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From the Furrie Leader

Best wishes to all for a happy and safe holiday season for you and your furrie family members. The hurricanes this summer made a severe impact on shelters and rescues across the county. Many have taken in animals to foster until they can be reunited with their displaced families. Now is a good time to formulate a plan to make sure your animals have identification and that you have a plan to evacuate or house your animals in the event of an emergency in your own home or community.

At CatHobbyist we are always looking for ways to provide the information you are looking for. Let us know if there is a particular area or subject that we can assist with.

Don’t forget to check the message boards and chats for tips on holiday decorating and entertaining and keeping the cats safe at the same time.

We also know that the holidays can be a hard time for those struggling with the loss of a pet, either past or soon to come. Our Pet Loss and Grief Support chat hosts are here 365 nights a year, including Christmas Eve, Christmas night, New Year's Eve, and New Year's night. The complete schedule is here.

Moira O'Connor
PHAbymom
CatHobbyist.com Site Coordinator

NEW At CatHobbyist!

Our CatHobbyist.com bookstore editors have outdone themselves this holiday season! A terrific newsletter full of reviews, gift ideas, and book news, 2006 cat calendars, new releases, and of course, our monthly top ten bestsellers list!

1: Cats In The Sun 2006 Calendar
2: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrates Cats and the people who love them
3: I Am the Cat, Don't Forget That: Feline Expressions
4: Manx Cats: Everything About Purchase, Care, Nutrition, Grooming, and Behavior
5: Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats
6: The Manx: The Cat With No Tail
7: This Is the Abyssinian Cat
8: Abyssinian Cats 2006 Calendar
9: Your Cat's Just Not That Into You : "What part of Meow don't you understand?"
10: The Exotic Shorthair Cat: Everything About Acquisition, Care, Nutrition, Behavior, Health Care, and Breeding

Also new on our site, a weekly "Angels Among Us," a special memorial chat for our lost pets. Hosted by our own PHKitKat, it will begin on Thursday, December 7, and be held every Wednesday evening at 9 PM Eastern in the Haven.

The Acupuncture Cat
And Other Amazing Animals
By Christie Keith

I once had a cat named Jezebel. She was the kitten of a pregnant stray I found in the street, and she was a rough and tumble little hoyden of a cat. But she had one odd trait that set her apart from any cat I've had before or since. Jezebel was an acupuncture cat.

At first it seemed that Jezebel was just a "kneader." Like many cats, she would work her claws in and out of you while you were petting her. But in time, she began to be more methodical, inserting just a single claw into one spot, sitting and looking very intently at the spot as she did so. She would "puncture" odd locations, not just in the legs or arms as most cats do when they are purring. And she would always purr when she did this.

I developed a very bad sinus infection while on a trip to Europe, made much worse by a freezing cold winter and a long airplane trip home. When I got back, a friend of mine, Kelly, who was an acupuncturist, agreed to make a house call to treat me. He walked in the front door with his little case full of needles and herbs, and suddenly Jezebel came flying from the back of the house. She escorted him into the living room, and nosed around his case. As he got out the needles, she put her nose to each one, and literally nudged him as he inserted them. She sat on my lap and touched her nose to the needles in my face, purring, with her eyes squinted. Now and then she would reach up and insert a claw, very precisely and carefully, in some other spot on my body. Kelly said he had never seen anything even remotely like it.

Every time Kelly came after that, Jezebel would run in from whatever she was doing and assist him. Her fascination with acupuncture did not ever lessen, nor did she ever miss a single visit Kelly made. None of the other cats showed the slightest interest in the process. This was Jezebel's unique domain.

Cats often do things we don't understand; it's part of the mystery of the cat. How can anyone really explain Jezebel's interest in acupuncture? Was there something about the smell of the acupuncture points that attracted her? Was she sensitive to the energy released during acupuncture? Was she the reincarnation of an acupuncturist's assistant, as Kelly believed? Who can ever know? I do know that Jezebel had another sensitivity: she always, always knew when I was crying. I was once standing at my bedroom window, sobbing over the death of a friend from AIDS. I saw Jezebel appear about five backyards away (this was many years ago, before I became a convert to keeping cats indoors for their safety), pause on the fence, look right at my window, and then fly home. She came in the cat door, raced up the stairs, and began to paw at my leg. The window was closed, and there was no way she could have heard me from where she was.

In her book Animals as Teachers and Healers, Susan Chernak McElroy tells the story of another animal with a special sensitivity, not unlike Jezebel's. Sonja Homstead Nadeau was mauled by a dog as a child, requiring 400 stitches in her face. As an adult she suffered from fears, and a Native American spiritual advisor one day tells her it's time to face them. It's time, he said, to meet Waluna, his timber wolf.

Nadeau entered Waluna's pen, terrified. The huge wolf raised herself up and set her paws on Nadeau's shoulders. "The wolf leaned forward and began making these little tiny bites all along the scar line on my face," wrote Nadeau. "She went all along its length with these tickling little nibbles, very slowly and very gently. I knew instantly that in her own way she was mending my face. I stood, not moving a muscle, my eyes squeezed shut. Then, something told me to open my eyes, and when I did, Waluna began licking the scar and licking my face. There really are not adequate words for this: I felt a tremendous healing ripple run through me. It wasn't just my face that Waluna made okay, it was the fear that had been with me for years. In that moment, it just melted away."

Animals don’t always reserve their acts of healing or amazing abilities for the benefit of their human companions. A tiny cat named Scarlett gained international fame after a fireman found her moving her five kittens out of a burning building. Singed fur, eyes burned so badly they were blistered shut, skin so injured by the fire that her hair was permanently lost, Scarlett dragged herself back in that building five times, leaving each of her kittens outside and then going back for the next. Where did that incredible courage come from?

