Kittens 'n Things

In case you haven’t figured it out, I’ve become a super fan of I Can Has Cheezburger, and Lolcats, so I frequently check there for cute kitty and cat pictures.

Here’s one I found today…and the caption is really one like you might expect to hear one of your cats say. (Or at least I think one of our Boys might say it!)

Yours in cats saying the funny,

P.S. We have some fun things in our “Romper Room” to entertain your kitty.

We have “Heart Health” month; “Breast Cancer Awareness” month and a host of other months for various health and charity concerns.

But, did you know that February is “Take your pet to the vet” month to get her teeth cleaned?

Yes, just like you, kitty needs to have her teeth at least reviewed and then cleaned on a regular basis. I’m talking at least once a year!

According to Dr. Wendy Zimmerman, DVA, CVM, On-Staff Veterinarian at PetFoodDirect, “More than 80% of dogs and 70% of cats show signs of oral disease by age three. Symptoms of dental disease in your pet include odor to the mouth, brown discoloration/tartar buildup on the teeth, and red/swollen gums.”

Further, Dr. Zimmerman says, “Trapped bacteria can eventually spread through the bloodstream to other areas in the body leading to infection in the heart, liver, kidney, or virtually anywhere in the body.”

Yours in taking care of kitty’s teeth,

P.S. We cover other“health issues” that your kitty might experience in our ebook, “Caring for Your Cat Naturally.” Get your copy as a gift from us when you opt-in to our weekly ezine, “The Cat’s Meow.” See the upper right box >>> for the details.

Note: Excerpt statements by Dr. Wendy Zimmerman, DVA, MVM, from February 6, 2010 edition, PetFoodDirect, Weekends are for Pets Newsletter.

Tracie Hotchner at Catster.com offers the following tip to keep interact with your cat.

“If you have a staircase in your house, the banister itself is a great play space for the two of you to have fun.

Stand beside the spindles and have the kitty on the steps – he’ll love to bat at things you wiggle at him through those spindles.

You can also let gravity do the work and let your cat chase a ping pong ball (or similar) down the stairs!”

We have also found that with our four “Boys” they are all pretty good at making their own fun. In fact, we often hear them running around upstairs before they come chasing down the stairs and into the living room.

It’s then, we find out how high and how far they can jump!

Yours in finding ways to play with your cat,

Daily Cat Tip by: Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner, the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible.

Photo source: I Can Has Cheezburger

…and I don’t mean “he’s ‘pining’ for it!”
Whether you like it or not, if you’re a cat owner you may find a time when your “little boy ‘Snookums,’” or “sweet little girl, ‘Kitty Coo,’” is doing his or her “business” everywhere–but in the box!

While the “solid waste” on a carpet or freshly cleaned floor can be a considerable ruin to an otherwise good day, it’s the “bladder deposits” that have been known to wreak havoc on a regular daily routine.

Often, the first inclination is to yell and holler, you know the words, to “cut it out.” Or you might take off at a run to chase down kitty.

Unfortunately, sometimes, you may even give him an unsuspecting smack.

Alas, making the situation worse on so many levels!

Actually, before you get much more upset about this, here are some things to consider (in no particular order) that might be causing this behavior:

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s something completely different, although it is cat-centric.

Want a new way to manage your stress?

If you’re a “video gamer” or like to work puzzles or even if you’re just curious, try this computer game. Circle the Cat

Yours in playing circle the cat,

P.S. We have some other games your cat can play with. Check them out at Romper Room

Remember the line, “He sees dead people” in the movie, “The Sixth Sense?” Well, we’ve come to wonder what kind of something is going on with Billy!

And what might he be seeing.

He stares a lot!

In fact, the other morning as I was going down the hall I went by the bathroom and happened to glance inside the door. There was Billy, just standing there, staring at the wall!

Sometimes, he’ll even sit and stare at us!

You just wonder what he’s thinking…and so far, he “ain’t talkin’!”

Yours in watching your cat stare,

P.S. Come back tomorrow! We’ve found an online “kitty” game we know you’ll have fun with.

