Will You Make These Three Lethal Mistakes Before You Bring Your New Cat Home?

Bringing your new cat home can be fraught with dangers that many people don't realize. You can make mistakes that can be lethal both to your new cat and to the cats you already own even before you introduce your new cat to the household.

Mistake #1: Failing to provide your cat with her basic vaccinations. This can happen if you adopt your cat from a friend, pick up a stray, select a kitten from a litter, pick up one from a cattery or purchase one from a pet shop.

The 5 basic vaccines a cat needs are:

o Rhinotracheitis. This is one of the upper respiratory infections (URI) which cats can catch from other infected cats. It's characterized by sneezing, drooling, and runny eyes and nose.

o Feline Calicivirus (FCV). This is another URI, which has many of the same symptoms of Rhinotracheitis. Mouth ulcers may make it difficult for your cat to eat and drink.

o Feline Chlamydiosis, also known as feline pneumonitis, affects birds but can also be found in cats. Your cat will experience loss of appetite, fever, coughing and difficulty in breathing. This can lead to pneumonia.

o Panleukopenia, otherwise known as "distemper". If your cat contracts this, her white blood cell count will fall below normal and her immune system won't be able to fend off other diseases. Since the lining in her stomach can become damaged, she may begin to vomit and have severe diarrhea.

o Rabies. This is the feared "disease of all diseases", which can be transmitted to humans through animal bites. Your cat's brain will swell and she will initially experience severe thirst and ultimately go mad. You must have her vaccinated for Rabies.

These vaccinations are automatically taken care of when you adopt a cat from the Animal Shelter or the Humane Society, but many people who acquire cats in other ways are either not aware that their animals must be vaccinated, or think that "their cat will be the exception" and escape infection.

Keep firmly in mind that your cat probably will contract one of these (or all of them) if she is not vaccinated, and will expose you and your feline household to serious danger, particularly in the case of Rabies.

Mistake #2: Failure to get a complete medical checkup.

Strays that show up on your doorstep, or cats acquired in other ways, can have latent viral diseases that can be transmitted to the other cats in your household. If your new addition is already infected, vaccinating her will be a futile effort. If your existing cats are not infected but also not vaccinated, your new cat can infect them.

These infections are:

o Feline Leukemia (FeLV). Your new cat will have a poor appetite and a dull coat. She may have a fever, which manifests itself as a warm, dry nose. Her mouth and gums may be inflamed.

o Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). This is an immune disease similar to FeLV but with symptoms that may not be readily apparent. It is similar to HIV in humans.

o Feline Infections Peritonitis (FIP). Look for difficulty in breathing, weight loss, anemia, and fever.

Giardia is a parasite that can appear in cats kept in pet stores or catteries. It can kill aged cats and kittens.

Worms. There are three main varieties of worms, and all can be transmitted to your uninfected cats. Be sure to have your veterinarian check her for worms when you take her for her medical exam.

Mistake #3: Not collaring your cat and providing her with a nametag.

This should be done before you bring her home. Your cat might panic when you try to introduce her to the household (particularly when she meets the family dog), and if a door is open or there is some other way to get to the outside, she may bolt through it and escape.

She will not know where she is, and attempt to return to her former residence (wherever that was). In short, you may hear one terrified "meow" and never see her again.

Unless, that is, she is wearing a collar and a nametag (preferably metal) with

o her name

o your name

o your telephone number

firmly stamped on it. Getting a microchip embedded between her shoulder blades is also a good idea: it can give Animal Control complete information to return your kitty if she becomes lost.

Keep your new cat and your feline family safe before and after her first introduction. Be sure your cat has all her vaccinations, has been examined by a veterinarian, and is identified in case things don't work out as well as you might hope.

© John Young, all rights reserved.

