Category: kitten

Do You Have A Harmonious Multiple-Cat Household?

ForbesAdvisor.com reports that of 86.9 million U.S. cat-owning households, more than 46.5 million own more than one cat. These multiple-cat households must have learned that to achieve feline harmony in their homes, they must make sure that there are enough resources and space for their cats.   If your cats know they have options on where they can eat, sleep, play, and use the litter box, all the better.   If the cats have only one option, expect territorial disputes and added stress among them.

Here are a few pointers on how to create and keep harmony in your multiple-cat household:

  • The first introduction of cats to each other should be gradual and free from stress. If possible, keep the new cat in a separate living area of your home, with their food, litter box, and toys.  Your “incumbent cat(s)” will know about the new cat, but not have the stress of direct contact.  After a few days, gradually allow your “incumbent” cat(s) to approach the new cat, keeping their contacts short and sweet.  After a few more days, you will have achieved a successful introduction.
  • Our strongest recommendation:  invest in vertical play spaces.  Cat trees, shelves and window perches are ideal ways to give your cats privacy in an off-the-ground location.  Cats like height, so vertical options are a purr-fect solution.
  • Your cats need outlets for exercising and scratching.  Leave plenty of scratching devices around your home.  Whether they are horizontal, vertical or slanted pads, they will protect your furniture as well as your sanity!
  • Give each of your cats a separate food bowl! If you have common water bowls, have several in different areas.  A water fountain designed for multiple cats is a great way of managing this. Just make sure to keep the fountain and the water it holds both clean and fresh.
  • Keep as many litter boxes in your home as the number of cats then add one! One of the worst problems can arise when cats have to use the same box.  Territorial issues may arise, causing them to “spray” the litter box, which signals to the other cats to stay away. No one needs to have cats using undesignated areas of the house.  Once that “out-of-box” behavior starts, it’s hard to stop.
  • Finally, watch your cats’ interactions.  Observe body language and catch an early warning signal so that you can diffuse any tension and avoid an out-and-out battle.  One great technique for diffusing attention is to introduce a stimulating wand toy to immediately redirect their attention away from one another and onto the moving object at the end of the wand.

Congratulations on your growing feline family!  May you and your cats enjoy many harmonious and joyous moments together throughout their nine lives!

 

Share

I Want to Celebrate Cats!

I have loved cats since infancy.  Or so my Mom used to say.  My first cat was a jet black, sleek looking cat named Ebony.  There’s a faded picture of my Mom lowering Ebony into the cradle to take a better look at me.  I don’t know if Ebony was that impressed, but I’m sure that I was!

Since then, after years of living with Ebonys, Taffys, Lilys, Bogeys and Chesters, with countless moments of joy and of sadness (at their eventual loss), I am still crazy about cats.  I was crazy about cats long before the internet’s love affair with them.  In fact, I even opened a cat shop in 1998 and appointed a newly adopted tuxedo boy named Bogey as our official shop cat. (now, you can shop at my website, MyThreeCats.com)

My heart has expanded with each cat experience.  So much so, that I couldn’t help sharing the passion.  Today, I serve on the Board at FosterCat, Inc., a Pittsburgh based network of foster homes and volunteers who rescue and save cats’ lives every day.

Cats are so tuned into us that they know when we are energetic, happy, stressed, sick, exhausted or grieving.  How many of you have experienced the comforting feeling of a cat tending to you while you lay in bed, sick or hurting?  It’s pretty special, whether they decide to catnap beside you, or tap your face with their little paw to say, OK, I’m here.  (Of course, LOL, they also use techniques to wake you up.)

The daily care giving time I have invested in my cats has been rewarded many times over with their unconditional companionship and affection.  Only those who have owned cats (or should I say, have experienced being owned by them) will understand this.

Anatole France made this observation:  “Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remained unawakened.”  I wholeheartedly agree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share

“Happy Cats are Healthy Cats”

Lynn Baer, DVM, Cat Specialist, shares her top tips for cat owners to ensure well adjusted, happy cats.  Lynn says, “happy cats are healthy cats and happy cats make owners happier and healthier, too”.

