Tummy Tuesdays

A bit of red Somali kitten tummy for Tummy Tuesday! How cute is that?
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If you haven't already stopped by, go visit this week's Carnival of the Cats at Scriblings.

PSA

Was your pet affected by the Menu Foods tainted pet foods? If so, you may want to join in the class action suit filed against Menu Foods.
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P.S. -- Whatever you do, don't do this. That's disgusting. Stupid, too.

Oooooooooh!

The Chicago Tribune has a piece on an Italian tour for cat lovers:

Going astray in Italy on a tour for cat lovers

By Mim Swartz
Universal Press Syndicate
Published March 25, 2007

Marco, a large brown tabby cat, stately sits on his haunches outside Venice's Ospedale Civile, welcoming all who come to visit loved ones at this hospital. Is that a smirk on his face, or do I imagine a smug smile when I notice a sign on the door showing a dog in a circle with the slash symbol through it?

Marco is the hospital's official greeter. "It gives people hope when they see him," says Gabriella Sanna, secretary of Dingo, a non-profit organization that helps care for some 500 stray cats in Venice and its islands.

Venice is but one Italian city where numerous gattare (cat ladies) take care of homeless felines and is the first stop on our 12-day "Cats and Culture" tour from Venice to Rome in October's perfect weather.

Venetians' affection for cats dates back centuries because of the feline affinity for rodents. Special Venetian cats even were bred in the 13th Century to go after rats carrying the black plague.

About 40 cats -- gatti, in Italian -- live at Venice's main hospital, which dates from the 15th Century. "The hospital has many mice, so the cats are welcome here," Sanna says.

We start to go inside and I hear a "meow." It's not Marco. I look around. "Oh, that's my camera," says Tammy Greer of Denver, who had just switched on her Pentax. "I bought a new digital camera for this trip, and that sound was one of the options. I thought it would be fun to set it on meow."

How weird is that? And how weird are we? Most of our friends think we are slightly nuts: 10 American women and one spouse, each shelling out $4,000 or more to travel thousands of miles to look at abandoned and stray cats in Italy. Some participants left behind husbands and boyfriends because this wasn't their kind of trip.

We are "ailurophiles," people who are fond of cats. We own almost 50 cats among us, including the 19 cats Donna Stanley has at her Hayward, Calif., home. Even our Italian tour guide, Silvana Sirotic, is a cat person. She has nine cats and has helped neuter 40 strays in the town outside Rome where she lives.

Halfway through the trip, Stanley makes a profound observation: "It's funny. We're 3,000 miles from home, but it seems like we're with family."

Holly Wilson Greene of San Leandro, Calif., is here because she wants to see more of Italy and says if cats are involved, "all the better."

"Besides, I thought maybe I could find a young 'broken' Italian cat, one I could adopt. Two years ago I brought a young blind cat to California from Madrid. I thought another European cat might understand my Spanish guy better than my other broken American cats," says Greene, who has worked in sports medicine and now is studying to become an animal massage therapist.

Greer -- the one with the meow camera -- had never been to Italy.

"Friends laughed and said there probably would be a bunch of crazy cat people on the tour," Greer says. "I wouldn't want to go on a normal tour, with couples and a big bus. I thought this would have a whole different aspect and that I would see things you normally wouldn't see."

Perhaps we are crazy cat people, some of us wearing cat socks, cat earrings and cat nightshirts and carrying luggage with cat I.D. tags. We bring toys and holistic antibiotics for the cats we visit. Of course, we have cat T-shirts: "Books. Cats. Life is good" and "If you can't talk to your cat about catnip, who will?"

And along the way, we buy even more cat stuff: ceramic wall plaques that facetiously warn, "Attenti al Gatto" ("Beware of the Cat"), and a large, can't-live-without tapestry handbag with the face of a cat complete with beaded whiskers.

True, most people don't go to Italy for cats. They go for food, wine, art history and churches. Not that we don't like food (or wine). We set out on a search for the best Italian ice cream and, by the third day, someone suggests the tour's name be changed to "Giatti, Gelato and Culture."

Plus, we do see lots of art and churches along the way -- in magical Venice, with its canals and gondolas; in Padua, home of Europe's second-oldest university; in Florence, the picturesque jewel of Tuscany; in medieval Arezzo, with its Etruscan ruins; in cliff-top Orvieto, reached by elevator, an Italian version of Greece's Santorini without the sea; and in Rome, where some of us catch a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI celebrating mass in St. Peter's Basilica for a cardinal who had died.

But back to cats. It's not that we can't find strays in our own cities. However, Italy's attitude toward cats is intriguing, with its 1991 law making it illegal to kill healthy stray cats and dogs. Feral and stray cats have the right to remain "free living" and they cannot be removed from the places they have chosen to live.

Elsewhere, sanctuaries have been set up to care for abandoned cats, sometimes dumped when their owners go on vacation, or when a competing baby is born into the family, or when the owners die or become too old to look after their pets.

