Are you an Eco-owner?

It's not too difficult to be an environmentally friendly cat owner. We've found five tips that will help you and your cat to be eco-warriors together!

1) GO ORGANIC

Organic cat food is free from artificial colourings and flavourings. The meat it contains will have been produced in an environment where no fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides have been used.

Why not try:
OrganiPets (www.organipets.co.uk),
Pero Organic (www.pero-petfood.
co.uk) or Netherlands-based Yarrah
Organic Petfood (www.yarrah.com)

They all produce organic cat food. Almo Nature’s Bio Pâté (www.almonature.co.uk) is also 100 per cent organic.

Look for food produced in this country so you can help reduce the food miles.

2) RECYCLE PACKAGING

Tins, dry cat food packets and some tray food packaging may be placed in your council’s recycling bin.

3) BIODEGRADABLE LITTER
There is a good choice of environmentally friendly cat litters. Look out for products
made from recycled materials (newspaper for example) or from bi-products. You’ll find them in pet shops, selected supermarkets and in online stores.

The following are all biodegradable: Almo Nature Clean&Green (www.almonature.co.uk) is a plant-based litter which can be used as compost in the garden or disposed of with organic waste

Cat’s Best ÖkoPlus is a clumping wood-based organic eco-litter.
Cat’s Best Nature Gold is a clumping litter made of plant fibres.
Friendship Estates Ltd’s Friendly Natural cat litter (www.friendshipestates.co.uk) is made from British straw.

Smart Cat Paper Litter (www.smart-cat.co.uk) and Bio-Catolet (www.midas-products.co.uk)
granules are made from recycled newspaper.


4 TRAY MATTERS

Van Ness litter tray liners are made of 80 per cent recycled plastic. They’re available from www.pets2home.co.uk and other online retailers.

The Catit Cat Pan Liner is biodegradable (from www.petplanet.co.uk, and other online retailers), or you could line your tray with a BioBag (or put the used litter in one before disposal). BioBags are biodegradable and compostable. For details go to www.biobags.co.uk Alternatively, you could just line the tray with newspaper!

5) PLAYTIME!
Many toys and accessories are made of plastic, which does not degrade easily. Try making some of your own beds and toys. Toilet/kitchen rolls and cardboard boxes can both be given a new lease of life when you turn them into a feline plaything. You could make your cat a rug or blanket from recycled polyester or organic cotton.

Keep an eye on www.yourcat.co.uk for a video from myself featuring a range of ideas for making fun and innovative toys for your cat.

Cats Protection and the Army

We've reported on yourcat.co.uk that a woman has had her application to take on a cat turned down as her husband is in the military. The lady, who was only identified as Paula, said officials from Cats Protection allegedly would not allow her to adopt a feline because her husband is in the army, The Sun reported.

"I was furious at the discrimination," Paula told the newspaper.

"It's a massive problem. The armed forces are second-class citizens."

She told the Sun the charitable group allegedly informed her that service families are not allowed to adopt pets under the group's current policy.

"I told them we lived in barracks and they said they don't let people in the forces adopt animals," the woman alleged.

An anonymous volunteer with the group told the newspaper the policy stemmed from the fact cats have been left behind when families relocate.

A Cats Protection spokesperson responded: “Cats Protection does not discriminate in its homing to military establishments. Each situation is assessed individually and the long term future and suitability of the cat to the environment is looked at closely. We are currently in touch with our volunteers in this story to ascertain the full facts.”

Responses on The Sun forum have surprisingly come out in favour of Cats Protection, with users stating that members of the armed forces are likely to move at short notice, causing unnecessary stress for pets as they have to be rehomed once more.

Are you allergic to cats?

Sadly there's a sizeable part of the UK population with an allergy to cats. According to charity National Allergy UK, one in four people in the UK suffer from some form of an allergy, with pet allergies affecting 10% of the population.

What causes the reaction? Well, it's not actaully down to the cat's fur, but molecules of protein (allergens) which come from microscopic skin cells, shed as dander, the cat's urine and skin glands cause the response.

These particles are easily inhaled and during an allergic response the chemical IgE is released by a person's immune system and this in turn triggers the release of histamine, creating cold-like symptoms.

Obviously if you react badly to pets then it makes it very hard to be a cat owner, and visiting cat owning friends and family can be problematic. We at Your Cat know how frustrating it can be to have friends who can't visit!

Allergy clinic Imutest, however, have come up with a revolutionary way of testing if your allergic reaction is actually caused by cats.

The Imutest Cat Allergy Test Kit is a home test kit which detects high levels of IgE allergy antibodies from a drop of blood taken from a simple finger prick in just 30 minutes; a similar process to a hospital test.

The kit is priced at £19.95 and is available online at www.imutest.com.

Big cats come live

Are you looking forward to this autumn's Big Cat Live? The yearly series once more is set to explore the hidden side of Kenya's Masai Mara Reserve – its wildlife, its secrets and the perils of the dark.

With cutting-edge filming techniques and live communications, Big Cat Live promises to bring all the danger and exhilaration of being out on the African plains 24/7.

Regular presenter Kate Silverton and local Masai guide Jackson Looseyia will be joining Simon King and Jonathan Scott at their camp, in the heart of Africa's most famous reserve.

Camping next to the Mara River, in the middle of lion territory, the team will be encircled by African wildlife. We hope they don't all doze off in the heat and have too many close encounters!

Amazing animals

Elephants, buffalos, crocodiles, zebras and over one million migrating wildebeest will be filmed in a landscape where anything can happen – day or night.

By day, the team will follow the life-and-death fortunes of the lion, cheetah and leopard families.

We're wondering if the lion males will show off being good 'dads' - our own domestic female cats rear their young alone without the protection of males. The lion, by contrast, is a loyal father, though he may be a little rough!

The nightly transmissions, kicking off on October 5 on BBC1, will bring images of the nocturnal life in the reserve, using special remote cameras that can broadcast live in the dark.

Your Cat updates

Have you dropped by our busy forums on yourcat.co.uk recently? There's been plenty of discussion about cats and the credit crunch, what your cat is eating and your favourite breed. The Siamese is getting a lot of attention - are you a fan?

Plus, we are also busy beavering away on new developments and improvements for your site, including a fab new 'Help My Cat' section, extended breed profile information and more videos. We are off this Friday to meet up wiith the folks at The Pawchester, a cattery with Hilton style credentials!

Your Cat magazine

How are you coping with the credit crunch? With vets costs increasing, have you got pet insurance for your cat?

With veterinary charges increasing at a regular rate of knots, it really is an essential these days, especially when the 'credit crunch' is the buzzword of the year.

Modern diagnostic techniques and medications can be pricey and a long-term, chronic illness could leave you with a serious financial headache. Not what's needed at all.

We all hope that pets remain in the best of health throughout their lives - but, sadly, the inevitable does happen and this is where insurance comes in.

Pet insurance covers all sorts of weird and wonderful eventualities; for instance, if your cat is stolen, some providers stump up the cost of advertising and a reward, or even cover the cost of your holiday if you can't go because your pet's poorly. Yet often these are added as hype to sell a policy and rarely claimed.

Spend time choosing the right policy for you. When applying for a policy be sure to disclose all your pet's medical history. This might push up premiums in the short term, but will save money in the long term, as providers won't pay up if they suspect that the problem already existed.....