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 ...
Read More »Giving Pets as Surprise Gifts…Here’s Why It’s a Bad Idea
With Christmas approaching and everyone getting all of their shopping done, there’s one thing that should never be on the gift-giving list: surprising someone with a pet as a present. While it may originally seem like a beautiful gesture to give your recently widowed aunt a little kitten or surprise your friend with their first ...
Read More »How Cats Create a Group Scent
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 ...
Read More »Why Every Cat Needs Hiding Places
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 ...
Read More »Pet Sitter or Boarding Kennel? Which One is Right for Your Cat?
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 ...
Read More »Is Your Cat Stressed Out?
Listen to the audio version of this article When I talk to some people about how stress affects their cats, I sometimes get very strange looks. Back in 1982 when I first started my cat behavior consulting business, the idea of stress in cats was pretty much unheard of. I even remember being laughed ...
Read More »Cat Fights: What to do When Your Cats Turn on Each Other
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 ...
Read More »Pam’s “Think Like a Cat” Reintroduction Method
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 ...
Read More »Is Your Cat a Thief?
Do you have a furry, four-footed thief in your house? Has the paper clip you just set down on the desk suddenly gone missing? Or maybe it’s some food from your plate that has vanished? Your keys? A sock? Your daughter’s hair bow? If you live with a very stealthy but oh, so adorable, ...
Read More »Transitioning Your Cat From Dry Food to Wet Food
Cats are creatures of habit and making any type of significant change can be tricky. Making a food change requires extra care because of the potential health complications that can occur if done incorrectly or abruptly. Why Would You Make a Change to Wet Cat Food? There are many reasons why you might want ...
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