Dear George,
You may notice that there is something wrong with my ears.... it was skin cancer. I came into the care of Downham Market Cats Protection because my owners couldn't afford the treatment and the vets bills. Luckily Cats Protection could and did. So I am now cancer free.
We need keeping indoors when there is a great deal of sun. My owners didn't know this, though my new owners do now. It's particularly important in the middle of the day when the sun is at its height.
Please can you warn other cats so that they can wise up their humans and help protect us.
Love George, your white namesake.
Dear George,
Cats with white faces are very sensitive to sunburn on the non-furry bits - ear tips, eye rims, and nose. Sometimes they suffer from solar dermatitis which is the pre cancerous condition. This may then turn to cancer.
How can humans recognise it? The flesh looks as if it is being eaten away. The ear tips shrink. The area may be crusty and scabby. The tumour is not a lump but more like a red crater with a rim round it.
Some people put sun lotion on their cats but nobody knows if it works. And besides, we normally lick it off. So it is best to make us take a siesta inside the house. We can sun ourselves on the window sill as the sunlight is safe if it has passed through glass.
We cats also need to purrsuade our humans to stop smoking. Scientists have looked at cats with squamous cell cancer and discovered that they are more likely to have been exposed to tobacco smoke. The reference, for anybody who doesn't believe this, is at the bottom of my letter. Save your cat's life: give up smoking. I feel strongly about this as my late companion William died of oral cancer and had spent some years exposed to Ronnie's tobacco smoke. Perhaps he would have lived longer without it.
We should all support The Animal Cancer Trust which was set up in the UK to tell humans more about cancer in all sorts of animals including cats. For a special article on cats and cancer go to the Feline Advisory Bureau website.
Stay well.
Love George
PS. Ref is: Snyder et al., (2004), 'Expression and Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Feline Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma', Veterinary Pathology, 41, 209-214
Good post George. There's plenty of dumb apes who still don't believe smoking is harmful to apes, yet alone cats. Despite all the evidence, they keep puffing and polluting. This kinda ape arrogance will be the death of the planet.
ReplyDeleteWW
Excellent letter George! Hope humans will learn a lot!
ReplyDeleteLove
Fluffy
PS. I have to run to help Cayenne. She injured one leg and we all worried and were scared.
She's ok now :-)
Oooops! My humans smoke! I'll make sure they read this and learn something too.
ReplyDeleteFrederico
Wow! My mom smokes but outside so it won't affect me. Or still does?
ReplyDeleteMinnie
I think at least one of my humans smokes but outside as they have kids!
ReplyDeleteDiego
Good Lord! Coffee addiction, sun addictions, smoking addiction? What else?
ReplyDeleteRecreational drugs anyone?
Can't we, cats, live a normal life as we did for so many years? Or ....am I too old to understand this new age habits?
Sebastian
We have a close friend that has a white cat that had the same problem. She started putting sunscreen on his ears. I don't know if that would help for you white cat owners.
ReplyDeleteHi , Thanks for sharing your helpful article . This information about how second hand smoke harms our animal friends is vitally important. Here in NYC, where many people live alone or with adults only, it’s easy to think we’re not hurting anyone if we smoke indoors. We forget about our cats, dogs, birds and other companions, who can’t protest when we light up. Thanks for spreading the word.
ReplyDeleteThanks and regards
Teresa
http://onedaytop.com/music-therapy-puppies-cats/