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• The more games someone plays with their cat, the better the feline’s quality of life and the better the relationship between the cat and their guardian. Furthermore, cats show signs of distress when their people haven’t played with them for a while. They become more destructive, more aggressive, or more reclusive, depending perhaps on their inherent nature.

  These are just some of the findings made by researchers who designed detailed surveys that were answered by almost 1,600 people in 55 countries. The researchers, hailing from Australia’s University of Adelaide, reported their results in a study entitled “Cats Just Want to Have Fun,” which appeared in the journal Animal Welfare.

Having a cat with diabetes is life-changing—for you as well as the cat. The insulin shots required to keep the disease from doing more damage can cost $100 a month—no small issue if it’s not covered by pet heath insurance. The required changes in your day-to-day habits can be daunting, too. A cat with diabetes should ideally get his insulin shots every 12 hours, with no more than a margin of an hour or two so that blood sugar remains on an even keel (too much sugar in the blood damages tissues throughout the body). If you want to go out to dinner or sleep late on the weekend, you could potentially be putting your pet in harm’s way.

There’s head bunting, a delightful behavior where a cat bumps or rubs her forehead against yours or against your hand or leg as a sign of closeness and, presumably, affection. And then there’s head pressing, in which a cat pushes her head hard against an inanimate object in a rather forceful manner. It’s the sign of potentially serious illness, and it shouldn’t be confused with a cat casually rubbing against a piece of furniture or other stationary object to leave her scent. It has a compulsive quality to it, and the cat may keep repeating the action, more or less oblivious to what’s going on around her.
What could be wrong?

It seems like common sense. A disaster occurs—a hurricane or fire or perhaps a chemical spill —and you put your cat in the car and get as far away as you can. But what if you’re going to be removed from your home for days or weeks? How much food and water should you have on hand for the cat? How many days’ worth of his prescription drugs?
The answers to these questions might seem like common sense, too, but what appears obvious to you now might get lost in the midst of a situation where there’s not a moment to lose as you’re scrambling to keep safe. That’s why the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has updated its guidelines for how to prepare in advance for an emergency that requires evacuation from your home.

At some point your cat may be sent home from the veterinary clinic wearing an e-collar—a hard plastic cone around her head that will keep her from biting and scratching at stitches or wound dressings. It needs to be kept on for two weeks in most cases so your pet doesn’t bite or lick the incision that’s being protected. People think animals can cure themselves by licking, but that’s not really true. Bacteria from the mouth can cause an infection where the skin is healing, requiring antibiotics and, in some cases, surgery to open up the incision, flush it, and place a temporary drain.

Your cat has to swallow a pill every day for a health condition and has always taken it without a problem. But one morning, seemingly out of nowhere, he has begun refusing it.

Boxes, paper grocery bags, a shelf in a linen closet…if it’s a tight fit, your cat will like squeezing herself into it. The sense of security derived by felines in a close space is so strong that cats who are given a box when they arrive at a shelter calm down by day 2, according to a study conducted by researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. It takes a full week to calm down for newly arrived cats who are not given boxes.
The boxes don’t just provide a sense of security. They also help a cat keep warm; felines like indoor temperatures higher than we do, as we said on page 1. And they like having their abdominal organs covered by curling up into a ball. It makes them feel safer from injury.

Q: Sometimes a mouse ends up in our basement, and the chase is on! When our cat finally catches up with it, she kills it. But instead of trying to eat it, she brings it upstairs and lays it right in front of me. What’s her point? Is she trying to show me what a skilled hunter she is? Or is she simply sharing her excitement about getting to exercise her predatory drive?
Bridgette Manes
Essex, Connecticut

Q: Which is better, a small veterinary office with just one or two practitioners that you develop a relationship with or a large office with veterinarians on staff who have particular areas of expertise so that you don’t have to go somewhere else should your cat get sick with a specific illness?
Mason Tobias
New York, New York

• You’re Crying. So Why Is Your Cat Purring?
• Morsels
• Dry Food or Wet? Which Is Right for Your Cat?
• Cat Having Difficulty with Urination? Some Vets Believe She May Have Pandora Syndrome
• Bad News for Cats: Tinsel is Back in Style
• Anal Sac Malfunction in Cats
• Braces for Your Cat

Why do some cats start purring when they see a human family member crying, or perhaps even just feeling sad? Are they sadistic? Do they enjoy when someone in the house is feeling low because it means the person will be relatively still?

If your cat occasionally gets into your dog’s food, it’s no big deal. But cats have unique nutrition requirements that dog food simply cannot cover. In fact, it would be much easier for a dog to get by on cat food than vice-versa. Consider these differences: