Latest Articles
Playing It Safe
“Predation by domestic cats Felis catus can be a threat to biodiversity conservation, but its mitigation is controversial. Confinement and collar-mounted devices can impede cat hunting success and reduce numbers of animals killed, but some owners do not wish ...
Reducing Fear – and the Importance of Choice
Counterconditioning is one of the most important techniques in animal training (arguably top five). Simply put, ‘conditioning’ means ‘learning’ and ‘counter’ means ‘opposite.’ Relearning might be another way of putting it. Practically speaking, it’s about changing someone’s learned ...
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Calm Vet Visits
By Victoria Blais
For cats, less really is more. This means less noise, less handling, less restraint, fewer loud voices, fewer odors, fewer bright colors, and fewer lights. When I arrive for at the ...
Thinking Outside the (Litter) Box
By Marilyn Krieger
Litter box avoidance is one of the most common reason cats are surrendered to shelters and euthanized. It is so sad and so unnecessary. Although the problem is hard to live with, it is also ...
Friends, Foes or Something in Between?
By Paula Garber
Unlike free-roaming cats who self-select their social group, owned cats living in multicat households don’t—owners do the choosing instead. And when people add cats to a household, they ...
The Effects of Declawing
By Bridget Lehet
It is estimated that “the vast majority (80 percent) of declawed cats have at least one complication resulting from surgery, and over a third develop behavior problems after undergoing the ...
Notacatperson
By Caroline Kocman
When one knows and understands how an animal communicates, it becomes easier to appreciate that creature. Cats have their own communication system that is both similar and disparate from ...
Money in the Bank
By Patience Fisher
People often assume their cats are fine because they are not doing anything to upset the people in the home. Cats avoid broadcasting stress—in terms of survival, showing weakness could be ...
A Change of Lifestyle
By Marilyn Krieger
According to a study by the Humane Society of the United States, based on data collected from 600 veterinarians, two out of three veterinarians recommend keeping cats indoors, citing ...
Cool for Cats
By Tabitha Kucera
We are all familiar with puppy socialization, but do not hear about kitten socialization anywhere near as often. In fact, however, it is as important for kittens to be properly socialized ...