The WELL: inkwell.vue.319: Arden Moore, "Planet Cat"

#90: paralyzed by a question like that (debunix) Thu 7 Feb 08 22:02

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:02:00 PST

Assuming room temperature....never heard that one. That's a goodie. [Read entire topic]

#89: Idea Hamster On Speed (randomize27) Thu 7 Feb 08 21:51

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:51:00 PST

#88: Angie (coiro) Thu 7 Feb 08 21:43

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:43:00 PST

With Miss Violet Divine perched upon my hip even as I type - thank you so much, Arden, it's been a pleasure. Continued good luck with your book! [Read entire topic]

#87: Arden Moore (arden-moore) Thu 7 Feb 08 21:31

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:31:00 PST

Thank you all for sharing your feelings, frustrations and fascinations about all things feline. It has been an honor to chat with you and I hope that you take the time each day to spend a little one-on-one time with a favorite purr machine. Remember, cats can do a body (and mind) good!

Paws Up! Arden [Read entire topic]

#86: Teleological dyslexic (ceder) Thu 7 Feb 08 17:06

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:06:00 PST

Thank you! [Read entire topic]

#85: David Adam Edelstein (davadam) Thu 7 Feb 08 14:39

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:39:00 PST

We're turning out Inkwell spotlight to another topic, which means that it's time to thank Arden and Angie for a delightful conversation about the creatures my wife calls "the little fuzzy masters."

Thanks for joining us in Inkwell, Arden! [Read entire topic]

#84: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (cdb) Wed 6 Feb 08 18:17

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:17:00 PST

About my fueding felines: they're fed at the same time, but in separate rooms, we've been doing that for 3-4 years now. All of our efforts to get the cats to play are one-on-one (one human, one cat) kind of activities. They're not even interested in the same kinds of toys. The female responds to laser lights and fake mousies. The male sneers at these, but goes crazy for catnip-laced balls and curling ribbon dangled before him.

I've not heard of Feliway before. Thanks so much for the recommendation, Arden. I'll check it out! [Read entire topic]

#83: Arden Moore (arden-moore) Wed 6 Feb 08 17:59

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:59:00 PST

Yes, I do work with Dr. Dodman from Tufts. He is a top vet/behaviorist who did significant studies on the benefits of using Prozac and other meds in toning down feuds between felines in the same house. Please work with your vet when using this med or other meds designed to calm cats down or address anxiety. Yes, cats are not invincible from stress.

Cynthia, sorry to hear that your two cats will never exchange Christmas cards or civil greetings. Just like people, some cats just don't like particular other cats - even if they happen to be roommates. A couple solutions: plug in Feliway into outlets - it mimics feline facial phermones and is designed to bring an "air of calm" into the home. We can't smell the odor, but cats can.

Also, you probably need to offer separate places for these two cats in your home and stop, for now, attempts to force them into playing or eating together. Well intentions only cement their mutual disgust for one another.

Cat behavior that ranks as the trickiest to combat is boycotting the litter box. Stress triggers can range from taunting by the other cat in the home, wrong location for the litterbox, dirty litter box and more. This is the no. 1 reason why cats are surrendered to shelters and unfortunately, it often means a death sentence for the cat. That's why it is very important to work with a vet or behaviorist at the onset of bathroom boycotting to "nip it in the bud" before it becomes a hard-to-break habit.

As for dogs, a big behavior issue is aggression - toward other dogs in the home and even people. When there is no perceived human leader in the household - from the dog's perspective - some canines step up and try to assume the leadership - resulting in aggressive behavior (growling by food bowl, failure to give up toys or heeding come commands).

Each behavior problem needs different approaches to counter. With cats, it is all about pinpointing the cause of the stress that is promoting the cat to go elsewhere. With aggressive dogs, it is about employing the "Nothing in Life is Free" program in which they must earn all privileges. They must sit before getting their food bowl or before going outside on walks. The people in the house must be clear and consistent on the commands so that their status becomes that of benevolent, confident leader and the dog gets to relax and enjoy being a dog. This NILIF program is outlined at many consumer education sites from shelters as well as Tufts University's Animal Behavior Hotline and in my book, The Dog Behavior Answer Book. [Read entire topic]

#82: Angie (coiro) Tue 5 Feb 08 16:04

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:04:00 PST

Arden, once you've tackled these - what are the toughest cat behavioral issues to crack?

And since you're well-versed in dogs, too - how do the stubborn cat behaviors compare to those of dogs? I'm imagining they spring from their very different natures, so might be quite opposite. [Read entire topic]

#81: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (cdb) Tue 5 Feb 08 15:39

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:39:00 PST

No, the older one's male, the younger is female. [Read entire topic]