Dershem celebration raises funds for recycling
by Maralyn Fink
The community celebrated the life of Roger Dershem and the great impact that he has had on our area.
Roger was very passionate about the Lions Club Recycling Center. Organizers blocked off W. Higham St. on July 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to have some community fun in Roger’s honor complete with live music, food trucks, cornhole tournament and much more.
Hazel I. Findlay offers scholarship opportunities
Hazel I. Findlay County Manor has special scholarship opportunities available for their Nurse Aide Academy. Nurse Aide Academy Scholarships include:
– Tuition-free attendance to our Nurse Aide Academy
– Test preparation and payment for test and certification
– Being hired as a full or part-time employee upon completion of the Class-A uniform provided at 90 days and 180 days
– A shoe discount voucher
– $1,000 bonus upon completion of one year’s service as a current employee in good standing having worked a minimum of 1,000 hours during the year
Successful applicants will:
– Be able to attend every session of the Nurse Aide Academy without absence
– Have qualifications to become an employee upon completion of the class
– Be interested in people and have good communication skills
– Love working in a team and understand that we live our mission: Our mission is to help people live to their highest potential as individuals who seek independence, good health, and personal fulfillment.
They will provide:
– A mentor to help you be successful
– Meals, snacks, and/or coffee every shift you work
– What you need to be successful, with support from strong co-workers during your orientation and onboarding after the Academy.
How to apply:
– Contact the Team Growth Officer at 989-227-6049 or m.mcintyre@hazelifindlay.org
– Visit the website at www.hazelfindlay.com
– Apply in-person at 1101 S Scott Road, Saint Johns, MI 48879
Dates are approximate but may change. Scholarship winners will be provided class schedule.
Brewbaker named next Rotary President
At this week’s St. Johns Rotary meeting the current President Alan Nelson and the past St. Johns Rotary Presidents completed the passing of the gavel ceremony to the incoming 2022-2023 St. Johns Rotary, president Chris Brewbaker.
It’s time to dust off Your Superhero Cape for Saturday, September 17
Our kids need you. While I know we all hear the need is more urgent now more than ever, this statement is absolutely true today in Clinton County.
Over the past year or so, in the cases they are supporting, the circumstances faced by our community’s children and youth we are entrusted to serve have grown extremely complex. The immediate question is naturally why. There are many theories, many ideas, what is “the” reason is individual to each child and youth. What is certain is families are facing so many hard issues, issues that may take a lifetime to heal.
No matter the time frame, they will be here. The agency does not charge a fee to families for any of their services. Examples of support may include:
– Walking a foster care journey with a young person for an unknown length of time.
– Sitting with a parent who is just trying to understand what happend to their child.
– Being present in court hearings to help with little things like sharing pen/paper, tissues, cough drops, coloring supplies, and lint brushes when Advocate Sophie is on duty.
– Research with partners to try to connect families to critical services to try to prevent even more harm.
On the lighter side, they are looking forward to another successful Toys for Tots Holiday Season.
As our world feels like it is spinning way too fast, you can help provide support through supporting the 9th Annual Superhero 5K Run, Walk, or Fly! on Saturday, September 17. Your support makes our services possible at no cost to families.
Please visit the website for all Superhero 5K Information/
Letters – SJHS Auto Program says thanks
Kevin Thelen’s 1968 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT350
Thank you to everyone that came to the 52th Anniversary of the St Johns High School Auto Program Car Cruise last night. We had an amazing collection of BIG BOY TOYS, from hit and miss engines, tractors, cars, trucks, boats, semi trucks, drag cars, rat rods, traditional hot rods and project cars.
– photos courtesy of Darryl Schmitz
The proceeds of this show fund a scholarship for an automotive students continuing their education in an automotive related career. Hope everyone enjoyed the rain free beautiful weather and gathering of the car culture people.
Larry Button
Maralyn’s Pet Corner – Is Your Cat Suckling as an Adult?
Cat suckling is a common, generally non-harmful cat behavior that occurs in all breeds and all ages of cats. When cat suckling behaviors occur in adult cats, though, it tends to gets more attention and can be viewed as abnormal.