We may never truly understand the other species with whom we share our world. We pride ourselves on being the superior species; perhaps we are, at least by our own standards and definitions. But just when we think we have it all figured out, some creature we have called pet or beast surprises us with senses or motivations we can't really understand, or are afraid to admit we might understand all too well.

Copyright 2005 by Christie Keith. Used with permission.

Cat Box Blues:
When your cat doesn't use the litterbox
By Christie Keith

There's a reason so many TV ads for air fresheners feature litterboxes in the "before" scenes. When it comes to pungent odors, there's nothing quite like the smell of cat urine. And if you're ready to get rid of your cat due to litterbox problems, you're not alone. Problems with feline elimination are the number one reported behavior problem in cats, and the number one reason they are surrendered to shelters.

Many people take drastic steps without exploring the many options for feline elimination problems. They assume the cat is being bad, or punishing them, or has simply become "untrained" to use the box correctly. This is never the case. There is always a reason why the cat has stopped using the litterbox, and while there are incurable cases, the overwhelming majority can be solved quickly and easily.

The First Step

If you have a cat who isn't using the litterbox reliably, the first thing you need to do is take him or her to the veterinarian. The leading reason cats start eliminating outside their box is urinary tract infections (UTIs), urinary tract obstructions, or other health problems.

As anyone who has had a bladder infection knows, there is often a feeling of constant urging even when the bladder is almost empty, as well as pain and burning accompanying urination. And kidney and bladder stones are among the most painful of all conditions for any species. This pain and frustration – and exhaustion – can create such negative associations for the cat that he or she is basically being trained not to use the litterbox by negative reinforcement. Curing the underlying health problem usually ends the unwanted behavior.

Behavioral Issues

If your cat gets a clean bill of health, or if a health problem is diagnosed and treated but the problem still persists, it's time to look at behavioral issues and training.

For the cat who has developed negative associations with the litter box due to pain from a now-treated UTI or obstruction, the best solution is to re-train your cat to use the box using a simple confinement process. Every kitten is trained to use a litterbox by his or her mother, and you can simply repeat this early education to train your cat to use the box again. Put your cat in a small space, such as a laundry room, bathroom, or other comfortable space. Ideally, it will have a window with a perch for your cat to sunbathe and bird watch, and is a room where you can spend some time with the cat, too. Put in as many litterboxes as is necessary to complete cover all floor space, and keep them scrupulously clean – scoop them numerous times a day. It's helpful to use a new kind of cat litter and perhaps even a different style of litterbox, to help convince the cat that this is not the same as the box that "hurt" so much before. If soiling occurs, used special products made speci fically for neutralizing cat urine odors. Most common household cleaners simply don't do the job.

It's essential that during this time you keep the litterboxes absolutely clean, even if it means scooping them ten times a day. Gradually reduce the number of boxes. When you get down to two litterboxes and no accidents, let the cat have access to one more room, plus the original space where the boxes will remain. After you are sure the cat is using the box reliably, you can gradually increase the amount of access she or he has. Make sure there are litterboxes in at least two areas of the house, and always have one litterbox more than you have cats. Continue to keep the boxes clean, cleaning them at least once daily. This is all it will take to eradicate this problem in nearly all cats.

It may be tempting to let up on the scooping after a while, but don't do it. After health problems, dirty litterboxes are the leading cause of elimination problems. Think about how you feel when you go into a portajohn that's overdue for service on a hot day, after being used by too many partygoers, all of them drunk, and you'll get an idea of how cats feel about using soiled, smelly litterboxes. Have some compassion for these animals, whose sense of smell is much more acute than ours, and for whom godliness comes a very distant second to cleanliness.

Many people have found it helpful to experiment with different types of cat litter, and different types of litterboxes. Most cats hate scented litter (which is made for our benefit, not theirs. Control odors by cleaning the box more often, not by masking it with fragrances). If your cat might have arthritis, consider a cat box with one side that is lower than the others, to make it easier for him or her to get in and out of the box. Also be sure that the litterboxes are in out of the way areas, where the cat can relax and not feel threatened. Sometimes keeping a box in a laundry room with a baby gate or cat door, so that children and dogs can't get in, solves elimination problems.

If none of these measures control the problem, then it's time to dig a bit deeper. Do you have multiple cats, and is it possible that you have targeted the wrong cat in your re-training efforts? Your vet can use dyes to help you color the urine of your cats, and by a process of elimination you'll be able to determine which one is having the problem. You might be surprised.

Territorial Marking

Perhaps you've misunderstood the problem. Is your cat failing to use the litterbox, or is your cat marking territory? Cats who are marking territory will urinate on vertical surfaces, and if you actually see them doing it, you'll see that their tails are up and they vibrate a little bit while spraying. Cats will spray when they are made anxious or insecure by a routine change, a loss of a family member (including other pets), moving, stray cats in the neighborhood who are marking your yard and doors as their territory, or any form of stress.

Territorial marking can almost always be eliminated when the cat is spayed or neutered, as well as by removing or minimizing the sources of stress. However, if it persists, or has commenced when the cat is already altered, it's time to go back to the vet, who should be able to offer medical and behavioral solutions.

On the medical front, there are products that can help address this problem, such as Feliway, a pheromone spray applied to soiled areas, or anti-anxiety medication such as Valium, BuSpar, or even Prozac. Consult your veterinarian about these treatments, as dosages for cats are very different from human dosages, and fatal liver damage will occur if they are used incorrectly.

If all else fails, ask your vet to refer to you a qualified animal behaviorist. You can also contact the Cornell Feline Health Center at 914-473-7406 for advice and referrals. Don't just accept that your cat's house soiling is something you have to live with, because in nearly all cases, it's not.

Copyright 2005 by Christie Keith. Used with permission.

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