Anyone who owns a cat knows that they are intelligent, inquisitive beings. Yes, they often do things on their terms, but when they want something, they generally are smart enough to figure out exactly how to get it. Yet the myth that cats can’t be trained still remains. Why? Can cats be trained?

Part of the problem has to do with images we have all seen since childhood. Stories and images abound of selfless dogs risking life and limb to rescue people from all sorts of perilous circumstances. Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and a host of other dogs come to mind. Any kitties?

Not hardly. Instead, there is the image of a new dog owner trying to teach their large Golden Retriever to walk down the street. We can easily picture this person being dragged by the eager orange puppy and the need to teach this dog to walk properly for everyone’s safety.

Can you visualize doing the same with a cat? Plus even if you can teach a cat to walk or listen to other obedience type commands (AKA “cues”) most cat owners will almost always inquire as to why they would bother?

Can cats be trained?

The first issue is for pet owners to grasp what it means when we say “training”. Most people associate this word to mean teaching of specific commands or cues. These include stay, heel, come, down etc. This is sometimes referred too as obedience training and it is here where we lose a good many cat owners. That’s because many see little value in expending the effort and time to teach their cats what they consider “tricks”.  However and this is a key point, obedience training is only one type of training and not the most relevant one for our feline friends.

Cats can be trained to use a litter box, be more accepting of people, to stop spraying and scratching up your couch, they can learn to accept other cats as friends and believe it or not some can even….gasp….learn to like and accept dogs in their home.

Very critically, cats can be conditioned to ride comfortably and with less stress in a cat carrier. The last one is of special importance given the number of cats whose owners put off taking them to the veterinarian because it is so hard to get them in the carrier.

One of the biggest keys to training is motivation and here too we lose many people especially when they compare cats to dogs. That’s because as we all know dogs are often motivated by a desire for praise. Cats usually don’t often have that reputation.

We have also heard the descriptions of feline temperaments. These include aloof, independent etc. Those owner perceptions cause numerous cat owners to wonder how/if they can train a cat especially considering that methods used to train dogs which are often the only ones people know about may prove ineffective or irrelevant with cats.

Motivation and training for cat training

Recently I spoke with Ms. Teoti Anderson, a trainer with 16 years experience and during the discussion I asked her about motivation and training. Her response is spot on. “Dogs and cats learn by reinforcement and punishment. If doing something is rewarding to them, they will probably do it again. If doing something is unpleasant for them, they are likely to avoid doing it again.”

While that might seem obvious to some, it is at the core of every successful training program. Cats might find different things rewarding to them than dogs but that doesn’t mean they can’t be rewarded and can’t learn. Instead of a scratch behind the ear or tossing a stick, both of which will send the typical Golden Retriever into bliss yet earn you a blank stare or contempt with many cats, try a catnip toy or a delectable treat.

Bio: Steven Appelbaum is the founder and President of Animal Behavior College, the largest animal career vocational school of its kind in North America. The school offers certified courses for dog training, veterinary assistants and pet groomers. Steve has been a professional animal trainer for more than 30 years and is the author of the book “The ABC Practical Guide to Dog Training.” He is a lecturer, consultant and a member of the Love That Dog Hollywood podcast team.

On the Web: AnimalBehaviorCollege.com/info
On Facebook: Facebook.com

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A large group of cat people are enjoying hours of fun and laughter with their Talking Tom app.  You can grab his tail, poke him, pet him, and film Talking Tom’s interactions to share on YouTube, Facebook, or email to friends and family. Talking Tom app allows you to record up to 30 seconds of video footage which can be uploaded directly.

The best part of the Talking Tom Cat Free app is that it is interactable through the touchscreen of your device. When you stroke your screen, Tom reacts as if he was being stroked and petted. “More! I want more!”

But … if you hit the screen hard, as if you were smacking Tom, he will fall over. There are also buttons that make Talking Tom scratch the screen or drink some milk.

The Talking Tom Cat Free app has a four-to-five star rating with over 120 million downloads, complete with high quality graphics and animations. An Outfit 7, Ltd. toy, Tom is partnered with Talking Friends Superstar toys, adding to the fun for everyone! This is an app that is compatible with Android,  iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 4.3 or later, optimized for iPhone 5. It is free in the basic app up to $ .99 for more advanced apps in the iTunes or App Store.

There are  other animal apps if you enjoy Talking Tom, with some listed in a WayCoolCats article. Meanwhile, Outfit 7 has made similar talking apps like Talking Tom for your enjoyment:  Talking Ben the Dog, Talking Gina the Giraffe, and Talking Santa.

