergen Blocker, below and around your nostrils and above your upper lip every four to six hours in order to prevent allergy symptoms. The product’s website also recommends applying Allergen Blocker to your face again if your face gets wet.

Allergen Blocker is approved for preventing allergy symptoms from pet dander, house dust, dust mites, pollen, and ragweed. While the product is specifically for preventing allergies, if you already suffer from allergies like I do, the Allergen Blocker website says it is okay to use the product anyway. Allergen Blocker claims to prevent airborn allergens from entering your nasal passage, which may prevent further suffering from allergy symptoms.

Allergen Blocker was developed by Ashok Wahi, an engineer who wanted to help his daughter, who suffers from cat allergies.

You can find Allergen Blocker in the pharmacy section of department and drug stores as an over-the-counter gel. I have not tried this product, so if you decide to try it, please let me know if it is effective!

Sources:

Cat Channel: News: Cat Allergies Are Nothing to Sneeze At

Chloraseptic Allergen Blocker: Frequently Asked Questions

I’ve always known cats are amazing creatures. They know things. They know when their human companions don’t feel well or are in danger. They know when their human companions are coming home and greet us at the door to tell us about their day.

Yet this story completely blew me away!

Last week in Berlin, Germany, a woman had left a candle burning before she and her son fell asleep that night. Apparently the candle fell over, and the woman’s Siamese cat took it upon herself to wake her companion. The Siamese cat, Sina, ran over her owner’s face and proceeded to knock over a lamp. Sina’s actions woke the woman, who said her bedroom was already filling with smoke and she could see flames from the living room where the candle had been burning.

Due to Sina’s actions, the woman was able to get herself, her son, and Sina out of the house and call the fire brigade. All three occupants of the house were treated for smoke inhalation, but are doing fine now.

The woman attributes Sina to saving her life as well as that of her son:

“I am only alive because of my cat. I am so grateful to her.”

What an amazing story!

Source:

Cat Channel: Siamese Cat Saves Owner From Fire

Cats are so special. The two cats in the picture on the top of my blog are my two cats, Carmine and Milita. Carmine is an orange tabby, he loves to sit on whatever he can find, play, chase Milita around, sleep on my pillow at night, and look out the window. He’s three years old. Milita is a Siamese/tabby mix. She loves to tease Carmine, sleep up high, perch on a high place and look at the world, play, and look out windows. She will be five years old next month, which is hard to believe!

I’m sure I’ll be sharing a lot more about my cats in this blog as time goes on, but for now, I want to share with you how I got my furry friends.

After I graduated from college in 2004, I decided I was going to get a cat when I moved here to Denver to attend graduate school. I initially went to a local cat shelter and picked out a kitty, she was orange and white and appeared to be very sweet. I spent the summer trying to train her to use the litter box because she had never fully recovered from her declaw surgery, which she had before her previous owners took her back to the shelter. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but I was able to find a good home for her, nevertheless.

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