What can we do?

We must remember why the outdoors is dangerous.

Cats aren’t doing anything they don’t do in the house. They are just doing it in more dangerous places.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Help them not get lost. If they fall asleep in an obscure place in the house, nothing bad will happen. If they do it outdoors, it can be in a moving van or in a place that is now shut up for the night. So we should get them micro-chipped. It’s better than a collar and they can’t lose it. Never put a collar they can’t get out of on a cat; that could be the very thing that traps them.

There’s an extra measure of safety if we also use a breakaway collar with id tags. It shows the cat is owned, which can offer them extra protection in many states.

Offer sanctuary. We should make sure the cat always has a way of getting back into the house, or some other safe place, right away. Invest in a cat door, or create an outdoor house where they can stay warm and feel they can defend themselves. Many cats get lost because they got frightened and bolted into unknown territory to hide. If they know they have a good hiding place nearby, that is where they will bolt to.

Try to get them inside at night. Letting the cat out at night might be a time-honored tradition, but cats are in more danger from cars than anything else outdoors. Things that might hunt them down are more likely to hunt at night. So ration their outdoor times to the daylight hours.

Be ready to search for them. If they “break curfew,” don’t hesitate to go out and try to round them up. We can let them know which direction home is, and they can start heading back. It can draw their attention to some bodily needs which can be taken care of there. It will also show the neighborhood whose cat they are, and that we care about them.

Get an enclosure. The very best thing to do is create a “room outdoors” where they can have a good time without our worrying about them. The Kitty Store Online has some clever ideas and well-designed arrangements.

There are ways of helping our cat stay out of the trouble their wild side wants to get them into.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to care for our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on CAT CARE.

What? Our cat doesn’t have a favorite move? How do we know?

Some movies offer opportunities to interact with our cat. Some movies are about cats, and prompt us to say nice things to our cat. Some movies offer built-in cat interest.

Best of all, this could be a movie we already know and love.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Romance movies. If we’re already suffering from the pint of ice cream on the couch syndrome, go all out and watch one of our favorite happy/sad movies. Some of us recognize the cathartic potential in crying over other people’s problems.

Horror movies. The cat won’t like us screaming and levitating from the couch. However, if we want to clutch a good friend, the cat understands that. Just make sure it’s one we’ve seen before, so we don’t startle them.

Action movies. If we can’t watch this kind of movie without yelling advice about driving or handling explosives, we will be too rowdy for the cat to enjoy. However, if we quietly enjoy our favorite moments while repeating favorite lines, this can be a cue the cat will look forward to.

Cat, mouse, or bird movies. From Hitchcock to trashy drive-in classic, lots of fun movies have close-up prey action. Giant bug movies can excite the cat’s curiosity; they don’t get to see them this way very often.

Many of us have movies we like to watch again and again. If we find moments our cat enjoys too, this will be a just another reason to choose that particular movie. We can also use television shows.

Early on, my cats tended to ask for dinner during Jeopardy; and we can’t pause it. So I began singing along with the Jeopardy song during the final round, and springing up to feed the cats as soon as the answers were over.

And the cats learned the song.

Now, any interruptions during the show can be quelled with, “But they haven’t played the song yet!” And if we tune in early, we respond to cat questions with, “That’s the opening theme. It isn’t Final Jeopardy yet.”

Cats are all about integrating their routines with ours. This is an opportunity we shouldn’t miss.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to get our cat to be affectionate in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my CAT AFFECTION posts.

I have a filtering pitcher at home because I like the way the water tastes. Should my cats be drinking it too?

Dear Readers,

Yes.

moar humorous pics

If the filtered water tastes better to us, then it will taste much better to the cats. Cats not only have highly sensitive taste buds, they also have a special relationship with their drinking water.

When we remember cats were originally from the desert, their fascination with water becomes clearer.

This does not mean we should duplicate desert conditions for our cats. Cats benefit from having good water sources. Both in their overall health, and in their behavior.

If we do not provide enough good water sources, in their opinion, they will draw on their desert behaviors to seek out new sources. This is what puts their head in our water glass. If the cat is asking for “drink!” then make sure they have something they like.

Cats love running water. It triggers their reassurance that the water will be clean enough to drink. Cats have limited ways of clearing toxins in their body. They are fussy because they must be extra discriminating about what they take in.

So cats will hang out by faucets or jump in the tub where they have seen the water running. Even if we do not investigate cat fountains, we can reassure the cat about the quality of their drinking water by making it as fresh and clean as possible. When the cat sees the bowl being filled from a running source, instead of just appearing on the floor, the cat feels better about their water.

This explains the attraction our own drinking containers have for many cats. As much as possible, serve the cat their water from their own version of our mugs and glasses. Pour their water from the same source they see us drinking from.

