Gulp with a touch of the tongue

Ever thought how your cat laps up the water or milk so fast? A research by Pedro M Reis and Roman Stocker of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined by Sunghwan Jung of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Jeffrey M Aristoff of Princeton has revealed the secret of lapping.

These four engineers have discovered that the cat’s lapping method depends on his instinctive ability to calculate the point at which gravitational force would overcome inertia and cause the water to fall.

The cat darts his tongue, curving the upper side downward so that the tip of the tongue lightly touches the surface of the water. He then pulls the tongue upward at high speed, drawing a column of water behind it. Just when gravity starts pulling the column down, the cat’s jaws close over the jet of water and swallows it. In fact, the cat laps four times a second — which is too fast for the human eye to see — and his tongue moves at a speed of one meter per second.

Kitty Facts

You have probably heard many interesting facts about cats like they have more bones than humans; they can feel with their whiskers, their urine glows in the dark, etc. Here are a few more interesting facts about your cool felines.

• What’s in a name: A group of cats is called a Clowder, a male cat is called a Tom, a female cat is called a Molly or Queen while young cats are called Kittens and a group of kittens is called a Kindle.


• Snoozing beauties: If you love to sleep for extended hours, here’s competition. Cats conserve energy by sleeping for an average of 13 to14 hours a day. At this rate, a 15 years old cat must have slept for 10 years!


• Sounds for you: A cat rarely meows at another cat…she uses this ability for communicating with humans.


• No sweats: Cats cannot sweat because they do not have sweat glands.


• Dining etiquettes: Ever wondered why your cat eats from clean bowl only? Cats are very meticulous…they like routine…a quiet spot, same time, same place to eat and the bowl clean without any traces of previous meal.


• Not just nose to smell: Besides smelling with their nose, cats can smell with an additional organ called the Jacobson’s organ, located in the upper surface of the mouth.


• No trails behind: Even Sherlock Holmes would be left behind with his head scratching! Cats can be lethal hunters and very sneaky. They can walk their back paws step almost exactly in the same place as the front paws, which keeps noise to a minimum and limits visible tracks.


• Natural pain killers: Cats have an amazing tolerance for pain because they are blessed with endorphins or pain killers.


• Cat with a family: Lion is the only social cat who lives in groups, called prides and has a family life, just like you and me!


• Pseudo-hunting pleasure: Have you ever seen your kitty looking at the bird and then chattering her teeth? This is because she is doing the vacuum activity, where she is performing the killing bite, even though the prey is not in her mouth.

Just say ‘no’ aversive training your cat

As much as you love him, it can be hard to maintain warm, fuzzy feelings when your cat scratches the furniture, jumps on the counters, or gnaws on plants. Of course, he’s just doing what comes naturally. Yelling or hitting won’t deter the bad behaviour, but it will make your cat fearful of you, which is certainly not your goal. So what can you do?

Remote control

Aversive training uses textures, odours, tastes, sounds, and other methods to correct your cat’s behaviour in a way that’s unpleasant for him, but has nothing to do with you. Let’s say your cat tends to chew on electrical cords, a very dangerous habit. Smear hot sauce on the cords. He’ll quickly learn that chewing on them is no fun at all, and you’re still the good guy. In addition to deterring him from undesired behaviour, you’ll need to provide an acceptable alternative for him to express his needs. Tools of the trade A basic aversive training toolbox contains: Unpleasant textures: Nubby plastic carpet runner, duct tape, rough rocks, anything that won’t feel good to your cat’s paws. Bad tastes: Hot sauce or a non-toxic spray or ointment available at pet supply stores Bad smells: Cologne and citrus scents. Loud sounds: Whistle, can of pennies or pebbles, pot lids, book dropped on floor, hand clapping. Surprises: A squirt from a water bottle, a blast of canned air.

