Catnip Cheese Balls a Bust

The Catnip Cheese Balls I mentioned in an earlier post were a bust. Non of my my cats knew what to do with them, though Milita did get a bit of a kick out of rolling one of them around for a minute. Maybe some of the other homemade treat recipes will work out better.

Cats Don't Like Change: Not Even a Little

I’ve learned the hard way that cats don’t like change, not even small ones! I hope sharing my experiences will help other cat owners avoid the mistakes I made when making change with my cats.

When I moved halfway across the country with my gray Siamese/Tabby mix cat, Milita, I desired to be the best owner I could possibly be for her. I was feeding her what I thought was a good diet – Cat Chow Indoor Formula. However, I quickly made friends with a woman in my graduate program who informed me this diet wasn’t the healthiest choice for my beloved cat. So, I decided to switch her food from Cat Chow to California Natural.

What I didn’t know at the time is how to introduce the new food properly. I simply dumped the remaining Cat Chow into its bag and filled Milita’s bowl with California Natural food. Later that day, Milita vomited on the carpet. I was worried so I consulted a friend and seasoned cat owner regarding what to do next. She informed me that in order to introduce a new cat food, I needed to mix the Cat Chow and California Natural for several days, progressively raising the portion of California Natural to Cat Chow until Milita was eating a purely California Natural diet.

Another change Milita had to endure was wearing a collar. Before I moved with Milita halfway across the country, she had been an outdoor cat where our neighbors all knew whose cat she was. Thus, there didn’t seem to be a need for her to wear a collar before the move. After the move, however, I knew she needed to wear one. We now lived in a city rather than a rural area and the neighbors would not know if Milita was my cat or a stray without a collar and identification tags.

Surprisingly, Milita adapted to this change very well. About a year after I put her first collar on her, the safety clasp broke, forcing me to buy her a new collar. I went to the store and picked out a collar that would look good against her gray fur.

I went home and put this new collar on her only to discover she was terrified of it! She kept running around the house as if something were chasing her. She cowered under the table in fear, but I couldn’t understand why she was acting this way. Later, around 3AM Milita woke me up, petrified. While I didn’t understand why she was so scared, I took the new collar off her. She spent the rest of the night in my bed, not moving an inch.

I figured it would be a good idea to let her have a day of rest before I tried putting the new collar on her again. When I attempted to put her new collar on a second time, she immediately ran under the table, petrified again! It dawned on me then, that the bell sounded differently than her first bell had sounded. The new collar had a bell that sounded like my other cat, Carmine’s, who constantly loves to tease Milita by chasing her around the house. Once I figured this out, I was able to change her collar to one that sounded similar to the first bell collar she had.

Recently, I noticed Carmine’s, my orange tabby cat, collar was fraying. When I made a trip to Target, I bought him a new collar. The bell on this new collar was different than his old one, but somehow I figured Carmine wouldn’t matter. Carmine’s a pretty laid back cat, so I didn’t think this small change would trouble him.

Wrong! He minded a lot. When I put the new collar on him, he kept shaking his head and trying to remove the collar. Eventually, he just pouted and looked annoyed and grumpy. From the previous experience with Milita, I knew there was no point in trying to force him to wear this new collar. So, I had to get him a new collar that sounded similar to his old one.

It’s amazing how our cats mimic their owners. Like humans, cats don’t like change, not even small ones. If you’re thinking about changing something in your cat’s life, it is best to implement the change slowly and gradually to help your cat adjust to the change.

Cats are like angels with fur.

Isn't it amazing how our cats always seem to know when we're not feeling weel? Whether it's physical or emotional distress we're experiencing, our cats seem to be able to sense it. Carmine checks on me by sitting or laying down by me and watching over me.

How does your cat show you he/she cares?

Christmas gifts for cats

Do you buy gifts for your cats for Christmas? I do. It's a tradition for me to buy my cats some treats and toys so they can celebrate the holidays with me.

Here are some ideas for gifts for your cats. Some of them cost a bit of money while others are free:

-Cat bed - these come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. PetSmart has a wide selection of beds to choose from.
-Treats - treats come in all kinds of flavors from tuna to chicken to turkey.
-Homemade treats - go here for recipes.
-Spend time playing with your cat.
-Cat toys - most cat love catnip. PetSmart as well as Target and other department stores often have a good selection of cat toys.
-Learn to give your cat a massage.
-Buy a tape of tweeting birds for your cat to listen to or a video of tweeting birds for your cats to watch.
-Cat jungle jims - those huge scratching posts your cats can climb all over and rest on.

For more ideas, please visit my article The Best Gifts for Cats.

Cats Hate Change

If you have to change your cat's collar, be advised that you should change the collar to something very similar to the old collar. I learned this lesson the hard way when I had to change Milita's collar and again when I recently changed Carmine's.

Several months ago, i had to change Milita's collar because her safety clasp broke. Dave and I spent time picking out a collar we thought suited Milita. We brought it home and put it on her to no avail. She was terrified of this new collar. She ran around like something was chasing her and hid under things to hide from whatever she thought was trying to harm her. That night at 3AM she woke us up because she was so scared. She was practically shivering in my arms, so I took her collar off and put her next to me in my bed. She didn't budge an inch until I got up in the morning.

I attempted to put the collar on her a secod time only to discover she reacted the same way. She was still scared and immediately went under the table to hide. I finally figured out why she was so scared. Her new collar had a lower sounding bell than her old one had. This new bell sounded like Carmine's bell. Dave and I figured Milita thought Carmine was on her back and she was trying to escape from him.

I changed her collar to one that sounded similar to her old one, even though the bell she has is pretty hard to find. She's happy now.

So, if you need to get your cat a new collar, be sure it sounds and feels similar to its old one. If it doesn't you feline friend may not be too happy!

These are pictures of my wonderful cats!

This is Carmine. He'll be 2 years old in February already! I can't believe it. I've had him since he was four months old, when he was small enough to jump onto the curtains and hang from them without tearing them down! He's an ordinary orange Tabby, but there's nothing ordinary about his personality!

This is Milita. I brought her to Denver when I moved her from Indiana. She is one of the six in her litter! My father houses the rest of her brothers and sisters. Milita adjusted to indoor life quite well. She's spoiled rotten. She's a Siamese/Tabby mix and her personality is as beautiful as her appearance.

Holiday baking

I've signed up for a newsletter and this recipe came through the other day:

Holiday Cheese Balls2 tablespoons soft margarine1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese1 egg white1/2 cup flour1/2 tsp catnipPreheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine margarine, cheese, catnip and egg white. Add flour to make a soft dough. Separate dough into half-inch pieces and roll into balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 35 minutes. Makes about 12 balls.

I am planning to try it out soon. I'll let you all know if my cats actually like it or not.

New blog!

I've created this blog for cat lovers, like myself. In it I will share tips on caring for your cat, facts about cat health, silly stories about my own cats, and basically anything else cat related! I'm very excited to share what I have learned with everyone in the future and hope this blog provides you with helpful information.

New blog!

I've created this blog for cat lovers, like myself. In it I will share tips on caring for your cat, facts about cat health, silly stories about my own cats, and basically anything else cat related! I'm very excited to share what I have learned with everyone in the future and hope this blog provides you with helpful information.