I am honored and excited excited that The Conscious Cat was named as one of the Top 5 Pet Blogs by SheKnows.com, one of the top 10 most visited websites for women!

“Cats are some of the most widely loved — and misunderstood — creatures out there. Luckily, websites like The Conscious Cat exist to give us feline lovers information we didn’t know we needed. For example: Did you know that you can over-vaccinate your cat? Neither did we, until the Conscious Cat told us. The blog came out of author Ingrid King’s love for her adopted cat, Buckley. She even wrote a book about the experience of adopting Buckley and the grief she went through when she succumbed to heart disease. Another must-read for all cat lovers.”

And we’re in some amazing company: the other four blogs are the I Can Haz Cheezburger empire, Continue reading…

Hi everyone! Today, I get to brag a little about myself!

Those of you who’ve known me for a while may remember that I used to be really scared of loud noises and storms. It wasn’t just thunderstorms that scared me – even a heavy rain storm would make me run for one of my safe places.

I have a bunch of those. My favorite one is behind the shower curtain in the downstairs bathroom. It’s dark and safe down there, and I can’t hear the sound of the rain on the roof or against the windows. I also like to hide inside the kitchen cabinets (and before Mom discovered that hiding place, I scared her really badly when she couldn’t find me anywhere in the house one day).

I know Mom always felt bad for me when I got scared, and she tried everthing she could think of to help me. Continue reading…

The search for the perfect litter box can be frustrating for many cat guardians, especially those of us, like yours truly, who live with a vertical pee-er (her name starts with the letter “R”). My search ended when I discovered the NVR Miss™ Litter Box shown above at a cat show last year.

For details on why I love this box so much, please read my full review of the NVR Miss™ Litter Box. I haven’t found anything that’s as good as this box (other than ugly homemade versions), and I went through a lot of different boxes when Ruby first came to live with us.

And now you can win one of these fabulous litter boxes for your cats! Continue reading…

Guest post by W. Jean Dodds, DVM

Jeannie recently adopted a three-year-old cat from her local shelter. Determined to give her new friend a healthy life, she decided not to have him vaccinated every year. She’d heard that vaccine titers were a good alternative to annual boosters, so she found a veterinarian who offers this option and asked him for more information.

Compelling evidence implicates vaccines in triggering various immune-mediated and other chronic disorders (vaccinosis). In cats, for example, aggressive tumors called fibrosarcomas can occasionally arise at the site of vaccination. While some of these problems have been traced to contaminated or poorly attenuated batches of vaccine that revert to virulence, others apparently reflect a genetic predisposition in an animal to react adversely when given the single (monovalent) or multiple antigen “combo” (polyvalent) products routinely administered to animals. Certain susceptible breeds or families of animal appear to be at increased risk for severe and lingering adverse vaccine reactions. Continue reading…

Today, millions of people around the world are participating in Earth Day 2012 celebrations. It’s a good day to remember what going green means: making conscious choices every day about protecting our environment. Recycling, buying organic, and using eco-friendly products are only some of the everyday choices that contribute to a healthier planet.

You can also help the planet by making choices for your cat that will not only benefit the planet, but will also keep your cat healthy.

Feed natural and organic food

Natural and organic pet foods use meats that are raised in sustainable, humane ways without added drugs or hormones, minimally processed, and preserved with natural substances, such as vitamins C and E. Certified-organic pet foods must meet strict USDA standards that spell out how ingredients are produced and processed, Continue reading…

Our first story features a combination that is hard to beat: cats and firemen who love cats. DNAInfo reports that when Carlow, the five-month-old kitten of a firehouse on Manhattan’s Upper Eastside, went missing after firefighters went out on a emergency call, the frantic crew launched one of the year’s biggest rescue missions, searching for their beloved pet. Thankfully, Carlow was returned after three days. “A woman from around the block stopped in and said she saw a flyer and had our cat,” firefighter David Guilford told DNAinfo via email. “I’m so glad he’s back.” Read the full story on DNAInfo.

I love Chris Colfer on Glee, and I loved him even more when I heard that he adopted an 8-year-old cat earlier this week. Continue reading…

I read a lot of different books from a lot of different genres, but I had never read anything in the Young Adult Fiction category. Which is actually kind of surprising, because one of my guilty pleasures is watching trashy young adult dramas on tv. Shows like Dawson’s Creek (oh, the teenage angst!) and Gossip Girl (of couse, I watch that one strictly because it’s set in my favorite city in the world. Okay, and the glimpse into the “scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite” is fun, too. ) But I digress.

When the publicist for Kimberly Pauley’s latest novel Cat Girl’s Day Off asked whether I would like a review copy, I was intrigued. This is how she described the book:

“Nat Ng has always tried to keep her “talent” of being able to converse with cats a secret. Continue reading…

Jackson Galaxy is a busy man these days. He just finished recording the audio version of his upcoming book, Cat Daddy: What the World’s Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean. He’s gearing up for a book tour to promote the book, which will come out on May 10, and he is currently shooting the first of ten new episodes for Season Three of his wildly successful Animal Planet show My Cat From Hell.

I managed to catch up with Jackson last week while he was on the set of My Cat From Hell. We chatted a little about his busy life, and his book, but what I really wanted to talk to him about was cats. His own cats. Who are the felines he goes home to each night? Do they have behavioral problems, or are the Cat Daddy’s fur children problem-free?

Jackson shares his life with four cats. Continue reading…

Congratulation, Lisa! You’re the winner of our giveaway of Nature’s Logic raw or canend food for your kitties and your favorite shelter!

Lisa picked raw rabbit for her own cats, and her shelter of  choice is Purrfect Pals in Arlington, WA. I love the shelter’s motto: “Because every cat matters.”

Look for an e-mail from The Conscious Cat.

Guest post by Musetta Simon

What is it with these creatures?

I don’t mean the birds. Those little twittering things are amusing, in their way: hopping about, oblivious to the fact that certain death – in the form of a sleek feline killer – lurks just inside this glass door. I mean my humans. My mother, in particular. Instead of writing, or whatever it is she calls it when she sits at her desk, she has taken to lingering here, by the porch doors, with me. And while I appreciate the strokes I get, especially when I begin my morning commentary on the yard activity, it’s her frankly pointless fascination that I simply do not understand.

When my person first began feeding the creatures in our yard, I thought her motivations were obvious. She was fattening them up, clearly, Continue reading…

Today is my first adoption anniversary! I’ve been here with my Mom and sister Allegra a whole year!

I had no idea what to expect when Mom picked me up at my foster home. But look how happy Mom was that day! Even though I was really nervous about what was happening, her happy energy made me feel good.

I know my new sister wasn’t too crazy about me when I first arrived. Mom broke all the rules of proper cat to cat introductions, and just let me out of the carrier when we arrived at my new home. I immediately started exploring Continue reading…