Good Things To Know About Russian Blue Cats

By Dalvin Rumsey
People say that no other cat breed can be as beautiful as the Russian Blue! They are indeed wonderful cats, which can steal anyone’s heart with their emerald green eyes, silver-tipped fur, refined boning and plushy coats!

These cats have a very strong personality. It is not the owner who chooses to take in a Russian Blue cat, but it is the cat that chooses to accept him! The cat has the final say as to how the relationship develops. If you are lucky enough to win her trust, you will get her full loyalty and love. The cat will treasure you more than anyone in the whole world.

Unlike the other cats which are usually very friendly to people, the Russian Blue kitten is rather shy when meeting a stranger. The little one hides in a safe place, most of the times behind pieces of furniture. From there the kitten can review all the new aspects of her life. The only working strategy at this point is to sit down, quietly dangle a shoelace or move a cat teaser back and forth slowly and wait. The Russian will be unable to ignore the motion and will most certainly try to catch the moving object. This is the first step in establishing a relationship with the cat. From there on, you can hope for a serious relationship with the kitten. Lots of cat toys, as the Russians remain eager to play throughout their lives, no loud music and meals on time are the most successful tools you have for that matter!

The Russian Blue cats are very intelligent, as their most important characteristic is that they always look carefully before leaping. Apart from the fact that the Russian Blue will have gained a large amount of play time from you at your first meeting, he will also have guessed just how interested you are in getting to know him. You have to be totally devoted to him in order for the cat to feel that you are the owner he was looking for!

The Russians never like changes. So, if you decide to take one, then he must be sure that he will stay a long time and be treated as a valued member of your family.

To sum it up, the Russian Blue cats are very intelligent and agile. A person who takes in such a cat must be able to treasure all the qualities the Russians have!

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Why Cat's Claw May Be One Of Nature's Most Powerful Healers2

By: Steve Smith
The many potential benefits of cat's claw make it a hugely exciting prospect for advocates of herbal remedies. But there is an important caveat in that most of the research so far has been conducted in the laboratory rather than on live human subjects. Against that, however, must be set the many centuries of use of the herb amongst older civilisations.

Orthodox medicine, moreover, is always keen to stress, quite correctly, that the mere fact that a remedy is described as "natural" or "herbal" does not mean it is necessarily free of potential side effects. Herbal remedies, after all, often provide the raw materials for the manufacture of conventional drugs, and are highly active biochemical compounds in their own right. They could not be of any benefit if they were not.

But in the case of cat's claw the only contraindications for its use appear to for pregnant women and those suffering from disorders of the immune system. For all others, the herb appears to be completely safe, although very rare cases of minor gastric upsets and headaches have been reported.

The inner bark of the plant is the source of cat's claw's active alkaloid compounds, but the bark itself is indigestible and poorly absorbed, if at all, by the human digestive system. Fortunately, however, cat's claw is now readily available in the form of easily absorbed teas, tinctures and capsules, but it's probably best to start with low doses to ensure freedom from any possible side effects. And as recommended therapeutic doses vary between 750 and 3,000 mg per day, it's always worth talking things over with your physician or a reputable herbal practitioner before beginning any program of supplementation. But the potential benefits of cat's claw appear so promising that this is not a herb you should ignore.

Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter specialising in direct marketing and with a particular interest in health products. Find out more at http://www.sisyphuspublicationsonline.com/LiquidNutrition/Information.htm

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Why Cat's Claw May Be One Of Nature's Most Powerful Healers1

By Steve Smith
Cat's claw, known as una de gato in Spanish, is a herb derived from a vine-type plant which grows widely in the countries of Central and South America, and is particularly common in the Amazon rainforests and Peru. So vast and botanically rich are the wilds of the Amazon rain forest that many herbal practitioners still look to it as a potential source of powerful, but as yet undiscovered, herbal remedies. Although this hope might seem to some like wishful thinking, the example of cat's claw suggests that it may not be entirely fanciful; because although the herb has only very recently become known in the West, it has been used as health tonic and treatment by the indigenous peoples of the region for many centuries. But the claims made for the benefits of cat's claw need to be treated with some caution, because there are those who would have you regard it as something akin to a miracle herb or universal panacea; and orthodox medicine, as always, is rightly sceptical of the wilder claims of the herbal or "natural" remedy lobby.

Rendered into liquid form, however, extracts of cat's claw have been found to have potent adaptogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, and these are therefore used by herbal therapists to tackle a wide variety of common ailments. The anti-inflammatory qualities of the herb indicate potential benefits in the treatment of arthritis, rheumatism and bursitis; as well as digestive problems and ulcers, whilst as an adaptogen and anti-oxidant cat's claw is believed to boost the immune system, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and even help in the fight against cancer.

