Dear FixNation Friend,

Homeless cats need your help! You may be wondering why your support is so urgently needed at this time. It’s simple: You can help end the suffering.

Right now, there are more than a million homeless cats and kittens living in Los Angeles, and 40,000 cats are killed in our city and county shelters each year.

FixNation is a nonprofit organization that fixes homeless cats as part of a Trap-Neuter-Return program or “TNR” for short. TNR means cats are fixed so they cannot breed and are then returned to live out their lives on the streets. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best we can do. If we do nothing, their numbers will grow and the killing will continue.

Our mission is to end this cycle of suffering by providing free spay/neuter surgery and basic medical care for L.A.’s stray and feral cats. Our clinic is the first of its kind in the nation, operating full-time and providing free services for homeless cats. We fix more than 17,000 cats each year. It costs $1.5M annually to deliver these services to cats in need.

You’ve shown how much you care about homeless cats. You don’t like any more than we do that innocent cats die every day in L.A. shelters. So we’re reaching out to you. Your gift will help reduce the number of homeless cats in Los Angeles, and in turn save cats’ lives.

Please make a generous gift to FixNation today. Your donation, no matter the size, will help us maintain our full-time veterinary clinic to help homeless cats. Please donate today.

Thank you, we appreciate all you do for the animals.

Sincerely,

Last week we had one very pretty, very pregnant momma cat who decided to deliver her kittens right there in the trap upon her arrival at our clinic!

First bit of good news, all five of the kittens came out healthy and strong. We then determined that momma cat was a friendly stray, which was the second bit of good news. She was very tame as can be and easy to handle, so the first-time trapper who had brought momma cat in decided to foster the new happy family until the kittens are big enough to wean and adopt out.

As a caregiver, if you ever find yourself in this situation, here are seven important things you need to remember when caring for a momma cat and her nursing newborns.

1) GIVE A GIRL SOME PRIVACY.

Momma cat and her babies should be set up in a room or area that is quiet and private, away from the hustle and bustle of the household. A spare bedroom or a bathroom works well, if you have the space. Taming cages also work, as do closets (if they are open and well ventilated). To make a bed for them, you can use a big basket bed, a medium-height cardboard box, or even an extra-large dog carrier. You’ll want enough room that mom can stretch out to nurse and edges high enough so that the babies don’t fall out. If the mom is feral or really skittish, you’ll probably want to keep her in a taming cage. The key is to make sure the area is private and clean. Keep the other animals in the household away from them. Also keep the area warm, as kittens can get chilled easily. If you put mom and her babies open in a spare bedroom, she may move her kittens around the room repeatedly. In the wild, this is how they protect them. Don’t worry too much about it; she will gather them all up to nurse.

2) FEED THE BEST QUALITY WET FOOD YOU CAN, AND LOTS OF FRESH WATER.

Momma cat will be doing most of the work, so you need to take good care of mom. She in turn will take care of the babies. Feed momma the best quality wet food you can; if you also feed dry, then leave some dry available for her. Mom needs lots of good quality wet food so that the babies get the best nourishment possible from her while they are in their growth phase. Kittens will nurse every 1-3 hours for the first three weeks. Only when they hit four or five weeks old will they be ready to start weaning off mom and onto wet food.

3) CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS.

You’ll want to use bedding material that is soft yet washable; towels and fleece blankets work great. Change linens daily, especially in the first few weeks. One trick is to layer several layers of towels on the bed, so that you can take the dirty layer off the top and have a fresh set underneath. Make sure to keep the bedding area dry and warm.

4) FLEA CONTROL IS NOT A LITTLE THING.

Kittens can quickly get flea anemia, so it’s really important to keep momma, kittens and the bedding area flea-free.Use a flea product such as Revolution, Advantage or Frontline on mom only. Do not use flea products on newborn kittens; it’s not safe as they are too young. Instead, if you see fleas on the kittens, you can bathe them using Dawn dishwashing liquid and use a small flea comb as needed to get the fleas off. Avoid antibacterial soaps. If you have to bathe kittens, make sure you dry them well and keep them warm as they can get chilled easily.

