Cats

Cats, you see them everywhere here. I've seen them along roadsides, on sidewalks, in driveways, in parking lots, even along an airplane runway. They're all over the place. With the huge population of cats in the Philippines you would think it would be easy to find pet food shops that sell things for cats. You would think... Well, no, it's not so easy. You see, the Philippines is a country of dog owners. I get the sense that cats are seen as vermin. I suppose it's easy to understand this mindset since all the cats you see all over the place are stray cats. They're small, dirty, and sickly looking. Dogs are respected, cats are ignored. So imagine Aimee and I arriving in the Philippines with our cat. I planned ahead before we even left Canada. We shipped over a box filled with her food (at least a six month supply), litterbox and some litter. Unfortunately, the litterbox got cracked in transport so we were forced to search for a new one. It took two days and at least 4 pet food stores to locate one. I find it interesting that they use the term "Pet Food Store" when it's 98% dog supplies. The other 2% is fish supplies, rodent supplies, rooster supplies (see the Cock Shampoo blog), and cat supplies. Thankfully we located a place that sells litter - at least litter - so we're set in the cat toilet department. I heard of a place that has 18 pet stores side by side. I haven't been there yet but I'm hoping this will be a one stop shopping paradise for cat supplies. I am a little concerned though; of the 18 stores, 4 have the names "Doggie's Den", "Doggie Land", "Dog in the City" and "K-9 Couture". I hope the rest of the stores are not so dog-centered as well.

A week ago Aimee and I noticed Daphne was starting to lose some fur from her head. We called a vet - one that was recommended to us from a fellow cat lover. When I look Daphne there the first thing I noticed once I entered the clinic was the overpowering smell of dog pee. The second thing I noticed were the dog photos and dog products decorating the room. There was absolutely no cat paraphernalia what's so ever. So even a vet that's respected in the cat community has no interest in cats. The vet gave Daphne a physical and discovered she was losing her hair due to a skin fungus. It makes her skin dry and itchy, she scratches and the fur comes off. Sounds simple enough. The part that I found odd is the medication given for the skin: sulfur cream that happens to be toxic. Hello! TOXIC! Cats bath themselves with their tongues, am I the only one that thinks this medication isn't quite right? It wasn't even sulfur cream made for pets; it's human grade. Basically they're treating my cat like a little human. So after worrying about applying this cream onto Daphne I decided to get a second opinion. Today I had a vet visit the house who has an office close to where we live. Aimee and I met this vet during our two days of litter searching. We saw her office and decided to go in looking for cat products. Her office, like the other vet I went to, was well stocked with dog photos and products. No cat products. I was worried about this at first but after I watched her dealing with Daphne I noticed she really did know how to deal with cats. She prescribed a non-toxic cream made specially for dogs and cats and even requested Daphne wear a hood to keep her from bathing herself and licking off the cream for three days. So now Daphne looks like a flower pot. :) At least she's a flower pot with good medical advice!