The Cat Sitter Celebrates Five Years in Roswell

As feline veterinary medicine has advanced, the life expectancy of a well cared for cat has increased dramatically. That has led to the subspecialty of geriatric medicine. Older cats can be as enjoyable as their younger counterparts, but many have special needs.

Senior cats need a lower fat, higher fiber, lower protein diet to compensate for a changing metabolism. Sensitive to temperature, they often seek warm spots around the house. Some will develop arthritis. Dehydration is common in elderly cats, so fresh, easily accessible water must be provided at all times.

There are many diseases common to older cats. Kidney disease is the most frequent. Early symptoms include an increase in drinking and urination, and will progress to include weight loss, poor appetite and vomiting.

Many cases can be treated by administering fluids and changing the diet.

Thyroid disease also occurs frequently in geriatric cats. The elevated thyroid causes an increase in appetite, restlessness and increase in drinking and urinating, and frequent vomiting.

Cancer is also more common in older cats. Many advances have been made in treatment, from chemotherapy to surgery, from radiation therapy to experimental treatments such as hyperthermia.

Dental Disease is another common problem. A chronic gum infection brought on by the buildup of tartar can damage the kidneys and heart. Since treatment involves anesthesia, it is essential to perform a thorough diagnostic workup prior to this procedure.

A very important and often overlooked aspect of your cat's health is the mouth of the teeth, Dental and gum disease are leading causes of halitosis or bad breath. Each year during your cat's physical exam, your veterinarian should evaluate the condition of teeth and gums and make recommendations for treatment

The therapy may range from simple medications to anesthesia and a full dental prophylaxis. A thorough dental cleaning should be done under anesthesia to avoid any unnecessary pain or discomfort associated with the procedure, and to allow your veterinarian to fully evaluate the teeth, roots, and gums. Cats can develop many of the same problems with their teeth that people do: dental calculus (tartar) buildup, tooth root abscesses, loose teeth, dental caries (cavities), gingivitis (gum inflammations and infections), retained deciduous (baby) teeth, extra teeth, and tumors of the gums and teeth.

The first signs you may notice are a buildup of a yellowish to brownish material on your cat’s teeth and/or bad breath. If this buildup goes unnoticed, it continues to accumulate and go under the gum line. Eventually the gums may begin to swell and recede. If left untreated, the tartar will accumulate around the roots of the teeth, and eventually the teeth will loosen and fall out. As the tartar accumulates on your cat's teeth, populations of bacteria that are associated with the tartar can increase and spread to other organs such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver.

The procedures performed to clean your cat's teeth can vary, but usually consists on anesthesia, an ultrasonic or hand scaling to remove the tartar, a thorough examination of the gingival sulci and oral tissues, a high speed polishing with a pumice paste, and a fluoride treatment. Other procedures that may need to be performed are: dental x-rays, extractions, fillings, root canals, and gingival surgery. Often times follow up care may involve post procedural antibiotics. In older cats it is often recommended that testing be done prior to anesthesia to minimize the risk; these tests include bloodwork, EKG's, and x-rays.

There are some things you can do to help prevent dental disease in your cat. It is best to feed them dry food, the action of the kibble on the teeth can help reduce tartar buildup. You can also learn how to brush your cat's teeth with a dentifrice, or use a spray on the teeth. Despite all of your attempts, your cat still may need to have his or her teeth cleaned at some point in their lives.

The Cat Sitter announced in June a campaign to develop cat sitting franchises and world licenses.

Linda Bagne Bartleson, The Cat Sitter, said that the franchises and licenses will be available worldwide, but that she would be concentrating her early marketing efforts in the greater Atlanta area. The idea is to build an Atlanta network of ten franchises, all operating under one advertising umbrella and using one professional communications system for customer contacts. Per Linda, synergism will allow all franchisees the opportunity for increased profits, and will build on the name recognition that The Cat Sitter has established in Atlanta.

All franchisees will have rights to enter all three of The Cat Sitter's businesses, including the core cat sitting business, The Cat Taxi service, and limited distribution rights to The Cat Sitter's "Country Catnip Toy" line of high quality and safer cat toys.

Franchises and licenses will be under a newly formed company called The Cat Sitter, Ltd.

For more information call 594-1010 ( fax 640-0336).

The Country Catnip Toy Catalog

The Cat Sitter has just completed an all new catalog of her line of proprietary cat toys. The catalog is titled the "Almost Worldwide" Organic Country Catnip Toys by The Cat Sitter.

The next step? You guessed it. Linda, working with friends, developed her own line of cat toys. Through years of experience, she had developed many ideas on how to create better cat toys. Through "The Cat Sitter," Linda had contact with a very large network of customers through which she exhaustively tested her ideas. Many of those reading this newsletter will have been amongst the earliest to try these toys. To all of you, thank you very much for your help.

You can be assured that each "Country Catnip Toy" has been created with the enjoyment and safety of cats in mind. Each toy has been thoroughly enjoyed by many, many cats before being selected for the catalog.

Toys Available at local Pet Stores and Veterinarians

*Ashley's Pet Center, Dunwoody

*Cats at Delk Spectrum, Marietta

*The Cat Doctor, Buckhead

*Fancy Fins Etc., Roswell

*Haynes Pet Centres-3 locations

*Holcomb Bridge Animal Hosp.

*North Roswell Veterinary Clinic

*Pets Unlimited, Marietta

*Petville, Duluth

*Roswell Pet Supply, Roswell

Help Us Find a Good Home for These Two Loving, Mature Cats

*High sided Litter boxes: You can reduce the amount of litter your cats track around the house and better contain cat "messes" by the simple use of high sided litter boxes. This tip is from Lori. If you can't find them, call The Cat Sitter at 594-1010

*Plastic bags: Cats are just like small children; they can get in trouble with plastic bags (or any thin gauge plastic sheets). The Cat Sitter removes plastic bags from newspapers, etc. when she brings them in, and tries to make sure plastic sheet of any type is kept away from reach. The cats can get tangled in it. Even if they don't choke (and they can), they panic. It is common for cats to tear out their claws while trying to get out of their plastic trap.

*The Cat Sitter utilizes a 24-hour, 7 day answering service., Call us anytime.

*We use pagers. If your call is urgent, tell the answering service. They will page us. We have gone to the expense of car phones and will return the call on an ASAP basis.

*Are you a key customer and need only one day service? No problem. It is part of our program.

*Please, you can't double up on our price specials. Our special weekly pricing rate is available to all customers. Our key customers can take advantage of the frequent sitting program (each11th visit is free). If you are using our weekly rate, the frequent sitting program will not apply.

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