-
What’s New at Holly’s Place
Browse Education and Stories
Cats Need to Scratch Something
Training Your Cat to Use a Scratching Post
That cat keeps scratching the furniture! Believe it or not, cats need to scratch on something. Pam Johnson, writer of Twisted Whiskers: Solving Your Cat’s Behavioral Problems, says that scratching is “vital for maintaining physical health by removing the dead outer sheaths to reveal the new claws underneath” (Johnson 68). “Another reason,” Johnson says, “for scratching behavior is to stretch and tone the muscles of the shoulders and back” (Johnson 68). So, provide scratching posts a-plenty, and try different kinds because what appeals to one cat may not appeal to another. I’ll list a few types below in the order most cats seem to prefer.
There are three common choices for posts, but I have had the most success with the corrugated cardboard posts that you can put catnip in. They can be laid flat on the floor, which cats seem to love, or hung on a door knob. The basic training tip is to show your cat how to use it. When you see him clawing on the corner of the couch, move a scratching post there and put his paws on it. In the beginning, I would get a bunch of these $5 cardboard scratching posts and place them in all the areas your cat likes to scratch. Later, after he is used to this, you can reduce the number.
Another kind is a sisal post or board, which last longer than cardboard ones and some cats like. Don’t go buy a bunch of these at first, though, because some cats won’t use them.
The third kind of post is a carpeted one, and although cats really like this, it can confuse them because it teaches them that carpet is okay, and sometimes this extends to fabric in their minds.
If you don’t think you will have time or patience to train a cat to use a scratching post, then you should put off adopting one until you do. There is no magic trick to training a cat. It is simply a matter of time, persistence and patience on your part. You must continue to show your cat what you want him to do.
by Victoria M. King
Posted in Cat Education
Comments Off
No Such Thing as Free to a Good Home
No Such Thing As Free to Good Home
(as appeared in the Anderson News)
Before the signs start going up on bulletin boards around town, advertising free spring kittens and puppies, I want to say this: There is no such thing as “free to good home.” And before I get on my soap box about it, let me tell you that I used to do this, too, before I got into animal rescue and understood the problem. Before I knew that 7 million animals are euthanized every year in this country, it never occurred to me that giving away free stray kittens and puppies was adding to the problem. I thought I was doing a good thing, finding homes for the unwanted. I never thought past the adoption-to the point 6 months later when the kitten or puppy goes into heat and has 3 or 4, or 12 or 13, babies! Of course, who can afford to spay or neuter all the stray animals dumped on our doorsteps? I couldn’t. That’s why I started a spay/neuter assistance program (you can pick up an application at the local library).
So why are they not free? Well, it costs about $130 or more to get a cat tested, vaccinated, and “fixed.” For dogs, it’s even more. Instead of your “free” kitten from the Walmart parking lot, you could have gotten one from the animal shelter with all of this already done for only $65.
So what about those of you who aren’t even going to put $65 into a cat? Well, some things are better left unsaid. But what I CAN say that the paper CAN print is this: It might not cost you directly here and now-but it’s going to cost the county and its residents plenty when that one cat turns into thousands in only four years. And it won’t just cost the cash that will have to be put out to deal with the overpopulation problem and inevitable euthanasia. It will also cost shelter employees, volunteers, and rescue groups the emotional burden of seeing the offspring from your one free cat have to be put to sleep because there is no room in the shelter.
Now that there is low-income assistance for spay/neuter in this county, there is no excuse this year to give away or accept free kittens or puppies. Don’t do it, please!
Victoria King
Posted in Education
Comments Off
Cancer and Our Pets
I had seen a poster at one our vet’s offices that said 1 in 4 dogs will get cancer. However, I have now read in other places that 50% of our pets will get cancer. You might wonder how this can be. There is no single answer, but there are some likely suspects.
One thing I found out from my research is that lawn-care products, including fertilizers, probably don’t go far enough in saying to keep your animals off the lawn for 24 hours. Many sources recommend that you not use these products at all in places where children and pets walk because it is now suspected that lawn care products are the number one cause of Lymphoma in dogs.
I was also surprised to find that the air in our homes is more polluted than the air outside, and that over 90% of the air pollution in our homes is caused from our cleaning products.
According to a study by the Environmental Working Group, dogs and cats show higher levels of toxins in their bloodstreams than humans do. This could be because they are lower to the ground than we are (so they are closer to the floors we mop with toxic products), and because they lick their paws. They actually ingest residue left by cleaning products. This is one more reason you might consider “going green” – for the health of your family and your pets. (Please visit this link for suggestions on green cleaning: Green Cleaning Link Please note that you should limit or avoid essential oils in any cleaning products if you have cats because essential oils are toxic to them)
I already knew that spaying could prevent mammary cancer. What I didn’t know was that mammary cancer is the second most common canine cancer. The risk for intact females is 26%; for those spayed after the first heat cycle, 8%; and those spayed before the first heat cycle, it’s only .05%! So this is a type of cancer we can prevent almost entirely.