5) USE A NON-CLUMPING CLAY LITTER (LIKE JOHNNY CAT).

Initially, mom will be the only one using the litter box. Kittens won’t start using a litter box until about four weeks old. Until them, mom will just lick them to stimulate them to go to the bathroom and then she’ll lick them clean. It’s best to use a non-clumping litter such as Johnny Cat while the kittens are nursing. Clumping litter works by clumping as soon as it gets wet — this can be dangerous to kittens because if they ingest any, it can clump in their intestines. Johnny Cat is a safe, cheap option until the kittens are old enough to know not to eat the litter. Also, keep the litter box away from the food bowls as much as possible (although we know sometime’s it’s tight in a taming cage).

6) CLOSELY MONITOR EVERYONE’S PROGRESS.

If you don’t have a lot of experience with nursing moms and kittens, it’s a good idea to bring momma cat and babies in to see a vet at around 1-2 weeks to make sure everyone is doing well. It’s very important that kittens are gaining weight steadily, so you’ll need to monitor their progress week over week. You’ll also want to FeLV/FIV test momma cat, because that will give you an indication of whether the babies will have FeLV or FIV. Everyone should also be dewormed for hookworms, roundworms and tapeworms, and also vaccinated. Check with your vet about the deworming and vaccination schedules.

7) HANDLE THE KITTENS EARLY TO SOCIALIZE THEM.

You can safely handle the kittens at any age. Momma cat might get a little panicky, so be considerate of her, but she isn’t going to reject the babies just because you touched them. Handling the kittens will ensure they grow up very tame and social, which will make it easier for you to find great homes for them. Just make sure you wash your hands before and after handling the kittens.

Momma cats can be fixed once their babies are 5 weeks old. At that age, kittens are eating on their own and going to the bathroom on their own, so they can be away from mom for a day while she gets fixed. If mom is feral, when the kittens are 5 weeks old, that is the point when you can get mom spayed and release her right where you trapped her. Kittens can be safely fixed as soon a they hit 2-3 lbs., which is generally between 8-12 weeks.

For more information on caring for newborn kittens and what to expect during each week of their growth, see Kitten Rescue’s web post “Kitten Care Handbook: The Basics.”

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1. Proper Placement of Stations

Feeding stations should be discreet, low-profile and they should blend in with the immediate surroundings as much as possible. Try to keep them out of sight from the general public. Two reasons for this — first, cats won’t want to go to a high trafficked area to eat as they won’t feel safe, and secondly, this way it draws as little attention as possible to where the cats are getting fed, which affords them greater protection. If someone wants to harm the cats, it’s a lot harder for them to do that if they don’t know where you are feeding.

2. Constructing Your Feeding Station

There is nothing worse than having a big bowl of dry cat food that has been rained on – it turns to soggy mush and after about a day it can even get moldy. Cats won’t want to eat it and YOU will get stuck cleaning it! Feeding stations need to be waterproof.

Ideally, the feeding station you construct should be able to fit your bowls of food and at least one cat, so at a minimum one cat can eat at a time and that poor cat doesn’t have to eat out in the rain in inclement weather. Water bowls don’t necessarily have to be inside the feeding station, although it’s nice. If you can’t do a station that sizable because of the need for discretion, the bigger priority is to make sure the food stays dry and protected.

A slick and easy way to keep feeding stations dry is to take a large rectangular Rubbermaid storage bin, tip it on its side and put the food bowls in it. The bin serves double duty both as camouflage and it protects the food from the elements. If you get blustery rain where you live, you can take the lid to the storage bin and cut it length-wise and then put it back on the bin, so that the top half acts as an awning of sorts. Zip tie the lid in place. If you need to, you can even place the entire bin on a couple of wood boards or cement blocks so that it’s up off the ground and out of any puddles.

Depending on how many cats you’re feeding, an empty cat carrier with the door taken off can also be a waterproof feeding station. Your average medium size cat carrier can fit at least one if not two big bowls for food. Similarly, any sort of large plastic bin or wooden box with one side cut open will do. The most important factor is that it’s waterproof.