They notice.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to care for our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on CAT CARE.

Kittens will try the other cats’ patience.

see more crazy cat pics

Kittens have to play, and usually know only one way to ask; by tackling another cat by the head and pretending to rip their guts out.

We can handle the kitten’s depredations with amusement and long sighs; we know they will grow up and calm down. But the other cats in the household might not have this long view. How our present cat reacts to a kitten depends a lot on the kind of cat they are.

At any age, an Alpha will regard a kitten as a delightful new toy. They have energy and confidence to burn. Their ease with environmental manipulation will give them the ability to keep the kitten in check.

A Beta cat, especially one with their kittenhood still recent, will be able to find their companionship skills a great help with the kitten. Betas are socially sensitive. This makes them very good at making friends; and influencing kittens.

Gamma cats, and cats who are insecure or have low social skills, are going to be horrified. They often don’t realize the kitten doesn’t mean any harm. They are going to interpret the kitten’s mock attack, as an attack.

Whatever the kitten trouble, there is a strategy to counter it.

• Assertiveness mismatch. Let the insecure cat know we have their back, and give them places to get away from the kitten when they are becoming too obnoxious. Keeping the kitten in “their” room when we are away from home will help the other cat relax and go about their routines without interference.
• Energy mismatch. When we play with the kitten ourselves, we should laugh at their antics and model the correct reaction. The kitten needs to be taught to moderate the use of their claws, on anyone. If the kitten is demanding play too forcefully, we should step in and redirect the kitten to another toy.
• Older cat has no kitten skills. Cats have varying abilities to discipline and communicate with kittens. If our older cat has none of these abilities, we will have to step in. We will need to supervise their interactions with the kitten, and make sure the kitten learns the rules of cat society, with our help.

If we don’t have any other cats who can handle the kitten, the whole burden will fall upon us. If this seems daunting, there is another strategy.

Getting another kitten.

This is not nearly as whacky as it might appear. It’s natural to protest, “I’ve got enough problems dealing with one kitten! How can I handle two?”

However, most of our problems with the kitten arises from the fact that the kitten has no one to play with, no one to divert their attention, and no one who is teaching them how to be a cat. Another kitten is an automatic playmate, a target for each other’s energy, and another chance for us to use communication and understanding.

This takes the pressure off the other cats. This takes the pressure off of us. We won’t feel badly about locking the kittens away together, to give the other cats a break. They have each other to play with.

We won’t be going one-on-one with a distracted kitten; we will be looking for ways to get through to both of them, who will automatically communicate with each other and help each other understand what is being asked of them. The other cat or cats will no longer be an automatic target when there is a better alternative running around.

More than one cat means we are creating a Cat Civilization. The elements of any successful civilization is communication and clear rules. Cat conflicts spring from cats not being able to communicate, and not understanding the rules.

If another cat can increase our interactive understanding, another cat is not a problem.

Another cat is a solution.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more about multiple cats in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See more posts on the MULTIPLE CAT ADVANTAGE.

Cats usually do not misbehave on purpose. A lot of our cat’s poor choices can come from a sheer lack of understanding of what is expected of them.

more animals

Cats, as they see it, do not do bad things. If they see something as bad, they won’t do it.

We can best come to a shared view on behavior when we spend time with our kitten or cat, acting distressed when they are too rowdy, and being loving when they moderate their behavior in ways which will please us.

All of the cat’s highly developed senses are constantly monitoring their actions, and their environment’s reactions, so they can make decisions about how their behavior works for them, or not. When we insert ourselves into the cat’s world, we become part of the environment that is feeding information back to them.

The best way we can loom large in our cat’s equations is to form close bonds with our cat.

Then they come to care very much about our reaction. Our distress can be communicated subtly and softly, and they will respond to it; all without stressing our friendship.

We and cats both have a nervous system that is capable of tuning itself to be more, or less, sensitive. People sleeping near noisy areas learn to “tune out” that noise, and react less to it. If we are loud, harsh, or inexplicable to our cats, all these discipline efforts will come to naught because the cat will tune us out; by avoiding us as much as possible.

When we care about the cat’s feelings, they will care about ours. This is the most effective way to communicate our wishes to our cats. By the time our kitten gains some maturity, or our grown cat has settled into our household, we should have already come up with substitutes we can direct them to when they go after stuff they aren’t supposed to have.

And get them to choose these substitutes just by asking nicely.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more to raising and training a cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See my CAT TRAINING TIPS.

Cats also play with our perceptions by acting more confident, and older, than they feel.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Most kittens are born quick-minded, and with nurturance, they only become more so. We can’t go by size to discover a kitten’s age, since cats can vary so much in size, and can have growth spurts at different ages to thwart best guesses.

