Welcome to Feb/Mar 2012 edition of the Happy Cat Ezine ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS 1. New Cat Gallery Photos This Month 2. Competition 3. Byron and Shelley's Latest Diary Entry 4. Cat Story - Our Cat Henry's Story 5.. Article - Cat Flu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.New Cat Gallery Pages Lots more of your beautiful cats have been submitted to our cat photo gallery to see more visit the cat gallery . Enjoy. Don't forget to submit your cat to the cat gallery so that others can enjoy your cat as well. Click on their pictures to find out more about them Dolly Angello Drifter and Roxy Miming Happy & Princess Angel and Cresty Ruby Ginger   ----------------------------------------- 2. Competition Number Feb / Mar 12 Here is the new Caption Competition. All you have to do is write a caption for this picture. . Simply send us your caption to go with this picture. 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 for the competition is a copy of the book "utterly adorable cats" GOOD Luck     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Byron and Shelley's Latest Diary Entry We were lucky enough to be given a huge TV for free from one of our friends who had bought themselves a big new one as a Christmas present to themselves. It is huge, well it looks that way to us in our small house anyway and it takes up quite a large space in our living room. The strange thing is, ever since we got it our two cats Byron and Shelley seem to have become addicted to watching TV. They never paid attention before to our smaller TV but this one seems to grip them for ages Read more here 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 Our Cat Henry's Story by Josie I first moved into my apartment in Woodhaven, Queens in Feb. 1997. One day several months later I was throwing out the garbage in the backyard and there was this woman and a black stray cat who immediately came to me and wanted to sit on my lap even though I was standing. The cat was so friendly. Each night after work, I would rush home, cook and eat dinner quickly. Then I would go outdoors into the alley and this black cat would always come to me and sit on my lap for an hour or sometimes longer. I would always wait until it left, feeling bad if it was very cold outdoors or raining that it would not be warm and safe. One day I asked this woman who also lived in the apartment bldg. about the black cat. She told me that she fed the strays in the neighborhood each morning before she left for work and this black cat was a girl. A short time later I told her that I had wanted to take this black cat indoors to live with me but wasn't sure if the cat would come into the bldg. with me. This nice woman told me that she would help me get the cat into my apartment that Friday after she came home from work. I had gone out and bought a litter box and dry food and she gave me a lot of canned cat food. That Friday we were able to get the cat into my apartment yet it was very scared. When I awoke the next morning I couldn't find the cat anywhere in my apartment. I called the woman, Paulette, who helped me get the cat into my apartment the night before and she told me to look everywhere because scared cats like to hide. After looking all around a 2nd time, I found it behind one of my dressers, still and scared. I had asked a vet to come over to check the cat out and make sure it was healthy and give it any shots it may need. The vet told me everything was fine except for some ear mites which would clear up quickly with some ear drop medication he gave me. Then he asked me what the cat's name was. I told him "Lucy". The vet looked at me a little strangely and asked me if I knew the cat was not a girl but a boy! I told him that Paulette told me it was a girl and would let him know the name later. A few minutes later I looked at the cat and immediately named him Henry. I called Paulette and told her that the cat was a boy and I named him Henry and she and her roommate were Henry's Godmothers. She was so happy and they both were glad to be Henry's Godmothers. Read the rest of the story here   Read more stories and poems here ______________________________________________ 5.. Article - Cat Flu If you have never seen a cat with cat flu then count yourself lucky. Most of our cats have always been vaccinated and have never caught the flu, but because Little Mo came from an animal shelter, we did not know her previous history and she caught the flu soon after we re-homed her. It really was sad to see, she didn't eat or drink for days. She could hardly walk and it was pitiful to hear her croaky almost silent mew. Cat Flu is the common name given to a group of viruses, which affect the upper respiratory tract in cats. Healthy cats are normally able to cope with the illness and it is not usually fatal, but it can be much nastier and dangerous to kittens and cats with a weaken immune system. Anyway we all know how unpleasant the flu can be in ourselves, so it is something that we should try and protect our pets from catching it in the first place. What is cat flu and how is it spread? The illness itself is normally caused by the Feline Herpes Virus – 1 (FHV-1) or Feline Calicivirus (FCV). The disease affects the eyes, nose, mouth and windpipe. In severe cases it may even spread to the lungs and bronchi. The viruses are spread much in the same way as human colds. Via sneezing and contact with the discharges. It can also be spread via cat food bowls, grooming brushes and bedding. In fact because some of the viruses can live for a short while outside of the cats body in the environment, it is a good idea to thoroughly clean the home environment. The use of household bleach mixed with water is advisable on washable items. Cats infected with the flu should be kept separate from other animals to prevent spreading the disease and although humans cannot catch the disease from them, we may help spread it from one animal via our hands. It is important that we do not handle the sick cat often and always thoroughly wash our hands when we do. Read the rest of this article here