When it comes to illness, injury or pain, cats can be very stoic and not show obvious outward signs. Very often, the red flag that indicates your cat may have a medical problem might be related to a behavior change. And, when it comes to changes in behavior it’s not unusual for cat parents to …
Being aware of what to do, what to pack and where to go may save your life and the life of your pet. Many people store some disaster supplies or have a general plan for the family but neglect to think ahead concerning what will happen to the family pet. Some time ago the ASPCA released the …
Listen to the audio version of this article I’m getting more and more calls from cat parents who are confused about why they’re getting bitten when petting their cats. Things start out just fine and then suddenly, without warning, the cat turns around and lashes out with teeth or claws. In many cases the behavior …
To a cat parent, one litter substrate 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 cats. There are also other factors that come into play when trying to evaluate whether your cat has a litter …
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 your cat ages or if she has specific health concerns, your veterinarian will recommend a customized schedule for you. As much …
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 scratch …
Early Learning When kittens are with their littermates they learn how to engage in social play. This is the time when each kitten learns how to use an inhibited bite so as not to cause injury. A kitten who bites too hard is either reprimanded by the queen or gets a very negative reaction …
Sometimes the reason a cat continues to display unwanted behavior is because we unknowingly actually reinforce it. Of course, we’re not doing it deliberately but the bottom line is the cat receives a message that says keep doing what you’re doing. These mistakes we make are actually very common and even the most experienced cat …
The ingredients in pet food can be so confusing. AAFCO, which stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials establishes guidelines for production, package labeling and sale of pet foods. AAFCO has two standards and the pet food labels state which of the two standards they’ve met. One standard states that a particular pet …
