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Don’t Just Bite It

There was a disagreement on the internet about a cat meme recently. A graphic designer known for colorful cat-themed t-shirts made one of the million “just do it” memes that flooded the internet in the past week.

This meme pictured a black cat, with the text “Bite someone for no apparent reason. Just bite them.” The first time it showed up in my Facebook feed, I cringed at the implied message that cats were unpredictable and willfully mean. But I also saw the graphic had lots of likes and shares, and I didn’t want to joust the windmill on the internet. It has continued to bother me, though.

About Cats Who Bite

The thing about cats that bite is that unlike that meme implies, most of them do give at least a tiny bit of warning, if you know how to look. It might just be a flick of a tail or a change in the angle of the ears, but cats do tend to telegraph their intentions.

gray cat bites a human hand. Photo credit: depositphotos/OlegTroino

Aray cat bites a human hand. Photo credit: depositphotos/OlegTroino

Cats who don’t give the expected warning signs sometimes gave up on trying to communicate “I’m done now” when their humans consistently didn’t pick up the cues. Unfortunately, We humans aren’t so good at picking up the subtle signs, so often cats get labeled unpredictable or ill-tempered when the human just didn’t know when to say when.

My Cat Who Bites

The truth is that I have a biter who doesn’t give much warning. And it’s not funny. It worries me.

My cat who has a tendency toward biting gives very small warning signs, the kind that are easily overlooked, like dilating pupils. It’s okay with me because I know how to read those tiny signs, but I know that many people can’t.

It worries me to think what would happen if my cat ended up at a shelter and behaved that way. Do you know what happens to cats who bite? Your local animal control considers cats who bite a rabies risk even if their rabies shots are up to date. They are quarantined for ten days. That’s supposed to happen for bites that happen at home or in an animal shelter.

Cat in a cage in an animal shelter. Image credit: depositphotos/Buurserstraat38

FIV positive cats can have longer stays in shelters because people are afraid to adopt them. Photo credit: depositphotos/Buurserstraat38

If there’s any doubt about the cat’s continued behavior or health during quarantine, they are subjected to rabies testing. Rabies testing is done by killing the cat, removing the head, and shipping it away for a laboratory for testing.

So no, I don’t really think cat biting is much of a joking matter. It could have dire consequences.

Biting can be a death sentence even if there’s no rabies testing involved. Cats who bite and end up in shelters are considered unadoptable and are put down. That happens even in many no-kill shelters.

Beyond Obvious Dire Consequences

No one wants to hear about a cat being put down for being a biter. Some people defended sharing the meme that implied cats bite for the fun of it was just stating the obvious because “cats are jerks.”

I’ve talked before about the fact that cats aren’t jerks. Cats are just cats, and they follow their instincts.

Cats are following their instincts when they bite, too. There’s a reason for their behavior, whether it’s overstimulation or feeling threatened. If you can step back from the situation and take a look at it, you can often see what caused the cat to feel they needed to bite. When you identify the cause, you can prevent it in the future.

Cat wearing cardboard sign around his neck that reads "still not a jerk"

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who just want to say, “My cat is a jerk” instead of analyzing what happened. They are missing out on a deeper understanding of the cat they share their life with, and they may be setting themselves up to repeat the situation again.

That just helps perpetuate the myth that cats are unfriendly and unlikable, and it doesn’t help to get more cats into happy homes. Isn’t that what we all want most of all?

Let’s All Think Before We Share Memes

I understand that many people surf the internet to find a good laugh, not to learn a lesson, so they don’t want to think too hard about memes. They just click the heart icon or “like” and maybe share the meme if it made them laugh.

black cat looking up lying near laptop screen on the wooden

Black cat with laptop. Photo credit: depositphotos/HASLOO

If we all took an extra second to think about the message being sent by the memes we share on social media, we could prevent the entrenchment of more misconceptions about cats. Ask yourself how the same message would sound if it was about a dog. It wouldn’t be good to share “funny” messages about dogs biting unpredictably, would it? Then maybe hold off on sharing the cat biting meme, too. For cats’ sake.

