HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

There is a site that has been brought to my attention that is All About Cats at Raisingwhiskers.com. It has various articles helpful to those who are potential cat owners and individuals that are already owned by cats.  Occasionally, sites with such a broad subject do not go to great depths to be complete about every little aspect about cats, but give you an overview  to entice you to continue your research.  I do encourage people to fully weigh all the pros and cons before looking for a pet.

I was surprised that there was a lot of interesting facts that I never knew, and I am going to file away in my brain.  Being that my brain is usually a receptacle for useless or trivial knowledge, I am sure I will be able to use it when there is a lull at a party.

Do you know that your cat’s hearing is more sensitive and powerful than dogs and humans? Humans can hear sounds within 20khz while cats can hear up to 65 khz. She can hear you coming from 100 feet away!

I always thought dogs had other domestic animals beat when it came to their hearing.  Very interesting!  Irregardless, dogs have cats beat in the nose department.

There are two things I would have liked to see on the site. There is a list of cat breeds, some I have never heard of before. I would have liked to see photos on that page.  However, it is enough information about the more exotic breeds to inspire me to research further so not necessarily a deficiency.  I have never heard of, for example, a Somali cat.  More importantly, the page on Cat Pregnancy had a statement that I found a little troubling.

Cat pregnancy is good news for cat owners. Now, you’ll have cute kittens walking around the house! However, pregnancy is a stressful time for cats and you need to take extra care for your beloved pet, so that everything goes well.

Cat pregnancy is something that is not particularly good for new cat owners, as they may be the least experienced with animal care.  Cats tend to be good at taking care of kitten birth, but complications can always happen endangering the life of a pet.  Moreover, the lure of cute kittens is one of the least legitimate reasons to breed an animal, as their small size is temporary.  Shelters across the country are filled with accidental kittens, and there are many ready for immediate adoption.  In fact, a local shelter euthanizes cats that have a sniffle or are not completely healthy as soon as they are relinquished. There is just not enough demand for cat and kitten adoptions to house them, and breeding cats deliberately adds to the number in shelters, or takes homes away from cats who would normally be rescued.  Cats that are fearful or too shy sometimes do not make it to be adopted either.   Some cats that are lucky enough to end up at a nokill shelter sometimes grow up and grow old waiting to be adopted as there are just so many.

On another page, the benefits of adopting kittens as pairs is touted. I was pleased to see this.

First of all, there are millions of cats, young and old, brought to animal shelters every year, and sadly millions of those poor souls are brought to their death because there are simply not enough people out there giving them homes. Saving the life of an animal is invaluable; saving two is doubly rewarding.

Perhaps the site is written by more than one individual.  Even so, I hope someday that they take a more cautionary approach site wide to the idea of cat breeding, to not only match up with the rest of the site, but to encourage cat owners to think twice for both the health of their individual cat, and other cats in the community who are fighting for a chance.

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