Using your tools

The advantages of having so many training tools are flexibility and creativity. You can pick, choose, and adapt your tools to any situation. If duct tape doesn’t work, try carpet runner. If your cat likes Bitter Apple, use hot sauce. If he ignores a squirt of water, blow a whistle. You can even combine your tools to send a really strong message.

Element of surprise

Aversives such as noises and surprises are effective training tools when you’re home to watch your cat’s movements. If you catch him considering whether or not to jump on the coffee table, kitchen counter, etc, don’t shout at him; instead, interrupt him by squirting him with water, blowing a whistle, or throwing a pillow in his direction (don’t hit him). These actions are intended to startle and distract him from his intended mission. Try to take action from outside his line of sight so he won’t associate it with you. He’ll think the coffee table did it. You can also use noises and surprises if your cat starts scratching or chewing something, tries to run out the front door, or engages in any other type of naughtiness. (Note: Don’t use surprise methods if you have a particularly timid or fearful cat. It’s not good for his nerves.)

Timing is everything

The right timing is crucial to the success of these methods. You have to catch your cat in the act in order for them to be effective. If you squirt him or blow the whistle after he’s finished, he won’t connect the consequence with his behaviour, and your effort will be wasted. But you can’t follow your cat around the house or be home 24x7 to supervise; that’s when your other tools come in handy.

Passive aversive

Passive aversives are training methods that don’t require you to be directly involved—a disagreeable odour, a bad taste, or an uncomfortable texture can make your cat think twice about doing what he’s doing. Here are some of the most common cat habits and ways to reduce or stop them:

Scratching carpet or furniture

• Cover favoured areas with plastic carpet runner, nubby side up, until the cat stops scratching.


• Spray areas with cologne or citrus scents, which cats don’t like and usually avoid. Test surfaces for staining by spraying on a hidden area first.

Jumping on tables, counters, etc.

• Cover with plastic carpet runner, nubby side up.


• Cover large pieces of cardboard with double-sided tape or loops of duct tape, then place cardboard on surfaces. Your cat won’t like his feet sticking to the tape.


• Set a few upside-down mousetraps that will snap when he touches them, but won’t hurt him.


• Tie some soda cans together and set them up on the surface. He’ll knock them over when he jumps up.

Chewing plants, cords, wood, etc.

• Spray plants with Bitter Apple, cologne or citrus scents


• Apply hot sauce, Bitter Apple ointment, or aloe gel to cords, wood, other solid surfaces

Digging in plants

• Cover soil with aluminium foil or small, rough rocks

Feline fun

Your cat’s habits may be incompatible with your lifestyle, but they’re perfectly normal for him. Give him approved outlets for his natural behaviour so he’ll be less tempted to use your stuff. Place scratching posts near his favourite hang-outs so he won’t go for the couch or carpet. Give him a tall cat tree to satisfy his instinct to watch the world from on high. Make sure he has toys of all shapes and materials to keep him from destroying your belongings. And shower him with time and attention as often as time allows.

(This article is contributed by Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Established in 1954, HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals; www.hsus.org)

Little miss PURRFECT

Cats are smart – and have their own personalities, here’s how to teach kitty etiquettes.

• Cats do acquire a working vocabulary of many words, and every cat has her own individuality. Your cat can be taught by positive reinforcements.


• First, cats learn language by being talked to. Try to use the same words over and over. Talk to your cat when giving her treats, petting her, when grooming her, when playing with her, and when handling her. Let your tone of voice carry message as well as your words.


• Cats learn from physical reinforcement. Take your cat to a scratching post if she scratches your furniture or rugs. Put her in the litter box and scratch her front feet in the litter box. She will understand. Do this several times for a cat being first introduced to your household. When you want your cat to learn to come being called, reinforce this by always offering a treat or food when you call her, and call the same way each time. For example, “Here kitty, kitty, Moonbeam Kitty” every time you put out food or offer a treat.


