What’s That Smell…

Published on July 16, 2015July 16, 2015 by Service Cats U.S.36 Comments

A Service Cat is Born pt. 5

Me always enjoys hearin’ da stowries of da Service cats dat came afur me. They awe all an inspurration. Meez furst ever act as mommy’s latest Service kitty happened when me was ‘bout 3 1/2-4 weeks old. Mommy discovered just how smawrt and tuned in me was. Isn’t dat wight mommy?

That’s right Dezi, I sure did. You were so tiny and cute as a button and still so sick with worms, but there you were already trying to take care of me.

Oh mommy me luvved you so much and was so fankful dat you had saved me. Me knows dat’s what da nice peeps who took me away fwum dat dirty house was twyin’ to do, but they didn’t weally know what they was duin’ and just shoved me and me udder 10 littermates in a little box and put us in a bigger box wiff bars. They put down bowls wiff sumfin’ smelly in ’em but we didn’t know how to eat on our own, we still needed our cat mom. And meez tummy hurt so bad, and me was so tired fwum bein’ overdosed on dat over da counter wormer dat me fur sure fawt we was all dead. But then there you were, smellin’ so sweet and yous lap was so soft and yous voice so weassurin’ dat me just knew everyfin’ was gunna be alwight.

So when yous sweet smell changed me just knew sumfin’ bad was gunna happen. And there you was actin’ like everyfin’ was normal. Me stawrted squeaking meowin’ at ya’ like cwazy. And you reached down and picked me up and hugged me tight and gave me a kiss and then set me back down. Me just kept on meowin’. Me weally liked da luvvin’ but dat’s not what me was twyin’ to tell ya’. Me was twyin’ to tell ya’ sumfin’ bad was ‘bout to happen. So when you stawrted to reach down fur me again, me ‘cided dat me needed to do sumfin’ diffewent cuz you just wasn’t unnewstandin’ me at all. And here me fawt you spoke squeak meow. So me stawrted pawin’ yous ankle. Me kuldn’t weach anywhere else. So me pawed at yous ankle and squeaked meowed even louder and stawrted turnin’ wound and wound. Finally you asked ifin me was twyin’ to tell ya sumfin’. It’s ’bout time me fawt, but by then it was too late and you went fallin’ to da floor. KaBoom!!!

Now what? You wasn’t movin’ and yous eyes was closed. But me knew you didn’t sleep on da floor like dat so me hurried to get sis Lexi, squeakin’ meowin’ all da way down da hall. Sis Lexi came wunnin’ up da hall towards me and went into da kitchen where you was and laid down ‘side you. Well me didn’t. Me crawled up on yous chest and began to kiss yous face. Me was so happy when yous eyes finally opened dat meez purr kulda rumbled da whole house. Yous eyes had been closed FUREVER (not more than a few minutes). You was so supurrized to see me there in yous face lookin’ at ya’ when you came back wound dat you smiled at me and petted me and told me how special me was. Me stawrted squeakin’ meowin’ dat you shulda lissened to me earlier.

You sure did Dezi. And I was so proud of you. I still am, and always will be. And you’re right, I should have listened to you from the start. I learned my lesson tho’ didn’t I sweety?

Yeah mommy you did. Da next time me told you sumfin’ bad was gunna happen you went and sat down. No more cwashin’ to da floor fur you. Least not dat way anymore. Me better splain to everypawdy what was happenin’ zactly. See mommy passes out daily. It’s called Syncope. Dat means a short loss of consciousness and muscle stwength. It’s due to a lack of blood flow to da bwain. And there awe a few fings dat will make mommy pass out, includin’ da blood clot on hers bwain It can be scary, but so long as mommy dusn’t hit anyfin’ shawrp or conk hers head on anyfin’, it’s usually over in a few minutes time and there’s no need fur worry or external help (ie: ambulances, emergency purrsonnel, etc.) Well dat was meez furst ever task purrfurmed fur mommy, but it wuldn’t be da last. Stay tuned fur more stowries ‘bout da way we help mommy live a full and independent life.

Ifin yous missed any posty in this ongoing series, you can read them here.

The Chair Moves

Shad, The First Service Kitty

What’s The Big Deal pt. 2

What’s The Big Deal pt. 1

Till da next time………………Be Blest!!!

