News

When a cat rolls over on his back, exposing his tummy, it probably looks like an invitation. Most cats like having their tummies stroked - right up until the second they dont. Many owners are shocked when their cat, who had just been purring in enjoyment, is suddenly gripping their forearm with needle-sharp claws, or even sinking in teeth. This can be confusing, not to mention painful. …

Some cats have relationship challenges resulting in inappropriate eliminations. The cats may have been introduced to each other too fast, or there might be too many cats in too small of a space with little or no vertical territory. Or maybe the cats simply dont like each other. Cats sometimes leave calling cards when they dont feel confident around other cats, or they may be leaving information about themselves for other cats to discover. Poor litter-box management can be a big contributing factor in this situation, as well.

Cats who happen to be strolling around your backyard can cause your cat to spray and urinate outside the cat box. It doesnt matter if the visitors are well cared for by the neighbors or if they are feral; their presence can upset your cat. Besides the vocalizing sometimes heard at the windows, it is usually easy to determine if outside visitors are causing your cat to have bathroom issues by the locations in which your cat is eliminating or spraying. Typically, cats who are responding to outsiders will target doors, windows, and the perimeters of the rooms nearest to the intruders.To solve this problem, the outside cats need to be convinced not to hang out in your yard. There are many kinds of deterrents commercially available that can help. Choose carefully, as some of these products can compromise an animals health while others are perfectly safe. One safe deterrent emits a sound that is undetectable to human ears, but heard by animals. Others are products that you spray on fences or sprinkle on soil. Lemon also works to an extent. There are many solutions available; just make sure that they will not hurt or poison the cats in any way. If you are purposely feeding the ferals at your house, finding a place to set up the feeding stations that is not viewable from your house may help.

Q My cat can be snoozing, but if I take a piece of paper or cellophane or foil and form it into a wad, she instantly wakes up and looks like she is ready for a hunt. She loves crinkly sounds and will run after a paper ball if I toss it down the hallway. If I rattle a paper grocery bag, she comes running. She will actually jump inside the bag if I leave…

Q My cat, Peaches, is a Siamese mix. She loves to cuddle with me, but sometimes when I am petting her, she bites me. Occasionally it is hard enough to break the skin. Why does she bite, and can I train her not to bite after 12 years of living with me? …

Q My cat, Lucy, uses the doggy door to go into our fenced backyard. We have a bird feeder out there, and every once in a while, I discover a dead bird on my pillow. I almost faint at the sight. I want to scold Lucy, but she looks at me with such pride. Lucy is about eight years old, but she is as healthy as a kitten. Why is she doing this?

Q We adopted a healthy 12-week-old kitten. At first, we kept him in the bathroom at night and when we were not a home. He peed in the litter box but pooped in the bathtub. Now that he is older, he has full run of the house. We keep the litter box clean, scooping it every day, but he still poops on the tile floor next to the litter box. I am tired of cleaning…

Q I have a sweet, shy Persian named Princess and a bold Abyssinian named Max. I bouth Princess first before purchasing Max as a kitten about a year ago. Princess is three. They get along fine until Princess tries to use the litter box. Max seems to enjoy stalking her and pouncing on her when she tries to go. The litter box is located in the corner of the closet in the spare bedroom. I…

Q My longhaired cat, Pretty Kitty, seems to groom her beautiful silver coat all the time. She is an indoor-only cat nearing her fifth birthday. At least once or twice a week, I can count on finding a hairball coughed up on the carpet. She never seems to pick floors that are easy to clean, like the tile in the kitchen. She gets regular checkups, and my veterinarian has not found any health problems. So…

There are so many reasons to make play therapy work for you to improve life for your cat. It starts, of course, with the physical benefits. That alone should be reason enough to retrain your cat and yourself to the idea of regularly scheduled playtime. The extra benefit, though, is that play therapy can be used as part of a behavior modification program. It can be a powerful way to change a cat's mind about a negative experience or location. For a cat eliminating outside the litter box, play therapy can help him change his impression about teh area where he's inappropriately eliminating. Used correctly, play therapy can defuse a tense situation between companion cats or help a timid cat develop more confidence.

For many cats, this method works well because they can nibble at will throughout the day or night. This method is also most convenient for owners because they can leave their cats for longer periods without having to worry about getting home in time for dinner. Another benefit of this feeding method is that, in a multicat home, cats who have appetites at different times can satisfy themselves conveniently. If there's tension in the multicat home, this can also allow one cat to come in and feed when another cat isn't around.

Your cat may be a mild biter during play or she may be one who means business when she chomps down, inflicting pain and drawing blood. In either case, biting behavior must be corrected.

First, figure out the trigger. Does she bite your hand when you're playing with her? One of the most common mistakes people make is to use their fingers as toys to entice cats to play. This may have seemed harmless enough when your cat was a kitten, but as she grew and developed adult teeth, those bites probably started to hurt more. Unfortunately, if you used your fingers as toys, you sent a message to her that biting flesh was acceptable. In her mind, if biting flesh is okay during play, then it's also okay for her to bite when she needs to communicate other things as well. Some cats bite to solicit playtime. From previous experience, they learned that biting gets a response from the cat owners and a toy is tossed for them. Unfortunately, that just reinforces the biting behavior. In this way, she has trained you.