What is Psychogenic Alopecia? This is a condition where the cat engages in excessive grooming that becomes an obsessive behavior. This goes beyond the normal fastidious grooming that a cat would exhibit. Initially, psychogenic alopecia begins as a displacement behavior that the cat engages in to relieve stress. The over-grooming becomes something the cat can’t ...
Read More »Sharing Resources in a Multicat Home
Listen to the audio version of this article When you have a multicat household, everyone may get along famously or you may have some issues ranging from mild, occasional squabbles, to full-time turf wars. Since cats are territorial, you can help ease much of the multicat stress by making sure there are adequate resources ...
Read More »When Cats Develop Negative Associations with the Litter Box
Your cat has faithfully used the litter box for years and then suddenly starts eliminating on the carpet in your bedroom. Sometimes you’ve even found cat pee in the bathroom sink and the tub. What’s up with that? There are several reasons why a cat may suddenly stop using the litter box such as: ...
Read More »Do Cats Deliberately Misbehave?
My office receives a large number of requests concerning cat behavior problems and it’s alarming to me whenever I hear people refer to their cats as spiteful, or they’re sure a beloved cat’s motivation behind a particular behavior is anger or revenge. Really? Do you believe your cat is capable of plotting a behavior as ...
Read More »10 Signs That Your Cat may be in Pain
Cats are very stoic and it’s easy for human family members to miss signs of pain or discomfort. For an animal, it’s also important for survival to not display signs of physical weakness, if at all possible. When you are in pain, the doctor or nurse will ask you to rate your pain on ...
Read More »Litter Box Monitoring
Scooping the litter box a couple times a day is not only important for keeping the box clean and your cat happy, it’s a valuable diagnostic tool. Too many cat parents are missing this opportunity to catch potential medical problems in the early stages because they’re not keeping up with a regular scooping schedule. ...
Read More »Do You Know When Your Cat is Sick?
When it comes to illness, injury or pain, cats can be very stoic and not show obvious outward signs. Very often, the red flag indicating your cat may have a medical problem might be a change in behavior. When it comes to changes in behavior it’s not unusual for cat parents to miss those subtle ...
Read More »Does Your Cat Have a Litter Aversion?
To a cat parent, one litter may be just as good as another. In fact, what humans may find attractive about a particular brand or type of litter may actually be highly disliked by the cat. There are also other factors that come into play when trying to evaluate whether your cat has a ...
Read More »The Importance of Cat Wellness Exams
Cats need routine wellness exams at least once a year. For older cats that routine exam should happen every six months, or as often as you and your veterinarian decide would be best. As cats age or if they have specific health concerns, your veterinarian will recommend a customized schedule for you. As much ...
Read More »Your Indoor/Outdoor Cat Needs an Indoor Litter Box
If you have an indoor/outdoor cat and you’ve trained that kitty to eliminate exclusively outdoors, you may be setting yourself up for a behavior problem down the road. Some cat parents who allow their cats outdoors have tried to totally do without having an indoor litter box. They may have trained their cats to ...
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