So, whose idea is this crazy cat tour? Susan Wheeler of San Francisco organized the first tour in 2004 and plans another this October. Wheeler became involved with the respected Torre Argentina cat sanctuary when she lived in Rome in the 1990s and later formed Friends of Roman Cats in San Francisco, of which she is president.

The organization provides money to help spay and neuter homeless Italian cats and sends humane cat traps to Italy that are used to catch homeless cats for spay/neuter. The group also hopes to promote in the United States the no-kill policy and Italy's acceptance of cats.

Acceptance is what we find at the cat places we visit.

"It is wonderful to see people who love cats," says 82-year-old Adela Petrucci, who takes care of the dozen or so cats that live among the tombstones in the cemetery behind the Church of San Miniato a Monte in Florence. "Everyone loves dogs, but it takes a special person to love a cat."

While the cemetery cats roam freely, those in the sanctuaries are more restricted, although they have varying degrees of spaciousness. Some facilities are better than others, but each has caring volunteers, although not enough to give the cats the attention they demand. The most modern is Cinni Rifugio Per Gatti outside Arezzo, where Anglo-Italian vet Dr. Malcolm Holliday spent 14 years and about $500,000 of his own money building this sanctuary.

We get teary-eyed at places like the Dingo sanctuary on Venice's Lido island, where a black-and-white cat plays -- and wants to stay -- inside a carrying case that is being readied for another cat a couple is adopting, and at the Bagno a Ripoli sanctuary in the Tuscan countryside outside Florence, where the entrance sign reads, in Italian, "In memory of Titta and all other cats with no names and with no love."

We have laughs in the Boboli Gardens behind Pitti Palace in Florence, when we follow Tea Vianllo on her cat-feeding rounds, which she has done since 1985. She knows where each cat hides.

She lugs backpacks filled with various food for the 70 stray cats, sometimes cooking special dishes to cater to their whims. She pours them bottled water, of course. Our final cat sanctuary in Rome, Torre Argentina, gives preference to cats that are sick, old or disabled when accepting new animals or promoting adoptions.

Some 250 cats have found refuge from Rome's chaos and traffic below street level among the ruins of four temples, dating from the 4th to 1st Centuries B.C. This also is the site where it is believed Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in 44 B.C.

The shelter is in a cavelike building next to the ruins. It is here where Holly Greene finds Belfagor, a blind cat -- one of several -- and a potential companion for her "Spanish guy."

"I hope to go back to Rome this spring and get him," she says. "The tour turned out to be better than all my expectations. I would do it again, regardless of the cost."

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IF YOU GO



THE TOUR

Friends of Roman Cats plans another "Cats and Culture" tour in October. The date and price are not yet set.

Our tour, last Oct. 5-17, cost $2,825 each, not including airfare, plus a $110-per-person tax-deductible donation to Friends of Roman Cats, which was distributed to the cat sanctuaries we visited. (The sanctuaries get little, if any, funding from government entities.) The hotels were three-star and very nice. Some meals are included; gratuities to the Italian guide, bus driver and local guides in various cities are not included.

Contact Susan Wheeler, president of Friends of Roman Cats, Box 12571, San Francisco, CA 94112; 415-334- 8036.

To see the 2006 itinerary, go to www.friendsofromancats .org.

Some of the cat organizations in Italy have Web sites:

Torre Argentina cat sanctuary in Rome: www.romancats .com.

Pyramid cat shelter in Rome: www.igattidellapiramide.it.

-- M.S.

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

Tempting! Very tempting.

Friday Cat Blogging

Top 10 finalists getting their rosettes signed by Judge Mary Auth.

Cat-tested and approved cat trees for sale!

Breathtakingly beautiful!
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Don't forget to stop by...

• the Friday Ark at the Modulator;
• the Carnival of the Cats, hosted by Scribblings this Sunday evening;
• Weekend Cat Blogging at I Got Two Shoes; and,
• the Cat Blogosphere.

PSA

Aloysious reports that seventy-two more pets have died from tainted pet food.

The cause is poison. There's more info here.

If you feed a sliced food in gravy to your cat or dog and you haven't already gone to the Menu Foods website to make sure the stuff on your shelf is not affected, do it right now.

Here's more info, received in an email from the CEO of PetSmart:

Dear Valued PetSmart customer:

As you have probably heard, Menu Foods, a national manufacturer of pet foods, issued a voluntary recall of canned and pouched wet dog and cat food manufactured in two of its facilities between December 2006 and March 2007. Again, this is a recall of a specific type of wet pet food made by Menu Foods. Other wet pet foods and all dry pet food and treats are not impacted by this recall.

Menu Foods initiated the recall after receiving reports that some of its foods may be the cause of reported illnesses and kidney failure in dogs and cats. Menu Foods distributes these products to supermarkets, mass merchandisers and pet specialty stores, including PetSmart®, under a variety of brand names.