Dezi = Blue

Mommy = Black

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and Lexi

That Chair Moves…

Published on July 15, 2015July 15, 2015 by Service Cats U.S.30 Comments

Hey Dezi since we are going to run a series about the training we received to become Service cats for mommy, I was thinking maybe we should tell the story of when mommy got her first wheelchair. Even tho’ that story would really be about Lucky. what do you think?

Me thinks that’s a great idea sissy. Me never gets tired of hearing your stories ‘bout Lucky. And mommy thought it was a good idea fur her to type out our dictation in mostly human speak so that if somebody needs it translated to a different language they can. And those that have a little trouble reading our regular posts can understand everything. These training stories are impurrtant and serious. That’s not to mean that they aren’t sometimes funny cuz we can be characters, but they’re serious cuz what we learned is real and is meant to help our mommy live an independent life.

Yep Dezi you’re right. And I’ve gotta tell ya’ your training was probably the most fun of all mommys service cats. But we’ll get to those stories soon. Today I’ll tell ya’ ‘bout mommys first ever wheelchair and my then Meezer brofur Lucky.

It was a really really long time ago. I was still practically a kitten at 3 years old. My brofur Lucky was a whole 28 days older than me so we were both still big kittens. That seems like a lifetime ago now but it’s still clear in this old girls mind. Anyways one morning a man came to our apartment and brought mommy a new chair. This wasn’t like any other chair she had, it moved. Mommy could put this chair anywhere she wanted in the house including the kitchen all without lifting a finger or breaking a sweat. It sure did look scary cuz mommy wasn’t vey good at steering it and she kept running into walls and doors and tables and well generally anything that was in her way. Lucky and I had to watch our tails or she might have run over them too. (she would have never done that)

Lucky and I meowed ‘bout it a little and thought that this new chair was going to be a great help for mommy except…If her driving was this bad while she was mobile then just what was it gonna be like in the mornings when she couldn’t actually move?, Oh kittens were we ever in for a surprise. Lucky seemed to be really interested in the workings of this chair and would hop up in it when it was still and when mommy was just sittin’ in it. We both loved mommy so much and our favorite place was (and still is) in her lap. Well Lucky would get in mommys lap and then rub his face on the joystick and put his mouth on it and push at it. So a light bulb went off in mommys head and she put Luckys paw on a button on the arm of that moving chair and pushed it down. It beeped at him and he turned and looked at mommy fur reassurance but he didn’t jump down. So mommy did it again and again until Lucky was pushing the button on his own. We found out that button was the power and turned that moving chair on and off.

It wasn’t long before Lucky would push that button all on his own even without mommy askin’ him too. And then he went and pushed the button and put his mouth on the joy stick and bit it. When he did that, it pushed the joystick forward and the chair moved. Well he quickly pulled his mouth away from the joystick and looked up. Mommy said his face said it all. He wasn’t sure whether to be proud or terrified.

Me remembers that feelin’ sissy. OMC The first time the chair moved meez heart nearly jumped outta meez chest. MOL

Yeah Dezi I magine that’s exactly what happened to Lucky. But he was so happy to be in mommys lap that he didn’t move. Mommy took full advantage of his love and gently put Luckys mouth back on the joystick and gently pushed so the chaiir moved a little more. He got scared and wanted down. So mommy gave him a big hug and kiss and told him how pawsum he was and put him down. He scampered off to hide. He didn’t go far tho’ and he kept his eye on mommy when she went looking for me. This whole thing had scared da bajeebuzz outta me and I had hid under the covers on the bed. I thought fur sure there was no way mommy would be able to find me. Somehow she seemed to know the bump in the bed was me, and she grabbed me up and loved all over me while taking me to the chair.

First thing we did was go fur a ride. Hey, this isn’t as scary as I thought it was gonna be. It’s actually kind of fun. I could even see the countertop from mommys lap in the kitchen where she prepared our meals. I got to thinking this might not be so bad after all. So when mommy repeated the steps she took with Lucky on me, I soaked it all in. I was driving in no time at all. I wasn’t any better than mommy, but I was driving. MOL Okay, really I was kinda scared and wanted down right away. And it did take a week fur me to get used to the chair being around. But once I got used to it, I learned really fast. Mommy said so. She also said she was very proud of Lucky and me. Back then we didn’t have a working camera much less a video camera. There was a whole year mommy didn’t get to take photos of any kind of Lucky and me. She hates that, but there’s nothing she can do ’bout it now. Except to tell you to take as many photos as you can and don’t delete anything. Buy those little thumb drives or external hard drives or whatever you must to store them on, but you will regret throwing photos away. (mommys PSA fur the day)

Y’all were so brave sissy. The chair sure scared me at first. Meez so glad y’all were able to learn to drive the chair and help mommy.

