VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1

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We've all now heard the reasons why we should keep our cats indoors:  fleas, tapeworms, Feline Leukemia, Feline AIDS, ringworm (a fungus among us, and don't forget - it's transferable to humans), roundworm, heartworm (yes, cats can get it, too) ticks, rabies, coyotes, owls (yes, owls!), dogs, cars, rat poison, antifreeze, warm car

engines, cat-hating neighbors, and who knows what else happens to our beloved felines when they just disappear.

Now to my personal reasons.  My first cat was run over when I was six years old.  My second cat ran away from home when I was nine although we only moved three streets over and went back to our old home to try to find him.  My third cat ran away from home when I was 18 and she was eight when we moved about fifteen miles away although her son did not.  Of course, I'm only guessing at the last two.  Maybe they were run over, killed by dogs, poisoned, stolen . . . who knows?

When I bought my own home almost fifteen years ago and adopted two kittens, I never got rid of the litter box although I'd let them go in and out as they pleased when they were old enough.  I always kept them in at night, but pretty much let them out all day while I was at work, especially in the spring, summer, and fall.

Usually, they would be waiting for me when I arrived home from work.  A very few times, one or the other wouldn't be there.  I'd spend hours worrying, calling, looking.  Sometimes I'd find her just snoozing in the bushes, sometimes I'd anxiously open the door to go out to look again, and there she'd be, innocently waiting to be let in.

Since joining Folsom Feline Rescue (and picking up a few more cats on the way) and becoming educated on the issue though, I now keep all my cats indoors all the time except for the only one who still insists on going out.  (I won't tell you what this headstrong cat does to the house and me if I don't let him out.  Let's just say, it isn't pretty.)
Shasa is a fifteen pound, orange tabby who is almost seven years old. 

Let me now catalog his illnesses and injuries, none of which I believe he would have suffered if he would just stay indoors all the time instead of spending only a few nighttime hours inside.

These worrisome incidents occur once a year, regularly as clock work.  First it was an abscess on his foot probably caused by getting it caught in something, or maybe he was scratched or bitten by a stray cat.  My first hint came when he nonchalantly hopped in on three legs.  Vet visit plus antibiotics.

Next came a bladder infection.  He was off his food then, luckily, I noticed him straining in his litter box.  Vet visit plus antibiotics.

Next came another abscess.  This time on his chest.  Vet visit plus antibiotics.

Next came the strangest injury of all.  Shasa came in for dinner, approached his food hungrily, then pulled back as if stung.  I picked him up and studied him.  One look inside at his infected, swollen, and ragged tongue had me running for the phone.  Both my vet and I remain perplexed.   How on earth could a cat lose part of his tongue?  Vet visit plus antibiotics.

Next came his winter cold.  Nasal discharge plus he had so much mucus in his throat, he gagged.  Vet visit plus antibiotics.

(Continued on page 7)