Cats And Volcanoes

[voyager]

I have not been by here for quite a while.
I figured our story would be of interest to you people here.

As some of you may remember we have two black cats, Dexter now called Doodle cat, and Hunter now called Tubby cat.
We are in Hawaii, on Big Island, and live in Leilani Estates.
In case you've been asleep, that's where the on going volcanic eruption is happening.
We have not been directly threatened by the lava flows but they have been occurring within a mile of our home.

While not knowing what, both cats have know that something is not right.
Both have demanded a lot of attention and reassurance since the fun began.
They still wandered off and peruse their territories, but spent more time at home than before.
Dexter is the smaller, more active and acrobatic of the two.
He will probably be the one to die first from misadventure.
Hunter is the bigger, meaner looking of the two, but less outgoing.

We were finally forced to leave by the county's Civil Defense organization.
Putting them into a cage and hauling them 20 miles to our new temporary location was horrifyingly traumatic for them.
They have been outdoor cats, allowed to come and go as they pleased.
The trip in the cage, in the back of a truck, then the new house left them absolutely terrorized.
Then, the owners sent someone in to clean the gutters and roof with power equipment.
As at our home, domestic water here is from catchment originating from the house's roof.
It again terrorized both cats.
They spent all day hiding under sofas and beds.

I've come to have a better understanding of both cat's personalities that was never quite so obvious before.
Dexter is a more resilient individual, better able to handle the stresses.
Hunter, on then other hand, is so much more timid.
He has turned into a quivering mass of fear.
I used to call him 'Fraidy cat when he was younger.
It has become so much more obvious the last few days that he still is.
He requires a lot more attention and reassurance than Dexter.
I have to spend a lot of time petting and holding him trying to put him at ease.
I hope this ends soon with not losing our home.
The cats will be better able to handle going back to a territory they know than ending up in another strange place when we relocate from where we're at now.

I knew relocating them was going to be problematic, but didn't think it would be to this extent.

 

[danteshuman]

Since they are outside cats can you bring clippings of the outside world in for them daily? Maybe work on harness training them after this over? Invest in feliway and maybe even mild sedatives for the next roof repair/wash or travel? Our semi-feral indoor/outdoor cat loves the water fountain I got for my boys ... or a slow drip in the sink? I'm sure they are happy to lean on each other through this.
I'm not sure if these will help or not... strangely there was nothing on "help my cats are stressed we moved because of the lava"
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats
The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside
Be Prepared for a Disaster: How to Evacuate with Cats | Catster
How to Protect Community Cats from Disasters : The Humane Society of the United States

Good luck. I'm sorry your family & your boys were uprooted by lava.

 

[voyager]

Hi danteshuman,
I have not come by looking for help.
All I intended was to relate their story.
They are coping with the situation, each in his own way, one needing a lot more support than the other.
The eruption is not their problem.
The move caused by it is.
They do not liked being indoors, but will adjust.
The sooner we can get therm back home, the happier they will be.
The sooner I can get me back home the happier I'll be too.

 

[betsygee]

I'm sorry to hear you've had to relocate and hope you can all go back home soon.

 

[KarenKat]

Wow, that’s stressful for all of you, I’d imagine! Hope everything turns out well for your home!

It is so interesting when I see what I was right about (and wrong about) with cat behavior. I always assumed Gohan was our “alpha” cat and was bold, whereas Trin was a “beta” cat and more submissive. Now I realize after giving them a taste of outside and introducing a new cat that Gohan is sensitive to his environment (he is a slow explorer and will only go further when he has confirmed the next step is safe) and Trin is less sensitive and so will go further quicker, and challenge the new cat instead of studying her for months before interacting. It’s interesting that you seemed to be right about your kitties now they have a stressful situation.

Good luck, again! Let us know how it’s going.

 

[rubysmama]

voyager Nice to see you here again. Sorry you and your cats' lives have been so disrupted by the volcano. Hopefully your home will be safe, and things will be back to normal soon.

 

[voyager]

All the stressful things being thrown at them one after another was almost too much for them to handle.
Things are quieter today.
We woke up with both of them sleeping on the bed at our feet.

I was worried that there might be a problem with them using the litter box.
Tubby did wet the floor a couple of times yesterday.
Starting last night, after things quieted down, they both have been using it whenever needed, much to our relief.

Both cats will come up to me while I'm on the PC, raise up, put one paw on my leg and tap my elbow with their other paw to get my attention.
A petting, a rub, and a massage makes them happy for a while.

Where we're staying is at a lower altitude.
Temperatures are probably at least 5°F warmer than what we experienced at home.
For black cats that could be an additional discomfiture for them.
Luckily, the house is on stilts and does get exposure to the Trades giving good air circulation through it, as long as there is good air movement ouside.

