Basic Training

  You love your cat very much but there are probably a few behaviors that leave you scratching your head. These are the behaviors that don’t seem to make any sense. Even though you may not be able to figure out why your cat displays some odd behaviors doesn’t mean they aren’t functional or serve ...

  You’ll find pictures of kittens playing with balls of yarn all over the internet, in magazines and in advertisements. It has become an image as classic as kittens lapping at a saucer of milk. It’s very odd though that these two very classic, cute and seemingly harmless activities are actually not healthy. In previous ...

  Congratulations! You’ve added a new kitten to the family. This is a fun and exciting time as you get to know this adorable little newcomer. This is also a time when a great amount of learning takes place and your kitten needs you to be prepared so you can start him off on the ...

  Over the past few months I’ve had a number of new clients contact me for intercat aggression problems due to having followed some very bad advice. They had received advice stating that the way to help a new cat bond with the current resident cats is to brush all the cats with the same ...

Scent plays a huge role in a cat’s life. To highlight that point, here’s some interesting information. Cats have about 200 million scent receptors in their nostrils and humans have about 5 million. Think about all the scents our noses are missing. Your cat’s scent-marking and scent-detection capabilities are always working. An environment surrounded with ...

  Cats often delight in finding a cozy, warm spot for their naps. It’s a familiar sight to discover your cat curled up in the sunniest corner of a room. As the colder months draw near, indoor cats, particularly older ones or those with arthritis, tend to gravitate toward the warmest spots in the house. ...

  Since the early 1980s when I first started working with clients on their cats’ behavior problems, a big part of my consultations covered the importance of creating an environment that allows the cat to engage in natural behaviors, provides security and strengthens the cat/human bond. The umbrella term for these things is commonly referred ...

  Whether it’s that eight-hour drive to spend the holiday at Grandma’s house, or that long-awaited summer vacation, you’ll need to make arrangements for your cat. For some people, kitty will go where they go and for others, reservations are made at the local boarding facility. If your cat could make the choice though, I’d ...

  It can be very confusing and frustrating when companion cats who have previously lived together in harmony, suddenly decide to engage in a turf war. In some cases, the cats have lived under one roof with an ongoing degree of tension that has now turned to outright hostility and aggression. Cat parents become understandably ...

  When you have cats who aren’t getting along and all your attempts at behavior work have been unsuccessful, it may be time to do a reintroduction. If the aggression between your cats is severe or if they can’t even be within sight of each other without an immediate brawl taking place, then a reintroduction ...