Cat suckling can be directed towards humans, with cat suckling on fingers or skin, or it can be done on fabrics (like blankets and towels). Cat suckling can happen with anything that vaguely resembles the original suckling target: the mother cat’s mammae (nipples) and surrounding hair.
While it may be a difficult cat behavior to stop or deter, it is rarely harmful. Understanding the behavioral components is essential to discerning whether modification is warranted.
Why Does a Cat Suckle Into Adulthood?
1. Natural Instinct
The instinct to suckle is very strong in young kittens, and they may try to suckle anything soft, warm and fuzzy, especially if it resembles a mother cat. This cat behavior can even last into adulthood, with a cat suckling on objects like a blanket, a fuzzy toy or a piece of clothing (often wool or a similar texture). You can think of it as being similar to human thumb-sucking, which, at least superficially, seems like a fair comparison.
2. Comfort
If a kitten is very relaxed or comfortable, kneading behavior usually occurs—often followed by suckling behavior. Both are normal and seem to be relaxing for a cat, whether milk is present or not. This is evident in the post-weaning kitten behavior of suckling when no milk is present.
3. Stress
If a cat is stressed, she may exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and that can include cat suckling. Other signs of stress include over-grooming behaviors, paw-sucking, tail-chewing or flank-licking.
4. Genetics
Oriental breeds, such as Siamese, Balinese, Tonkinese and their crosses, seem to be more prone to adult cat suckling than European or North American breeds.
5. Weaning Experience
Excessive suckling behavior has been linked to early weaning in a number of cases.
Is Cat Suckling a Symptom of a Disease?
The diseases that would be direct causes of adult cat suckling would be behavioral disorders. These include a lack of environmental stimulation, various anxiety disorders and environmental stress or conflict.
There is no known organ-specific disease that cat suckling is related to; however, if it begins fairly spontaneously, it could be a sign of pain (like dental pain) or other stress, and the cat could be suckling as a coping strategy.
In this case, a veterinarian should definitely be consulted. A full health history, medical exam and possibly bloodwork should be done to determine an underlying medical cause.
What Should You Do About Cat Suckling?
Probably nothing. As it is a soothing, calming and instinctual response for the cat, indicating comfort and contentment, it is probably best to just accept cat suckling as a normal cat behavior.
However, if it is causing excessive stress to the owner or is leading to ingestion of foreign material (pica) resulting in excessive vomiting or gastric upset, you should try to reduce or eliminate the behavior.
How to Make Sure Your Cat’s Needs Are Being Met
1. Make sure to meet the environmental needs of cats—always! Virtually every stress-related behavior in cats can be attributed to a lack of proper resources.
Separate eating, elimination and sleeping areas are paramount to a cat’s sense of well-being. Providing both hiding spaces and vertical escape areas, like cat trees, as well as making sure there are adequate, separate resources for each cat in a multiple-cat household, are vital to preventing most behavioral disorders in cats. AAFP reference
2. If cat suckling seems to be caused by stress, try to eliminate or minimize stressors by using a synthetic pheromone, like a Feliway plug-in diffuser, or by giving your cat extra attention and playtime.
3. Provide access to something that satisfies their suckling urge but won’t harm them. Long strands of wool or other linear material can be problematic and should be avoided. Keep blankets, sweaters or other articles of clothing out of their reach, and if the cat’s desired object is a piece of furniture, isolate her from that room.
4. Provide your cat with some mental stimulation. Boredom can be a part of the suckling, so it is a good idea to try playing, exercising, using puzzle toys or offering cat treats or small amounts of cat food to redirect the behavior and satisfy some of their other natural predation urges.
If the cat does not have another cat in the household to play with, consider adopting another cat.
5. As a last resort—and rarely needed—veterinary medications can be considered. Medication can be used if the suckling behavior is excessive and destructive or is caused by stress for which no cause or relief can be found. Antidepressants, such as clomipramine (Clomicalm) and fluoxetine (Prozac) have proven effective. Cat anxiety medication, such as buspirone (BuSpar) or gabapentin may work as well. Your veterinarian is the only person qualified to determine if a course of drugs should be used and how.
Cats are complex social creatures. After screening carefully for underlying stressors, and taking precautions to limit access to materials that could be harmful if ingested, we may just need to accept suckling in certain adult cats as a unique, harmless behavior.