Click here to see a complete list of PetSmart products that are part of the recall, as well as their respective UPCs (also referred to as the bar code). The bar code can be found on the product label; the UPC is under the series of bars. As a reminder, the items listed are the only items that PetSmart carries that have been affected by the recall.

In the meantime, we have pulled all recalled products from our store shelves and have a process in place to help ensure they're not restocked or distributed in any way. The brands and products currently on our shelves are considered safe.

If you have purchased any of the recalled items, you should discontinue use immediately. We recommend you contact your vet if you have any concerns that your pet may have been affected. Symptoms may include:

1. Vomiting (this is usually the first sign)
2. Refusal to eat
3. Fatigue
4. Abnormal increase in water consumption
5. Abnormal increase in urination

If you're interested in finding out more about what kinds of tests vets recommend to make a diagnosis, click here.

Additionally, if you are looking for a recommendation for your unique pet food needs, please visit our Smart Nutrition Selector on our website. Or, if you need additional assistance while in the store, feel free to ask an associate. If you know of any other pet parents that are in search of more information, please share this with them.

If you have food that is a part of the recall, you can bring it back to PetSmart for a complete refund. Or, we'll exchange your items with any dry food or alternative canned or foiled pouched wet foods that we have in stock.

Please remember, this recall affects only specific wet pet food items. All dry pet food and treats are not impacted by this recall.

We also encourage customers with concerns or questions to contact any of the companies listed below:

Authority – 1-866-738-7375
Award – 1-866-738-7375
Eukanuba – 1-800-882-1591 (www.eukanuba.com)
Grreat Choice – 1-866-738-7375
Hills/Science Diet – 1-800-445-5777 (www.hillspet.com)
Iams – 1-800-882-1591 (www.iams.com)
Menu Foods – 1-866-463-6738 (www.menufoods.com)
Mighty Dog – 1-800-778-7462 (www.purina.com)
Mixables – 1-303-768-8400 (www.varietypetfoods.com)
Nutro – 1-800-833-5330 (www.nutroproducts.com)
Sophisticat – 1-866-738-7375

At PetSmart, we're very concerned pet parents too, and we will do everything in our power to help. Please visit PetSmart.com for the most up-to-date information. If you have any additional questions about the Menu Foods recall, please call our Customer Service line at 1-866-738-7375.

Sincerely,

Philip L. Francis
Chairman & CEO, PetSmart, Inc.

What a mess.

PSA

If you are a dog or cat owner, please stop and read this important dog food/cat food recall announcement.

Dogs and cats are dying from this. Don't let this happen to your animal because you didn't take a few seconds to read on!

Here's the AP article that came out Saturday:

Dog, Cat Food Recalled After Pet Deaths

Saturday March 17, 7:32 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major manufacturer of pet foods sold throughout North America under dozens of store names is recalling millions of containers of its products while working to determine what caused kidney failure and some deaths of cats and dogs.

Menu Foods said Saturday it is recalling dog food sold under 46 brands and cat food sold under 37 brands and distributed throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The pet foods were sold by major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway.

A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates is available from the Menu Foods website, . Consumers with questions can also call (866) 895-2708. http://www.menufoods.com/recall

"At this juncture, we're not 100 percent sure what's happened," said Paul Henderson, the company's president and chief executive officer. However, the recalled products were made using wheat gluten purchased from a new supplier, since dropped for another source, spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.

An unknown number of cats and dogs suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, Menu Foods said in announcing the North American recall. Product testing has not revealed a link explaining the reported cases of illness and death, the company said.

The recall covers the company's "cuts and gravy" style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches between Dec. 3 and March 6.

The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Co., Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc., among others, Henderson said.

The company said it makes pet food for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers. It is also a contract manufacturer for the top branded pet food companies, including Procter & Gamble Co.

P&G announced Friday the recall of specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch cat and dog wet food products made by Menu Foods but sold under the Iams and Eukanuba brands. The recalled products bear the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, P&G said.

Menu Foods' three U.S. and one Canadian factory produce more than 1 billion containers of wet pet food a year. The recall covers pet food made at company plants in Emporia, Kan., and Pennsauken, N.J., Henderson said.

Henderson said the company received an undisclosed number of owner complaints of vomiting and kidney failure in dogs and cats after they had been fed its products. It has tested its products but not found a cause for the sickness.

"To date, the tests have not indicated any problems with the product," Henderson said.

The company alerted the Food and Drug Administration, which already has inspectors in one of the two plants, Henderson said.

Menu Foods is majority owned by the Menu Foods Income Fund, based in Ontario, Canada.

Henderson said the recall would cost the company the Canadian equivalent of $26 million to $34 million.

Yikes!

Breed Booths

One of my favorite parts of this show is that there are breed booths where you can get lots of information on a wide variety of breeds. Here are just a few from the 2007 show:

Burmese

Siamese

Egyptian Mau

Cornish Rex

I think the coolest part of the breed booths is that you can actually touch the cats -- not necessarily true of other cats in the show. And you can ask any dumb question you want. People who opt to do a breed booth really do want to educate you!