Is toilet-training your cat a good thing?
For many cat owners, toilet-training your cat may seem like the answer to your prayers. No more smelly litter boxes, no more litter tracked everywhere, no more needing to buy litter, no more scooping and changing. But, is toilet-training really a good thing?
To toilet-train your cat, you have to get the cat used to using the litter box in the bathroom. Once he’s used to that, it’s recommended to gradually raise the height of the litter box using phone books or boxes, until the box is eventually at the same height as the toilet. This will help your cat get used to jumping up on the toilet when it needs to go. The next step is to get a litter box that inserts into the toilet bowl. These are available at many pet stores. Once your cat is used to using the toilet, you can remove the litter box insert. Toilet-training kits are also available at pet stores.
There are problems associated with cats using the toilet however. Kittens, small cats and older cats may not be able to balance themselves over a toilet. You will also need to remember to always leave the toilet seat up so that the cat has access to the toilet. If your cat falls in, while he may be able to get out on his own, you’ll have a very wet, and very angry, cat running around your house. Falling in may cause your cat stress, and he’ll view the toilet as an evil device. Toilet-training also takes away a cat’s natural instinct to dig and to cover their feces and urine.
And, even though Jack Byrnes in Meet The Parents taught Mr. Jinx to use the toilet AND flush, cats will not be able to actually flush the toilet. There can still be an odor from the solid waste until you’re able to flush it away.
Photo credit: kudomomo via flickr
August 31st, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Behavior | Comments (0)
A cat spends nearly 30% of its life grooming
Ready for some more cat facts? Most of these facts not only pertain to domestic cats, but to their big cat cousins as well.
Last week I did a post on fun cat facts. I came across too many facts about our feline friends to include in one post, so here’s another list of trivia about cats.
- A group of kittens is called a kindle; a group of cats is a clowder.
- Cats are the most common pet in America - there are about 66 million cats and 58 million dogs as pets.
- Americans spend more money per year on cat food than they do on baby food.
- Cats walk on their toes.
- Domestic cats can sprint 31 miles per hour.
- Cats, big and small, walk by moving both left feet, then both right feet. This gives them speed, agility and grace. The only other animals to walk this way are the giraffe and the camel.
- A cat can jump seven times as high as its tail.
- A cat spends nearly 30% of its life grooming.
- A cat’s tongue feels rough because of thousands of hooked papillae on the tongue. The papillae serve two purposes - they aid in grooming, and also allow cats to thoroughly clean the bones of any prey they happen to catch.
That’s enough cat trivia for now. Watch for more in the future.
Photo credit: Beth VanHoose
August 21st, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Stories | Comments (0)
Cats average 16 hours of sleep per day.
Think you know all there is to know about cats? Here are a few fun facts about our furry feline friends that you may or may not know.
Most cats do not have eyelashes.
Cats cannot see directly under their nose. It’s true…I’ve seen Buddy go crazy when I give my cats treats, and one happens to be under his nose. He knows it’s there, but can’t see it, and has a fit until he finds it.
Cats have 32 muscles in each ear. Humans have six.
Because of the number of muscles, a cat’s ear can pivot 180 degrees.
Cats can hear better than both dogs and humans.
Cats have more vertebrae than humans. Humans have 15, cats have 30.
Cats do not have a collar bone, allowing them to fit into openings the size of their head.
A cat has 230 bones in its body. A human skeleton has 206 bones.
Cats have 4 rows of whiskers. The top rows of whiskers move independently of the bottom rows. The whiskers are used to measure distance.
Cats sleep an average of 16 hours a day. They sleep more than any other animal.
Cats are more active in the nighttime hours. Anyone who owns a cat knows this is true.
If you love cats, you are an Ailurophobe. Ailurophilia is the love of cats.
August 17th, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Stories | Comments (1)
Buddy and Max are not popular names for cats
Most of you know that I have two cats, Max and Buddy. According to Petfinder, Max and Buddy are not popular names for cats. For dogs, they were the two most popular names in 2008. I couldn’t find a 2009 list of popular pet names, so I’m using Petfinder’s 2008 list. Their list is based on the names of the cats listed for adoption on their site, and is not scientific in any manner.
Petfinder’s Top 10 Most Popular Cat Names
- Lucy
- Molly
- Oreo
- Kittens
- Smokey
- Princess
- Shadow
- Tigger
- Angel
- Missy
These are all pretty much cutesy names. I’m not a big fan of cutesy names for animals. I prefer ‘human’ names, for lack of a better term, but that’s just me. Although sometimes, a cute name reflects the cat’s personality, or coloring, or demeanor. I have named animals cute names before based on this, such as the black cat I had named Midnight.
Sometimes I name my cats after celebrities, other names just seem to fit. Buddy is named for Buddy Holly. When we got Max, my ex-husband wanted to name him Holly, but I put my foot down. I was not naming my little boy cat Holly. I liked the name Max, so Max it was.