Me too Dezi. And I’m glad that even tho’ it scared you, you were able to overcome that fear and help mommy too.

Yeah Lexi it’s really not that scary and knowing that me is helping mommy is the best feeling ever. We’ll be telling more training stories ‘bout Lexi and me. These stories altho’ true are not meant to be a training handbook or guide. Countless hours, weeks, and months of repetition went into our training and we couldn’t possibly cover every minute. If you have specific questions you can email us via our contact page and mommy will try to help you. The ADA just published a question and answer document about the Service Animal act that you can read here. It may answer some additional questions that you have that we didn’t cover.

Till the next time……………………Be Blest!!!

Dezi = Blue

Lexi = Green

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and Lexi

What’s The Big Deal…pt. 2

Published on July 9, 2015July 9, 2015 by Service Cats U.S.38 Comments

Why Can’t I Call a Therapy or Companion Animal a Service Animal?

Well here we awe wiff pawrt 2 of meez series ‘bout “Working Animals”. We told you da definition of a Service Animal yesfurday, and ifin yous missed it you can click here to read it. So today me wants to tell you ‘bout Therapy and Companion Animals. We did weceive a comment yesfurday dat maybe we shuld have addwessed in our posty but sincce we planned on writin’ more ‘bout Service cats we didn’t cover everyfin’. We just gave a bwoad overview. But me wuld like to add dat Certification and/or Licensing IS NOT required fur Service Animals. There awe weputable agencies dat do certify them. This is sumfin’ dat be completely voluntary on da pawrt of da handler. Da benefit to certificatiion is dat you have an agency behind you dat offen has lawyers dat will help you fur furee ifin yous have difficulties wiff accessibility or such. wiff yous Service animal. So dat bein sed let’s move on today.

Weez been weferred to as Therapy cats and even Companion animals fwum time to time, and altho’ weez not get angwy we do correct peeps. But what zactly is a Therapy animal mommy? Will yous tell everypawdy what da definition and qualifications awe?

I sure will Dezi. A Therapy animal is different from a Service animal in the duties they perform and should not be confused with or called a Service animal. A Therapy animal is one that is TRAINED to provide comfort and affection to people in long term care, hospitals, retirement homes, schools, mental health institutions and other stressful situations to include disaster areas. They provide people with comforting animal contact whether they have a disability or not. The person who brings the animal to these places is called a handler and is most often the owner of the animal. Therapy animals and their handlers DO NOT have the same rights as a Service animal and it’s handler. It is important to remember that it’s the person with disabilities that have rights under the rules of the ADA and not the Service animal itself. Since the Therapy animal is most often owned by a non disabled person, the Therapy animal is not allowed to accompany their handler into places that don’t allow pets/animals such as restaurants, grocery stores, etc..

Sophie — Our furiend Sophie fwum Kitty Cat Chronicles wants to be a Therapy kitty.

Dat’s a big diffewence isn’t it mommy?

Yes it is Dezi. And that’s why we correct people when they call you and Lexi Therapy cats. You and Lexi perform trained duties related to my disability. Whereas a Therapy animal has no such training. They are wonderful animals and are chosen for training because of their gentle and outgoing disposition and ability to remain calm around people with all kinds of illnesses like your friend Sophie from Kitty Cat Chronicles pictured above.

We do luv Sophie and all hers furmily. Can you tell everypawdy what a Companion Animal is mommy? Cuz me knows they awe weally diffewent than Service animals and Therapy animals.

