Welcome to March's edition of the Happy Cat Ezine Another busy month here in the frozen UK. The kittens can't wait for spring, I am so looking forward to seeing them out in the garden to experience their first summer. The site is going from strength to strength thanks to all of your great submission. Don't forget you cat submit your own cat rescue stories, your cats photos and even cat poems. See you next month Best Wishes Kate   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS 1. New Cat Gallery Photos This Month 2. Competition 3. Byron and Shelley's Latest Diary Entry 4. Cat Story - Saving "Sam" 5.. Article - Kitty, Say Hello To Fido – How to safely introduce a cat and a dog. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.New Cat Gallery Pages We have had lots of lovely cat photos sent to us over the past month 12 in total. Here is just a selection of those entries, Visit the cat gallery to see all 12.. Enjoy. Click on their pictures to find out more about them. Felix Smokey Brady Pepper Blackie & Onyx Dakota Pebbles Muffin   Visit the Gallery to see more of this months new submissions ----------------------------------------- 2. Competition Number Mar27 Here is March's Caption Competition. All you have to do is write a caption for this picture. . Simply send us your caption to go with this picture. picture by Mihnea on flickr.com Click here to submit Caption The deadline for this competition is Mar 25th. The best caption will be chosen and the winners name and caption will be posted on the www.our-happy-cat.com competition page. This month the prize will be a copy of the book "Cat Naps - The key To Contenement." a lovely book. GOOD Luck           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Byron and Shelley's Latest Diary Entry What a day I had yesterday. I let the two kittens out in the garden at 10 am then I went out about half an hour later. i saw Byron in the street and he started to follow me. Luckily he stopped and I turned the corner. When I returned about two hours later there was no sign of him. Shelley came in but no Byron. well the rest of the day, evening and some of the next night was spent with me searching the streets and worrying like mad. he was dead, lost or kidnapped thats all I could think of. then this morning I looked out of my window in the window of our next doors shed we saw a little face. yes Byron had got himself shut in the shed all night. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see him again this morning. Any way the little chap is Ok and happy, he has filled his belly and played with his brother and had a good sleep. Now sleep theres a thought, I could do with some myself. :) I will be adding regular updates about them on the web site so keep an eye on your RSS feeds for those. Here is their page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Cat Stories and Poems we like to encourage our visitors to the site to share their cat story or poetry with us here. we certainly enjoy reading your tales of rescue, joy and sadness too. So if you have a story or poem to tell us please let us know HERE This story was submitted this month. Saving "Sam" - Cat Story by Mary (North Carolina, USA) Sam is a lovely Grey Tabby male with alluring yellow eyes. He is a young, spirited 3 years of age. Sam was found by a elderly lady 3 years ago when he was wandering her apartment complex alone and separated from his mother at 3 weeks of age. The kind lady took him in and nursed him by dropper and raised him as her very own companion. Sam has brought 3 years of happiness and companionship to this kind soul. This past summer I got a call from a nurse who was taking care of this dear lady. The nurse told me that this lady was in declining health and was being placed in a nursing home facility to live out her days and the facility did not allow pets. The lady was stressing over what was going to happen to her precious "Sam". They called me to help them find Sam a forever, loving, indoor home where he would never face being sent to the shelter. I went to meet this lady and Sam. The elderly lady was a sweetheart who had given Sam a wonderful start in life for 3 years. Sam had all the BEST of cat things. The best dishes, the nicest litter tray , a wonderful comfy kitty bed with lamb skin padding and lets not forget all the best in kitty toys and food. Sam was a prince in her eyes and she was "momma" in his eyes. They was a team, close knit and forever together. He was always at her feet. Read the rest of this story here ______________________________________________ 5.. Article - Kitty, Say Hello To Fido – How to safely introduce a cat and a dog. Unfortunately nature dictates that cats and dogs are not the best of friends in the wild. This can also be true of domesticated animals even though they are so gentle and loving towards their owners. So lots of thought should be carried out before you decide to re-home a dog to a household that already contains a cat. First think about your existing cat, how will they react to a dog invading their territory and will they become unhappy over time. Some cats will eventually accept a dog and they will either become the best of friends or your cat will simply ignore their existence. However some cats may see the dog as a constant threat. This may cause them to react in an aggressive manner or simply to retreat into themselves. It is important that you put your cat’s happiness first before your desire to own a dog. The next thing to think about is the type of dog you want to re-home. Some breeds of dog are natural hunters and so may be more prone to chase and attack cats. It is always a good idea to research the natural characteristics of your chosen breed to see if they are more likely to be accepting of other animals. What ever the breed of dog, it is very important that before you try to introduce your cat to them that they accept you as their master and will have respect for your commands. A dog that will not come when you call or obey the leave command could pose a great danger to your cat. So a basic training period should be carried out first. During this time keep your cat and dog separate, provide special rooms for them and never leave them alone together. This may be difficult at first but it will help your pets learn to trust each other in the long run. After all an unexpected meeting could end in injury or at the very least two very scared animals that will always be afraid of each other. Start the introduction very slowly at first. Take your time and make sure that you are calm and quiet. Animals sense if you are feeling anxious and this will only make them wary too. Always keep the dog on a short lead, so that you have full control over the situation. Get your dog to lie down so that they are in a non-threatening position and provide them with a bone of toy to play with to distract their attention. Then let your cat into the room and allow them to freely walk around. The cat may react in several ways on first seeing the dog. They may sit and hiss, run for cover or be curious and want to come and sniff your dog. While any of this is happening praise your dog when they do not react to the cat and watch your dogs body language for signs of aggression. Be ready to remove your dog from the situation if you feel that tensions are rising. It is a good idea to provide your cat with a bowl of food or treats during these first encounters as this will help the cat associate the presence of the dog with a pleasurable thing. Keep the first few introductions short, perhaps only 5 minutes or so. After awhile the two animals will react less and less to each other and you will be able to keep them together for longer periods. Once you are happy that they are not reacting to each other, you may remove the dog lead, but always remain vigilant. Make sure that you provide both animals with lots of attention during their encounters and try to make the whole process fun and something that your pets will enjoy. If you never reach the stage where your pets are relaxed with each other, it is best to make sure that you always keep them apart or that you make sure that your cat can get out of any difficult situations easily. For instance you could place child safety gates on some of your doors to allow the cat to exit the room but not the dog.