• Most important, cats do NOT learn from punishment. Almost never is physical punishment a good tool to change your cat’s behaviour in a direction you want. Instead, you must focus on positives: Provide opportunities for good behaviour. Reinforce good behaviour when it occurs with treats, petting, and praise. Reinforce your own positive presence by treats and by play.


• Eliminate stressful interaction opportunities whenever possible.

(Kit Humphrey, featured columnist of Cats & Kittens, is a retired physician from Siberian Gatos Cattery in the US)

Solving litter box problems

You can resolve litter box issues by taking a closer look at your cat’s environment.

Cause and effect

If you’re having a hard time persuading your cat to use the litter box, it just may be time to draw a line in the sand. Most cats take to using a litter box very easily because their instinct is to bury their urine and feces. But when their preferences include the laundry basket, the bed or the Persian rug, you’ve got a problem.

There’s always a reason they stop using their box and it’s not to make you mad or get revenge. Take a close look at what’s going on in your cat’s world. You should be able to uncover the source of trouble, and make the changes.

The case of multiple cats: a whodunit

If you only have one cat, it’s obvious who’s misbehaving. But what if you have more than one? You need to do some detective work.

It’s a process of elimination, which means you will isolate one cat at a time to see if the inappropriate behaviour stops while he’s in isolation. This method isn’t foolproof, however, because if the culprit’s behaviour is stress-induced, it may not occur if isolating him has removed him from the source of stress.

Another method is adding fluorescent dye to the cats’ food (one cat at a time). The dye will glow in the cat’s urine when a black light is held over it. You have your culprit. Now that we know who it is, what do we do about it?

Medical issues

If your male cat stops using the litter box, spends a lot of time trying to go or licking his genitals, get him to the vet immediately. This may be a sign that he has a urinary tract infection or much worse, a blockage. This causes pain when urinating which he may associate with using the box, causing him to avoid it. Some cats will even urinate and cry right in front of you or go in the bathtub or sink to let you know something’s wrong.

Urinary tract problems can be very serious, especially in male cats because their urethra (the tube that empties urine from their bladder), is narrow and more easily plugged than a female’s wider urethra. A cat whose urinary tract is blocked can die within hours or suffer irreversible organ damage from the build up of toxins in his system. Don’t wait around thinking it will clear up by itself. And don’t be fooled into thinking that your cat is constipated. It could happen, but it’s more likely to be a urinary problem.

If your kitty gets a clean bill of health from the vet, his problem is all in his head.

Why, why, why?

Many cats are perfectly happy with everything about their litter boxes and don’t care how many there are, where they are, or what’s in them. Then there are those who are pickier. These cats may have any number of reasons (known only to them) for deciding the litter box is an unpleasant place to eliminate.

• The box isn’t clean enough for her.


• She doesn’t like the type of box: It’s too big, too small, too high, too low, has a hood, doesn’t have a hood, too hard to get into, and so on.


• She doesn’t like the litter: It’s clay, it’s clumping, scented, unscented, too hard, too soft, she doesn’t like litter at all, there’s too much, not enough, etc.


• She doesn’t like the location: It’s out in the open, too hard to get to, next to a noisy appliance, in the basement when she wants it in the living room, etc.


• She’s too young, too old, or too unwell to make it to the basement to use the box. >


• She was startled by something or someone or “ambushed” by another pet while she was in it.


• There aren’t enough boxes for the number of cats you have.


• Something in her environment or routine has changed. She’s anxious and is marking her territory to reassure or assert herself.


• She associates the box with punishment. (For example, someone punished her for eliminating outside the box, and then placed her in it.)

Sometimes, the original source of the problem may not be the reason it’s continuing. For example, your cat may have stopped using the litter box because of a urinary tract infection; the infection is gone, but she now prefers the carpet or the bedroom closet. If that’s the case, you’ll need to address all of these factors to resolve the problem.

Here are some important tips on preventing litter box problems in the first place:

The road to recovery

You think you’ve figured out what’s put kitty’s tail in a twist; now let’s fix it.