Serious research into the benefits of cat's claw has been underway in Europe since the 1970s, and although, as noted above, conventional medicine remains reluctant to confirm the herb's therapeutic value, the fact that cat's claw is only available on prescription in certain countries is a clear indication of its biochemical potency. Cat's claw's power as an immune system booster appears to be related to unique properties in the alkaloids derived from it, certain of which appear directly to enhance the ability of the body's white blood cells to destroy potentially harmful foreign matter. These alkaloids also seem to stimulate the production of the vital T4 lymphocyte and leucocyte immune system cells which are crucial in fighting viral infections.

One particular such alkaloid, rynchophylline, is also believed to be of great benefit to the cardio-vascular system in preventing blood "stickiness", or the potentially catastrophic formation of clots in circulating blood in the heart and brain. Like other anti-oxidants, cat's claw may also help to prevent the oxidation of low density lipids (LDL), or "bad cholesterol", and the consequent build up of deposits inside the arteries leading to atherosclerosis. Recent research also suggests that the anti-oxidant action of cat's claw may also help to prevent the deposit of the plaques within brain tissue which are implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter specialising in direct marketing and with a particular interest in health products. Find out more at http://www.sisyphuspublicationsonline.com/LiquidNutrition/Information.htm

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Cat Scratch Disease - How Does It Happen?2

By: Ron King
There are a few alternatives to de-clawing your cat, such as claw covers or trimming back their claws, but you will have to be vigilant if you are in a home with an immunocompromised person.

Fewer than ten percent of family members scratched by a cat carrying cat scratch disease will develop the cat-scratch symptoms, and very serious illness from the disease is rare. If you've had cat scratch disease once, you are almost surely immune to it afterward.

Cat scratch disease must not be confused with other feline diseases, such as the cat-borne disease, toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is deadly to a pregnant woman's fetus, but presents in different ways and is more likely to be inhaled when a woman changes her cat's litter box. Cat scratch disease symptoms can be dangerous to a pregnant woman as well, but in an entirely different way.
For more info, see Cat Scratch Disease and Feline Diseases. Ron King is a web developer; read his articles on Cat Diseases.

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Cat Scratch Disease - How Does It Happen?1

By Ron King
Symptoms of Cat Scratch Disease

Cat scratch disease is a malady spread by cats, but that affects only humans; it's also called cat scratch fever. Cat scratch disease symptoms are most usually diagnosed in the colder winter and fall months of the year for reasons scientists don't understand; it's possible that cats are more likely to be indoors at this time, elevating the chance of human exposure overall to feline diseases.

Cat scratch disease is caused by bacteria called Bartonella henselea that commonly lives in the mouths of cats. They spread it to their claws by routine grooming. Interestingly, cat scratch disease is not transmitted through cat bites, only through cat scratches.

Most Americans have been exposed to cat scratch disease, and 5% of the US population has antibodies in their blood but no history of clinical malady. Because antibodies are only produced in response to the invasion of a disease, it is clear that they were exposed to Bartonella directly. It is possible that they did not subsequently fall ill, or that the disease was mistaken for the flu.

Cat scratch disease reveals flu-like symptoms. The most common symptoms include fever, chills, and lethargy, but they last for only a few days, much shorter than most flu's.

There is a more severe strain of cat scratch disease that causes high fever, anorexia, weakness, and badly swollen lymph nodes, particularly in the armpits and groin area. Sometimes the lymph swelling gets so severe that the swelling spontaneously ruptures; at other times, doctors choose to surgically drain them to prevent the rupture and relieve the pain.

Typically, the most acute form of the disease is seen in younger children and the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, such as those who have HIV, are receiving chemotherapy, or who have been the recipient of an organ donation. When the acute form of the disease presents itself, the consequences for the victim can be disability or even death.

If the disease in humans is treated immediately with antibiotics, the outcome is usually good, but it's very hard to diagnose because cat scratch disease symptoms it's so similar to flu and because it is not a familiar disease. Cat scratch disease is often overlooked in its earliest stages, and only revealed when the lymph nodes are involved. Almost every confirmed case of cat scratch disease follows a cat scratch wound; a few occur after a bite, and a few feline diseases even crop up with no noticeable cause.

Another oddity of cat scratch disease is that rarely are adult cats involved in the transmission. Generally, a kitten scratch delivers the disease. This does not mean you should not worry about it with an older cat, but only that you should worry more from kittens. It is contagious for only about two or three weeks in a kitten, after which it goes dormant. It can recur, however.

Kittens can be diagnosed as cat scratch disease carriers by a simple blood test, and positive kittens can be remedied successfully with antibiotics. Because this disease can come back, however, this is not a silver bullet for preventing cat scratch disease. De-clawing kittens at an early age is the best way to stop infection. You should be aware of the results to the cat before de-clawing it, however. Not only can it be dangerous for the cat to go outside, it can also be psychologically shocking and cause unexpected complications like arthritis.

For more info, see Cat Scratch Disease and Feline Diseases. Ron King is a web developer; read his articles on Cat Diseases.

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