  Tip #1) Recognize the fact that indoor only cats have no choices of their own in life. 

They are completely reliant on what we offer them.  We choose their litter box size, shape, location and litter substrate. We choose where they are fed, what they are fed out of, and what foods they are offered.  We choose their toys, their beds, their bowls, and everything within their lives.  Cats have few choices of their own.   They would be happier given more choices of their own and once owners understand that and begin to expand their options, cats would remain healthier and happier. 

Tip #2) Bring the outdoors in 

Cats are held captive within four walls for their entire lives.  Open the blinds, open the windows, grow grass, bring leaves and branches in for them to smell. Again for owners to be more aware of the fact that their cats have never walked on grass or soil, experienced changes in temperature, smelled different smells, or had the ability to walk around the block to explore new surroundings.  Owners should evaluate every opportunity to enhance their indoors cat’s lives by bringing new things into the home.  Build catios, window units or other alternative opportunities for cats to experience the outdoors.  At a minimum place window seats around the house (off the ground), build vertical spaces for them to climb, train them to walk on leashes, erect cat proof fences, etc.

 Tip #3) Play, play, play and more play

Indoor cats are bored, depressed and inactive.  Owners don’t generally play with their cats daily.  Cats need exercise, mental stimulation and fun.  Having a basket of toys for cats is not enough.  Owners should actively engage with their pets by using wand toys, laser lights, throwing blankets over furniture to create tents, rotating toys daily.  Adding silvervine, catnip, and valerian to their arsenal of toys will give cats new experiences.  Using foraging toys for food rewards, making cats hunt for some of their food all help to stimulate their body and mind.

Tip #4) Lots of scratch posts – both vertical and horizontal for cats to scratch on. 

I am completely opposed to declawing (having never performed one in my entire career).   Scratching is a form of communication and also gives cats the ability to stretch their muscles.  It is important they have great areas and substrates to scratch on.  It makes them happy.

 Tip #5)  Seek out cat only veterinarians

Don’t allow a veterinarian who declaws to treat your cat.  Take your cat to a vet at least once a year for a good physical exam and blood work.  Cats are notorious for hiding pain and illness and if an owner thinks their cat is sick, they are likely very sick.  Pay attention to any changes (no matter how small) and seek veterinary care immediately.  Age is not a disease and many owners ignore signs of illness as due to advanced aging.  That is not in a cat’s best interest.  Owners need to advocate on behalf of their pets and insure good medical care.  Seek second opinions.  Good veterinarians encourage owners to do so and are never offended by it. 

 Tip #6) Cats need wet food more than dry

Wet food is lower in calories and higher in protein and moisture.  It is extremely important to feed cats at least 5-6 times daily.  Don’t feed one brand or diet only.  Variety is the spice of life and cats are used to eating birds, squirrels, rats, mice, chipmunks, bugs, etc.  One diet or one brand is not normal.  Either is feeding once or twice a day.

 Source:  The Purrington Post

Editors Note:  Find many of the toys, scratchers, outdoor enclosures and cat furniture mentioned in this article right here.

Share

Why do you cherish your cat? Let us know by entering our Best Thing About My Cat Contest!

 

Announcing a new, exciting way for you and your awesome cat to win a MyThreeCats.com shopping spree – enter
our Fill in the Blank, Best Thing About My Cat Contest!
Enter right Meow to win a $50.00 MyThreeCats.com shopping spree!  Winner will be chosen by random drawing.  To be eligible, please take the following three easy steps:  (1) click to our Facebook page; (2) find the campaign ad and enter your Fill in the Blank post; (3)  click here to our home page, scroll to the bottom and enter your email address at our Newsletter Sign up.  The Winner must complete all three steps.  Hurry!  Deadline for entry is midnight on Wednesday, September 6, 2017.

The winning entry will be announced on our Blog and our Facebook sites on Thursday, September 7, 2017.  Be on the look out as well for an email announcement!

Share