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September 19, 2018 Filed Under: Life With Cats 22 Comments

How to Get Cats Started Learning Agility

You’ve probably seen dogs run agility courses, but you might not know that agility courses for cats are a thing, too. Even if you know, you might wonder how to get started in cat agility.

Cat Agility - Getting Started

At a recent cat show, I had the opportunity to watch Jennifer Hardin, who represents the International Cat Agility Tournaments (ICAT) with a cat who had never been in an agility ring before. In moments, she had the cat jumping his first agility obstacles. I spoke with her later about getting cats started in agility.

Can Adult Cats Learn Agility?

Yes! I introduce older cats to the agility ring just like kittens, and I let them do their smell test of the place first and get familiar with the ring. Then I introduce a toy and try to find the drive for that particular cat. Sometimes it’s a toy. Sometimes it’s a little treat. Sometimes it’s a little encouragement. I’m even starting to train one of my cats on clicker training.

You have to be a little more patient with an older cat because they don’t forgive as quickly as younger kittens do. If you have an older cat who really likes to play with toys, once they are used to being in the enclosed environment of the agility ring, they can usually take off running pretty quickly.

Cat performs for the first time in ICAT agility course

With a little encouragement, this cat started working his way around the agility course moments after he first stepped inside.

Getting started, you just watch their tail to see if they’re ready. A tail that’s tucked is a frightened cat. A tail that’s down means they’re not sure. A tail that’s straight out means they can give or take a situation. A tail that’s up usually says they’re ready to play. Once you see that happy tail, you follow follow it up with a toy or treat and start to move the cat around the ring.

It’s important to have patience. Cats retain memory longer than dogs and they are pretty smart! You’d be amazed at what you can get your cat to do.

How Do You Motivate Cats for Agility?

Most cats are motivated by a toy. There are some cats who are motivated by food. Mine is motivated by both, and by the clicker training I’m trying to teach him.

I touched his nose with the clicker, and it felt weird, so he pawed at it. When he did, I clicked it at gave him a treat. Now he is pawing it readily because he knows he is going to get a treat. Now I just need to take it to the next step and have him do a trick, then look for a treat.

What if You Have Limited Space to Train Agility at Home?

Being in a house or apartment with limited space is a little more advantageous because a cat is at home in an environment where they are comfortable. They aren’t trying to show off or get distracted.

ICAT Agility Course

An ICAT agility course has purpose-built obstacles, but you can make agility obstacles form things you have around the house. Photo courtesy ICAT.

You have all the obstacles you need to start with agility right at home! One thing I suggest is taking chairs and tilting them over to make a triangle, then you can get your cat to go under them, or get your cat to go over the top. If it has a flat back, maybe the cat can go up one side to the peak and then back down.

You can take clothes baskets and turn them upside down and run a broom handle through through them to make a hurdle. Or just stack some pillows and lay your broom across the stacks of pillows. Grab a 2×4 piece of wood and lay it across some chairs so your cat can walk the plank. Be creative!

In your cat’s mind, your house is already an agility course. You just have to make it fun for them and more appropriate instead of trying to run across the sofa and slide into the lamp on the end table before landing on the floor.

There are lots of inexpensive things to do to create agility obstacles. The agility course I have now in the tent I made for less than $125. It just takes a little time. I found schematics online and then built from there.

See the agility course Jennifer built in the video below:

If you are on a mobile device and can’t see the video above, you can view it directly on YouTube.

How Did You Get into Cat Agility?

Agility is super-fun and a lot of people were into it for a while. Then then it faded away a little bit. It’s making a comeback now.

ICAT plans in next year or so to come up with a point system where cats can compete on a yearly basis on regional and international level for the agility competition so it isn’t just something you do for fun at a show. It’s one of those things where we really need enough participation to balance out starting to give out prize money, but we are hopeful.

