The Community Cats Podcast

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Ep216 - Dr. Nels Rasmussen Sep 30, 2017

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Dr. Nels Rasmussen, Animal Chiropractor and Spiritual Animal Healer

"Everyone else is saying 'There's just no hope anymore,' and I'm here to say there is."

Dr. Nels Rasmussen is a third-generation animal chiropractor who now works as a spiritual animal healer in neuroenergetic balancing. In the early days of his practice he worked with paralyzed and injured horses, restoring them to riding shape. Now, he works mostly with dogs and some cats and horses. Dr. Rasmussen believes that many injuries and behavioral problems that have veterinarians stumped can be solved by resetting the fight-or-flight response and restoring the energy balance within the animal. In his nearly forty years of practice, Dr. Rasmussen has seen incredible results in his patients and saved many animals from unnecessary euthanization due to mobility issues. For more information on Dr. Rasmussen's work, or to schedule a thirty-minute phone consultation about an animal in your care, please visit healingministryforanimals.com.

Ep215 - Esther Mechler Sep 23, 2017

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Interview! Esther Mechler, Founder of Spay USA

"What's the tipping point? What's the age that we could get the veterinarians to agree? The answer seemed to be, by five months."

Esther is back for another episode of the Community Cats Podcast, in which she shares more information on the Feline Fix By Five campaign, an initiative to encourage veterinary practices to spay and neuter cats by five months of age. The campaign has been backed by extensive research into the benefits of fixing cats at what used to be considered a very early stage of development, as female cats can become pregnant by six months of age. Esther and her team are hopeful that the Fix By Five campaign will help drive down the kitten population and give some relief to overwhelmed shelters in areas with long kitten seasons. As of July 2017, the campaign has been officially endorsed by eight national veterinary associations.

To learn more about the campaign, please visit felinefixbyfive.org. You can help spread the word by sharing Feline Fix By Five on social media, or by requesting that your local veterinary practice sign up.

Ep214 - Britt Collins Sep 16, 2017

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Interview! Britt Collins, Author and Journalist, "Strays: A Lost Cat, a Homeless Man, and Their Journey Across America"

"Being a writer can be a lonely, hard process at the best of times."

Britt Collins is a writer, journalist, and animal activist, who has written investigative journalism on animal cruelty and has volunteered at animal rescues and sanctuaries around the world. Her most recent book, Strays: A Lost Cat, a Homeless Man, and Their Journey Across America, tells the true story of a lost cat and a homeless man who find each other in Portland, OR, and develop a life-saving friendship as they embark on an a cross-country journey together. Britt tells Stacy about the difficult process of writing and publishing Strays, as well as her current project of organizing Cat Fest London and what cat rescue organizations look like in the UK.

To learn more about Britt and her writing, please visit brittcollins.net. You can also find out more about Cat Fest London at catfestlondon.com.

Ep213 - Anna Skaya Sep 09, 2017

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Interview! Anna Skaya, CEO and Founder of Base Paws

"The bigger database, the more associations and discoveries we can make."

Anna Skaya is the CEO and founder of Base Paws, a commercial company that conducts feline genetic testing and research. Using the results from genetic testing, we can analyze an individual cat and assess her probability of contracting certain diseases. In less than a year of work, Base Paws has determined that Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), a common (and serious) disease among cats, affects 15% of cats, using the data collected from willing pet parents and shelters.

Perhaps even more importantly, Base Paws' work can help to predict patterns not just in the individual, but the larger population. Currently Base Paws is enlisting pet parents whose cats fit certain criteria to bring their cat in for testing. This will help Base Paws build both their genetic and behavioral database. Anna says that as the database grows, the accuracy of Base Paws' predictions and analyses will increase, which could provide critical information about cat health and improve treatment of feline illness overall.

To learn more about Base Paws, please visit basepaws.com. If you're interested in volunteering your cat for testing in order to improve feline genetic research, check out the Base Paws blog and see if your cat qualifies.

Ep212 - Maribeth Decker Sep 02, 2017

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Interview! Maribeth Decker, Intuitive Animal Communicator, sacredgrove.com

"It's a connection between two souls on a non-physical level."

Maribeth Decker is an intuitive animal communicator, whose dogs first began communicating with her after she became a Reiki Master. She herself only realized her gift when she adopted Tibor, a young fear-aggressive rescue dog, who sent her images of his life before coming to live with her. After that experience, Maribeth began consciously practicing animal communication, and has been doing so since 2010.

Maribeth describes her communication with animals as "feelings, memories, and body sensations" shared between two beings. In this episode, she recounts some of her experiences, both with her own animals and with clients. Maribeth helps pet and pet owners deepen their connection, resolve behavioral problems, and even give mutual comfort as the pet begins to transition out of this life. She has also authored a book, Peace In Passing, which aims to provide comfort for grieving pet owners through her experiences in assisting transitions.

