Flickr: dominiqs

A cat named George was severely burnt during Halloween. His face and paws were charred. His eyes were shut by his wounds, so at the time no one knew if his eyes were still intact. When he was sent to a clinic, an area veterinarian was not sure if he would be able to survive the ordeal, let alone regaining his vision. The vicious act of animal cruelty left the cat disfigured. The vet had to remove parts of the cat’s ears in order to prevent infections.

Though no one was convinced that George would be able to survive because his life was hanging on by mere threads, George defied all odds. Not only did he get better in the past three weeks, his wounds are still healing, his eyes are open and he is playful as ever.

Though many people have expressed interest in adopting this little feline, the Toledo Area Humane Society is not sure if they will put George up for adoption. They are considering keeping George as a mascot to show people what animal cruelty can do to these creatures.

Below is a video report on the news. WARNING: the injury shown in the video is very graphic.

Click here to watch the video.

Cats have amazing ability to survive treacherous conditions. They are beautiful animals that should be appreciated and loved. Let it be a lesson to all cat owners that we need to give our beloved cats extra protection during holidays.

If charged with animal cruelty, the sentence can carry up to 90 days in prison and a $1,000 fine. If you have any information about how this animal might have been injured, you can contact the Toledo Area Humane Society.

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CatPaint is an iphone application that allows you to add kitten images to your photos on iPhone. Thanks to the wonderful technology and our obsession with cats, we can now create those pictures simply by tapping on the screen of our iphone.

This app brings photo editing to a different level. With flying, sleeping, lounging kittens for you to choose and drop in your pictures, you can create your own kitten land, fantasy world and magical place as you’d like.

The application provides a variety of kitten pictures from jumping, sleeping to lunging and pouncing. You can adjust the size of each kitten and even shake your iphone to adjust the position of a kitten if you didn’t drop it into the right place. Just  start by pulling out your litter box and then select the kitties you want to add to your photos.

Below are pictures edited with catpaint app. You can see more pictures at the Catpaint gallery. Enjoy!

You can click here to see an album made by MacWorld.com as they tested the new CatPaint app.

Flickr: kiyoshi.be

These stories really pull my heartstrings. Charley, Smokey, Dizzy and Roxy are amazing cats with cerebellar hypoplasia, which means their motor skills are not as great as other cats.

Cerebellar hypoplasia (CH) is a medical condition where part of the brain that controls a cat’s coordination is underdeveloped during kitten-hood.  Most CH cases are known to be congenital where kittens are born with it. Though this condition is not treatable, it does not prevent a kitten from living a fairly normal life.

Cats with cerebellar hypoplasia (CH) appear to stagger and have uncoordinated motion and slight tremors. Unfortunately many cats with cerebellar hypoplasia are put down because many people do not believe that they are adoptable pets. Quite the contrary, a cat with cerebellar hypoplasia do not require special care, nor are they in pain. These kitties can live as long as any other cats and might just be one of the most precious kitties you have ever had.

Dizzy with cerebellar hypoplasia

“Dizzy is a fun little kitten who has a serious balance problem.

Specifically, she has cerebellar hypoplasia, which screws with her balance.

That doesn’t stop her from chasing the cat dancer or wrestling with other cats.

She does move pretty slowly and has been known to fall down a lot.

Perhaps that’s why she likes lying there and being petted so much?

She was adopted from the BARC shelter in September 2007.”

- flickr: Marcus in NY

First video: meet Charley

Second video: “Smokey was a 21-year-old cat with half his whiskers missing who wobbled when he walked. This condition was due to cerebral damage. In spite of his difficult mobility, Smokey was one of the happiest cats alive. Smokey passed away in 2007 during his retirement in Maine. He is greatly missed.”

Third video: “This is my baby girl Roxy, my pride and joy, whom I adopted from BARC shelter when she was a very tiny 4 months old baby known as ‘Jello’. She’s now 1 year old and has gotten quite good at dealing with the condition she was born with, Cerebellar Hypoplasia. She doesn’t let it stop her at all though and just keeps on trying until she gets it done in her own way. At the end of this video she does a somersault which she does whenever she gets too excited.”

