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Showing posts from February, 2014

Why does my cat knead my legs?

 This question has been asked 1 million times on the Internet and there are 2 million answers! Therefore, I will not go into this at length. When the cat kneads your legs he or she is doing what she did when she was a kitten at her mother's nipple drinking her mother's milk. In order to make sure the milk flowed the kitten would knead the area around the nipple. So this behaviour is the behaviour of a kitten in relation to her mother. We conclude therefore that a person's adult cat has a relationship with her human caretaker that is of a kitten to a mother cat. And when the adult cat kneads the person it is a reflex action that takes place automatically because at that particular moment the kitten is physically in a very similar position in relation to the person that she was in when she was suckling at her mother's breast. You could say that the cat is confused or you could just say that it is something akin to what we do as humans when we seek comfort in the actio

Why does my cat roll over onto her back exposing her belly?

When a cat rolls over onto her back to expose her belly it looks as if she wants her belly rubbed. It may be true that she does want her belly rubbed for awhile, but it should not be overdone, but the more likely reason for this is that your cat is presenting to you a submissive position which is linked to a greeting. I believe it is a sort of combination action: both a greeting, a submission, and a possible request for her tummy rub which in effect will be an exchange of scent from you to her and vice versa. Scent exchange is also part of a friendly greeting and it makes the place, the home, more friendly for the cat. However, underpinning this particular behaviour is this submissive position which is indicative of the fact that the cat sees us as the dominant partner. As mentioned, stroking cats really should be done gently and the amount of it should be limited. The cat might like it but after awhile she may change her mind because it is a position of great vulnerability for a

Injections to calm down your allergic reaction to cats

Yes, injections to calm down your allergic reaction to cats! This is the holy grail of the cat world. An injection which allows you to live with your cat when you are allergic without sniffling, sneezing and scratching. But does it work? Well, it is too early to know. And how healthy is it? There are lots of unknowns. At the moment we know that for this new product four injections are required compared to the usual 40 which is obviously a huge advancement. The product is called CATPAD. It is not yet approved by the FDA. However, it has been studied before and at the moment more work is being carried out on the product to make it more effective and safer. At the moment the researchers into this product are looking for people who have a cat allergy to participate in this new study. Apparently, about 10% of the population are allergic to cats. It is a terrible twist of nature that many people who love cats are unable to live with their cats without some discomfort. The best know

Why does my cat scratch my chair?

It is probably fair to say that by now the whole world knows the answer to this question. A cat does not scratch a person's chair out of spite or simply to be destructive. A cat scratches a chair to (A) slough off the outer layout of keratin that makes up the dead part of the claws and (B) to stretch his or her back and (C) to deposit some scent on the chair as a way of marking territory and making her home more friendly. You will see wildcat species marking territory by scratching the ground and scratching tree trunks etc.. It is vital that domestic cats are allowed to scratch. The best object to scratch is a large and heavy cat scratching post. It is important that the post is solid and immovable as this provides a natural substitute for a tree. It feels better for a cat and therefore a cat will be more likely to use it.

Why does my cat bring in live mice?

Why does my cat bring in live mice? This behaviour mimics the behaviour of a wild cat mother who brings her prey back to the den for her cubs to interact with, perhaps kill, perhaps play with but in any event the prey is brought back to the den to introduce the cubs to the hunting process. It is part of the training process. Perhaps sometime in the near future after this event the mother will take her cubs out of the den on a hunting trip and that would be the next stage in her training of her cubs to hunt prey. Some people say that a domestic cat sees a human companion as one of her kittens when they bring home prey. I don't think this is the case. Domestic cats see us as other domestic cats albeit much larger. It is not always the case that the mother leaves the prey for her cubs to play with and kill. Perhaps she will kill the prey herself and this sometimes happens with domestic cats when they bring mice and other prey home. They may kill and eat a mouse once brought back to th

Cat Urinating and Defecating in the Wrong Place

Dealing with a cat who poops and pees in the wrong place is largely a matter of common sense. There is, however, a difference between the reasons behind defecating and urinating in the wrong place. If a cat is urinating in the wrong place there are two equally important reasons that this. The first thing to do is to check whether your cat has a health problem. Typically a health problem that results in a cat urinating in the wrong place is an infection of the urinary tract. Cystitis is a typical feline infection that causes him or her to urinate in inappropriate places. Cystitis is a bacterial infection of the bladder. You should, therefore, see your veterinary surgeon first before taking steps to try and stop your cat from your urinating in inappropriate places. You need to make sure that your cat is healthy before moving on to the next phase. On the basis that your cat is healthy, you should then make sure that her litter tray is always clean. That invariably means cleaning it daily