>Move it

If your cat was just fine with her litter box situation, but is now unhappy because you’ve changed something about it, by all means, change it back! It’s better for you to be inconvenienced than the cat. If your cat always eliminates in quiet, protected places, such as under a desk, beneath a staircase, in a corner, or in a closet; she eliminates in an area where the litter box was previously kept or where there are urine odours; or she eliminates on a different level of the home, here are some solutions.

• Put a litter box in the location where your cat has been eliminating. When she has consistently used this box for at least one month, you may gradually move it to a more convenient location at a rate of an inch—seriously!—per day.


• Put at least one litter box on every level of your home. (Remember, a properly cleaned litter box does not smell). This is especially important if you have kittens, elderly, or ill cats who don’t have the strength to go all the way to the basement each time they need to use the box.


• To make the spots where she’s been eliminating less appealing to your cat, cover them with upside-down carpet runner or aluminium foil, place citrus-scented cotton balls over the areas, or place water bowls there (because cats often don’t like to eliminate near where they eat or drink).

Clean house

Clean the soiled areas well. Animals are highly motivated to continue soiling an area that smells like urine or feces. A cat’s sense of smell is much stronger than a human’s, so it’s important to clean the soiled areas thoroughly and properly.

Find urine stains with a fluorescent black light, available at hardware and pet supply stores. The stains will glow under the black light. Once you locate a stain, clean it with an enzymatic cleaner made especially for pet odours, available at pet supply stores. Don’t use ammonia or other strong-smelling household cleaners. These will encourage your cat to re-mark in that area.

You may have to clean the area several times to remove the odour completely, even treating the carpet padding and sub flooring underneath. Clean the area thoroughly before steam cleaning to avoid “locking in” the odour.

Surfaces

All animals develop preferences for a particular surface on which they like to eliminate. These preferences may be established early in life, but they may also change overnight for reasons that we don’t always understand. Your cat may have a surface preference if she consistently eliminates on a particular texture—for example, soft things like carpeting, bedding, or clothing, or smooth surfaces such as tile, cement, bathtubs, or sinks. Or maybe she frequently scratches on this same texture after elimination, even if she eliminates in the litter box. Sometimes a previously outdoor-only cat prefers to eliminate on grass or soil.

If your cat’s eliminating on soft surfaces, try using a soft litter made of pine shavings. You could also try shredded newspaper, or even a piece of carpet in the box (you’ll have to change it often, of course). Try to convert her to litter by sprinkling it over the carpet, gradually adding more if she doesn’t object.

If your cat’s eliminating on slick, smooth surfaces, try giving her an empty box or putting a very thin layer of litter at one end of the box. Leave the other end bare, and put the box on a hard floor.

If your cat has a history of being outdoors, use dirt.

(This article is contributed by Humane Society of the Unites States (HSUS). Established in 1954, HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals; www.hsus.org)

Choosing the Right cat for you

There are lots of important things to think through before picking your new pal. The first step to starting a long and last friendship with a cat is, of course, choosing the cat—or, more to the point, choosing the cat that’s right for you.

By definition, this is the biggest decision you’ll make regarding your cat. And it’s an important decision, because a cat—unlike an item of clothing, a video-game console, or a must-have electronic gadget—is a living, breathing being who will need your care and attention for the next 10, 15, or even 20 years.

Decisions, decisions

There are so many cats out there, and so many kinds of cats to choose from, it can be hard to know where to begin. Some questions to ask yourself are:

• Kitten or adult?


• Long-haired or short?


• Lazy lap cat or unguided missile?


• Quiet or talkative?


• Independent cat or velcro kitty?


• Purebred or mixed?

The answers to some of these questions may lie in your own lifestyle. Are you a couch potato who wants a cat to nap along with you? Do you hang on every fascinating word a kitty says? Is kitten-watching more fun than TV?

Kitten or cat?