Dog houses may work, depending on your colony situation, but they aren’t always that great. If there is only one small entrance/exit – one cat might come in and startle another cat eating, which can be a recipe for a cat fight that will literally blow the roof off the house. Dog houses can make great feral cat shelters, but shelters are a little different from feeding stations. With feeding stations, you want to keep the station so that it’s relatively open and easily approachable by cats.

If you’re feeding by a fence or a wall, try propping up a piece of plywood against the fence in a “lean-to” sort of way, so that it offers shelter for the food bowls, plus it acts as camouflage. This works especially well if the lean-to is between bushes and a fence or wall, as the bushes help keep the lean-to in place.

Or you could rock it really cheap and easy: Use two cement blocks and plop a piece of plywood right on top in between, exactly the same way you built bookshelves back in college. Put the food bowls underneath the board in between the cement blocks and voilà, a cheap but effective feeding station.

3. Choosing the Right Feeding Dishes

You’ll want to choose an overall bowl style that will work best for your own situation. As a general rule, though, it’s important to select bowl colors that will blend in with the area where you’re feeding. If you’re feeding in an open, natural setting, choose earthy colors such as tans, greens, browns and blacks. A bright red bowl in a park or nature setting will stick out like a sore thumb and draw unnecessary attention. Go with muted and dark colors.

Plastics, metals and glassware are the most widely used materials. Heavy plastic bowls are versatile and easy to clean. Metal can retain heat or cold more than plastic, staying cool or staying hot longer. Use caution with glassware, since glass dishes can break and you don’t want broken glass around ferals. If you go with glassware, try Pyrex since it doesn’t break so easily.

Paper plates and paper bowls can be a cheap and easy option, but they aren’t water resistant like plastic and they tend to blow around as soon as they’re empty. If they are not picked up diligently, they can make an area look trashy. Use paper plates appropriately and sparingly.

Some people love using the plastic trays that you get frozen food in. These trays can be saved from your frozen dinners and reused for feeding cats, or you can buy them in bulk at places like Costco. These are better than paper plates in that they are waterproof, plus you don’t have to wash them, you just throw them away after one or two uses. However, because they are really lightweight, just like paper plates, these plastic trays can blow around and make an area look littered. Be diligent about picking them up. And better yet, recycle them.

Gravity dry-food dispensers are another feeding option. These can either work really well or not at all. Oftentimes, the food doesn’t always fall down on its own as it’s supposed to and it takes some jiggling to get it to fall. If these tip over or get water in their base, they can make a bit of a mess, too. These type of feeders seem to work best over shorter periods of time (i.e., weekends) or in parking lot feeding situations.

Brown paper bag trick — One great trick, especially in areas that you can’t get to daily, heavy urban areas or areas that may be slightly hostile to feeding cats — is the brown paper bag trick. Take a double bagged brown grocery bag and cut the bottom 4″ off, so you have a sort of “trough”. You can use that to hold your dry food. This is a lot less obvious than paper plates or bowls scattered around because at first glance, it looks innocuous, like trash. People don’t see it and immediately think that someone is feeding, like they do with a plate. Plus, it can hold a lot of food until you can get back to that feeding area again. One drawback is it can get wet. But for the dry spells here in SoCal, and especially in back alleys or urban settings, it works great.

4. Avoiding Ants

Ants can plague feral feeding stations. Most people find that “moat” bowls work well. This is where you have a large outer bowl filled with an inch or two of water and you put a smaller bowl inside it holding the food. A 9×13″ baking pan can work well as an outer bowl; fill it with an inch of water and then place in it almost any size inner bowl. Moat bowls can be easily homemade and are very inexpensive.

Ant-Free Feeders with Fitted Tents – Then there is our personal fave, the ant-free feeders with tents. These are the Cadillac of bowls! The colors are muted and natural, it’s a “moat” bowl system where the inner bowl clips in place (guaranteeing the bowls will stay put), they are made of hard plastic that is easy to clean, and they really hold a lot of food. What’s more, they have a custom vinyl tent that does an excellent job protecting the food from getting wet from any direction, while allowing cats to easily stick their heads in to feed. These bowls are a little pricier than the homemade options, but they are well worth it for any longer-term colony feeding stations.