And finally, we come to the last tip for Cat Litter Box Management. In case you missed the other four, they are
here: Tip 1, and Tip 2, Tip 3, and finally Tip 4,

5. Take kitty out of the box
As you can see, the running theme is like with kids, you may have “plenty of help” when you’re cleaning the box.

Kitties are nosy by nature; they have to be “in the thick of things;” they always want to know what’s going on.

And if the “goings on” happen to interfere with or in some other way intrude upon something that’s his, he’ll want to be right there supervising.

Yours in creating your own kitty litter management tips,

P.S. Did you know that when you get a subscription to our ezine, The Cat’s Meow, you also receive a complimentary copy of our ebook, “Caring for Your Cat Naturally?” Sign up in the box to the upper right >>>>.

Photo source: I Can Has Cheezburger and Lolcats

If you’ve been coming here regularly, you know for the last three days we’ve been discussing some tips you might use to manage your cat litter box. In case you want to refer back to them, you can find them here, here and here.

And now here’s #4.

4. Take kitty out of the box
When you’re cleaning the box, you will notice you have a helper who may or may not add to your box cleaning experience. So much so, you may have to take kitty out of the litter box a number of times.

Use a covered litter box
Kitties, too, like privacy when they do
their bathroom duties so you might want to consider a kitty box with a lid/cover. Such a box does make it a bit cumbersome to clean, but it does help to give kitty some privacy.

In addition, some such boxes come with a filter area with a place where you can add a filter pad, which helps to mask or get rid of some of the odor. This also helps to keep the air around the box fresher.

If you do use a covered litter box, however, be sure to get one that’s large enough to give kitty enough room to move around in in order to get his business done without leaving some of “his business” on his back-end. (Experienced teacher here!)

We’ll finish up this series with Tip #5 tomorrow. So stop back here to get the end of the story!

Yours in choosing cat litter boxes,

P.S. If you’re not yet receiving our weekly ezine, The Cat’s Meow, it’s not too late. Just leave your name and email address in the box to the right >>> You’ll also get a complimentary copy of “Taking Care of Your Cat Naturally.”

Photo source: I Can Has Cheezburger and Lolcats.
Photo source: Lifelike Mature Large Cat Tree Houses

If you’re new here, for the last two days we’ve been talking about “Taking Care of and Maintaining the Litter Box” in five easy tips.

To catch you up, here are the first and second tips.

So, now we continue…

Tip #3. Take kitty out of the box
If you’re not paying complete attention to what you’re doing kitty will have found that “cleaning thing” so much fun the last time that he’ll come back soon enough again to see what you are doing.

Use scoopable litter
The scoopable litters are especially useful and cost-effective because you are able to scoop out the solid kitty refuse.

And when your kitty urinates, the litter will “clump” enough that you can just scoop that out, too. Different brands of litter act differently, though, so you may want to evaluate their effectiveness before you invest in the product.

For a different point of view, one of our readers, Ryan suggested in the “Comments” section of yesterday’s Tip #2 that we “forget” scoopable and instead use a mix of Cat Mews and Pine Litter.

Yours in figuring out ways to do the cat litter,

P.S. Tip #4 will be available early tomorrow morning. See you then!

Photo source: I Can Has Cheezburger and Lolcats.

Yesterday, I started a series of “tips” you might use on how to take care of the “cat litter box.” Today, I’m continuing that series with this (and I have three more tips to go, which I will post over the next three days so come back again)….

Tip 2. Take kitty out of the box
You’ve poured some fresh litter into the box, and spread it around evenly. Kitty hears the noise and comes skidding to investigate.

You then decide to either continue with your box duties as you were, or you say you’ll come back later.

Add clean litter
The litter you choose will, of course, be a brand of your choosing. However, litters are different on a number of levels. Some are scented, others are not.

Some are pea-sized gravel, crystal, or maybe a clay product, others are not; some are made from wheat or pine or some other “green” product. Some veterinarians, however, recommend that you use the clumping or scoopable litter.

Yours in choosing cat litter,

P.S. If you find your kitty more inclined to play in his box than you think he ought to, we have some things in our Romper Room to take his mind off all that gravel…

Photo source: I Can Has Cheezburger – Lolcats