When your cat goes around giving everyone in his path a powder puff for no reason, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s aggressive. When your one cat is bullying another cat things can quickly escalate into an unwanted behavioral problem. There’s one in every multi-cat household and through no fault of his own, he’s labeled the “bully cat.”
When we add more cats to an already established group, it causes a shift in the cat hierarchy. The shift may be as obvious as a stare down and a brawl with fur flying or it may be very subtle, such as blocking the pathway to a litter box. The resident high ranking cat may or may not relinquish his title as Top Cat … at first, or maybe never.
Mr. Jack, watch your back!
But that doesn’t stop the cat with ambitions to keep trying by asserting his dominance over the rest of the clan through undesirable behaviors. This could include anything from relentlessly ambushing and chasing a timid, docile cat, guarding litter boxes, taking ownership of toys, games, sun puddles and refusing to timeshare.
Kitty Salad bar and watering hole. Executive cat lounge for exclusive members only
There are many ways in which you can keep us kitties safe and entertained but we would like to talk about our favorite cat-safe plants, grasses, and herbs. Yes, we’re obligate carnivores but there’s not a cat in town that doesn’t like to graze on greens. Experts and veterinarians are still baffled as to why we enjoy eating grass and theories abound. Some experts think we eat grass to aid in bringing up furballs, or in the wild, to aid regurgitation of undigested parts of prey such as bones and feathers. Others think it provides much-needed fiber to our diets and that grass would be a naturally occurring substance in the stomachs of prey so it would make up a small part of our diet. It may also provide trace elements of vitamins and folic acid. The Lady Cat thinks we may just like the taste and texture. But what is certain is that grass is not essential to our wellbeing, but it most certainly is a welcomed treat in any cat household.
With the start of Autumn and the cooler weather, we’re excited that the humans have begun setting up our watering hole/salad bar for winter. Essentially, this is when they bring the outdoors, indoors for the duration of the winter, during which time our catio is a blanket of white. The kitty salad bar is an area in the house where we like to lounge, groom, drink, share sun puddles and snack on our greens. There are many plants that appear on the toxic list and it seems that there are no safe alternatives for us cats. Cat grass and catnip are the most popular snacks on the menu, but I’m here to tell you that you can broaden your tastes and that there are indeed many other safe varieties of plants that us Chirpy Cats have tried and tested. Of course, our plant-eating habit comes with leaving a few recycled remnants of regurgitation on the carpet, but fret not humans. Cleaning it all up is a very small price to pay for the precious purr therapy we provide to soothe your stressful living. By creating these little kitty garden watering holes around the house, you’re stepping up your cat environment enrichment game. Below, our big lady cat explains further on greening up our living spaces and tips on keeping us out of your plants. (as if!)
All cats want to go up! The catio highway or better known as the “superhighway” if you’re a Jackson Galaxy fan of ‘catification’ is the perfect platform for surveying territory and owning space. Here, best friends George and Mr. Jack are enjoying the peace and tranquility of their superhighway in the catio at sunset after dinner. Seeing George assert his presence confidently by scratching and climbing is a wonderful site.
When we completed our catio is was a 12’x10′ area with ramps, perches and a cascading vine surrounding it. We wanted to add more ‘places of interest’ for the cats to explore without modifying the layout completely and doing minimal adjustments to the catio.
Building cat tunnels is the perfect solution to extending an existing structure. We added a ground tunnel which eventually became the ‘catnip tunnel’ where cat-safe nasturtiums and catnip form a canopy of shade in late Summer. You can imagine this is the most sought-after hangout!
Our elevated tunnel leads to two other secondary catios and meets at the ‘central station’ which is off limits to the humans. Anyway, we now know that what happens in the central station, stays in the central station!
Sly Pie waits at his ‘pretend’ ticket booth at the entrance to the ground tunnel and he takes his job quite seriously. Anyone who tries to pass without paying the fee gets a powder puff.
Create a cat-safe garden to enrich your cat’s environment. But which plants are safe for cats to eat?
If you show your cat the grass menu and ask him what he’d like to snack on, he’d likely choose the “Sprigs of grass sprinkled with a bit of morning dew” or the simple “After hours Catnip platter”, nothing too fancy really. But what if you could offer up a kitty jungle to provide dappled shade and fragrant scents, some hiding and stalking spots from which to launch a ninja attack, or just a simple snack or two from kitty’s very own all-you-can-eat-garden buffet? Now that’s something special any cat would welcome!
We look forward to Spring each year, which brings with it, the promise of beautiful colorful blooms and a very happy clowder of chirpy kitties. Each will find their own zen space, their little niche in the shade or the sun. With ramps and climbing platforms to play in and romp about and a plentiful supply of fresh catnip from the hanging baskets, no kitty can complain of boredom. There is also space for the humans to enjoy this enclosed kitty garden of tranquility with their furry companions if they wish. Would you like to wake up with the birds and have your morning cuppa with kitties? Yes, please! Would you like some tips on how to begin building your catio? Read my previous post on Building your Cats’ dream Catio.
Building a catio or cat enclosure for your cat is a great way to provide environmental enrichment, reducing stress in multi-cat homes and creating a safe space for your cats to enact their natural behaviors.
Building a catio or outdoor enclosure is one of the best gifts you can give your cat to keep him safe from harm. The idea of creating the perfect safe haven for our indoor cats to explore and experience a piece of their natural habitat seemed like the natural thing to do. So what is the best way of merging the two worlds of a cat, indoors and outdoors? By building an outdoor catio space in which they can thrive and be happy, where our cats can feel free to roam, protected from outside hazards.