The post Talking Tom Cat appeared first on waycoolcats.com.

Over 3.7 million animals were euthanized in our country’s shelters in 2008. Unfortunately, 71% of those animals were cats.

“The number one reason for excess cat euthanization is the lack of cat identification.”  Approximately 2% of cats are reunited with their owners and 24% are adopted, with the cats being reunited because of cat IDs.

Shelters are not the only organizations who are overloaded with cats and kittens. Advertisements in the newspapers almost always have kittens to give away. Professional cat breeders can be located only, or homes with cats who are not spayed have kittens quite often.

Finding good homes for cats and kittens

• Marketing online is the way to go, whether you are an animal shelter or a grandma whose cat just had kittens. In that case, good cat photographs or cute kitten photographs replaces a thousand words.

• If you do not have a camera, Wikipedia Commons has free cat images or you can buy one cheaply at istockphoto that has a similar appearance. But almost everyone, including grandchildren, have phones that take excellent pictures to place online or put with a newspaper ad. If you are giving your kitten away free, most newspapers will not charge for the ad, depending on where you live.

• Spend a day calling your friends and their friends.

• Print out flyers with photos to place on public bulletin boards.

• Have a yard sale, giving your kittens away (and cats)  to the first ten shoppers … who wants them, of course!
• Shelters have Pet Adoption Days or Shelter Fundraising Days to promote the adoption of their animals and to raise money for food. The is a good thing to volunteer for or donate money, if you do not wish to adopt a cat!

• A lot of shelters work with feed and pet stores like Petco or Tractor Supply for pet adoption days, with pet store sales, etc.

• Farmers Markets are excellent ways to combine shelter animals or animals of your own. Many locations charge a fee for one day or by the year for individuals, but it is worth it.

The post Unconventional Cat Adoptions appeared first on waycoolcats.com.

But that is not where I am going with the topic of cars and cats.

I had recently read a posted article on Life’s Little Mysteries, titled “Why Cats Hate Car Rides.” And instantly, my mind went to Cicero, my mom’s cat. Now … my mom has been gone for several years, but her love affair with cats is a fond family memory. She put up with dogs, but she had loved cats since she was a child.

It was a long time ago when I found a little black-and-white kitten in a trash dumpster. It was raining out when I went to dump the trash, and found a tiny five-week kitten inside. It was soaking wet from the rain and half-covered with a light blue paint. I had a houseful of kids and animals, but mom had just moved to Kearney and had no animals.

And to me, that was a no-no.

Still raining, I buried the kitten inside my sweatshirt and walked over to mom’s. She lived in the next trailer park from me, just a short jaunt. When I knocked on her door and she opened it, I thought she was going to slam it shut when she saw what I had. “No, no. I just don’t think I want to raise a kitten, Nancy.”

I said it was fine, I would just take it to the shelter. I mean … it had been a shot in the dark, and I knew I couldn’t have left it in the dumpster, could I?  We were lucky to have a good shelter in town who would take cats and kittens, due to the many farms in the area.  A good mouser was always in need.

I got halfway to the road and she called my name. I turned around to see her little white head peering out the door at me. “Well, maybe we’ll give it a try. If it doesn’t work … then you can take it to the shelter.”

So, back we went and my mom had a love affair with Cicero (named after the cartoon cat Cicero) until he died of old age. He was hell-on-wheels to anyone but mom, putting up with some of us only if he had to. But mom he loved. Mom he worshiped. And she felt he same way.

He grew into a huge brute, who chased people down her hallway when they would make a run for the toilet, hoping to outrun him — nipping at their heels. What was funny when the kids were little, they would run as fast as they could to the toilet, hoping to get away from Cicero. Never happened!

He always reminded me of a cattle dog. Maybe it was his alter-ego coming out. I don’t know. But when I was art director of the local cook-book plant, Morris Press, mom and I would have lunch together over my noon hour. I would bring my brief-case with my money, wallet and paperwork there. When I opened it up to show mom my work, Cicero would jump into it and take a little nap. Or so I thought.

Days later, mom called me up and wanted to know if I was missing any money. I said I did not know, but I would check. She told me she had found a bunch of single dollar bills under the single bed in her spare bedroom, with little teeth marks in them. I looked into my brief case and sure enough …. my lunch money was not there.  Cicero had removed them as I conversed with mom.