Growing up my cats were Sylvester, Tabitha (after the little girl on the TV show Bewitched), and Midnight. After I moved out on my own, I had a cat named George, after Kansas City Royals 3rd baseman George Brett, my favorite baseball player. While I was married to my ex-husband, we got Buddy. We also picked up a stray cat we found in a dumpster at a nearby car lot, and named him Otto (Auto.)
If you are looking for a good name for your new furry addition, you may want to wait several days before settling on one. Observe your new kitty’s behavior. When my brother’s family got a new cat, my niece proclaimed the kitten to be a little rascal, so they named the cat Rascal. Maybe you want to name your cat after a celebrity, or base the name on your cat’s colorings or markings, such as the all-black Midnight.
However, if you’ve adopted your cat from a shelter, try and keep the name he or she had there. This will prevent confusion on your pet’s part, as they will most likely be used to hearing that name when they are called or talked to.
What are some of the unusual or clever names you’ve named your pets?
Photo credit: Beth VanHoose
August 10th, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Stories | Comments (0)
Buddy in his carrier, moving across country
A little over a year ago, my husband and I moved from the Midwest to the Southwest. We, of course, took our cats with us. Which meant that we had to move them more than 1500 miles to a new home. I spent days – ok, more like weeks – worrying about how to move them. I mean, they hated the short car rides to the vet, how were they going to handle a ride across country?
The first thing I did was get them used to a harness. They are indoor cats, and they don’t normally wear collars. Even though they were going to be in carriers, I wanted them on leashes too, just in case. So, I went out and bought two harnesses and two leashes. I wish I had thought to have taken pictures of them the first time I got the harnesses on them, but I was laughing too hard.
Buddy was first, because if he saw me ‘torture’ Max first, no way would he have come near me. I got the harness on him with relative ease, and set him on the floor. You would have thought I’d set him in a puddle of glue. He laid down and would not move, even when I tugged on the leash. Max, being curious, had to see what I’d done to Buddy. So, I got the harness on Max and set him down. He did walk – or slink anyway – across the floor, but I don’t think there was any light between his belly and the floor. After I’d taken the harnesses off them that first time, they spent hours licking themselves and each other, getting rid of the cat version of hat hair (harness hair?) So much for the first harness-training session.
I put the harnesses on them every day, increasing the time every day, until they’d pretty much gotten used to them, or could at least tolerate them. They still weren’t walking well with the leashes, but they weren’t going to be doing much walking anyway. I just wanted a way to keep them under control when they were out of their cages.
Since they were going to have to ride in the cab of the moving truck with my husband and me, I needed some sort of cage or kennel that would fit on the seat between us. I couldn’t find anything suitable that they could be in together, so I got two soft-side, collapsible carriers that look like tents. These fit side by side on the seat, and had screens on the side so they got plenty of air, and they could look out and enjoy the scenery.
I also bought a collapsible dog kennel, and small, disposable litter boxes. When we stopped at night, we took the bigger kennel into the motel rooms, fixed up a litter box and put it at the back of the kennel. We gave them food and water, and let them use the litter box. Then we clipped their leashes to their harnesses, and let them “explore” and stretch their legs, before putting them both in the kennel until morning.
It took us four days to drive to our new home, and the cats traveled very well. Most of the motels we stopped at were Motel 6, and had no problem with the cats. The last night, we stopped in Williams, AZ, at a little motel that advertised they were pet-friendly. Just to be sure, we mentioned when we were checking in that we had cats. They told us they didn’t allow cats, only dogs. Sorry, but that’s not very pet-friendly. So, we left and went down the street to the Motel 6.
My worries over moving the cats were unfounded, as they did extremely well. I was impressed.
Photo credit: Beth VanHoose
August 3rd, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Behavior, Cat Stories | Comments (0)
The not-so-crazy cat lady with Buddy.
Even though I have a couple of cats, and have had more than one cat for as long as I can remember, I’m not a crazy cat lady. I may have crazy cats, but that’s beside the point. I don’t like to be called a crazy cat lady either. Yet, non-cat owners tend to label cat owners, especially those who own multiple cats, as crazy cat ladies.
A recent Ipsos poll conducted by Tidy Cat surveyed 750 non-cat owners and 500 owners of multiple cats. In the survey, 58 percent of the non-cat owners perceive multiple cat owners to be “crazy cat ladies”. In addition, 75 percent of the non-cat owners thought multiple cat owners were homebodies, and 69 percent feel that we’re lonely.
And, according to the survey, 75 percent of multiple cat owners have smelly houses, 85 percent have furniture covered with fur, and 66 percent live in cluttered houses. These answers were given by the 750 non-cat owners who were surveyed. True, my furniture is covered with fur, but I do try to keep up with cleaning.
Of the 500 cat owners surveyed, 96 percent of them describe themselves as caring and loving, and 90 percent believe they are generous. Eighty-eight percent say they are well-adjusted, and 87 percent keep an odor-free home.