Kittens are adorable, curious, playful, and full of energy. They can also be exasperating at times, demanding lots of supervision to keep them out of trouble and patience when they get into it. And a kitten is an unknown entity—you really don’t know what kind of cat you’ll end up with once she outgrows her kitten personality.

Adult cats are usually calmer, less bouncy, and less mischievous. With an adult, what you see is usually what you get, so if you are looking for specific qualities, consider cats that are a year and older.

Family matters

When choosing a cat, keep your family in mind. Kittens and very young children usually don’t mix well, as kittens can be fragile and youngsters kind of rough. Babies and toddlers tend to grab the closest part of a cat, be it tail, ear, or fur, and they can’t resist giving the cat a great big hug. Always supervise any interaction between your youngster and your cat.

Personality

Cats, like people, are individuals. No two are exactly alike, whether they’re from the same breed or even the same litter.

Some cats are very mellow and will tolerate any kind of handling, including being dressed in clothes. These cats are perfect for young kids or older people who want and appreciate this type of cat.

Other cats don’t like being picked up or held and will only come to you for petting when they feel like it. There are cats who live to nap and cats who are perpetual motion machines.

Personality can vary widely by breed, too. If you decide you want a purebred, do your homework so you end up with one that’s right for you. Persians, for example, are typically laid-back and sedentary, while Bengals and other “exotic” breeds (created with wild cat genes) tend to be extremely active. Siamese have the reputation of being very talkative.

Short fur or long?

This is mainly a matter of preference and your willingness to devote time to regular grooming. Long-haired cats require frequent grooming sessions to prevent matting. Not all cats enjoy being brushed, though, and you could wind up having to take your long-hair to a groomer to be shaved down.

Short-haired cats don’t require as much brushing, but it helps to remove loose fur, stimulate the skin, and distribute oils through the coat. A cat who likes being groomed will come running when she sees the brush.

Purebred or mixed breed?

There are far fewer cat breeds than dog breeds. Most dog breeds evolved from the type of work they were meant to do. Cat breeds were developed mostly for companionship. So there are fewer personality differences between cat breeds.

If you have your heart set on a specific breed, make sure you research that breed thoroughly as well as the breeder (if you choose to buy a purebred). Some breeds are prone to certain medical problems, and there are breeders that are not that careful about their breeding programmes.

In general, mixed breed cats tend to be healthier, since their gene pools are much more diverse.

Special-needs cats

Many cats with special needs make wonderful companions. They might be older, deaf, blind, or have an illness that requires regular medication. Their condition doesn’t affect the amount of love and pleasure they have to give; it just means extra commitment on your part to meet their needs for the rest of their lives.

Room for one more?

If you already have pets, you have to consider them as well before bringing home a cat.

The good news is that cats can get along with other cats and—despite the common stereotype—most dogs can get along with cats. But it’s not necessarily easy to get them used to one another, and sometimes it can be impossible.

Some cats may be perfectly happy as an only cat and could really resent a newcomer. The more cats you have, the more potential problems you invite; the cats can become stressed and develop undesirable behaviours, such as spraying urine, fighting or hiding.

Dogs and cats can become best friends, but some dogs with a high prey drive may not be able to resist chasing, terrorising, or even killing the new cat.

Birds and cats have been known to co-exist peacefully, but remember that felines are hunters by instinct. A cat may traumatise your bird by trying to get at him through the bars of the cage.

Be responsible

Once you’ve made a carefully thought-out decision, be an ideal pet parent by providing your cat with everything she needs to live a happy and healthy life.

(This article is contributed by Humane Society of the Unites States (HSUS). Established in 1954, HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals; www.hsus.org)

Herding Cats!

Meow! It’s difficult

Herding cats - This commonly used cat phrase means to bring together many different people together for a common cause… Well! It’s an uphill task, we all must agree. Now you know what it means when they say – ‘Managing a team of professionals is like herding cats’ or ‘Teaching li’l kids is like herding cats.’