Cats have long known that the key to world domination is a whole lot of mystery mixed in with a whole lot of cuteness that humans cannot resist. They take a little then give a little without revealing too much. This is the way of cats that we have come to appreciate and adore. A dash of intrigue with lashings of cat fur croutons on your salad, thanks Floofles!
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When your cat won’t use his scratching post or cat tree you may feel at your wit’s end. But perk up, because cats love learning, especially when the learning involves something that they were born to do. There are ways to turn your indifferent cat into a tree hugger.
I am a bit of a tree hugger. I cannot see a world without trees. I have pleasant memories of my childhood climbing our mango and avocado trees with my gangly long limbs trying to maneuver as high as I could. I felt happy and free like I could do anything, perched like a happy cat in a tree.
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Your imagination may be running wild, thinking of places where there are endless fields of catnip with birds swooping overhead and sinful amounts of cat treat buffets! But you may be getting ahead of yourself there. I’m thinking more local, you know, just a home away from home, a place to relax for a few hours, catch some sun, not too far away from my food bowl. Just maybe a few feet away. Yes, I’m a simple cat, not asking much. In fact, like most cats, we pretty much make ourselves comfortable everywhere we happen to stamp our paw prints with our little jellybeans you love so much. Read More
When life hands you icicles, make an icicle crunch sundae.
It’s Ollie here and I’m presenting this week’s Meowvelous Monday Haiku. We’re in a cold snap at the moment but I don’t let that freeze my lifestyle. I spent a good portion of yesterday chasing icicles. It’s quite fun actually and pretty soon I had my pals join in the fun too. My brother Baggy was a little miffed that he didn’t start it first. After all, he is the king of testing gravity. Read More
Scratching is always one of the first topics that pop up in cat forums and more often than not, seen in a negative light. We ask questions like “Why is my cat scratching my couch?” or “My cat is not using his new scratching post!” But that’s because we view it from our human perspective, and not from the cat’s purrspective if you will. Your cat is not a “jerk” or scratching out of spite, as is commonly thought. In the world of cats scratching is very much linked to everyday cat rituals and is a behavior that carries positive associations for the cat.
In our post about Declawing, and why it needs to stop we mention that scratching is a vital part of a cat’s well-being. Providing cats with many different types of scratching posts contributes to a cat’s enrichment needs. Cats do not scratch your couch to get back at you but it’s an innate feline behavior necessary for cats to feel confident and happy in their environment.
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I’m always asking my cats silly rhetorical questions and of course, I pretend to know the answer with “oh yes I know you like chin stritches, Jackaboo.” Sometimes the answer to the question will remain a mystery, “Mr. Jack, do you have to exit the litter box at top speed scattering litter all over the floor?”
And sometimes the question begs, “Really George, do you have to raise your butt in the air when you pee?” most likely accompanied by an eye-roll and a bottle of Nature’s Miracle in tow. It’s National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day and we explore some of the common and not-so-common lines of questioning by our feline friends.
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Your cat climbs up to the top shelf with stealthy paws. Reaching out, he grabs the bag of green goodness and tosses it onto the floor for his feline friends. The catnip is out of the bag and the catnip party begins. If you’re a multi-cat household you’ve possibly walked in on a few wild catnip parties on your kitchen floor and then learned to store the catnip stash where feline grabby paws can’t reach!
When we think of cat environment enrichment, we think of engaging your cat in interactive playtime, food puzzles and offering an interesting changing environment for your cats. But we underestimate the power of scent. Just a little whiff of catnip can send a cat into a 15-minute euphoric frenzy. Just like treats can be used to train a cat, so too can catnip be used in positive reinforcement and behavior modification training. Some cats are treat motivated, but many others will give up their seat in a sun puddle for a bag of ‘nip any day! In fact, a whopping 70% of cats are susceptible to the catnip effect and cats inherit this trait from one of their parents.
There is no doubt cats are one of the most pampered pets on the planet. We dote on their little darling faces, they walk all over us and they have programmed us to adhere to their feeding schedules. Whether it’s free-feeding all day long or convincing us with sweet songs of ‘Acatpella’ that they will certainly die of starvation if not fed this minute, we cater to every feline whim and fancy. But serving your cat on a silver platter is doing him more harm than good.
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Cat siblings have an awful lot to say to each other. In last week’s Caturday Doodle, Ollie made it known that he was not happy with Charlie taking all the treats so he left a kitty sticky note text on the scratching post, as cats do. We thought it would be fun to gather some sticky notes from other cats too and we were happy to see the sticky notes from all sorts of opinionated and disgruntled kitties pouring in.
A scratching post is a vital communication tool used by cats and is also their podium for leaving little scent messages for their fellow feline housemates.
“Charlie, stop stealing my treats” signed, Ollie
Cats display an array of vocalizations for cat-human communication but when it comes to communicating with other cats, they give each other the silent treatment. In the world of cats this is not a bad thing, in fact, their world is rich with scent messages and stimuli which they are busy decoding every second. Imagine how rich their scent vocabulary must be to be able to establish their little cat hierarchies and time-sharing schedules in their multi-cat homes. Cats will generally avoid confrontation and would rather just leave a little scent message to their housemates to get a point across. They certainly do have lots to say to each other and in order to live happy and enriched lives with their feline housemates and people, they need a platform to communicate their feelings, viewpoints, and grievances.
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