Yes they are Dezi, and I would be happy to explain the differences. A companion animal is any PET that provides health benefits to a person. They may help to relieve stress. But their main “job” is to provide company, amusement and psychological help just to name a few. NO specific TRAINING is required. In my opinion ALL pets can be considered Companion Animals. After all most people get a pet because they want the love and affection an animal can give. Your friend Buddy in the photo below is a perfect example of a Companion Animal. His daddy is alone and needed the company. And Buddy provides him with hours of entertainment and lots of love. He kind of gives mr. W a purpose.

Me agwees mommy. And we have a few furiends dat be Companion animals fur sure. We even have sum furiends who awe trained Therapy animals. And me finks they do a gweat job and a good fing to help ease udders stwess and fears. And we have a few furiends dat be Trained Service animals too.

Y’all sure do Dezi. And they are all wonderful. And even tho’ you and Lexi have been trained to work and I think y’all are very special, that doesn’t mean that y’all are any better than any of your friends. You are all special in your own way.

Me agwees again mommy. All our furiends awe special and beluvved by their hoomans and us. Me weally purreciates you helpin’ me define da diffewent types of “working animals” fur our furiends. We do hope you all have learned a bit fwum these definitions. And me hopes you all have enjoyed learnin’ ‘bout da diffewences in “working animals”. We will be tellin’ sum twainin’ stowries fur you all to read, enjoy and maybe even laff at. And one of our dear furiends, da Kitties Blue asked ifin we had fawt ‘bout makin’ these definitions available all da time usin’ da menu, so weez gunna be addin’ this to our menu options soon. (furst mommy has to member how to add it-mol) And we wanted to give you a little update on sis Lexi. She be feelin’ much better now dat she be gettin’ antibiotics. We still have a big fank you to send out but mommy fell asleep at da puter again yesfurday. She sez she weally needs to get sum sleep, but we do fank all of you dat helped make gettin’ sissy medicine pawssible. One she gets well, weez’ll only have da CKD to manage.

And this be da last day to enter to win dat pawsum Pagoda Fountain fwum PetSafe. So ifin yous not entered yet, click here to do so.

And don’t furget to enter fur yous chance to win a case of da pawsum Weruva noms by clickin’ here.

Till da next time………………….Be Blest!!!

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and Lexi

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapy_dog

http://medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/companion+animal

Hydrating The Body Pt. 2

Published on July 7, 2015July 7, 2015 by Service Cats U.S.39 Comments

Me is so excited about this series on hydration. And just so there won’t be any confusion, today’s post will be in human speak. Me told you all about water and fountains yesterday and the importance of keeping your anipals hydrated. Our bodies are made up of mostly water, 80% to be exact for us kitties. We also talked about how kitties don’t typically drink enough water. Fountains are a great way to get your kitty to drink more water, but that’s not the only way to help your kitty get the hydration he/she needs. Is it mommy?

No Dezi dear it’s not. Another good way to ensure the proper hydration is…

Wet Food right mommy? Canned food has a much higher water content than kibble and so it helps keep us kitties hydrated. Whereas dry kibble can help to dehydrate us.

You’re very right Dezi.

That’s why when sissy was diagnosed with CKD and wouldn’t eat, you bought every kind of canned food you could find. huh? And she still wasn’t eating all that well. Right before we left for BlogPaws she was only eating about a tablespoon of food every couple of days. We were so worried about her weren’t we mommy?

Yes honey we were. I know her well enough to know that if she could hold on till we could leave she would be much better because she loves to travel so much. And thankfully she was. Although she still didn’t want to eat anything I put in front of her.

Till we came across the Weruva table at Blogpaws and they gave us sum pouches of their wet food to try. Me was so happy when she ate the whole pouch and asked for more

Oh yes Dezi, I was happy too. And before I could even think, I gave Lexi another pouch, and she ate it all up too. Not eating is a common problem in CKD kitties for a variety of reasons. And there is a great debate among CKD cat owners about the diet of a CKD kitty. The prescription diets are low in phosphorous AND protein. These prescription diets are based on a study by one of the largest prescription diet manufacturers and what worked for dogs. And as any cat person will tell you, Cats Are Not Dogs. What works for dogs doesn’t always work for cats. The other side of this coin is the people who believe that cats are obligate carnivores and need protein to survive. This school of thought has several studies as well just not by anyone as prominent as the other study. But this study says that CKD kitties should eat foods that are made of high quality Proteins and low in phosphorous. So after your sister ate 2 more pouches of the Weruva food the next morning I made it a point to see what the dry matter analysis of this food was. At the end of the day it’s more important that your CKD kitty eat than serve the perfect food and have them go hungry; but I was hoping that Weruva would not only be something that Lexi would eat, but that it would also be “good” for her. So off to their website I went.