ICAT Agility Course

An agility course at a cat show is self-contained in a screened tent. Photo courtesy ICAT.

I did agility and was really good at getting my cat to do what he needed to do. I started helping other people, too, and it just became a natural fit for me. So when the person who normally led agility had a knee surgery and was going to be out a while, she asked if I would fill in. I have continued to fill in.

It works out, since she is in New Mexico and I’m down here [in Florida], we can cover more area for cat agility.  I still do quite a bit of traveling to cat shows and other events.

Agility isn’t just for cat shows. I was at just at Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando [a Florida animal shelter] last week teaching agility to their summer camp. We want to get more adoptable cats involved in agility. It really shows off what a cat can do, and adopters love it!


Big thanks to Jennifer for her time to share information about agility. I think Newton and Cupcake are going to enjoy trying it out at our house.

Do you think your cat would be good at agility? 

Cat Agility: How To Get Started #Cat #ability #ICAT
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August 1, 2018 Filed Under: Life With Cats 7 Comments

Seen At Global Pet Expo 2018

There was just too much to fit into Monday’s blog post about cool finds and trends at Global Pet Expo 2018, so I wanted to share with you a few more things I saw there you don’t want to miss.

For instance, there was an artist on hand making the most remarkable art out of cappuccinos. He drew on them in some kind of edible paints. In the photo below, you can see a cat cappuccino completed while the artist works on a shark.

making art cappuccinos

Travel-Related Stuff

I never thought much about pet travel until recently. Cupcake has changed all that, so I looked at a lot of products I otherwise would have passed by. For instance, I checked out these strollers.

I don’t know if Cupcake would go for these, but I liked the idea that they can be converted from strollers to shopping baskets by taking off the removable carrier on top and adding a basket attachment.

I also looked at a lot of harnesses. I was really excited about this one. Can you guess why?

fuzzyard cupcake harness

Unfortunately, on really close inspection, there are dog bones stuck in the icing of some of the cupcakes on the pattern. Cupcake will be very disappointed, especially because the fabric itself of these harnesses was really light an nice to the touch.

Funny Stuff

I remembered seeing some plush pineapple beds last year. Are pineapples a thing now? This year, there was a new twist on pineapple mania, with a pop-up pineapple. This looks like it would be a lot of fun for cats to play and nap in.

Pineapple popup bed

At the same booth, there was a tunnel longer than I am tall. This tunnel was purple, and it had things resembling legs and a horn. A unicorn tunnel!

unicorn tunnel

If pineapples were a thing last year, unicorns seemed to be this year. I have no idea what this is about. The booth was advertising dog toys, but those unicorns are much larger than dog toy sized. It made me smile every time I walkled past it, so I thought it was wonderful, even if it is inexplicable.

unicorns with rainbow

I also got my first in-person look at this bed that resembles a cupcake. Thanks to having a cat named Cupcake, I had seen this on Facebook a lot of times as friends shared it with me, so it was fun to see it in person.

Pidan cupcake bed

At last year’s expo, one company was selling incredibly blinged-out pet beds encrusted with sparkling crystals. At the time, I told the woman who owned the company that I thought the beds needed to be a little larger to work for cats. Apparently, lots of people told her the bed needed to be larger, and she made a much, much larger version nearly big enough for a human to nap in. That’s a lot of bling!

sparkle bed

I don’t usually share dog products, since I don’t know a thing about them, but these made me laugh. Truth in dog treat flavors?

dog treats

Stuff that Purrs

I don’t want you to think I have gone to the dogs, though. The Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando team had a huge display of their products in an enclosure with plexiglas sides. Adoptable kittens provided by Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando romped through the display.

playing adoptable kitten, Coral

The Pet Alliance team rotated the kittens to different locations throughout the show, so the kittens I saw sleeping here on the first day of the show were in the Cat-it playground the closing day.

sleeping kittens

I think there were four litters of kittens in all, and it sounded like at least half of them found homes with people attending the show.