Where cars and cats come into the picture is after I moved to Wyoming, she and Cicero made road trips up there to visit. One day we met here in Lusk, Wyoming, as the highway was being worked on and we wanted to help her get through. We told her to follow us, and we headed out.

We thought she was following us, until I looked out my window and there she was, on a high ridge up to our right, keeping up with all the big equipment. She was just driving down the road, white head a’bobbin’ and Cicero wrapped around her neck, watching all the scenery go by. I had to take a double-look, blinking as fast as I could, as I could not see what I was seeing. Blink-a-blink. Blink-a-blink.

Believe me, it was an image I will never forget. Never.

Somehow, she made it to the end and she kept driving down the highway to reach our house, not looking left or right. Be then, we were following her, making a feeble attempt to keep up with a little old lady who was driving like Mario Andretti. She must have been following his quote, “If everything seems under control, you are not driving fast enough.”

Every time mom would come to visit, of course, Cicero would come to. But we never were stupid enough to “meet her” somewhere. We knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself. If not, Cicero was!

The post Cars and Cats – Mom and ol’ Cicero appeared first on waycoolcats.com.

I had taken my tiny 3-lb Chihuahua, Liza Doolittle, to the vet to have her spayed as she was one year of age. She had such a bad time in her previous heat cycle, we did not want her to go through it again.

We brought Liza Doolittle home two days later. She did nothing but shake and seemed almost in a shock state, refusing to leave our side without falling apart — continuously licking her paws. This lasted for over two weeks.

Her milk glands were swollen two to three times the normal size (which they said was a normal reaction). I refused to take her back to the vet to have her stitches taken out, so I removed them myself.

I had my hair cut that week, and my hair-dresser said her brother had taken his cat he had rescued to a vet to have him neutered. When he brought his cat home, the neutered cat acted the same as Liza — shaking, refusing to leave her brother’s side, and continuously licking his paws.

Obviously, both animals were traumatized to the bone, and it had nothing to do with the fact one was a dog and one was a cat. The pets went to two different vets, over 200 miles apart. One was a small town vet and the other was a large city vet.

For pet owners who deal with stressed animals while at the vets, the annual trips to the vet are usually reduced — putting the lives of the animals in jeopardy in the long run. But over 60% of cat owners feel their cats do not like going to the vet, choosing not to take them unless they have to.

Cats and vet visits

The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) reports that over twice as many cats as dogs never visit the veterinarian due to how cats respond to the vet visits. And for the cats who do visit vets, brave little fellows that they are, dogs still outnumber them.

Image provided by Wikipedia of a cat being spayed.

The cats who are numbered as visiting the vets, usually do so only to get their vaccination shots. Over 70% of cat owners feel this is the only reason they should bring their pet to the vet, which is usually once a year.  Unfortunately, these same cat owners only visit their own doctors once a year .. if then.

A bad economy

Having a bad experience at the vet office with your cat may be one excuse not to go, but not having a job or not enough money to pay bills has a lot to do with it. Most people do not go to a vet office enough to become established, so they are required to pay cash up front before services will be rendered.

A lack of finances will also prevent pet owners from having pet insurance or cash put back for emergencies. Taking a dog or cat to the vet is not on the priority list when a job is lost or finances are cut in half. There are agencies and organizations around that will help people care for their pets, but most people are unaware of them.

Vets Who Make Cat Visits Less Stressful

There are vets who go out of their way to make visits for cats more pleasant, while others do not. Dr. Karen Becker reports on the steps taken by one-third of the vets to make cats more comfortable:

1. Some vets and staffs freely admit to not being “cat people.”
2. Training staff on how to make visits less stressful.
3. Establishing cat-only exam rooms.
4. Establishing cat-only waiting areas completely separate from dog areas.
5. Setting up cat-only days and appointment hours.
6. Medical procedures (drawing blood, taking an x-ray, etc.) completed in dog-free zones to reduce cat stress.
7. Noisy environments and loud noises should be avoided.
8. Strong medical odors make cats more stressed and anxious.
9. To calm waiting cats and kittens, place synthetic feline facial pheromone analog diffusers (FFP) in the lobbies, clinic hallways, waiting rooms and exam rooms.

To simplify things, cats and dogs should get physicals twice a year. If they have anything wrong with them, this time frame will allow the vet to catch it. Also, routine parasite worming should be done monthly to twice a year along with routine vaccinations. And … the more the animal goes to the vet, the less stressed they will be.

The post When Cats and Vet Visits Go Wrong appeared first on waycoolcats.com.