We still need to be careful when we go in or out a door, one handles cats while the other passes through.
No doubt they will make a dash for it if given then opportunity.
Doodle cat has made it out once already.
Luckily, once he was off the lanai and down the stairs he allowed me to walk up to him and pick him up.

It will be at least 2 weeks before we can let them outside.
But, that may be a problem of its own.
There is a feral cat that hangs around here.
Some of the local residents feed it.
Our boys will be invaders.
They may be house cats as long as we're here.
I've had to get Doodle treated for cat bite abscesses 2 times already.
Not going to do it again.

Uh oh, The roof people just showed up again.
They're going to do the roof on the other house today.
The cats are already slinking around here with their bellys dragging across the floor.
It'll be another bad day for them, but not as bad as yesterday.
They'll be working on another house not this one.

I'm gone.

 

[vyger]

The ongoing eruption is going to cause problems with the local wildlife and any feral cats. As the land changes the animals are forced to flee also so you could see a lot of migrating critters passing through. Most animals that can get out of the way, do. Although there may be a lot of deep fried rats in the tops of the trees.
After things cool down does the local tax assessor show up to update things? "That lava fissure added 50 feet onto you property so were going to have to tax you for that addition. "

 

[voyager]

More to the heart of the problem are the number of abandoned pets in the area.
The county came through spreading alarm telling lies and giving misleading information trying to get people to evacuate the threatened areas.
I have seen cats and dogs sitting at driveway entrances waiting for someone to come home weeks after the owners left.
Even animals that are not allowed by the CCRs, pet pigs, chickens, turkeys, and a few others have been wandering around.

Do not start on me about trying to save all the abandoned.
I had enough to deal with trying to stay in our home while the county was doing everything in its power to force everyone out.

The SPCA did send a few people in to try getting some animals out.
They were only after dogs because cats were too hard to catch.
Plus, the only time I ever saw them was while they were sitting in a vehicle parked at an intersection for hours at a time.
I don't think very many animals were rescued.

A good part of why we stayed as long as we did was our refusal to abandon our animals, OK just 2 cats, as well as the number of abandoned homes that were vandalized and looted.
There is much more to this than a simple volcanic eruption.
I'm not going to go into a complete rundown on all the problems.
Its too complicated and it doesn't concern anyone here.

Property lines will not change.
all lots are 1 acre: 100' x 465.6', that will not change.
A new survey will set your corner post atop the new lava rock over the old corner posts or where it should be if it shifted.
Some people on previously inundated areas have rebuilt on the bare lava rock.
Any newly formed land on the cost will belong to the government body that claims it.

 

[rubysmama]

That's so sad about the abandoned pets, and farm animals.

 

[voyager]

Then boys are adjusting, very nicely I might add.
Tubby still spends a lot of time sleeping under the sofa during the day.
Doodle spends most of the day laying in front of the front and back screen doors looking out.
But, doesn't make a mad dash for the opening when either of us goes out the door.
Doodle was very happy today.
He caught an anole here in the house.
The first since coming here.
As usual Tubby saw him after it and went over to see if he could get some of the action.
They are not as active as they were when they spent all their time outdoors.
They do seem to be adapting to it.
They keep waking up up during the night from them running around chasing, fighting, and wrasssling with each other.
One of them, really smacked his head hard as he ran under the bed last night.
The sound woke us up and made my head hurt just thinking about it.
We wake up to them laying at our feet sleeping every morning.
As soon as we get up, they're ready for breakfast.

Mum gave therm a really nice treat this morning, canned wet food.
They were ecstatic.

One thing I really like about these two guys.
They have never learned to associate the kitchen with food.
The do not climb on the counters [at least not when I'm looking], They do not clamber around your feet yowling while your trying to do things in the kitchen.
For a couple of uncouth outdoor cats, they are exceptionally well behaved.

Of course, we do not try to feed them on a human eating schedule, effectively making them go hungry several times a day.
We feed them once a day, in the morning, with enough food to last them until almost breakfast time the next day in order to empty their stomachs out to start a new day.
The natural feeding pattern for a small cat is numerous small meals a day.
That's why they're such compulsive and good hunters.
Well, some of them are good hunters.
Tubby, also called Klutz cat, would be a lot skinnier if he had to feed himself.
In a natural state they hunt constantly for many small meals throughout the day.

