For all the latest Bengal Classifieds News and Big Cat News from around the world

We would like to welcome QueenAnne / Hallmark Bengals to the website. The cattery is located in Worcestershire and breeds Browns, Snows and Silvers.

New figures released today by pet insurer Petplan indicate that a cat is run over on UK roads every two and a half minutes. According to the company drivers hit 630 cats every day, nearly a quarter of a million in the last year.

Petplan research also indicates that kittens are most at risk with half of all the cats involved in road traffic accidents, (RTA) being aged between seven months and two years old.

The company has produced a free guide for owners to help prevent and deal with cat RTAs.

Feline Accident Black Spots

Bristol is pinpointed as the UK’s cat accident black spot. The city had the highest number of cat RTAs in the last 12 months. London comes a close second as the most hazardous place for cats. Grimsby and Dundee, says Petplan, are cat heaven having the lowest reported incidents in the last year.

Top Ten Black Spots:

Bristol
London
Swindon
Leeds
Nottingham
Reading
Jersey
Manchester
Cheltenham
Glasgow

Petplan’s research also found 35% of drivers admitted to either hitting or nearly missing a cat and three out of four drivers confessed to having no idea what to do if they were to hit a cat. Almost one in ten Brits felt the best course of action rather than seek professional help, was to stop and apply first aid themselves. While a meaner 13% would leave the cat for dead.

Simon Wheeler, Head of Marketing, Petplan, said:

“The luckier cats that do survive often suffer terrible injuries. Last year our most expensive claim came in at over £10,000 which illustrates just how crucial pet insurance is. It enables pet owners to make life saving decisions when tragedy strikes.”

Petplan paid out over £1million on RTA claims involving cats last year and quotes the average vet bill for treatment of RTAs at around £500.

55% of drivers feel that cat owners should take further steps to look after their animals. 85% of people believe a reflective collar is a good preventative measure to make it safer for cats and drivers on the streets, whilst 64% say keep cats indoors at night.

Petplan’s free guide to cat care is available by calling 0800 316 0270

A number of pet industry organisations have announced the publication of new guidance to pet owners to assist them in ensuring their animal husbandry conforms to the new legal obligations set out in the Animal Welfare Act which became law in England on Good Friday and in Wales on 27 March.

Under the Act pet owners are given a legal duty of care which means they must make provision for their animals:

1. For a suitable environment (place to live)
2. For a suitable diet
3. To exhibit normal behaviour patterns
4. To be housed with, or apart from, other animals (if applicable)
5. To be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease.

The British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation, (BVA AWF) has produced a practical leaflet, designed to enable veterinary surgeons to assist pet owners meet their duty of care obligations. The BVA says its What Makes My Pet Happy leaflet should enable veterinary surgeons to communicate to their pet owning clients the practical relevance to both them and their pets of the new legislation and just what is meant by duty of care. The leaflet presents what can be quite a complex issue in easily understandable terms. It explains, for instance, what quality of life is, how it can be assessed and provided for, the role of the veterinary surgeon and why the subject is important with reference to the Animal Welfare Act’s duty of care.

The Pet Care Trust, (PCT) is making its animal care leaflets available free to the public as downloads from its website.

The range of 26 generic animal species leaflets from bearded dragon through guinea pigs and parrots to tropical fish, have been in existence for many years and are regularly updated.

Meriel France, Education and Animal Care Manager, PCT, said:

“Our pet care leaflets were originally developed for pet retailers to give to customers who were considering which animal might suit their lifestyle, and to give to those who buy an animal.

“But with the Animal Welfare Act introducing a legal duty of care on all pet owners and those responsible for caring for an animal, our trustees agreed we should share this expertise with the public in the spirit of there can’t be too many sources of good information.”

The Kennel Club, (KC) has produced an FAQ fact on the particular aspect of the Act regarding the ban on the docking of dogs’ tails.

The new docking ban brings to an end a practice that the KC has recognised for 134 years. There is an exemption for working dogs, which are defined as Spaniel, Terrier and Hunt, Point and Retrieve types or any combination of types that will be used to work. The Act also bans legally docked working dogs and dogs docked legally overseas who were born after April 6th, from being shown at events where the public pays to enter.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Act becomes law on 30 April.

Article sourced from ukpets news release

A recent survey by Halifax Pet Insurance has revealed that the UK spends apoximately £520m a year on buying pets and dogs, but fail to consider the true cost of caring for the animals, after the initial outlay the survey suggests.

The average cost of a cat was £92 ($181), compared to £282 ($555) for a dog

59% of owners fail to look into the upkeep cost of an animal, the poll found.

Veterinary bills alone were drastically underestimated by more than half, the poll of 1,000 people found.

“The cost of upkeep between different breeds can vary enormously both in terms of food required and susceptibility to ailments that necessitate expensive treatment,” said Halifax spokeswoman Vicky Watson.

The poll also found a distinct difference between the sexes when it came to pets and spending.

Dogs appeared to live up to the moniker of being man’s best friend with men spending an average of £335 ($660) per animal compared to £229 ($450) for women.

While women spent more on cats - an average of £127 ($250) to buy the pet versus just £41 ($80) spent by men.

Hi
Just a quick note to welcome new vistors to the website, whether you’re a prospective kitten owner of possible future advertiser. We hope you like the layout of the site and find it easy to navigate around. Apologies in advance for any ‘undocumented features’ - a.k.a. bugs which may crop up, but we are in our early days. If you do find something not working quite as it should just drop us a quick note then we can correct it.

Although the sites been online a couple of months now, we’ve not actively publicised it with breeders up until now as we want to ensure value for money for our advertisers i.e. we want to achieve a high search engine ranking. To this end we’ve been working hard behind the scenes since Christmas to achieve this. We’re now at the point where the website is ranked 8th in Google for out targeted keywords, and we’re more than confident of achieving a top 3 ranking in the next couple of months. With this in mind, we are now ready to actively publicise the site over the next few days, so hopefully there’ll be lots of cute Bengal Kitties for you all to view soon..