Advice for all cat owners....
As you will have all noticed over the last few weeks, the number of cats going missing is ridiculous! I don't think there is anything sinister behind the disappearances other then that there are more cat owners in Qatar therefore more cats to wander off.
PLEASE is you own a cat, use basic measures to ensure if your cat does wander off, it is returned to you safely. The following tips apply to ALL cats, even if yours is a house cat. Accidents happen, doors and windows are left open, and house cats are more likey to get lost if they get out of the house then cats that know their area well.
1. Put a collar on your cat. This is the first thing that will identify that the cat walking along the road is a pet and not a stray.
2. Have an ID tag. There are several types of ID tag and are all as effective as each other. Engraved metal tags are available at the Veterinary Surgery and can have your cats name and your telephone number on it. Plastic discs can be found in some of the supermarkets (the Centre) and your phone number can be written on. There are also metal tubes available that unscrew and have pieces of paper inside which you can write contact details on. All of these are cheap and effective. Anyone who finds your cat can easily call you and return him/her quickly.
3. Micro-chip. For QR350 you can have a permanent micro-chip placed under the skin of your cat. Each chip has a unique number and when scanned, can be put into a data base and the owner's details are shown. These are great for cats as some learn to slip their collars. The contact information stored in the chip database can be updated whenever you get a new phone and will last for life.
4. Keep recent photos of your cat. These will be useful should your cat ever go missing as they can be sent to QAWS, the vet surgeries and put up in the supermarkets to alert people that your cat has wandered away from your house.
5. Neuter your pet. As silly as it sounds, the majority of cats will get lost whilst looking for a mate. Un-neutered Tom cats will walk miles to find a female whilst an un-neutered female will use every trick in the book to escape your house when in heat.
Although Qatar Living is a great way to advertise a lost pet, please remember to also contact QAWS and the veterinary surgeries with photos of your pet. Whenever a new animal is found on the streets, the lost pet photos are always checked to see if we have been contacted before and if not, the animal is scanned for a microchip.
None of these tips are expensive or time-consuming and could be the difference between having your pet returned safely or not.
We normally say 5-6 months for neutering. It's possible to do from 3 months but on a female it's quite a huge operation and it's best to wait til they are 5-6 months so that they are that little bit bigger for recovery.
If your cat is small for her age then wait til she is 6-7 months!
www.qaws.org
Chelsea thanks for the Tips.
When do you think is the best age to get the Cat spayed. The kitten we took from the Shelter on 14.02 is coming to just over 5 months now. What would you advise.
Thanks
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HE WHO DARES WINS
this is great info :)
Wow!!! This site is great. Am really impressed, never expected this in Qatar.
Calling them tomorrow.
Thanks!
Send a PM to Chelsea She is QAWS The voluntary body looking after strays and abandoned pets.
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Hello,
Am looking for an indoor female cat. Doesn't have to be special breed.
Contact me on 68 78 300
C.
topcat....Far out old memories
Simply writing your phone number in permanent pen on your cats collar is another way of giving your cat's finder a way to contact you. Especially good if your cat has a habit of taking their tags off!
www.qaws.org
Situations like these are hard as legally there are no regulations or guidelines to follow regarding having a pet.
The only thing you can do is go over and try to talk to them. Explain that cats aren't supposed to live in rabbit hutches and that they should be living in the house with the family.
Even printing some sheets off the internet about cat care may help.
www.qaws.org
There is a cat over the road from us, kept in a rabbit hutch. When their garage door is open, and we are on our way out, the husband has to physically restrain me from charging over. But it is a local family who may not understand the mad brit telling them to let the cat out.
Tips on how to approach them?
Maybe all the cats are hanging around our house, there are 7 at least that hang around the dumpster over the road, it's like an episode of Topcat.
I get what you mean Tallg, and I agree for the most part. Cats that have been living outside who are then forced to live inside would have a desire to return to the outdoors, and would find being cooped up indoors intolerable. Cats born and raised indoors sometimes find the outdoors daunting and seem to have some weird feline agoraphobia, and crave the safety and security of their home (in my opinion).
It's similar to birds. Pet birds often hate to be out of their cage, since they feel vulnerable and threatened to be away from their home. Birds that have been raised in cages are, often, much happier to remain in their cages than to be given freedom to fly away.
Well I'm not a fan of birds being bred as pets and kept in cages either!
cynbob - yes, I'm sure a cat that's kept indoors from birth will be perfectly happy, as it's all they know and over time their natural instincts become suppressed as they're unable to act on them. And I never said it would affect their health.
