Pets The Blandford & Sturminster Newton Branch of Cats Protection is urging people to let them know if you have a cat regularly visiting your home or your garden that nobody claims to own. The charity reunited one last week that had been missing for over four months. He was microchipped, which enabled thm to reunite him quickly. A spokesman said: “We have a number of people searching high and low for their beloved cats. “We also have cats that have been found, so please check out our Facebook page for up to date information on lost and found cats in our area, or call our helpline 01425 858644. These are the most recent cats that have been lost or found: Lost Cats: Chalwell, Child Okeford – Blue grey tabby 18/9: Castleman Smith Close, Blandford – tabby & white boy 27/9: Sturminster Newton blue grey tabby 13/9: Beckett Close, Blandford – grey & peach tortie 30/9: Rickyard,
Big Betha is a tabby and white girl – age unknown but she is an older outside cat looking for a stable or smallholding home without other cats in it.
Charlie (2) tabby & white outside boy looking for a farm, stable or smallholding to call his own.
To rehome a cat, call The Blandford & Sturminster Newton Branch of Cats Protection on 858644 or go to blandford.cats.org.uk Shaftesbury – tabby 30/6: Homefield, Milborne St Andrew – b/w fluffy 6/10: Henstridge – grey & white fluffy 18/9: Sturminster Marshall – black with a little white on chest 6/10: Westbury Way, Blandford – fluffy blue grey boy 28/10: reminder Wiltshire Close, Gillingham –
b/w boy missing since January: Sturminster Marshall – longhaired blue grey & peach calico tortie 19/10 Still not been found: Lost from outside Friars Moors Vets Sturminster Newton – black female last seen between Rixon Close and Green Close 12/10. Could have moved to
n A Blandford cat owner has been reunited with her pet eight weeks after going missing, thanks to social media. Caroline Townend’s puss Moses disappeared early in September. She appealed for sightings but no joy. However Benjamin Dean’s post on the Blandford Forum Facebook page asking if anyone was looking for the cat caught a friend’s eye and Moses was returned home. Caroline said: “I've missed him so much!” anywhere by now. Found Cats: Penny St, Sturminster Newton – Brindle tortie since April. Hazelbury Bryan – tabby white cat for about a year: Maple Close, Shaftesbury – tabby female not chipped: Downside Close, Blandford black cat with a little white on his chest.
Can I use human remedies for my pet? It is often tempting to use human medications for our pets because we are so used to using them in ourselves. But many human medications can be toxic, even fatal, to our pets and dose rates of safe drugs vary hugely which can make a relatively safe drug harmful if given in overdose. Drugs that we take such as ibuprofen and paracetamol may appear to be safe because side effects are less common in people. However ibuprofen has a very narrow dose range of safety in dogs and, as such, it is not routinely recommended. Paracetamol at any dose is lethal to cats as they lack the enzyme to break it down. We have many licensed drugs in dogs and cats and we are obliged by law to use these before off-licence drugs. This is because scientific trials 38
have been carried out to clarify safe doses, identify toxic doses and to identify potential side effects or interactions with other drugs. We also use drugs which are licensed in humans but not animals when we have no equivalent available. These drugs are used based on experience but have been less rigorously tested and there is potential for unknown side effects. As such these drugs are used with caution and only when their benefits outweigh side effects. Each species has its own drug doses and some drugs which are safe and beneficial in one may cause death in another.
For instance penicillin given orally Vet can be fatal to Lynn rabbits, guinea Broom pigs and horses because they rely on healthy gut bacteria to survive and penicillin can kill these off and allow others to multiply. Ivermectin is a commonly used wormer and anti-parasitic in many species but is fatal to tortoises. We should also consider the size of our patients. The average cat is around 5kg and the average adult male human in the UK is 84kg – if we gave a human tablet to the cat we could be giving almost 17 times the correct dose, making the potential for toxicity very high. Animals’ metabolic rates vary hugely. In general the smaller
the animal the higher their metabolic rate. Different species also have different metabolic rates. This is reflected in the doses needed. For instance birds and rabbits metabolise drugs much faster than dogs and often need a higher and more frequent dose of the same drug. Underdosing can be just as problematic as overdosing. If we give antibiotics at a lower than effective dose then bacterial resistance can develop and infection can progress and become less easy to treat. Overall there are human medications which we can use in our pets but you should speak to your vet before using them as they may cause more harm than good if used inappropriately.