 

[vyger]

Hey, you still around??
I know things have continued to be "unsettled" in terms of the volcanic activity there. Even though it has turned into "old news" I still look up articles on the continuing eruption. I did hear one theory that sounded a bit dire and am wondering if you have heard it. Apparently there is some speculation that the entire area of the current eruption could slide off into the sea. I believe they are calling it a slump. Apparently it has happened before according to the remnants on the ocean floor. The lava builds up and essentially becomes unstable since it is on the side of a mountain. The still molten and moving lava underneath acts as a lubricant and the ongoing earthquakes cause the area to break loose and the entire landmass becomes a giant landslide. Have you heard anything about this? It would be bad not just for Hawaii but for the entire pacific rim because it creates a very large tsunami. So the entire west coast could get clobbered if it happens. Have you heard anything about something like this?

 

[voyager]

Yeah, things have been a bit un-normal.
We began letting the cats outdoors a week or two ago.
They're happier than pigs in mud.
There was supposed to be a feral cat in the area.
It has not shown itself since seeing it on day 1.
We have some "REAL' jungle right behind the house here.
They love it.
Doodle cat has found a hunter's paradise.
He's bringing something home almost every day.
Tubby cat just likes to hide in the jungle and sleep all day.
There are a few large albezias that have been cut down in the back jungle.
The cats use them as highways to move around through the jungle area.
We'll look out and see our "black leopards" walking along the downed trees.

We on the other hand are not quite as happy with our present lodging.

My PC died a couple of weeks ago.
I bought a new mobo, CPU, RAM and graphics card.
I've just gotten it put together and am working on getting it set up and back running as I want it.

Yeah, there are a lot of wack-jobs and conspiracy theorists talking about the possibility of a huge break off from the rift zone.
Yes, it has happened before in other locations and on other islands, but on a time scale of hundreds of thousands to millions of years ago.
There is NO indication that something might be in the works to happen in the foreseeable future.
If a big one does happen, it will have catastrophic effects around the Pacific rim in what ever direction the collapse happens.
Not sure how long ago, but the north shore of Kaua'i had such an event.
It has devastating effects on the West Coast of N.A.
The rubble on the ocean floor can be seen on Google Maps.

We're in limbo as far as what we'll be doing.
our home is still standing, with little harm done to it yet from deterioration caused by the climate or volcanic gasses.
We are still blocked from moving back into it.
We are not happy with our interim situation.
So, what's new?

 

[voyager]

About timer for an update.
On Sept. 9th they lifted the mandatory evacuation order.
The cats and I immediately moved back home, no power, no phone, and no i-net.
They were ecstatic, so glad to be home again.

8 days later we got our electrical power restored.
Didn't make much difference to the cats.
For me, it meant that I no longer had to cook on a Coleman stove, make coffee with a french press, eating only canned and packaged foods, and using a sun shower bag in the back yard for showers.
Didn't seem to bother the cats at all.
Doodle cat would climb the step ladder I used to hang the Sun Shower with, and watch me as I showered with a look of incredulity on his face.

Another week or so, to get phone and i-net back.
We're slowly getting our lives back in order.

Dexter, Doodle cat, is unflappable.
He seems to be able to deal with anything life throws at him.

Hunter, Tubby cat now known as Mangy cat, is our special needs cat.
He is the more neurotic with many problems dealing with problems.
About a week before moving back in, he began excessively grooming himself.
His coat is slowly disappearing everywhere he can reach it.
He's turning gray as his guard hairs break off to let his under coat show through.
Another week or so, then I can look at getting the vet to come by to look at him.
Getting life back to normal is a long slow process.

 

[susanm9006]

Thanks for the update. I have been wondering how you were faring. Poor Tubby, though. Hopefully as time passes he will settle back to his old self. A vet check would be good. I imagine they may be some new allergens floating around and maybe they are making him itchy.

 

[voyager]

Time for another update.

Didn't call the vet.
Our subdivision is restricted to residents only with a check point at the highway junction.
Getting her in would have required a two-step-shuffle to get done.
Plus, her home had been invaded and vandalized after the evacuation of her area.
Then, it was destroyed by the lava.
We have had our own set of complications to deal with.
Life has been too complicated to call a vet.

A few weeks ago I picked up a Chlorhexadine shampoo and a Lime-Sulphur dip.
Between them, they should cover from bacteria, to fungi, to 6 and 8 legged creepy crawlers.

A couple of weeks ago we did a trial run with just the Chlorhexidine shampoo.
It was a battle.
Mangy Cat, also known as Fraidy Cat since he was very small, was freaked.
But, he never scratched, clawed or bit me while holding him.
I decided to forego the lime-sulphur dip that time.
I was an emotional wreck after subjecting him to that.

Today we did both the shampoo and dip to both cats.
Tubby [Hunter, Mangy, Fraidy, etc] still fought but not quite as hard or as much.
He may be getting used to the idea.