Question from Era:

My father brought home a kitten, which was mauled by dogs. Thankfully she was not badly hurt. The kitten is fine and eating now. I wanted to ask you what food I should feed the kitten with. She is very small, a little bigger than my palm, drinks milk only. I tried to feed her some solid food, but she refused. There are fleas, which I have tried to take out, but have not succeeded. However, I will continue trying.

The kitten meows the whole night. I have tried to get her in a box, on the bed, on the mattress, but it is to no avail. She continues to meow the night away. She seems quite scared too, raising her tail high and meowing at the same time.

I dont know anything about cats and am reading some stuff from the internet. I was hoping you could guide me in this.

Answer from Amy:

New born kittens need to be fed 9 – 12 times a day around the clock. It is a very tiring process for the care taker, but it would be the most rewarding thing ever.

Feed Your Kitten:

New born kittens should feed on a kitten milk replacement product (e.g. KMR) until the age of around 4 weeks old. If kitten milk replacement products are not readily available, there are kitten formulas that you can make with a few simple ingredients [click here to see a kitten formula recipe].

Click here to see how to bottle feed a new born kitten.

By the time you begin weaning the kitten, you can start making a paste with the kitten formula and a quality wet canned kitten food. Place the paste in a saucer or a shallow bowl. Use your finger to feed the kitten, so she will learn to eat solid food and eat it out of the saucer or bowl.

Do not feed kittens dairy milk because cats are lactose intolerant. Drinking dairy milk can result in various digestive problems. Also, kittens require a lot of vital nutrients in order to help build a healthy and strong body. We should refrain from feeding kittens adult cat food because adult cat food does not have all the important nutrients needed for kittens.

Care for Your Kitten:

Kittens are very fragile. At that age, they like to snuggle with their mother or litter mates most of the time. Since this kitten does not have the privilege to do so, you can try to simulate the kind of environment a kitten should have by putting some warm bedding and adding a ticking clock under it to simulate the mother cat’s heart beats. If you have toys or anything that can help recreate that sense of warmth and embrace for the kitten, you can go ahead and do it.

Kittens need a lot of socialization, since your kitten doesn’t have her mother cat and litter mates to play with, you are playing the role of her mother. Try to spend some time each day to gently touch the kitten. Touching is extremely crucial for a kitten’s physical and mental development.

The reason that your kitten cries in the middle of the night can also be due to hunger since kittens need food every 2-3 hours. You will need to get up in the middle of the night to feed her.

Rehabilitate a Traumatized New Born Kitten:

Also, since your kitten went through a terrible experience with the dogs, you can help her rehabilitate by providing some theraputic work. Your kitten needs to feel loved and needed. You can achieve that by touching the kitten and speaking to her in a soft, soothing tone. Provide plenty of toys for her to play with in order to prevent the possibility of developing separation anxiety. Keep her in a quiet room, so she will not be startled by sudden sounds or noise.

How to Treat Fleas for a New Born Kitten:

New born kittens are very fragile and have no defense to chemicals. At that tender age, they should avoid any sort of chemical flea products. Bathing and soaking with a non chemical shampoo are the best ways to treat a flea infested kitten at that age. [Click here to see How to Bathe a Kitten]

Also, use a flea comb to help you brush out the fleas. When your kitten reaches 8 weeks of age, you can take her to a veterinarian to obtain a flea medication if the issue has not resolved by then.

Check out this video below to get more tips about flea control for young kittens:

Image: Flickr - Tom Poes

Other related posts:

How to bottle feed a new born kitten

How to care for new born kittens

Kittens first veterinary exam

How to bathe a kitten

Preventing bad habits in new kittens

Tips on rescuing kittens and care for orphan kittens

What to expect from your kittens first vet visit

Does my cat have fleas what should i do?

Ten flea control measures