One cat not up for adoption was this show bengal who I originally saw in one of the booths. This photo was taken at an awards show, where the little guy was ready to show support for his favorite toys being up for an award.

bengal cat

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my finds with you in the upcoming months, so stay tuned!

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March 28, 2018 Filed Under: Life With Cats 9 Comments

Cool Finds and Trends at Global Pet Expo 2018

I spent part of last week at Global Pet Expo in Orlando, the trade show where the pet industry shows the latest and greatest innovations to the buyers who will bring them into stores near you. The show isn’t open to the public, so it’s a great way to get a glimpse at things that the industry has planned that aren’t quite available yet.

Global Pet Expo show floor before opening its doors

The show itself is vast. It is three football fields long, and it seems like everywhere you turn, there’s another “what a cool idea!” moment waiting to happen. This year’s experience was a little different for me because Cupcake’s going places with me means I was looking into some of the booths I previously had mentally written off as “just for dogs.”

Top Finds in Cat Products

The coolest thing for cats, hands-down, is a new robotic mouse called Mousr, from Petronics. I have seen little remote-controlled mice before, but the Mousr takes it to a whole new level. The company was founded by engineering grad students who all have cats, and the little robots are amazing, rolling and squeaking in ways that look like they will entice any cat.

mousr robotic mouse

I took one look at the new faucet-shaped fountains from Pioneer Pet and fall in love. You would, too, if you had a cat as crazy about the water from the sink tap as Cupcake is. With one of these of her own, Cupcake might actually let me brush my teeth in peace.

Pioneer Pet fauced-shaped fountains

Speaking of sinks, one of my favorite new products at the show is something perfect for cats who like to hang out in the sink. This NestEgg side table from Primetime Petz is part of their HausPanther collection. I love the idea that a cat who loves to hang out in the sink and used to have to be isolated to do that can now hang out right next to you on the sofa while you both Netflix and chill.

PrimetimePetz NestEgg Table

Cat Product Trends

One of the interesting things every year is seeing the trends going on around the pet products industry.

Hemp-Based Products

The legalization of marijuana in many states seems to have given a lot of companies similar ideas all at once. It seemed like every aisle at Global Pet Expo had at least one brand making some kind of hemp-based product for pets. I haven’t done enough research or had experience to endorse this product category on the whole, but I’m curious to see if there is enough market for this many companies to make it.

While all cats need food and nearly all cats need litter, hemp-based products aren’t a necessity. So I’m not sure whether there is enough demand for this many companies rushing into this part of the pet market. I’ll be watching with interest to see if the trend continues.

Kitten at Global Pet Expo 2018

This kitten has nothing to do with hemp products, but I did see her at Global Pet Expo

Cardboard

Everyone knows that cats love to scratch on cardboard, and there has been in uptick in cardboard beds and houses the past few years. This seems to have exploded this year. Where there were previously small, single-story houses for cats to nap in or scratch on, there are now multi-story cat palaces for scratching or sleeping.

Multi-story Cardboard House

Even more amazing, some manufacturers are really thinking outside the cardboard box to build activities for cats with cardboard. The most astonishing is this wheel that actually turns inside its cardboard frame. A smaller cat would fit comfortably inside to run on it like  hamster might its wheel, while larger cats can scratch on the outside. That’s really clever!

Cardboard wheel

Catification

Catification is creating a cat-friendly environment that satisfies a cat’s needs. These days, it also seems to mean it’s not your father’s cat tree anymore.

Some companies are innovating by using interesting new materials and shapes for perches and hiding spots. Others are rethinking how hard it is to put together cat furniture and are thinking of ways to make it easier for you to build your cats their dream environment without needing to use any tools. Either way, they are finding ways to make your home a better place for your cat to play, perch, and nap.

Miut cat wall shelves

We’ll be back on Wednesday with more interesting sights from around Global Pet Expo.

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March 26, 2018 Filed Under: Life With Cats 15 Comments

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