Knitting Mistakes - Top 10 Easy Ways to Ruin a Hand-Knitted Sweater

Let's face it. Knitting takes trial and error. Even experts make knitting mistakes. With the wide variables in yarns, needles, gauges, swatches that can lie, patterns and sizes, what are the chances you'll end up with a sweater that fits right with the look or feel you imagined? Stop spending good money and time knitting sweaters that fit anyone but you--or no one on this earth.

Ten easy knitting mistakes you can make:
wrong yarn
wrong needles
wrong pattern
wrong size
wrong gauge
dirty no good lying swatch
wrong ease
special fitting challenge
wrong finishing
wrong use and care

Wrong Yarn

Yarns come in an endless variety of fibers, plies, blends, colors and weights, plus new ones come out all the time. How does each work up? Which yarn is right for this particular sweater? Which color? What qualities will ensure success? Warmth, drape, elasticity? Maybe you want yarn that's more soft than durable this time. Or smooth-textured. Take care as you choose that you don't fall in love with an unsuitable yarn.

Wrong Needles

Which needle will work best with your chosen yarn in your hands? Do you like straights, circulars, double points? Will your yarn drag on a wooden one? Will a slippery metal one fall out? If a blunter tip fights a tricky maneuver you'll repeat umpteen million times in your sweater, you may find a pointier needle makes the job easy. While the right needles make knitting a pleasure, the wrong needles cause pain or stalled projects.

Wrong Pattern

Find one that works well with your yarn and will do favors for your body type. The wrong style will highlight your body flaws in the worst way. Then you want clear, concise directions for every aspect of your project, not skimpy suggests for an expert. Read a pattern through so you understand each step, plus check online for errata. Don't feel stupid over a typo in the pattern.

Wrong Size

Sizes vary without rhyme or reason. One designer's small, medium and large may strike some knitters as tiny, less tiny and smallish. Your idea of a size 12 may not match the designer's. He or she creates patterns from a body standard that accommodates "most" people--maybe in another country. We all know how "one size fits all" or "one size fits most" doesn't always work out.

Wrong Gauge

The gauge suggested in a pattern tells you what kind of fabric the designer had in mind. "Getting gauge" means you find the combination of needle size and yarn that gives you the recommended number of stitches and rows per inch. If you don't get gauge by even a smidgeon, adjust the pattern so it uses your gauge--or suffer a different result than you expected.

Dirty No Good Lying Swatch

Swatches can lie, there is no doubt. You may knit tighter or looser on the actual garment vs the swatch. Make a large one so you see the way gravity will affect your finished garment. If you launder the gauge swatch you'll see how the fabric changes. Maybe you won't like the fabric your designer intended at all. Better you know up front before you finish a sweater that's unacceptable even though perfectly knit.

Wrong Ease

This factor alone accounts for many a failed sweater. Ease is the wiggle room in a garment. Can you tell how much ease the designer factored into the pattern? It's not always easy. If you disregard ease, you may knit a tent or never get into the sweater at all.

Special Fitting Challenge

If your unique body is non-standard size in some region--some extra bosom or no backside--that difference isn't factored into the written pattern. If you have a high hip, long waist or very narrow shoulders, add short rows on one side, lengthen the bodice, or decrease the upper body width.

Wrong Finishing

Here's your second-to-the-last chance to wreck your sweater. How? Get all in a hurry with finish fever so you slapdash through your blocking, seams and weaving in ends. I guarantee your sweater will look homemade in the worst "I'm five, look it what I made!" way. Then again, you could just ball it all up in a bag out of sight so it's never finished and thus never proven to be a disaster.

Use and Care

How you use a garment or keep it clean can conflict with your lifestyle. Why knit a sweater needing a delicate hand-wash and space to lay flat until dry if you live in a postage-stamp size apartment? What if you need a sweater that will withstand hard use, much cat hair and your busy-life need for machine washability? Make sure the care your sweater needs doesn't lead to inevitable disaster.

Phew! With these ten easy knitting mistakes, it's a wonder more sweaters don't fail. Which mistakes will you avoid so your next damn sweater fits?