Cat Views

“Never try to teach a pig to sing; it frustrates you and annoys the pig. Translate this bit of wisdom to your dealings with cats and you’ll avoid a good deal of futility and frustration.” – Mark Twain

How To Keep Your Cat Happy and
Still Maintain Your Furniture & Sanity Intact

by Dr. Christianne Schelling

Dr. Schelling’s article thought the long title may be perhaps a little too long, authors an absolutely terrific article, extremely well written, funny and informative. A “don’t miss” for cat owners everywhere!

“…scratching is Kittie’s way of adding her own personal touch to home …. her version of interior decorating!”

Dr. Schelling’s theme; Knowledge is Power covered by 7 clearly-explained lessons:

1. Scratching is a natural behavior for cats
2. You can’t keep your cat from scratching
3. Why do cats scratch? Marking, stretching & pleasure.
4. Provide your cat with an appropriate scratching post.
5. Remember, we said appropriate
6. How to get Kitty to prefer the post
7. Start them young.

Plus… some alternate solutions are also offered. Please take just a moment to learn more about how to handle your cat’s scratching behavior before you consider declawing.

Tigger

There once was a cat named “Tigger”
Who imagined himself very much bigger
A bully he became
Loving the new game
Until he met feisty little miss
He could not scare with his hiss
She turned on him with a growl
That, really made him run and yowl
What an awful scare she gave him
He ran and his in his cat condominium

We have big gray and white tomcat named “Squeak”, a name which was really only applicable as a kitten. He loves to sleep in and on high places, especially the ironing board. The problem with this is the stress he puts on my mother! Every time she enters the room where he is sleeping, he rolls over toward her and off the edge of whatever he is sleeping on. He expects her to catch him and she has to rush over and grab him before he hits the floor totally limp. It is quite a problem for her at times but we found a solution. A lovely cat hammock to sleep in and he is so comfy in it he quit playing his game and mom no longer has to rush and catch him!

Sly’s modern cat condo arrived this weekend. First, let me extol the excellent packing, delivered in perfect condition even though it traveled all the way from Germany! I am a bit like Rachel Maddow is about infrastructure when it comes to realistic packing. The very second I got it out of the box, Sly was in it! He adores it so much we haven’t had a chance to mount it on the wall. Every time there’s a lull in the chore list I think, now I’ll get the Rondo installed, he’s asleep in it! It is extremely-well made and so beautiful that even if he hadn’t become so attached to it right “out of the box” I would have been happy enough with it to find other uses for it [a multi-purpose cat condo!!] But he does love it so it’s a huge success all round. Thanks! – Diane

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. — Garrison Keillor

Like the rest of the world, I decided Doofie needed to have a Lotus cat tree. Honestly, it wasn’t like she really needed it, but oh well such is the extravagance of love. I got it last week, assembled it and put it out onto our back patio replacing the old tired carpet & sisal tree she’s had since she was young. The old tree was very large, heavy, quite ugly and tattered which is why I hid it outside! I dragged the old nearby out of the way, laying it on its side which was probably my first mistake. Lying down near it, she lamented its new posture while the Lotus cat tree stood proudly in its place ready for use. I got a dolly assist to dismantle the old one and she found me working on it in the garage! Oh dread, caught! She laid-down on the parts like wishing it to stay! We’re now into a week with the new Lotus. I put a cookie treat on the first level, then the next, then the next, and finally on top. Altogether, she gets about 6 cookies out of it! I decided today, she’s figured out if she hold outs, she can finagle the whole package of cookies! She probably will… she’s so smart!

I got a call today from a customer who was interested in a custom cat gym. She found exactly what she wanted advertised on several websites but was surprised she couldn’t order it from them. Instead she’s told “item is currently out of stock.” Yea, right! As a last-ditch effort she called to see if she could custom order it. When she described it, I knew immediately who manufactured it by a distinctive feature called a “double cube” perch top. Sadly, the company is no longer building cat furniture – they had a nice, very broad product line. What amazes me is that competitors are too lazy to take a product line off their site even when it’s been out of product for over 9 months! Sloppy business. Our customers deserve better. So hopefully we’ll find her exactly what she wants. Her heart and desire are in the right place; to spoil to little kitties and provide them the ultimate playground.

Several weeks ago, a customer emailed indicating she measured incorrectly after receiving her new custom cat perch. I emailed a couple of ideas to try to solve her problem, but eventually she decided to start over with the order. I agreed to have the perch returned since my custom shop’s policy states “complete satisfaction.” Well, I learned … not exactly! Nonetheless, MyCatsHeaven is committed to our Customer Satisfaction Guarantee so we honored our policy.

Within hours of arranging return shipping with FedEx, I received a very special email from a couple of Girl Scouts requesting a donation. Amy & Catlin indicated they are trying to earn a Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest honor in Junior Girl Scouts. To earn this prestigious award, they are providing foster-care for a mother cat & her family of 5 kittens, caring for them until they are adopted. They’re working with the Foothills Animal Rescue in Arizona. Once their 4-footed guests are adopted, they plan to donate the perch to the animal clinic to be used by other cats also awaiting adoption.

I received a delightful“thank you”email from the girls with a photo of mother cat, Chelsey & her young family named: Mille, Gracie, Gizmo, Splash & Misty. The perch arrived last week with this email update:

Hi Nancy!

The perch arrived while we were at Girl Scouts! Wow … is it ever neat! Chelsey went straight to it and claimed the top area and started grooming herself. It took literally seconds for her to be on it! We will put it where the babies can get to it later – as they are only 3 weeks old tomorrow. Again thank you so much for your generosity!

Our pleasure, ladies! Besides, Chesley deserves more than a cardbroad box to raise her young family! Good luck in earning your Girl Scout Bronze Award!

Because We Care
Please spay & neuter your cats
Visit our website to watch this 
great video (at bottom page)
produced by Alliance For Human Action

I have been contacted by a women who is about to adopt 2 soon-to-be very spoiled cats. She’s going “all out” to acquire a wonderful custom cat tree for them to enjoy. Only, she’s insistent on declawing them. I suggested that was not a good idea, but I fairly sure I’ve lost that argument. It’s such a shame that humans think it is humane to declaw a cat when we have such a terrific assortment of cat cat scratching posts available.

Inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Architectura is a pet house designed for cats – the ultimate cat condo designed by Pre-Fab Pets! Slatted walls on two sides provide excellent ventilation and a fun place for pets to hide but still see what’s going on around them. Or, perch top for premium high-rise snoozing!

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for humans! No, in fact I bet a lot of us live with cats who are a more affectionate than some people we know! In an article featured on our site at The Daily Cat discusses some interesting “I Love You” cat behaviors. Cat behaviorist expert Jackson Galaxy, (wow, what a name!) says, “Absolutely! …. cats are the masters of detached love.” I wonder, does that mean those of us so crazy about cats prefer “detached” love. Hum, that’s something to ponder. “They express love in ways that baffle us”. Here’s just a few “you’re my human” antics:

1. Grooming: Your cat licking you mimics their mother’s love
2. Purring (my favorite!): Associated with “kitty”hood milk-time feeding experience.
3. Rubbing, Kneading, Mock Spraying & Gumming: Scenting you to claim you as there own
4. Blinking: A stare (we all know that one!), followed by a blink, then open eye with second soft blink signifying trust.
5. Gifting Dead Critters (I get LOTS of gifts!!): Rather than a “gift” its bringing home to a safe place.

How do we tell them, “I Love You”? Offer them supreme bliss with a new cuddly cat condo! This is a wonderful article, filled with an insightful perspective on cat behavior. Be sure to take just a minute to learn more about “let me count the ways!”