When I say I think it's cruel, I didn't mean that the cat becomes mentally tortured and upset or whatever. They don't have the mental capacity for that. Perhaps cruel is the wrong word.
For what it's worth, if I had a cat in Qatar I wouldn't let it outside. That's why I don't have a cat here.
And as I said before, regardless of whether your cat is allowed outside or not, you should still follow all of the above tips in case they ever do get out and go exploring!
The difficult thing with indoor cats is that if they are let out by mistake they don't know their area, can't differentiate their home over all the others in their neighbourhood and they don't have any street sense when it comes to cars etc.
www.qaws.org
I find your comment about keeping a cat indoors as being cruel interesting. :(
My 12 year old cat is a happy, healthy indoor cat. I think that she would disagree with you. ;)
The Vets and the police all have micro-chip scanners and use them regularly!
The indoor/outdoor cat debate is a difficult one and there is no right answer.
Personally, and this is in Qatar only, I think that purebred or desirable cats (persians, siamese, long-haired) should be kept inside as they are very tempting to some people. Unfortunately we live in a country with very little respect for animals and there are some people that see a cat they like and will take them home. We've had this happen on several occasions over the years and if your cat's not micro-chipped it's difficult to prove it beongs to you.
However the majority of cats are fine to go outside. Cat flaps are a great way to give your cat some freedom but let them come and go as they please. Obviously cats in apartments are different and should be kept inside unless they have permanent access inside.
I don't think it's a good idea to put your cat outside and lock it out. If you do want a cat that can go outside, make sure there is always access into your house or maids room where they can come for a/c, water and shelter as they need to.
We do recommend, however that when you have a new cat, it should be kept inside for a minimum of 2 weeks before slowly introducing it to the outside. Kittens shouldn't be outside unless supervised by someone.
www.qaws.org
Fair enough, that's your choice. I'd say that keeping a cat indoors all the time is terribly cruel, but as I said before that's just my opinion.
It's also cruel to let you cat be run over by the crazy driver's here. My experience on having 1/2 indoor 1/2 outdoor cats is that the outside world is terribly cruel to cats. If I ever have another cat it would solely be an indoor cat.
A cat has certain instincts that are built into it's genetic make up. In my opinion it's cruel to suppress these instincts by keeping them inside. That's just my opinion though.
Don't you worry that the cat will kill the local wildlife? My past cats used to be allowed out during the day, but only with bells on (cos they were excited...) to stop them catching birds, lizards, frogs etc.
I could never understand people who used to put their cat outside overnight. Heaven knows what the cats got up to in the still of the night.
I love cats, but love native fauna more.
Fair enough for a cat that's never been outside in its life. I guess I'm just used to the UK where most cats are free to go outside as they please.
Tallg,
My cat was born in my flat and has lived there ever since. She's *never* been outside. I don't think she knows what she's missing, so she's content (I think). She does enjoy sitting on the window sill waiting for the birds to come and eat the birdseed I leave out.
All of Chelsea's tips are fantastic, but I have heard of cases (very, very rare) of people on compounds deliberately and indiscriminately poisoning cats. Perhaps they are trying to kill strays and inadvertently killing housecats, I don't know. Perhaps kids with too much time, but in any case, just be aware that this has been known to happen. Try to always keep an eye on your cat and don't allow her/him to wander off.
brit - vets have microchip scanners, so if a lost pet is taken into the vets they can see who the owner is. Also, if you lose your pet and it turns up in a pet shop (as has happened before) the microchip provides a way of proving it's yours.
Maybe it's the country I'm from, but keeping a cat inside sounds wrong to me, perhaps bordering on cruel.
How timely, deedee.
I love cats, but I don't like it when they're pooping in our garden because my dog will eat it (as dogs tend to do) - and whoa does he stink when he does.
Also, I have a very sweet, docile dog but he has an incurable desire to chase cats. He caught one once but thankfully the cat was able to escape - I shudder to think what would happen if he caught one that was not so lucky.
Please, please keep your cat inside!
Good info. Curious about the micro chip. Does Qatar have facilities to scan the microchip or track ?
True Deedee, I learnt it the hard way.
AP
I would add one more:
PLEASE KEEP YOUR CAT INSIDE No one would let a dog loose to wander the neighborhood, or their child, why let your beloved cat.
Dear Chelsea,
Thanks for the advice- next time I have a cat I will certainly have it neutered- right now I can't think of having another one- just lost my cat 5 weeks back - you are quite right - lots of people are losing cats in Qatar these days - what is happening ?
AP
Very useful TIPS...!!
Thankz for sharing Chelsea...