5. The Art of Feeding

Make sure there is fresh water daily and that water bowls aren’t full of algae scum. In cold weather areas, you’ll need to keep the water from freezing solid. We don’t really have that problem so much in SoCal, so we defer to our NY friends to show us how it’s done (See Neighborhood Cats article “How to Prevent Water From Freezing“).

Dry food bowls should be free from debris like leaves and dirt. Every couple of days either swap out the bowls for fresh ones or thoroughly clean those bowls with soap and water before refilling them.

Keep the overall feeding station clean! This is often where people go wrong and why neighbors complain about people feeding cats. If there is food scattered everywhere, empty paper plates blowing around, empty Friskies cans scattered and dirty water bowls, this is not only going to be unhealthy for the cats, it will attract unnecessary attention to them as well. Trashy feeding stations are also more likely to attract various kinds of wildlife, like opossums, skunks and raccoons, which again are major causes for neighbors to complain. Keep a “clean-up” kit in your car that includes: Paper towels, disposable gloves, an extra jug of fresh water, wet wipes, doggie pick-up bags (you can use to clean up cat feces), an empty trash bag, dish soap, a flashlight and a small broom and dust pan.

Your best bet is to get into a cycle of feeding at the same time every day. Feed once a day, be it in the morning or evening. Ideally, it’s best to leave the food down for about 30 minutes or an hour, let the cats eat each in their own turn, and then to pick the food bowls up for the night so the remaining food doesn’t attract wildlife. We know that’s not always possible; sometimes you can’t get to a feeding station daily. Do your best to keep it clean, contained and discreet. Daybreak and dusk are the two best times to feed, as cats are up and active then.

6. Close Monitoring of Your Colony

After you feed, don’t race off! Plan to spend about 15 minutes observing what happens. Either sit in your car or watch from a short distance away. See who shows up, whether they are eartipped and what kind of shape they are in. If you are not already keeping a log of all of the cats in your colony, you should try to — jot down names, breeds, colors and descriptions, who you get fixed and when, etc.

Monitor how much food the cats are eating on a daily basis. That alone will give you an initial indication of how many cats you may be feeding, and you’ll know what is “normal” for that colony. If they are going through their food faster than normal, you may have a pregnant mom or some newcomers who have showed up. If they are eating less, you should try to do a headcount on the cats to see if they are all okay.

With the cats who do show up to eat, watch for health issues that could need medical attention. Watch for signs of mange. Look for URI signs like runny eyes or snotty noses and listen for sneezes. If a cat seems to be losing weight or if their coat seems matted or unkempt, like they aren’t grooming themselves well, it is likely an indication of illness and you should trap that cat and take him/her to a vet immediately.

7. Safety Always

Be safe. We can’t stress this enough. If you’re feeding in a sketch area, go at a time when there is the least amount of foot traffic and try to go during daylight — either at the crack of dawn or just before dusk. Keep a flashlight on you and always have a cell phone with you. If you go feeding alone, use a check in system with a buddy, particularly if it’s a dodgy area. Try to avoid feeding while strangers are milling about. If your regular feeding area seems to be getting compromised for any reason, try to gradually move the feeding station 10 feet at a time down to somewhere a bit safer – either away from traffic or from harmful people. Don’t ever put yourself in an unsafe situation just to feed.

A couple other thoughts on privacy — make sure you don’t show or discuss your feeding station with just anyone at random. You never know who might do what to the cats, and your ability to keep their space private and confidential means safety for the cats. That said, you should show at least one or two trusted friends the feeding station(s) so that you always have a backup. Due to health issues, vacations or simply life circumstances, you never know when you’ll need a backup who can cover the feeding for you for a while. This is all the more reason to have a log of who you’re feeding and where, in case someone needs to cover the feeding for you.

8. And the Most Important of All…Feeding AND Fixing!

Providing food, water and shelter for outdoor cats is important, but it’s also equally important to make sure all of the cats in the colony are spayed and neutered as quickly as possible, once you start feeding a colony. If not, your small colony will quickly quadruple in size in a short period of time. Spaying and neutering the cats will not only stop the cycles of kittens, it will eliminate the problematic behaviors such as howling, fighting and spraying. If you’re feeding, you’ve got to be fixing.