All cat owners will know that when you visit your local pet store or supermarket to pick up some cat food, you are faced with a choice of many different brands and types of food. You should select a cat food for your cat that suits the needs and requirements of your particular cat. This however can be a very confusing and difficult process, particularly with all the information and advertising that is thrown at us by all the pet food manufacturers.

Before you select a food for your cat you should consider some of the following points of information.

How to choose food for your cat

• Age Group: You need to identify what age group your cat is in, either kitten, adult or senior. Cats will have different dietary and nutritional needs depending on the age they are at.

For example, a kitten will need a food that is specially formulated for growth and development where as a senior cat, around eight years old, will require a completely different diet as they will be a lot less active. If your cat is between kitten and senior an adult food will be necessary.

• Wet/Dry Food: Whether you choose to feed your cat wet food, dry food or a combination of wet and dry will should be based on a few factors. Once you are selecting from foods with high quality ingredients neither wet or dry food is better, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Cats will often prefer one over the other so you should take their preference into consideration.

Dry foods are generally less messy, easier to store, keep for longer than wet foods and provide teeth cleaning and maintenance with their texture. Wet foods are often preferred by cats because of the different flavors available, they contain a lot of water which provides hydration, go bad quickly after being opened and need to be stored in a fridge.

• Special Requirements: If your cat suffers with any conditions such as regular hairballs, weight issues, urinary tract problems, a skin condition or is hypoallergenic it may be necessary to feed your cat a specially formulated food. You should contact your veterinarian or pet care professional for advice on what food would suit your cat if they suffer from any condition.

• Avoid Cheaper Brands: If you can afford to do so you should always try to avoid the cheaper brands of cat food. Economy cat foods will often be made up of by-products and preservatives that will not provide your pet with the nutrients they require.

This can result in cat health problems down the line. Your cat food should contain a protein source as the first ingredient, such as chicken, turkey, beef, lamb etc. There is the reason that cheaper brands of cat foods are priced so low.

Conclusion on buying food for your cat

You should always monitor your cats eating habits and weight. If your cat appears to be losing or gaining a lot of weight or loses their appetite you should consult your vet for advice. Also, there is no point putting time and effort into selecting the right food for your cat if you are going to spoil them with treats on a regular basis. Treats should only be fed occasionally and should be part of a healthy diet, not the entire food for your cat.

***********************************************************

Guest writer is David G. -

My name is David and I specialize in the dietary needs of cats from cat food to cat treats, as part of the staff at Equipet Stores. I have worked with animals for many years and enjoy writing about all things pets!

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A recent press release stated that, “World’s Tallest Domestic Cat, the Savannah Cat, Resembles a Leopard has the Personality of a Dog But Can Chirp Like a Bird?” Right there, this is a cat that becomes intriguing.

Image from Wikipedia

Compared to other domesticated cats, the Savannah is a unique cat in its many traits. There is none other like it.

The Savannah cat can leap six feet vertically straight into the air; it thrives on human interaction at all times; its ears are capable of sonar hearing before leaping toward the sound; they appear as miniature “pet cheetahs”; and this is a cat with interactive intelligence, loyalty and love for its owners.

Credit to Wikipedia

They are also known to be highly curious, which causes them to open doors, cabinets and drawers to check things out.

It is nothing unusual for them to jump on top of doors, refrigerators and high ledges. They are considered one of the tallest cats in the domestic cat families, which allows them to achieve these unusual feats.

The Savannah cats are loyal to their owners like dogs are to their owners, following them around like dogs.  Savannah cats can be trained like sitting, sleeping, jumping, walking on the rope, fetch the owner and other things. Unafraid of water, they are known to take baths or showers with their owners – unlike smaller domesticated cats.

They are wonderful companions, but their owners should be able to keep up with these high-energy cats!

Savannah Cat Organizations:

The Savannah Cats

Savannah Cat Club

International Cat Association

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A lot has to do with the 231 cats who were picked up last year in the city. “According to Wellington Daily News, Police Chief Tracy Heath expressed that 87% of those cats were put down. ‘Those are cats that go to the animal clinic, they’re there for the allotted time, and then unfortunately they are euthanized.’ ”

Adopted cats and kittens also have a place in the new Wellington ordinance:

* All cats shall be vaccinated for rabies.

* All cats leaving the shelter must also be spayed or neutered by a licensed veterinarian.

* The only exception are cats who are adopted to a home outside of the city.

*  This is hoped to impact the number of cats being euthanized.