I know a lot of cat owners, and very few of them own just one cat. In fact, according to the survey, most cats live with one or more additional cats. And, of the cat owners I know, not one of them is a crazy cat lady. They, like me, are just cat lovers.
Photo credit: Ben VanHoose
July 31st, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Stories | Comments (0)
Buddy waiting to play
I recently did a post on making your own toys for dogs. I haven’t forgotten our furry feline friends. Believe me, my two kitties won’t let me. Here are some cheap and easy toys you can make that will provide your cat with hours of enjoyment.
One of the easiest toys you can make is a foil ball. Crumple up some foil, toss it, and watch your cat chase it and bat it around. You can use paper too, but foil keeps its shape better.
You can easily make your own stuffed catnip toys using an old sock. Just take an old sock, place a pinch of catnip in the toe, and tie off the top. Or, if you sew, make small pillows from fabric scraps and place catnip inside. If your cats don’t like catnip, you can stuff these toys with cotton balls or stuffing.
Make a rattle toy by placing a few small pebbles or bells inside an old pill bottle or film container. Make sure the lid is secure so that the container stays closed. You don’t want kitty choking on his toy. Rice or dried beans will work too.
A felt ball or ping pong ball attached to a piece of yarn or string and tied to a doorknob makes a great swatting toy for your cat. Another great swatting toy can be made by sewing pieces of felt or yarn to the fingers of a glove. When you’re ready to play with your cat, just put the glove on and dangle the felt in front of their face. Move your hand around, and your cat will jump and swat at the felt.
If you can knit or crochet, you can make some balls or mice for your cats. Fill these with catnip or cotton stuffing.
Another cheap and easy form of entertainment for your cat is to shine a light on the floor or wall. Use a penlight and direct the light beam on the floor in front of your cat. Move the light around, and the cat will chase it. Mine do anyway. They both love this silly game.
With a little creativity, you can come up with toys that your cats will enjoy for very little money.
Photo credit: Beth VanHoose
July 27th, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Toys and Supplies | Comments (0)
My girl-cat Sofie, awaiting my return
Hi Everyone! and all the Kitties, too!
I’m off on vacation through August 5. Keeps your cats happy until then - kitty treats are always a winner!
Photo Credit: Marty Muniz
July 21st, 2009 by Janet Muniz | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
I’ve often heard the quote “Dogs have owners, cats have staff”. A recent study shows that this may not just be a humorous observation on the behavior of cats.
Karen McComb, who studies vocal communication in mammals at the University of Sussex, recently completed research on a type of meow exhibited by house cats. The meow is a mix between a purr and a cry, which comes out as a high-pitched noise that drives some humans crazy.
In the study, 10 cats were recorded making this noise and other sounds. The tapes were played back for 50 humans, many who were not cat owners. The majority of the humans, cat owners and non-cat owners, felt that the cats were asking for food when they made this sound.
This purr-cry is a manipulative purr, I think because the cat knows it’s annoying, and their human will give them a treat or feed them just to get them to stop making that noise. Both of my cats make this sound. And they do make it mostly when they are hungry, or think it’s feeding time.
This sound is one of four types of meows common in cats. If you listen closely, you’ll be able to recognize the different meows your cat makes. They each have their own special tones and nuances. There’s the high-pitched purr/cry for when they are hungry, a meow for when they want attention, one that means they want to go out, and a distress meow.
The ‘feed me’ purr/cry is the only meow that sounds the same from both of my cats. For the others, they each have their own brand of meows. Max, for example, has a squeaky meow when he wants attention, while Buddy has a loud, sharp meow that sounds strangely like ‘NOW”.
While the study makes some good points, I’ve always known that cats control the humans. There’s another quote by an unknown author that states “It’s the cat’s house. We just pay the mortgage.” So true.
July 17th, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Behavior | Comments (1)
In the magnificent story, Life of Pi, author Yann Martel tells of a boy shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He’s not alone, however - a 450-pound Bengal tiger is shipwrecked with him.
Immediately you can tell that this story is no ordinary story - what circumstances would allow a boy and a tiger to survive on a lifeboat in the ocean for 225 days, together? A question that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the deep blue sea of thought this story encompasses. I’m ready to pick the book up and start reading it all over again - and I just finished it hours ago.
Yet on that surface, it’s full of remarkably detailed and distinctly specific information about cat behavior - what I like to call “cat-ness.” I petted my two tiger cats repeatedly while reading … as they slept beside me, purring (tigers, by the way only purr while breathing out, not breathing in, like domestic kitties do), meowing, snarling, crying for food…
…making eye contact with me, laying with their bellies on the cool floor, panting, puking, hunting bugs in the windows, marking their territory, constantly reminding themwho’s Number One (that’s me, of course - but you’d never know it with my two tigers).
All in all, Life of Pi is a very good read - for all the cool tidbits of tiger cat-ness as well as for the meaning the presence of a tiger in the story represents.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
July 16th, 2009 by Janet Muniz | Posted in Cat Behavior, Cat Stories | Comments (0)
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