Bon appetit!

Other Resources:

FeralVilla – Maker of wooden platform feral feeding stations
The Outdoor Pet Feeder – Moat system ant-free feeding bowls and tented bowls
“The Mote” – Waterless moat-style ant-proof bowls
Raccoon-Free Feeding Stations – How to construct a feral feeding station that raccoons can’t reach
Feral’s Place – Insulated Outdoor Cat Shelters and Feeding Stations
Photo examples of feeding stations and feeding platforms

It was my husband who first informed me that there was a “scraggly-looking cat” outside our door early one morning. I immediately ran outside and there he was. A sick, malnourished, skin and bones of a cat who was covered with scabs. It just broke my heart! He looked awful. I immediately gave him some food and water. Since he would let me pet him, scabs and all, I determined at that point that he was a sweet cat. He was not feral. He was a friendly stray who was lost, and had obviously been on the streets for a while.

I immediately emailed FixNation to see if I could bring him in for an appointment. Given the state of his affairs, they were kind enough to get me in the next day. So I scooped him up, put him in the carrier, brought him inside and then took him to FixNation the next morning.

When I picked him up from FixNation later that day, the staff informed me of his condition: Mange. They explained to me that while the mange was causing him to look incredibly scabby and swollen, mange is actually easily treated with medication (Revolution) and good nutrition. They asked me if I would be willing to nurse him back to health, to which I said certainly! He can recoup in my new, cheery, bright hot pink sewing room!!!

So I brought him home, and have since named him Prince Scrappy Cat. He has been my patient now for the last three weeks. What an incredible transformation I have witnessed. He is doing wonderfully! His scabs have healed, the swelling on his head has gone down and he has gained some weight (he has a voracious appetite). Every time I go into my sewing room, he cries out for me in this raspy, squeaky meow! He loves it when I sit on the floor with him. He snuggles onto my lap and purrs, and he does his happy paws and falls asleep.

I have no clue how he found me. I often joke that when cats are looking for food, they go on their little cat computer and my name is probably Googled in there somewhere as “Lover of Cats…free food at Melinda’s!” I think an angel was definitely looking over his shoulder, though. I wish he could tell me how he got like this, if only cats could talk, if only!

And now, the next step is to find him a forever home, so that Prince Scrappy Cat never has to be “scrapping” on the streets again!

If you are interested in adopting Prince Scrappy Cat, please email INFO@fixnation.org and we will connect you with Melinda.

A young couple, James O’Neel and Justine Hong, came in to FixNation recently for trap training classes. They had an orange tabby cat who needed to be TNR’d. This orange girl constantly hung out on the top of a concrete wall in between their condo yard and the yard next door. According to James and Justine, this orange kitty would not come down onto the ground for anything! They only ever saw her up on the wall. She was very skittish and very elusive.

While this Cirque du Soleil aerial scenario would present a tricky challenge for any trapper, the situation was compounded by the fact that this poor girl had a huge open wound on her side, what looked like a giant abscess that had gone south. James and Justine knew they needed to trap her immediately so they could get her the medical care she needed.

James and Justine devised an ingenious approach. They propped a big wooden door up on top of the concrete wall and secured it, which acted as a platform. They then positioned the trap up on the door/platform. They took the rear sliding door off the trap and began to feed inside the trap, slowing moving the food bowl back a day at a time, until the cat started feeling more secure about eating inside the trap. Finally the rear door was back on and the trap was set… and lo and behold they got their girl!

When this orange tabby cat came into FixNation for spay surgery, it looked almost like the entire side of her body was one big gaping wound, completely open and exposed. This poor pumpkin probably wouldn’t have made it much longer had she been left to fend for herself.

Our awesome FixNation vets shaved half her flank and stitched her entire side up, administered Convenia (a long-acting antibiotic) for the infection, and then orange tabby girl went back home with James and Justine later that day.