The Animal Legal & Historical Center states that only three states have specific cat codes – California, Maine and Rhode Island - with California being the most comprehensive. They have laws that outlines the minimum time for weaning kittens, yearly veterinary requirements, and holding periods for impounded cats among others.

Rhode Island’s Cat Identification Program states that in-state w, cats are required to display some form of identification (tag, tattoo, etc.) in an effort to reduce the feral/stray cat problem.  The law reduces the retention period for cats impounded without some form of identification.

The post New Cat Ordinance – Wellington, Kansas, Limits Household Cats to Four appeared first on waycoolcats.com.

We have always prided ourselves on the fact our old dogs mind well: they go outside to the toilet when the weather is good; they are completely paper-trained when the weather is nasty; they know where their favorite sleeping areas are; they know where and when they are going to eat; and they get along fairly well consider they co-exist in a small pack. It was heavenly!

Then one adult black-and-white short-haired cat moved in and completely took over.

Rules for Cats

Image provided by featurePICS 2012

Rule One:  I refuse to let the CAT sleep in my bed. I am not a cat person!

Day two:   I go to Slumberland the next morning. They deliver a larger bed that afternoon as Sassy is a bed hog.

Rule Two: The CAT is not allowed on the kitchen cupboards!

Day four:  A small section of the kitchen cupboard is given to Sassy’s food and water bowl, as we find dogs prefer cat food over dog food … vomiting it up afterwards.

Rule Three: Nothing will change our daily routine just because the CAT has moved in!

Day six:  We had to move the cat box upstairs, as the dogs had developed its taste as a delicacy.  I need to talk to my sons about putting in a banister in order to get up and down the stairs to change the cat box. We also had to place a pet doorway at the bottom of the stairs as the dogs have no problem going up and down when our backs were turned.

Rule Four:  I refuse to purchase “cat safe” furniture. I buy what I want!

Day eight: After calling the furniture store and seeing if we can return the leather living set, we are purchasing microfiber. However, I have noticed that the priority of clawing is proportional to the importance of the item to their human servants.

Rule Five: Inside CATS do not require special foods or toys. They can get along with the dog toys and outside cats’ food.

Day ten. After going to town and purchasing a special bag of natural indoor cat food and some special cat toys, you find yourself getting out of the car and waving to your mom’s cat in the window … who is patiently waiting for you.  Just like she used to do for mom.

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According to the Christian Science Monitor, “… customers can sip tea, just as at regular cafes in Tokyo, but the felines – some sashaying cool, others chasing their own tails – are the point at the city’s cat cafes. Cats, says Tetsunori Oda, a system engineer who likens cat-gazing to looking at art, are “a way to relax and let go of my stress.”

According to Oda, “When it comes to having cats, it’s a burden. I work and I don’t have the time to take care of them in a responsible manner,” she says regarding the surge of cat cafés. 

A typical visit to the cat café by a cat-loving patron is to be instructed by the ever-so-watchful cashier for the removal of shoes, sanitize both hands as they will be touching the cats located in the establishment, put bags or purses in a locker, and place an ID card with a number on it around the neck on a lanyard. Once a person is carefully inspected by the cashier, they will receive a shallow box before walking barefoot into the café’s sitting room where they lovely prize cat awaits them.

Image provided by Nancy Houser

One of Tokyo’s most popular cat cafés is the Calico, which has 17 breeds of approximately 20 in-house cats who provide human and feline companionship to paying customers. Unlike earlier times, more and more couples are choosing to have fewer children in an era where aging baby boomers are the majority.

To fill this gap, on a global basis pets are filling the empty void in people’s lives. At one time the Calico was filled with unique individuals who were extremely lonely women and exquisite cat fanciers. Today, it is filled with average every-day individuals who work long hours with little time at home for pets and their responsibility.

A writer in the GlobalPost reports that, “Browsing in a bookstore, I found 39 establishments listed in the “cat cafe yellow page” section of a magazine. Calico advertises itself as a great “date spot,” a place to make “friends” — both cats and humans — and a “fun place” to swing by after work. “

According to Reuters, cat cafés  are currently spreading from being a Japanese phenomenon into regions of Europe, with one each in Austria and St Petersburg. Additional cat cafés are planned in other areas, such as London where an entrepreneur is trying to raise £108,000 via crowd-funding to set up Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium. “I think Brits will take to it,” founder Lauren Pears told The Independent. “Lots of people live in small flats or their working lives make it impractical to keep pets.”

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