B'Elanna Grove born Dec. 1st, 2004 Jadzia Grove born April 16, 2005
Felis Bengalensis is the Latin root for both the Tiger & the Leopard...
Bengals are descended from the Asian leopard cat...
A geneticist at University of California Davis was able to breed an Asian Leopard Cat with a feral male black cat who hung out at a zoo...
She then bred the next 3 generations with Abyssinians & Ocicats(it is a little more complicated than I am letting on),
to get a stable domestic hybrid called the Bengal Cat...It is the 5th generation that is stable enough to live with humans...
The whole thing happened because they wanted to study why the Asian leopard cat didn't get feline leukemia, but they were too wild to study...Turns out 2 reasons...
1)They hide when confronted or ill, instead of attacking (which is why Asian leopard cats didn't work at the zoo-they hid too well)
2)They have a shorter bowel tract so they poop alot(the less domestic an animal is, the more able it is to poop whenever it has to)...
The pictures are a little old, because frankly, since both cats are still intact, we can no longer get them to sit still long enough for a decent picture...
Yes, these bengal ladies still have their ovaries...Every day for 8 years now, they get 15 drops of Balance from Phytopet in their wet food...We order 12 x 100 ml bottles from Swallow Healthy Diet in England once a year, which costs us about 12 dollars per month...As long as they both eat their food, they stay out of heat...They both live indoors, & since they are both female, a breeding accident will not occur...
They also get a barbeque chicken from Longo's, chopped tiny, when it is on sale on Wednesday nights...A can of dolphin friendly tuna or salmon sometimes...
New:Sunday March 16, 2014: Petsmart is making their own food now...It is called Simply Nourish, it is grain free, we are feeding the chicken & turkey Adult cat food dry flavour, & our ladies love it! (I think Petsmart used the Innova recipe as a model, after last year's debacle when Innova food had salmonella in it-so petsmart decided to use the recipe but make sure it was fresh by making it in house...Anyway it is GREAT!)...
We sprinkle some of Ziwipeak's dry food(it's like beef jerky in little squares) on top of the Simply Nourish cat food dry Adult, for extra nutritional value & interest...
Update Dec. 17, 2013: Now they are eating ZIWIPEAK canned food (from Whole Foods market...made in New Zealand)...
They also get some chicken wings from the Crown & Dragon restaurant(Joseph's neighbourhood bar) & enjoy the occasional steak(Mum supplied the last one)...
We use Red Ribbon wild bird seed as cat litter...It is sold at Canadian Tire stores...It has no smell, is flushable, & is cheaper than cat litters...It also means that once we clean it out, we can reuse it to feed our neighbourhood pigeons, who have been getting fed once a week for many years now...By reusing the seed, we cut down significantly on garbage & plastic bags as well...
Kidneys: One of the first signs of kidney blockage is lack of poohing...Inappropriate peeing will happen too...This is your cat telling you she is not feeling well...This is what you cn do right away...Pour some of your home olive oil or canola oil or whatever cooking oil you use on the palm of your hand...Then go to your cat & rub your hand along her or his back...They will lick it off...The oil will lubricate their chassy & help them to pooh...You can save their kidneys this way...Plus a trip to the emergency room...
Fleas or ticks or other bugs: Take a bare garlic clove & pierce it in several places with your fingernail, so the juices can flow out...Then pat your cat with the garlic clove in your hand...Rubbing the garlic juices into their fur gets bugs to leave quickly...
Zodiak Flea spray for cats & dogs...We get ours at Wooftown in Toronto...You can spray it on your bed, you can spray it on your hand then rub it on your cat...It seems to be less dangerous than the other brands...
Life brand lice shampoo from Shoppers Drug Mart (ask the pharmacist for it)...This shampoo is good for yourself, but also it works if you just put some on your hand then pat your cat with it...You can leave it on, or wash it off...You can rub some on your pillows or wherever too(without washing it out)...
Human Roundworm, Pinworms, bedbugs, etc. : This stuff is SERIOUS...If you think you have fleas or bedbugs but they are still driving you crazy after two years or some other ridiculous amount of time, you may have RINGWORM or ROUNDWORM...The product is called COMBANTRIN the drug inside is pyrethrel pamoate (same as all the other stuff but this is oral), get it from the pharmacist at Shopper's Drug Mart at Yonge & Davenport (RAVI)...1 pill for every 25 lbs of your human body weight...Yes you need to take this yourself...Buy a pill splitter...Cut a pill in half...Half a pill is for 12.5 lbs of body weight...Crush that on a plate with the back of a spoon...Mix in some delicious wet cat food...Let your cat eat it...I am assuming your female cat weighs around 12.5 lbs...If your dog weighs 50 lbs. then two pills crushed in food...Do this to get your pet cleaned out...Worms are gross, painful, dangerous & can be fatal to both humans & pets...Human Roundworm is a CDC parasitic infection (emergency to the centre for disease control people)-people died in 2003 in NY & in 2009(Ny as well I think)...Often raccoons will have ringworm (the topical form) or Roundworm(the inside your stomach form)...They can take Combantrin too...(This is your vet won't prescribe stuff without you bringing your sick pet in in person & you don't want to stress them out further...) Dr. Paul McCutcheon is the HOLISTICPETVET.com (The Stress-Health connection is the book!)...
New: MOZI-Q at Mozi-q.com makes a pill that is homeopathic that makes lice hate you & your cats...You can give 1 pill for say like a 12.5 lb cat, or take like 8 pills a day yourself...(I get mine from www.WELL.CA)
Baths: A cat allergy is just an allergy to dirt...You'd be allergic to humans if they never took a bath! Our ladies get a bath every once in a while-if their dander is too fluffy, if they smell, if their bums are dirty & so on...
This is how we do it...Fill a bath about one third up with warm water & some sort of gentle shampoo...Ours get Paul Mitchell Special Tea Tree Oil shampoo because that is what mum uses...When bath is ready, approach cat with nothing in your mind...(They can read minds)...Pick up cat on either side of torso in a way they cannot scratch nor bite you...
Walk quickly to bathtub & put cat in...Holding cat now by scruff of the neck with one hand, as quickly as possible scrub bum, crotch, & do a once over of everything else...Face & ears are last...The entire thing should be faster than making toast...
You lose points if you get scratched or bitten...Wearing a tank top ensures there are no sleeves for cat to grab onto...Drying with a towel may not be possible as cat may just jump out soaking wet & run to hide under the bed...Later cat will tell you what a good idea a bath was...Don't worry, scratches heal pretty fast...
Homemade Dry Food-We've used the one called "Kitty Biscuits at the link below...Though I skipped the bran...My variation was just one pound of ground chicken, one box of baby oatmeal, & some (1/4 cup)olive oil...brown the meat then mix with the oatmeal & oil...Form that into tiny shapes then put on cookie sheets in a preheated oven at 250 degrees for 3 hours...Let cool & air dry for 24 hours...
http://www.nocans.com/cat-meat-treats.html
Nails: Our cats bite their own nails...No trimming necessary by humans...
Better cat food:We have found that the Wysong feline Uretic dry food is amazing, & they also really like(Thank God for goodness!)the Wysong feline/canine canned food in the turkey & beef flavours & we get both from Wooftown which is across the street from the Summerhill LCBO on Yonge, but tucked in a little bit on that sidestreet at the back of a parking lot in warehouse type(really nice place & people)store...(first time it's a journey, 2nd time you know where it is-they now offer grooming, dogs I think only for now, about $70 & I saw a "client" pooch come up happy & unstressed & flowing hair!)