Under three months should be thought of a helpless infant. Under six weeks, a kitten needs veterinary care and possibly bottle feeding if they are underweight and hungry all the time. How to care for the kitten from six weeks to three months old.

They do their best not to act like a helpless infant, but it’s an act. They need cuddling and soft voices.

How can we tell a young kitten’s age? They are very young if their ears are floppy at the top, if they have have a high, sharp kind of mew, if they seem to conk out quickly, and they are messy eaters.

From three months to nine months, a kitten is in their childhood. And what a lovely childhood it is. They are far sturdier, and actually more fun, since they also do not have the deeper thinking of the “teenager cat.”

The teenager cat is from nine months, to over three years, old. We should still think of them as a kitten, just as we think of a high-schooler as not quite grown up. They aren’t. Not quite.

They can be very trying. They test all the boundaries, and the ones they remember, they pretend we do not. A kitten can double in size from the beginning to the end. The larger the cat will be, the longer their maturation process will take, with cobby types taking the longest.

Once a cat grows up, what then? When fully mature, a cat is ready for the best part, in many ways. It’s such a happy medium, the fully adult cat, from maturation to about ten.

They fill out compared to the leggy teenager cat. Their muscles are ready for feats of strength instead of supersonic hallway racing. They do love thinking, but this is, of course, a good thing.

The older cat, from ten to fifteen years old, can spend this time as a bit older than their fully mature self the whole time, or they can slow down quite a bit, during the same five year span. As they gradually show signs of becoming elderly cats, we should offer extra support.

From fifteen to over twenty, senior cats can live a slow, happy life. They are actually even smarter than before, but need special care because their body is quite old.

Some cats can cruise along just fine, to twenty and beyond, with longer sleeping periods, decreased tolerance for idiot-cats, and wanting more attention.

Older cats need this grounding from us to help them keep sharp as they get older. This keeps them from developing mental problems as they age and lose the keenness of their senses. They are losing feedback as they age, and they need more now.

In any rescue situation where the cat, of whatever age, gives confusing cues about their age, remember that their appearance can be deceptive if they have not recovered from a stressful experience when we encounter them.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to care for our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on CAT CARE.

Well, yes. They are. They hunt and eat.

But not us.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Cat do not see us as prey. We are friends. Cats can make friends even with rats, so we shouldn’t worry.

I’ve seen people get nervous when a cat displays some of their most wild-eyed, vocal, and high-speed play enjoyment. It looks unpredictable, uncontrolled, and downright scary. To them.

To me, it’s a cat doing one of the things they do best. Since it is one of the things they do best, they don’t do it without a good reason and the right target.

Often, people express the worry that by playing with the cat, they get the cat “worked up,” and make the cat more likely to stalk their ankles and pounce on their toes.

The opposite is true.

When we establish times and places for the cat to “get worked up,” we have released that predator energy, and encourage the cat to be calm, and ready for a different kind of encounter.

In fact, a rowdy play session, getting the cat thoroughly wound up and worn out, is the perfect setup for more relaxed pursuits. By draining the cat’s predator energy, and ramping up their intellectual energy, we’ve created the space for cats to be alert and interested… but no longer wishing to go with their first impulse, which is to pounce on something and shred it.

We shouldn’t be frightened by our cat being what they were born to be. Since that’s not all they are. They are playing. Just like our toddler pretends to be a fireman, or we pretend to be a superhero on Halloween, our cat is pretending to stalk and kill some pompoms or a sponge ball.

“Savage” implies uncontrollable and unpredictable impulses. That’s not what is going on here. The cat is playing with something, but they aren’t invested in it to the point of forgetting that they are playing.

We enjoy a move when we feel, momentarily, that we are in the movie.

Our cat enjoys the thrill of the hunt; even if that polyester mouse will live to fight another day.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Should we keep our cat in around this time? Read my post on Cat Safety on Halloween.

Find out Why Black Cats are Shy.

Expect them to be puzzled by our costume.

Treat our cats well on this holiday that has both raised the pet cat’s profile; and made them become associated with scary things. Remember, if we mistreat cats, civilization suffers.

As I’m working on the blog, six month old Olwyn is playing with the stuff on the table beside me. I need my glasses, pens, and whatnot right where they are, not tossed on the floor.

Yet, one of the reasons she is playing with them is because they are near me. How can I discourage her from playing with my stuff while making sure she understands I like having her near me?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

It can be a tricky maneuver; letting a cat know we want them near, but not necessarily paws-on. When they reach for things they are not supposed to have, our first impulse is to chase them away from it. But that can also chase them away from us.

So I reach out and start hugging them extravagantly.

We need a love foundation with our cats for this move to work.

That is its power.

