Catscapades

Cozy Mysteries involving cats seem to be the rage these days. Men, women, and young adults all over the globe enjoy chilling on a summer day with light reading. And what can make even a mystery story more enjoyable than the inclusion of a cat (or 2 or more)? In fact, many readers are petting their own cats while reading the Klepto Cat Mysteries.

Along with cozy mysteries, I think of cozy cats. Today, I’d like to share photos of my cats looking cozy, relaxed and carefree.

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Where do your cats live? I’d always had inside/outside cats until the year I bought Crystal—a Persian. Of course, she would be a totally inside cat. She was too pretty, expensive, and she lacked street smarts.

After losing Crystal to leukemia (before the vaccine was available), I rescued a variety of cats who became inside/outside cats and I lost them to maladies probably only occurring for cats who are allowed to go outside. So years later, when I brought home another purebred cat, I deemed her a total inside kitty and held to that rule for all of the rescues that followed. Let me tell you, I’ve learned that cats do live longer when they don’t have the option of running free in the neighborhood—at least mine do. Before my decision to keep cats inside, my kitties lived to be anywhere from five years to eight at the most. In recent years, I’ve had two cats live to be 18. One huge benefit here in California is that you have 0 or far fewer fleas to deal with when you keep your cats inside.

FYI, an outdoor cat’s life expectancy is 4 to 5 years. Inside kitties live an average of 12 to 14 years, statistically.

I’ve never had my inside cats complain or try to dash through an open door—except for one.

Like most of our cats, Dinah came to us from a shelter. She was eight months and accustomed to being outside. In fact, she refused to use a litter box at all. She’d wait until someone let her out, even if it was during a torrential rain storm.

A part of me appreciates the concept of free-range cats. I enjoy seeing a cat in the yard—dancing after a butterfly, curled up on our deck furniture, poking around a flower bed. And I miss having cats with me when I garden. But there are way too many dangers for free-roaming cats. I’m just one of thousands who have lost cats to traffic, owls, coyotes, and various poisons used by neighbors to control gophers. When I see “missing cat” fliers posted throughout the neighborhood, my blood boils. I want to scream, “Keep your cat inside where she’s safe.”

But then that opens another can of worms. What about household dangers? I’ve written articles and posted blogs warning people about some of the dangers inside, as well. Use the search feature at the top of this post to locate pertinent posts. Use keyword “danger.” The most recent, as you may recall, is the May 17, 2016 post. But you’ll also find posts on preparing your home for a kitten, plants and flower danger for cats and kittens, and hazards for cats in your holiday packaging and more. If you’re new to cats or plan to adopt a kitten soon, do yourself a favor and review these posts.

In our household, feeding cats used to be a slam dunk. I’d sprinkle kibbles into a bowl—job done.

Then Lily came to live with us. I couldn’t bear to serve this tiny tabby dry kibbles, so I found a store that carried cans of kitten food and started her on that. As she grew, she discovered the kibbles bowl and was pleased to help herself. But I continued feeding her canned food, as well.

When she was diagnosed with kidney disease at a young age, the veterinarian recommended a new diet of prescription kibbles and also canned food. And we had an awful time making the switch. After calling in other veterinarians, including a holistic vet in Connecticut, and trying a lot of techniques, appetite enhancers, and other formulas, Lily began eating the prescribed food. For the most part, she’s an enthusiastic eater. But she eats better if I’m with her. Sometimes it’s okay if I’m just sitting in the room. Other times, she won’t eat unless I’m actually down on the floor with her.

I’ve never had a cat do that before. Have you? In fact, Sophie won’t eat her meals unless everyone is sitting still, preferably somewhere else in the house where she can’t see or hear us. But Lily will frequently stop eating, until I accompany her to her dish, get down on my hands and knees and coax her to take a bite. As long as I sit there with her, she’ll eat. Is she spoiled or what?

What are some of your cats’ unusual eating styles?

Don’t you just love the sight of a peacefully sleeping cat? Boy do they know how to relax. But they can come to attention and be fully alert at the drop of a hat or a shoe or even a pencil. They appear to sleep soundly, but do they really? Is their perfectly cozy body a facade for a bundle of nerves programmed to explode at the tiniest disturbance?

Lily loves to curl up with me most mornings as I write. I love that she just seems to melt into my lap. She’s completely at ease. When I must disturb her for some reason, however, I simply move and she leaps off my lap fully awake and alert.

When she wakes up on her own, however, I notice that she stretches and yawns before ever taking a step. Cats seem to be natural yogis. Ever notice that? We could learn a lot from them about taking better care of our bodies.

The fact is that cats sleep approximately sixteen hours per day. That’s according to the experts. And cats do dream. So when you see your sleeping kitty’s whiskers and paws twitch, she may well be dreaming of a hunting or a play episode. I found this interesting: even during sleep, 70 percent of a cats’ senses are still keen. That’s one reason why they can wake up so quickly upon smelling a certain scent or hearing something. Here’s more about sleeping cats for those of you who want a better understanding of your cat. http://cats.about.com/od/amyshojai/a/understanding-your-sleepy-cat.htm and here: http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-behavior-five-facts-sleep

Here’s a fun site showing 25 different sleeping-cat positions. I guarantee you’ll smile—maybe even laugh out loud. https://www.buzzfeed.com/paws/awkward-cat-sleeping-positions/?utm_term=.thP05515R6#.uhK6mmQmRy

Miss Bella has good taste

Kitty Lover News lists the 10 smartest cat breeds—among them are the Siamese, Abyssinian, Bengal, Singapura, Tonkinese, and Cornish Rex.

We’ve all had smart cats and we’ve all seen our cats do what we consider smart things—either because they figured out how to do it or they just happened to do it accidentally. But here are some cats caught doing some pretty clever things. According to Dr. Berit Brogaard, Cats have a greater capacity for complex problem-solving than dogs do. She says that dogs clearly have a higher social IQ than cats but cats can solve harder cognitive problems, if indeed they feel like it. Here’s a fascinating article that describes the differences in the brains of cats versus dogs.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201302/how-smart-is-your-cat-1