Orange tabby girl has now resumed her perch on the wall, and from the pictures we can see she is healing beautifully!

We love hearing the amazing success stories. Great job, James and Justine, for some smooth trapping work!  Time, patience, and persistence literally saved this cat’s life.

Early one morning, Charlie was transported to FixNation, along with ten other feral cats from our colony. We knew he was in bad shape just by looking at him. By mid-morning, we received a phone call from the FixNation staff. We were expecting to hear that Charlie may need to be humanely euthanized. Instead, much to our surprise and absolute delight, the amazing medical team at FixNation had called to say that the abnormality on Charlie’s head was not due to a tumor or growth as we had suspected, but instead was due to an extremely large, infected abscess that could be drained. They also informed us that his FeLV/FIV test had come back negative.

So while FixNation cautioned us that there could be no guarantees, as Charlie was extremely weak and thin, they said they would try to drain the abscess, remove the maggot eggs and suture his head. With that done, along with the usual neutering, vaccinating, flea treatment, and administering of fluids, pain meds and antibiotics, Charlie was on his way to a foster home for follow-up care and monitoring. We could not believe that this cat would have a second chance for life – all thanks to FixNation!

The following few weeks were quite challenging for all involved. Charlie repeatedly tore open both the cone around his neck and the sutures on his head. Each time, FixNation graciously took him in for repeat surgery and stitched and stapled him back up. Much to our relief, the third time was the charm, and slowly, Charlie’s head wound began to heal.

Charlie was not a very cooperative patient, to say the least, and he would attack and bite all who dared place food or medicine in his cage. And reaching in to clean his litter box became a three-person job! Clearly, the ordeal and physical pain he had been through had left him scared, confused and ready to protect himself.  But slowly, as his head began to heal, he started putting on weight, and he started acting calmer. Now, the only remnants left of his illness are slight neurological symptoms and a surgery-scar running down his head.

As he began to feel better and better, we realized that this was no feral cat! Charlie was a spirited tame cat, who undoubtedly had lived with humans at some point in his past. When released from the taming cage, he began rubbing himself against our legs and chirping. Although he would still attack our legs when we would try to leave the room, we realized that we could slowly teach him the “correct” way to interact with humans. Underneath his aggressive, tough-guy persona was a very sweet loving boy. Soon after, we even discovered that Charlie was the ultimate “Papa Bear,” as he would lovingly groom and nurture each and every kitten in his foster home!

Several months later, on a beautiful winter day, a wonderful woman who was looking to adopt a cat came in to visit one of the kittens Charlie had raised, but instead fell in love with Charlie himself. It was clearly love at first sight for both human and feline. The depth of the bond and connection between them was undeniable, and it now appeared that Charlie’s life would be taking yet another wonderful turn.

Charlie is currently spending his last weeks in foster care, waiting for his adopter to return from an overseas trip so that they can begin their new life together. Charlie will soon have his very own home and family, and will be cared for and loved the way every cat deserves to be.

This miracle would never have been possible without FixNation. A gravely ill, abandoned tame cat, living under cars, at the brink of death, with no hope, has been transformed into a robust, healthy, happy cat. If not for FixNation, Charlie would not be here today, and would never have had a chance to experience the joys of having his own doting human!

FixNation gave Charlie a second chance for life. And for that, we are all endlessly grateful!

Sincerely,

Minoo Rahbar

Mange is caused by a parasite, or a very small bug. These parasites actually live and feed on the cat, who acts as a “host”. The mites either live topically on the cat or they burrow under the skin.

Mange generally strikes the old and the young the hardest, although cats of all ages can get it. Mange is contagious to other animals and opportunistically to humans. Animals in poor health and with poor diet are more susceptible to it and symptoms can be more exacerbated.

Most common types of mange:

The two most common types of mange found in cats, especially stray and homeless cats, are:

Otodectic mange – This is otherwise known as ear mites. These are tiny, crab-like bugs that live and feed on top of the cat’s skin, mainly in the ear canals. When cats have ear mites, you’ll notice red, inflamed ears, the inner ears will look very dirty and you may notice an abnormal odor. You’ll notice the cat shaking his head and rubbing at his ears a lot. Sometimes the ears will even get a crusty, black discharge or may be a bit weepy from secondary infections due to the mites.