To book an appointment or to learn more about what Maribeth does, please visit sacredgrove.com. You can also join the Facebook group, Spiritual Pet People, to connect with a community of animal lovers who want to deepen their connections to their pets.

Ep211 - Lorrie Shaw Aug 26, 2017

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Interview! Lorrie Shaw, Owner, Professional Pet Sitting & Blogger, Animals Unfolded

"Cats' needs for enrichment are only becoming more understood."

Lorrie Shaw is the owner of Professional Pet Sitting and specializes in helping families care for hospice and special needs pets. Through her work, she has observed that medical issues and behavioral issues are very often linked—inappropriate elimination, for example, is the most common reason for a family to rehome a cat, yet this behavior is often indicative of an underlying medical issue the family isn't even aware of. This is where a knowledgeable pet sitter is invaluable: by observing a cat's behavior in their home environment, the pet sitter becomes the eyes and ears for the family when they are away, and can therefore spot problems long before the family notices. Lorrie says that with proper intervention and knowledge, and a good relationship with the local vet, she has witnessed many families keep a cat they may have otherwise surrendered.

You can find Lorrie online on Facebook, Twitter, and her website, lorrieshaw.com. You can also keep up with her pet sitting adventures and learn more about animal behavior on her blog, Animals Unfolded.

Ep210 - Pat Brayer Aug 19, 2017

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Interview! Pat Brayer, Clinic Director at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona

"The adopters that are drawn to the shy feral kittens are the ones that are going to make them blossom the most."

Pat Brayer is the clinic director at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. In her shelter work, she has pioneered some of the field's most innovative programs, such as the Kitten Kindergarten program, which has successfully socialized and adopted out 82 formerly feral kittens brought into the shelter by trappers. Perhaps the most cutting edge program at HSSAZ is the FELV vaccination program, which is an initiative to lower the stigma surrounding feline leukemia and to increase adoptions of these lovable cats. HSSAZ offers free testing and vaccinations to adopters who are interested in adopting a FELV+ cat but are concerned about the risk to the cats they already own. The program has been hugely successful, with no incidences of vaccinated cats contracting the virus from their FELV+ housemates.

You can get in touch with Pat by emailing her at pbrayer@hssaz.org, or by calling (502) 321 3706. You can also learn more about recent FELV vaccine research by reading this NIH article.

Ep209 - Nathan Winograd Aug 12, 2017

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Interview! Nathan Winograd, Executive Director, The No-Kill Advocacy Center, Part 2

"We had to come to the realization that just because you work at an animal shelter doesn't mean you are passionate about cats and saving their lives."

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Nathan describes the current animal welfare legislation he is working on—namely the Companion Animal Protection Act (CAPA) and how it has been implemented, in whole or in part, in various cities and counties across the U.S. He also revisits some of his tougher experiences pushing legislation in more regressive areas and shelters, and warns against the naïveté inherent in the belief that all animal shelters or humane societies are truly interested in saving animals. CAPA seeks to make that ideal a reality by transforming shelters into "temporary waystations to a better life" for cats, not euthanasia sites.

To learn more about Nathan's work, you can visit nokilladvocacycenter.org or nathanwinograd.com.

Ep208 - Nathan Winograd Aug 05, 2017

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Interview! Nathan Winograd, Executive Director, The No-Kill Advocacy Center, Part 1

"It's actually the policies and procedures of the shelter that are responsible for whether animals die in shelters."

It's hard to name a field of animal welfare that Nathan Winograd doesn't have experience in: his animal advocacy work started while attending Stanford Law School, and since then he has worked in animal control, consulted for and ran animal shelters, written animal protection legislation, prosecuted in animal cruelty cases, taught at Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine, spoken internationally on animal welfare topics, and written five books! One such book, Redemption, details the "no-kill" revolution in the United States and advocates for no-kill communities, not just no-kill shelters. In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Nathan gives a detailed description of both his history in animal welfare and the evolution of the sheltering industry in general. Nathan also defines what he means by "no-kill" community, and Stacy discusses with him what that could mean for the future of community cats. To learn more about Nathan's work, you can visit nokilladvocacycenter.org or nathanwinograd.com.

Ep207 - Kate Benjamin Jul 29, 2017

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Interview! Kate Benjamin, Designer, Blogger of Hauspanther, Part 2

"Not only does the design of the room at the shelter make it very functional and enjoyable, but it's a showcase for what people can do when they get home."

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Kate delves into how user-centered design theory can be applied to shelters, in order to make adoptable cats' personalities shine and therefore be adopted faster. She has great praise for the new trend of cat cafes and open-concept shelters, which, if designed correctly, can encourage and inspire people to adopt cats and catify their own homes!

Check out Kate's blog at www.hauspanther.com.

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