One final note: if you find yourself dealing with a cancer diagnosis for your dog, you might consider getting the book Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: An Overview of Home Care Options by Laurie Kaplan. It has everything in it from the different types of treatment for different types of cancer, to home troubleshooting for various symptoms from treatment, to information on diet.
Posted in Education
Comments Off
Litter Box Problems and FUS
Clinton had lived with us a year when suddenly, instead of using his litter box, he marched over to the rug and squatted. I picked him up and placed him in his litter box. He looked at me for a moment, then returned to the rug. This time when I picked him up and put him in the litter box, he cried a little and I noticed that his urine was coming out in drops rather than a stream. I decided to take him to the vet, and it’s a good thing I did. He had feline urologic syndrome and a blockage. If left untreated, it can be fatal for the cat. He had probably gone outside the litter box because he associated the pain he felt urinating with the box. Either that or he was smart enough to know that I would figure out something was wrong if he used my rug for a litter box!
Signs of Lower Urinary Tract Disorders:
- urination outside the litter box
- frequent trips to the litter box
- painful abdomen
- straining or crying during urination
- voiding little or no urine
- blood in the urine
- frequent licking of genital area
- change in activity level
- loss of appetite
by Victoria M. King
Posted in Cat Education, Education
Comments Off
Litter Box Retraining
Again, I’m going to recommend Pam Johnson’s book Twisted Whiskers because she covers this so thoroughly. A cat may need to be retrained to use the litter box for a variety of reasons such as having had FUS, being declawed, or having been through a stressful situation such as a move to a new home. I have been in this situation many times and it is frustrating at first, but I basically went through every step that Johnson recommends in her book until I had the problem solved.
If your cat has suddenly quit using the litter box, the first thing you need to do is make sure he doesn’t have a medical problem. Have the vet check him out to rule out bladder infection and FUS (read about this here) , a life-threatening disease.
If that is not the problem, consider other possibilities. Have you changed the litter recently? If so, he may not like the new stuff and is protesting. Whenever you change litter, be sure to do it gradually. After months of frustration with one of my cats, I discovered that the problem was that simple—he did not like the new litter. I switched back and the problem was solved.
Has your cat been declawed? This could be the problem (click here to read more about declawing) . Switching to shredded newspaper for litter may be the answer.
Whatever the reason is that your cat has stopped using the litter box (and you must find out the “why” first or you can never solve the problem), you may have to retrain. Rubbing their noses in it, yelling at them and such just does not good. It actually causes them more stress and may exacerbate the problem. You need to kindly show your cat what you need for him to do.
Putting him in a small space for a few days with his litter box is the best way I’ve found to retrain. Cats and dogs both do not want to soil their bedding or feeding area, so if they are in a confined space (such as a dog kennel or a bathroom), they are more likely to use the litter box.
While your cat is confined, you will need to remove the smell of urine from the places he was using. The only thing I’ve found that gets rid of the urine is vinegar or Nature’s Miracle. Vinegar is great your cat has used the floor. But if your cat has gone on carpet, a couch, or anything else that vinegar would likely ruin, you will need to use Nature’s Miracle, which has an enzyme that breaks down the smell over a period of a couple of days.
If there is a spot you simply cannot get your cat to quit going in, I either move a litter box to that spot, or his food or water bowl. Cats will not urinate near their food or water. There are many things you can do, and if you are having this problem, I recommend getting Johnson’s book because she goes into a lot more detail than we can here. Just remember, first you need to find out the reason and rule out medical problems. Then you need to remedy the problem by retraining and cleaning up.
by Victoria M. King
Posted in Cat Education, Education
Comments Off
Safe Outdoor Enclosures for Cats
Below is a list of links we’ve compiled to many different safe outdoor options for cats, ranging from play tunnels for short periods of outdoor time, to simple, and more complicated, outdoor enclosures. In addition to this list, we’ll give an explanation of how one of our foster homes enclosed their existing deck for about $250 and installed a cat door through the window.
The Cat’s Den (This is very nice, but also expensive. They also offer build your own kits and do custom designs.)
Stanford Cat Network (This is a page with ideas and resources.)
Just4Cats.com ( This offers options for houses and also apartments/condos.)
This is the Purrfect Fence.
Sally’s Cat House has some beautiful ideas!
If you have an existing deck, you can easily build a frame that holds lattice and screen. Plastic corrugated roofing is a way to let light in, but keep the weather out (and the cats in). A cat door installed in a piece of wood the width of a window will give the cats access without major construction on a door or in a wall.
Posted in Cat Education, Education
Comments Off