I had my fingers crossed because often companies don’t include the dry matter analysis at all on their websites and sometimes even those who do, don’t include the phosphorous levels. To my surprise and delight, Weruva lists several analysis tables and includes the phosphorous content prominently. An ideal phosphorous level to feed a CKD kitty is 0.50 or below, but a phosphorous binder can be added to foods above that to make them more appropriate for the CKD kitty. I was thrilled to find that the TruLuxe line was almost completely under 1% and the Steak Frites which is one of the foods that Lexi had tried and loved, was within the limits of what is good for her without any additions. Meaning I could open the can and give it to her and know she was getting the proper nutrition and not worsening her condition. Her other favorites included the Peking Ducken, Quick and Quirky, On the Cat WOk, Chicken Frick A’Zee, and Funk in the Trunk from their original line. And all of these had good levels of phosphorous so no/minimal phosphorous binders were needed to make them suitable for her to eat. And the other big bonus was that picky little you loved them too. So with one purchase I could feed you both and know that you both were getting a good healthy meal suitable to your needs. And I really liked that the food was recognizable as being chicken or beef or duck or whatever. And that the first ingredients on each can after water or broth was the meat (protein) contained within the can or pouch. And it was really nice to see that beef was beef and chicken was chicken and so on. So many companies have “beef, duck, chicken, etc.”, and when you get to the ingredient list there’s no beef or duck in the can at all.

Oh mommy yous so wight. Me sure does like that Chicken Frick A’Zee and so many of the others too. And they even have a pumpkin pouch that me really likes. But me is happiest that sis Lexi has put on some weight eating the Weruva and she’s much happier too. And Weruva gives some of their proceeds to help healthy and treatable animals in shelters. And their foods are made in a human food facility according to the International human food standards. Me and sissy are eating foods that are prepared in the same kind of facility that makes human foods. That’s a great thing because it means the standards are really high.

And the peeps over at Weruva are so nice and told me that we could offer one lucky friend and reader a whole case of the 3 oz Tru Luxe cans of their choice. Is that not the most pawsum thing ever? Wanna know what makes it even better? It’s open to all our friends in the U.S.A. and Canada. Yep you read that right Canucks you can enter too. So, here’s how you enter:

Furst: Follow meez blog via email and share this post on Twitter or Facebook. (If you don’t have one of those accounts let me know).

Second: Leave me a comment on this post telling me which food you want to try.. (click on the words TruLuxe to see your choices).

Image provided by Weruva .com/truluxe.php

This give away is open to all residents of the U.S. and Canada. This Give away will close on Monday 7/13/15 at 11:59 p.m. Names will be entered into Random Picker and one winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer: As always we received no green papers for this review and Weruva is not responsible for the content of this post or our opinions. And it is our policy to only bring you things we have tried or use and think would benefit you.

Don’t forget before you leave to enter for your chance to win the PetSafe Dwinkwell Pagoda Fountain of your choice here.

Till the next time……………………Be Blest!!!

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and Lexi

Service Cats U.S.

I Audra, am the human behind Service Cats U.S. aka DezizWorld. I am disabled and use cats as service animals instead of dogs. They are just as capable and can perform duties other animals cannot. We started our online journey to bring awareness to the ability of cats and to help others understand the relationship between a service animal and their handler/person. We offer training tips and tricks that I have learned through the years along with other information on all things feline. We began this journey in 2014 with Lexi and Dezi. They have since gone on to heaven, but our journey continues. This blog is about our daily life from the kitty's point of view. I want this blog to be interactive and get to know all of you, so comment and visit often. I will also offer advice, training tips and education when possible. Copyright © 2014 - 2021 {Audra High via Deztinee High and RaenaBelle High} All Rights Reserved All personal content (story's, poetry, etc., videos and music) are the property of the human behind Deziz World, and may not be used, copied or otherwise re-published without prior written permission/consent from the author (A. High-the human behind Deziz World). We have an amazon.com wish list and a PayPal account if you would like to help/donate to us.

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