I hug my cats a lot, and they know how to get a hug from me, anytime. However, they aren’t asking for a hug now. But that’s what they get.

I plucked Olwyn off the table and hugged her and kissed her and rubbed her ears gently. That’s nice; she likes that. But she doesn’t want it now. Yet every time she reaches for my glasses she gets hugged.

Since what she really wants is to play, she abandons the table and fishes a toy (with my help) out of the toybox. Now she is batting her own toy around my feet, and we are both happy.

This is my preferred move when the cats are trying to get me up. I sleepily reach out and hug them close to me. If that’s what they wanted, fine. If not, they quickly find something else to do that suits their present mood.

When I’m assembling something and they want to play with the parts, I grab them and hug them. They back off and just watch.

When they are underfoot in the kitchen, I pick them up and give them a bear hug. They find an outpost to watch from and won’t get stepped on.

The beauty of this move is that the cat can’t complain. It’s not in a loving cat’s nature to be upset that we love them. If that isn’t what they want at this time, they will back off and try not to trip our extravagant bonhomie.

Many forms of martial arts are based on using an opponent’s own moves to triumph over them. That’s what Hug Monster does.

Isn’t it a danger that the cat will misbehave on purpose to get hugs? Only if that’s the only time a cat gets hugs.

If we find ourselves in this situation, we need to create more loving moments with our cats.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to get our cat to be affectionate in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my CAT AFFECTION posts.

I know North American society has some conception that cats are a “feminine” pet. So I’m always glad to let the male Cat Appreciators tell their side.

One of my readers wanted to share their experiences as a Man With a Cat.

How did you discover cats?

My grandparents had outdoor cats when I was growing up, a big relaxed orange fellow who was always fighting with raccoons, and a skittish but lovely calico lady. I was always so proud of myself when I could coax her into letting me pet her.

However, my family never really had the means to keep a pet, let alone a pet of that size. Years later, I find myself graduated from university, with a lovely partner who very much would like a cat in our apartment. I was skeptical; I wasn’t sure that I would want to deal with the extra responsibility. However, we went to the Paws Cat City animal shelter (here’s a link, they deserve all the good press they can get) and spent two hours there, playing with the cats and trying to find the perfect one. We ended up bringing home a very quiet fellow, about a year old, who followed us around the whole time while we played with the other cats.

Did you have any misconceptions about cats, and have they been dispelled?

Well, the misconception that they’re quiet went first. Even the shy fellow we thought was quiet turned out to be a dreadful if adorable liar. Other than that, I don’t know that there was anything that came completely out of left field.

What about your profession or lifestyle brings out the advantages of cats? The disadvantages?

Well, I’m an a/v and event management professional, so my hours are extremely irregular. It’s nice having a pet who is willing to hang out with me no matter whether I’m being active at three in the morning or three in the afternoon. And of course, living in an apartment in a city means that I’d be limited in other pet options, but I’m not much for dogs anyway.

As for disadvantages… Well, no matter what your lifestyle or profession, scooping the box probably isn’t something that your grade school self imagined your future professional self doing with a great deal of enthusiasm, is it?

Do you think there’s a view in North American culture about cats as pets, and does this have any impact on your being a man with a cat?

Ha! Not really, out here in Seattle. I mean, every now and then you read an article in the New York Times about how, oh my goodness, here’s a man with his cat! And guess what? He’s straight! Look at this straight man with his straight man’s cat!

You’d think I’m joking, but I read that article a few months ago. And if perhaps those were not the exact words in the article, I actually think I captured the gist of it quite well.

Anyway. The popular image of masculinity in Seattle seems to allow for a man to own a cat without too many raised eyebrows. We also consider flannel shirts ironic. You win some, you lose some.

Have you ever encountered any prejudice or surprise as a male cat person? If so, how did you respond?

People are about as surprised to hear that I have a cat as they are to hear I’m Canadian, or play tabletop roleplaying games. Their eyes widen for a moment before they remember to be polite, they admit ignorance on the subject, I tell them some interesting factoid about the subject in question, and then we move on. It’s much like any other awkward moment at a party when you realize your preconception of someone doesn’t quite fit.

Any counsel to share with other male cat people?

Nothing wrong with being a crazy cat man. Baby talk your cat and snuggle your face in their fur just like you always would, no matter who’s around. Them watching you doesn’t make you any more ridiculous than you already were.

A big thanks to Kershach’s person for sharing.

He’s right. We should always “hug our cat like no one’s watching.”

Even if we aren’t near Seattle, do click on the link Paws Cat City. This looks like a wonderful shelter, who lets cats live in a semblance of a home, and lets potential adopters interact… while, as in this case, the cat chooses them.

Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more to The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See my LATEST CAT ADVICE.