Ear mites are highly contagious between cats and also to other kinds of pets. They can quickly spread between cats, dogs, rabbits and ferrets.

Notoedric mange – This type of mite burrows into the cat’s skin to live and lay eggs there. When those eggs hatch, the cycle repeats itself and the new mites continue to tunnel under the cat’s skin. The cat loses hair and the skin becomes crusty and sore. Most often you will see flaky, scabby skin starting on the head and ears, and then spreading to the armpits, legs and body. If the mange gets bad enough, the cat’s forehead and eyes can become swollen so that the cat looks like “cro-magnon” kitty. The cat will have severe itching (technically called pruritis), patchy hair loss and possibly some inflamed bumps similar to chicken pox.

Notoedric mange is highly contagious between cats. In dogs, it will normally show up as sarcoptic mange instead. It can actually spread to humans, although it cannot live for long on a human as we are not their natural “host”. If it does get on you, it will cause redness and some bumps like a rash, with minor itching, and then it should go away on its own in a couple of days.

Other more rare types of mange in cats:

Sarcoptic mange – This type of mange is mostly found in dogs, and only rarely in cats.

Demodectic mange – This type of mange can cause small, inflamed red patches of skin.

Cheyletiella mange – This is also known as “walking dandruff” in cats because you can actually see the large red mites moving quickly on the surface of the cat’s skin. It’s very rare in cats.

Diagnosing mange:

To fully diagnose mange, a veterinarian will scrape the skin and then examine the skin sample under the microscope, to determine what type of mange the cat has.

Treating mange:

Notoedric and otodectic mange are generally treated with an Ivermectin based drug. At FixNation, we use Revolution, applied topically to the back of the cat’s neck. You may be familiar that Revolution treats fleas, but it will also treat mange, ear mites, it will treat hookworms and roundworms in the stomach, plus it’s a heartworm protection, for up to 30 days.

If the notoedric mange is severe enough, the cat may need follow up treatments of Ivermectin injections or Revolution at weekly or bi-weekly intervals for 4-6 weeks. In serious cases, a vet may choose to use cortisone to help the itching, or possibly prescribe antibiotics to treat any secondary infections.

In the case of ear mites, in addition to the Revolution, the ears will also be cleaned out with a solution and the cat may be prescribed an antibiotic to treat any secondary infections.

Preventing the spread of mange:

When you are trapping feral cats, make sure to wash traps between use and spray with a bleach/water solution. Also, launder the trap covers between use. Make sure to line traps with fresh newspaper, and keep fresh newspaper on the floor under the trap when you hold the cats overnight. Clean the bottom of any hard flat surfaces that you set the traps on, or if you’re using newspaper then change the newspaper, before placing another trap on that surface.

For indoor pets, mange is most concentrated in bedding and in areas where the cats often hang out, so make sure to launder their bedding daily while they are being treated. If one cat in your household has mange, all of them should be treated with a preventative like Revolution, as it can spread quickly between them.

Sources and additional info:

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/72005.htm

http://www.mangeincats.com

http://www.earmitesincats.com

Lisa dropped the cat off at FixNation on her appointment day, and by late morning, the FixNation staff called Lisa informing her that the cat was already microchipped!

FixNation tried to contacting the owner but to no avail. So at the end of the day, Lisa picked her up and took her home to foster. Three more days passed when low and behold, her original owner had got the message and returned the call.

Turns out the kitty’s name is “Lula” and she belonged to a teenage girl. Lula had gotten out accidentally and had been lost for over one year! The little girl had been absolutely heartbroken. Lisa happily took her back to her home in Granada Hills to reunite the family. Lula had been lost in Woodland Hills and she was found in Canoga Park, about three miles from home.

We love the happy endings! Yet another reason to make sure all of your pets are microchipped, as you never know what can happen in life.

If you need your pet microchipped, visit one of our low-cost vaccine clinics which are held the first Saturday of every month, 9am-12 noon. Walk in’s welcome. Click here for more info.