Doodle [Dexter, Dummy, etc] actually surprised me.
While he wasn't happy, he submitted with fewer objections.

Both cats are cleaner and smell almost like rotten eggs.
As one that as a kid used to participate in rotten egg fights, this doesn't smell so bad.
M'Lady is a little more dubious about that.

Tubby has been her lap cat.
She is part of the Knitted Knockers group.
She spends a lot of her time knitting prosthetic breasts for breast cancer survivors with Tubby sleeping on her lap.
He may smell a bit too badly for that for a few days.
That may be the most traumatic part for him to deal with.

EDIT:
Tubby just came in and crawled up on her lap.
He's dry, and his coat feels clean, but he does smell lightly of sulphur.
But, not bad enough to get kicked off her lap while she knits.
He's happy.

 

[voyager]

Time for another update,. maybe the last one.
The cats are completely recovered from their trauma from the eruption, or at least seem to be.
They now act as if they own us, not the other way around.

Doodle just doodles around as if nothing was ever wrong in his life.
Nothing seems to phase him.
He acts like an adolescent male.
He will probably die by misadventure.
He is a great ratter.
The only problem is that he catches them and brings them home to play with, as well as birds, geckos and anoles.
The only rat we've had to trap in the house in almost 6 years was one of his escaped toys.


Tubby has also adjusted nicely.
He's not much of a hunter.
He'd be a lot thinner if he had to work for his living.

Entertainment is his forte.
He jumps back flips, scampers around the yard and shows his exuberance in other ways high lighted by his klutziness.
While I'm walking around the yard, he'll jump up onto the bench next to the spa, put his feet up onto the back rest, then stick a paw out and wave it at me as I go by to signal he wants a pet, scratch and rub, which I will oblige him with.
He is still the consummate 'fraidy cat, though.
Everything scares him.

I became convinced Tubby's mange was caused by body bugs, mites or fleas, with mites being my strongest suspicion.
We tried the medicated baths.
They both were so adverse to that they both no longer like to be picked up and held, just in case they might end up in a bath again.
So, I checked around and decided to try one of the topical application medications.
I had been very skeptical and suspicious about using this type of parasite control.
But, they are now over 2 years old and we wouldn't be applying it to very young cats.

I decided to try the Revolution/Stronghold brand because it is also effective against mites.
I found a no Rx supplier where it was shipped from Germany.
I became very unhappy with them due to a screw up on their part not being handled expediently.
Bought a 6 month supply of treatment [3 months for 2 cats].
I just applied the second month's treatment.
Tubby's mange is almost cleared up.
His coat and Doodle's look and feel very nice.
They're not all bug eaten, and over groomed anymore.

I will get the next order of medication from an Aussie supplier, a little cheaper and hopefully better customer service.
Plus, Australia is a lot closer to Hawaii than Germany.
I think that after a second round of treatments they can be dosed less often.
Others around here treat only once a year, apparently with good results.

 

[danteshuman]

Sounds like your cat is allergic to fleas and itching ..... so he pulls out his hair. That isn't mange. You can get allergy pills for him. Also I found killing the little flea bastards in the backyard using poison helped a lot (there are sprays & granules.) True mange you need to go to the vet, identify what type of mite your pet has, then use special shampoo that kills that mite.

My cat used to catch birds and release them in my room! Doodles has figured out he can make the fun last longer by releasing his rat inside for him to hunt again .... with out the rat being able to really get free. That or Doodle thinks you guys need to learn how to hunt better

I'm happy to hear your cats (& you) made it through the volcano going off unscathed.

 

[voyager]

Hi danteshuman,
Both cats wore flea collars at all times.
They showed no signs of fleas whenever inspected for them.
Doodle had thinning hair on his head in front of his ears from scratching, but no other signs.
I interpreted that as an ear mite infestation.
This all began when we moved them to a new location because of the eruption.
The new area had a very high number of dogs around, many more than near our home.
The forced move placed them under much stress.
Cats can acquire Sarcoptic Mange from dogs, especially if their immune system is compromised due to stresses in their various forms.
It is actually the result of excessive grooming from the irritation the mites cause the animals.

Granted, the only way to be certain would be to have a vet sample and ID the responsible creepy-crawler.
But, I'm convinced that treating for mites is what fixed the problem.

Yeah, Doodle does seem to think we are not very good hunters.
But, Tubby is not a very good hunter either.
Doodle doesn't share with Tubby until he walks away after he tires of playing with it
Doodle would make a good retriever.
He has a very soft mouth.
He keeps his birds in good condition so that they last longer for playing with.
Her really gets upset when I take a bird away from him and turn it loose.
he gives me a look that says: Why'd you do that?