I love bringing you information every day to create a happy life for yourself and your cats. Knowing that cats are living better lives because of something someone may have read here on this site makes me feel good. Allegra and Ruby enjoy entertaining you with their purrsonal columns.

All three of us would love it if you would take a moment to nominate us for the About.com Readers Choice Award for Best Website About Cats.

About.com’s definition for this category is: “The Best Website About Cats will be one which provides information in a professional but friendly manner on all aspects of cats, including, but not limited to cat care, health, behavior, senior cats, special needs cats, and the feline-human bond. Continue reading…

When a video of a cat and crow playing together went viral (shown below), and was seen on The Oprah Winfrey Show, National Geographic, and Animal Planet, to name just a few, some people were initially skeptical and wondered whether this amazing friendship could possibly be anything but the result of creative editing. However, the story is true. For four years, Moses the crow and Cassie the cat met in Ann and Wally Collito’s yard in Massachussetts, delighting viewers around the world with their antics and captivating their hearts.

In Cat and Crow: An Amazing Friendship, Lisa Fleming, a former newspaper columnist and freelance writer with a passion for animals and wildlife, tells the story of how these two natural enemies became best friends.  Continue reading…

The story of Carmina the Cathedral Cat, the resident cat at Washington’s National Cathedral, captured my readers’ hearts when I first wrote about her in November of 2010. I thought her story should be shared with a wider audience, so I pitched it to Cat Fancy magazine a while back. Last week, my editor approved the story for the June issue of the magazine.

I got in touch with the media contact at the Cathedral to get updated information on Carmina. I didn’t expect the following e-mail:

We are saddened to tell you that the Cathedral Choral Society’s beautiful kitty, Carmina Chanté Schumann, was fatally struck by a car on Woodley Road on Tuesday evening, November 1, 2011. Witnesses reported that she was frightened by a dog and ran into the street.

Carmina has entertained everyone in the Cathedral Library since June 2010, when she was adopted from an animal shelter. Continue reading…

Congratulations, Sara! You’re the winner of a Glacier Point Cat Fountain!

Look for an e-mail from The Conscious Cat.

Well, sort of, anyway! On Thurday, January 19, Sandy Robins is hosting a special edition of her popular radio show Pawsitively Pets. Sandy’s only guest for this episode will be renowned animal communicator Dr. Monica Diedrich. She will be giving live readings for pet owners. And Allegra will be one of the animals she’ll “talk to.”

I was asked to submit a photo and questions for Allegra ahead of time, but I, or rather, Allegra, will have an opportunity on the show to respond. So tune in at 2pm Eastern/11am Pacific time tomorrow, Thursday, January 19, to hear what Allegra has to say to Dr. Monica! Click here to listen to the live broadcast. Continue reading…

The folks at Mr. Chewy, an online pet food retailer carrying over 70 brands of pet food, treats and supplies, offered me a $50 coupon so I could order from their site and review my experience. I decided instead to offer the $50 to one lucky reader!

Mr. Chewy carries many of the cat food brands I routinely recommend, such as Wellness, Weruva, and Nature’s Variety. They also carry our favorite cat litter, Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra. Orders over $49 ship free.

Since I haven’t personally ordered, I can’t speak for their service, but a favorable review from Caren Gittleman of Cat Chat with Caren and Cody, makes me confident that their service meets my requirements for an online retailer I’ll work with. Caren calls Mr. Chewy her “new go-to for pet products.” Continue reading…

Some cats go wild for laser toys, chasing the little red dot around the house, up and down furniture, and, in Ruby’s case, even up walls. Well, she tries, anyway. Allegra will chase any reflection of light, even if it’s just the sun reflecting off my watch on the wall, so the laser is definitely a hit with her as well.

But are laser toys really such a good idea to use with cats? And more importantly, are they safe?

How to use a laser toy the right way

I consider laser toys the lazy cat guardian’s toy – and don’t think I haven’t used them occasionally. After all, all you have to do is sit and point, and your cat does the rest. But is it really as much fun for your cats as it seems to be? It can be, if you use the laser toy the right way. Continue reading…

My cats’ health and happiness is more important to me than just about anything else in my life. I spend a lot of time researching cat health topics, not just for Allegra and Ruby, but also to be able to bring you the latest information on how to keep your feline family members happy and healthy.

As a result of my strong interest in cat health, I also do a lot of research into human health and nutrition. The two go hand in hand for me. I’ve always eaten a reasonably healthy diet. I believe in moderation. While I eat mostly vegetarian, I do eat some fish and seafood, and I’ll even ocassionally indulge myself with some red meat.

My biggest challenge is my wicked sweet tooth. I grew up in Germany, a country with the lovely tradition of the daily afternoon ”Kaffee and Kuchen” (coffee and cake) break. It’s a time when Germans take a mid-afternoon break to indulge in a little sweet treat and some conversation with friends or co-workers. When I worked at IBM Germany in the early 80′s, Kaffee and Kuchen break in the company cafeteria was a tradition that was never messed with, no matter how tight a project’s deadlines might have been. Continue reading…

Since all the cat sitting stories in the comments for this contest were so much fun to read, I had a hard time picking a winner for the two copies of The Cat Sitter’s Pajamas by Blaize Clement. I decided to enlist Allegra and Ruby’s help and let them each pick a winner.

Allegra chose Carolyn Schellhardt. She thought the cat hiding under the covers so the cat sitter couldn’t find her was just brilliant. Allegra applauds this undercover kitty and sends congratulatory purrs to Carolyn!

Ruby picked Brooke. Since Ruby has a propensity to get herself in trouble, she could relate to the cat mafia covering up Wonton’s unfortunate accidents. She wishes that Allegra would take a lesson from the cat mafia and help cover up some of Ruby’s misdeeds rather than rat her out to me. Ruby sends congratulatory nose taps to Brooke.

Carolyn and Brooke, look for an e-mail from The Conscious Cat.

The biggest story of the week comes from Universal Orlando, where Loews Hotel Portofino Bay and Loews Royal Pacific Resort reversed a successful and long standing policy of caring for a feral cat colony on their properties. On Thursday, hotel employees began trapping the cats and taking them to local kill shelters. This action unleashed a firestorm of outrage among animal lovers, spearheaded by Dorian Wagner of Catster. Loews responded to comments left on their Facebook page with a statement that ”…all cats that were part of an established colony on property are being safely relocated. Our commitment to addressing this issue in a humane and responsible way will continue.”

There is nothing humane and responsible about sending previously cared for feral cats to certain death at a shelter. Continue reading…

Steve Dale is one of the most dedicated champions of cats, cat health and cat behavior you’ll ever encounter. He is one of the co-founders of the CATalyst Council, a member of the board of directors of the Winn Feline Foundation, the American Humane Association, and the Tree House Humane Society, a cat shelter in Chicago. This pet expert, writer, radio and tv personality and cat lover extraordinaire is passionate about cats’ health and happiness.

In his new e-book Good Cat! Practical Answers to Behavior Questions, Steve answers common and not so common feline behavior questions. Steve is frequently quoted as saying “Cats are the Rodney Dangerfield of pets; they get no respect,” and sadly, this is true. Cats are more often given up to shelters than dogs, are less often adopted, and more are euthanized.

Much of this is due to the misconception that cats can’t be trained, and that they are often misunderstood. In Good Cat!, Steve dispels these mistaken beliefs, and offers answers and solutions. Continue reading…