You see the question in the title from time to time on the Internet. Obviously, some people think domestic cats are creepy, which is sad. They are not creepy but we have to respect those who think they are. The kind of person who might think cats are creepy are those who might be …
The first point to address is that the litter tray should be positioned to suit your cat and not the cat’s caregiver! This means that it might be better in the living room where you won’t want it but your cat might like it there. Anyway, if you live in a small apartment, it …
NEWS AND OPINION: There is a story circulating in the news media recently about 140 cats being dumped in a desert lot in the capital Abu Dhabi which is part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An interesting and worrying aspect of the story is that the cats were abandoned across the highway from …
She is “Helping kitties in NE Iowa”. She’s charming. She is nice. She is doing great work in saving the lives of abandoned kitties in the US among other cat welfare activities: TNR and fostering. Great woman and, you know, there are lots of women like this in the US. There really are. They …
The planet has become more difficult to live on! We have the ghastly illegal invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s constant threats of nuclear war. That alone is enough to make billions of people anxious. He is a madman who could push the little red button it seems to me. He is also a psychopath …
Here are five quick tips about cat litter trays and cat litter material. I won’t dwell on this subject too long. These are just my ideas. Each cat owner has their own. Litter box material Normally people buy litter trays and boxes made out of plastic. That’s perfectly normal and virtually all litter trays …
‘Substrate’ refers to the litter material e.g. clay or wood. Each type has its pluses and minuses. Personally, when my cat was using a litter tray, I used wood substrate. I found it good at odour suppression and it is relatively good for the environment. But, of course, I leave it to each cat owner to make their own decision. There is a greater emphasis nowadays compared to say 20 years ago to protect the environment so that aspect of the comparison is of greater importance. If the expense is not a major issue perhaps the deciding factor would be environmental impact. Read about Tidy Cats Lightweight Cat Litter – dusty.
These side-by-side videos tell the story behind adult domestic cat kneading. PLEASE CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON AT BOTTOM-LEFT OF THE VIDEO TO PLAY THE TWO VIDEOS SIMULTANEOUSLY. Despite the copious amount of information on the internet about this form of feline behaviour some people don’t know the reason. Fair enough. Here is the reason. The newborn kitten kneads their mother’s breast to encourage the production of colostrum when feeding. The video on the left shows this clearly. Clearly, the adult cat is no longer a newborn kitten feeding at their mother’s breast but they think they are kittens because their every need is provided for by their human caregiver who acts as if they are surrogate mothers. This encourages the adult cat to never grow up emotionally and so they drop into the habits they had when they were newborn kittens even if it has nothing to do with feeding on their mother’s colostrum. It is entirely instinctive. The adult cat most often kneads their owners clothes while on their lap or their bedding as it smells strongly of them. Or as seen in the video they knead any part of their owner including their face. Just keep the claws trimmed please!
Kneading as an adult with a kitten’s mind. Infographic by MikeB at PoC. Click to see it larger if on a desktop or laptop.
