One cat needs 4 covered beds in different places as they like to rotate them

This is a really quick note. I was prompted to write it because I was looking for my cat this morning. He had been out and active all night. This is usual for him. He goes to bed at about 11 AM and stays there until the mid or late afternoon. And he likes to rotate the places where he sleeps, which is why it can be tricky to find him sometimes. 

My experience tells me that four different hiding places that are covered and in different locations around the home is about ideal. What are your ideals?

And he particularly likes places in which to sleep that are covered. In fact, he almost insists upon it. The reason is obvious: he feels more secure. Even better for him is when there are four walls and a roof with an entry point in one of the walls as you can see in the photograph.

Domestic cat's sleeping place is covered and enclosed for a sense of security. Image: MikeB

Note about the picture above. You see that well-worn scratching post? That's good as it is infused with his scent due to long usage which will encourage him to continue to use it and avoid the couch or armchair!

It's all about feeling secure and secondly, it's all about having options for a domestic cat to choose from because they like variation. They like variety. They can get bored like people. And they are particularly prone to boredom when they are cosseted and provided for all their lives as they are when living in good homes. 

They can often lack challenges. Domestic cats actually need challenges. They need them to be mentally stimulated.

Domestic cat's sleeping place is covered and enclosed for a sense of security. This is an expensive one at £200! Too expensive but pretty. Image: MikeB

And it's ideal if those little hiding places are off the ground and it doesn't matter if they are high off the ground. It might even be better for some cats. Although of course for older cats they need to be easy to get into because they might suffer from arthritis which makes it very difficult due to pain to climb and jump.

That is the point of the article. Try and provide a variety of little protective hiding places around the home where your cat can sleep. And there might be one or two outside the home if you live in a part of the world where the climate is very amenable for a cat who wants to sleep outside at night. 

Sometimes it's cooler for a cat to sleep outside at night and therefore a similar-type enclosed "bedroom" could be constructed outside as well.

For a moment it's just you, your dog, a sunset and some peace

We all have a need, on occasion, to remove ourselves from the human world to find some peace. To stop the clamouring of human activity around us. To stop the demands upon us. To walk away from the complexities of human life. And you can temporarily achieve some calm and some distance from humans by sitting on the beach with your dog as we see in the video. They look out towards the sunset. It is just them and the nature, the healer.

The man is with nature. Nature in the form of his dog and the sunset represents the universe.

A lot of people like to take up sailing so that they can be alone in the almost unimaginable amount of space the oceans offer. It is the sense of space that people sometimes crave; I do. And often they have to live in urban environments where there is a lack of space; I do. Where sometimes things just close in on you.

I think people buy houses by the seaside so they can look out towards the sea where there are no people. It provides an inner peace through visual space without interference of humans.

And this dude on the beach with his dog is temporarily enjoying such a moment. He is sitting with a great friend, perhaps his best friend and that feeling is mutual. The dog looks up to their caregiver as the alpha leader. They trust their human caregiver implicitly. They expect their human to behave like a benevolent alpha leader who guides and who is concerned for their welfare.

For a human to breach that trust is a terrible thing. It happens to often. And the cat looks up to their caregiver as their surrogate mother. It is very similar but with a slight difference.

We hardly ever see a cat sitting with a man or a woman on a beach looking out towards the sunset. But don't believe that it is impossible. You will see some wonderfully leash trained cats on the Internet who have learnt to behave like dogs on a lead and who are not frightened when a lot is happening around them.

Perhaps that should be the goal of millions of people today who keep their cats inside full-time. This training allows the owner to provide their cat with outdoor stimulation safely. That is one of the duties of a caregiver and it is expected of them by their domestic cat companion!

Cat body language 101 - exposing the belly is not an invitation to be petted

The video covers a number of domestic cat body language signals. I will let you explore them (Galaxy is good) but one of them is always important. It is when a domestic cat goes 'belly-up' and presents their belly to their human caregiver. How do you interpret it? And I think the answer actually is not a black-and-white one. And it is also difficult to generalise. Different cats respond in different ways.

