Early age desexing resources and companion animals in apartments

Kittens are all over the internet, but overpopulation in real life is a major feline welfare issue.

Do you work with cats? The Cat Protection Society have put together an educational resource for veterinarians, including a package about early-age desexing.

Early-age desexing or EAD is one strategy to reduce the problem of unwanted litters (others are ensuring all cats are microchipped so they can be returned to their owners if they become lost, and yet another is adopting cats from shelters).

The education resources have been put together by a team, including myself, and are aimed at veterinarians, nurses and shelter staff who wish to help cats. To find out more, click here.

Do you live with a companion animal in an apartment? More and more Sydneysiders do. I see a number of clients each week who have concerns about living in an apartment with a companion animal – whether it’s a worry about noise or a landlord who has told someone after they’ve moved in with an animal that companions of the non-human kind are not allowed.

The City of Sydney is again offering a free Strata Skills 101 workshop on Tuesday May 23 from 6-8pm. Strata Paws is presented by Dr Joanne Righetti, an animal behaviour consultant at Pet Problems Solved, and facilitator Robin Miles, Director of Social Equity Networks.

This workshop would suit pet owners about to move into an apartment, those in apartments who have acquired a new companion animal anyone living in an apartment thinking about living with a companion animal (it’s always good to do your homework first). It is useful whether you own your apartment or you’re renting.

To register, click here. 

To find out about other workshops in the Strata Skills 101 program, check out the website. 

A spoon playing world record, pets in apartments and animal hoarding

We need to focus on living well with companion animals. This is Chiana enjoying the dog park.

SAT interviewee Deb “Spoons” Perry is an animal lover but also plays stainless steel spoons. Today she will be attempting to smash a world record. She’s been invited to play at the TEDx Sydney Event in the main Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. The current world record for people playing spoons is 1800. That’s 1800 people making music with spoons.

This afternoon, 15 minutes before afternoon tea, Deb will perform to “Lonely Boy” then proceed to teach 2500 (hopefully more) TEDx delegates how to play “Dumb Things” by Paul Kelly.

If you’re at TEDx, make sure you’re in the audience equipped with your spoon. We wish Deb the very best in her world record attempt.

This week is the last week to register your support for the proposed NSW Strata Regulations. Urban cultural geographer Emma Power explains why this is a good idea in this article for The Conversation.

Animal hoarding is a serious animal welfare issue, one for which there is no easy solution. The University of Sydney worked with the RSPCA to identify key characteristics of persons convicted for hoarding relatedoffences.

This week, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald mentions new findings by Drs Rosemary Elliot and John Snowden. This article is particularly insightful as it contains a first person account of animal hoarding from someone who proactively sought help, and who obviously had a great GP. Read more here.