But you'll find that Jackson Galaxy makes one essential point. He says that when a dog presents their belly to the human caregiver it is a request to be petted in that vulnerable area. This is not the case with domestic cats, however. It is not an invitation to pet their belly but more a signal that they trust you and even love you if you believe that there can be love from a cat to a person.

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It is a signal that a cat is relaxed in the company of their human caregiver and in the home. And to take that as an invitation and pet the belly may result in the cat doing what Jackson Galaxy calls the "wraparound". This is when your cat grabs your hand and arm by the hindlegs and forelegs and then bites the hand, all at the same time. And it can be quite difficult to extricate your arm from that sort of clamp! This is due to overstimulation. It can happen when petting too much in any situation.

RELATED: ‘Cat Whisperers’ don’t just read cats’ facial expressions but body language too (plus a quiz).

However, if you pet very gently when your cat does this it may work out okay or even well. It depends on the cat's character, which is why I have to say that, sometimes, domestic cats do invite their human caregiver to rub their belly albeit gently. My cat does this. It seems to be instinctive to them. Perhaps it is a natural extension of the signal that the cat feels reassured. 

Provided you do it very gently and with great respect, I believe a cat can take pleasure from having their belly rubbed. Once again this points to different circumstances and different reactions from different individual cats. 

Jackson Galaxy talks cat behavior. Screenshot. In this still image Jackson is talking about cats' pent-up energy like a balloon expanding.

Some people think that when a cat presents their belly to a person or another animal it is an act of submission. I think that you will find this argument no longer holds water. However, you will see cats who are friendly to each other and playing when one rolls over onto their back to invite more play.

However, it cannot be denied that the one sure signal that a domestic cat sends to their caregiver when they lie on their back with their belly up is that they feel confident enough to do it i.e. present a vulnerable part of their body to others. They need to feel reassured in their own home to do it. They need to be sure that the people they are living with won't harm them. This all comes about because of a great relationship between person and cat and a calm, agreeable home.

And it is not too uncommon that domestic cats roll onto their back when they are very warm i.e. on their human caregiver's lap. Or on the bed next to them. This combination of warmth plus being in contact with the owner creates a feeling of great reassurance which sometimes results in the cat having enough confidence to present their belly.

Does Royal Canin Calm work?

Yes, Royal Canin Calm does work. I can verify this because I have tried it out on my cat. He does not need calming but I wanted to try it out because on occasions he can be a little bit hyperactive and I wanted to see whether this took the edge of his behaviour. It did.

My cat chilled out!

However, I do not let him eat Royal Canin Calm exclusively. Far from it, in fact. I mix a little bit in with his standard dry food which he grazes on during the night so this calming dry food is only a relatively small part of his diet. Despite that relatively small amount it still has an effect.

I can clearly see the difference. He looks a little bit more chilled out and perhaps it is fair to say that he sleeps a bit more. This is exactly how I like him so I will probably continue with this mix of standard dry cat food which for me and him it is Hills Oral Care.

Clearly it is going to depend on the individual cat as to how this product works and I suspect that in some cats it won't work as well as in other cats. However, it is definitely worth a try if you're cat is noticeably anxious. And it certainly is applicable in times of general stress such as when fireworks are being set off or when moving home.

How does the product work? They say they use hydrolysed milk protein "which contains a peptide that regulates stress, and L-tryptophan, which can increase serotonin (the happy hormone) levels.

How do peptides regulate stress? There is an online study which appears to be on the subject. It is called "Stress peptides sensitise fear circuitry to promote passive coping". The study is completely unintelligible to me!

Another study published on the Eureka Alert website which came out of Northwestern University Medical School and San Diego State University says that "a peptide found in the brain and in the body can reduce both hormonal and behavioural manifestations of stress."

They say that in people who are depressed there are abnormal levels of this peptide. This discovery may help doctors diagnose and treat depression and other stress-related illnesses.

In what appears to be an animal test, they administered the peptide prior to exposure to stress and it significantly reduced levels of corticotropin or ACTH , (by 50%), a hormone that plays a major role in controlling the body's response to stress.