Despite the stereotype of “fighting like cats and dogs,” cats and dogs can live together peacefully in the same household and even become best friends. If you are thinking of adding a canine companion to your feline household, some simple common sense precautions will ensure that everyone gets along.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
The adorable desserts in the photo above are éclairs, created by a web designer named Laura, who publishes the blog Caroline & Laura’s Tea Break. To make these sweet little dessert kitties, Laura combines gyūhi (a softer version of mochi rice cake) with sweetened white bean paste to create a variety of wagashi (a type of Japanese confection.) After tinting the resulting dough, she sculpts and shapes them into charming cat shapes. For more photos of Laura’s amazing creations, visit Mother Nature Network.
If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
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Studies have shown that coloring has many benefits. The structured, rhythmic motion of coloring eases you into a meditative state, which allows you to push negative thoughts and worries out of your mind, and which induces a profound sense of relaxation. Coloring is also a great way to explore your creativity. And it’s just plane fun! It’s no surprise that coloring books are topping bestseller lists around the world – and what’s even better is that there are a lot of cat coloring books available.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Welcome to our regular “Ask the Cat Behaviorist with Mikel Delgado” segment. Once a month, we’ll post a reminder for you to post your questions for Mikel. She’ll answer as many of them as she can each time, and I’ll publish her answers in a subsequent post.
Mikel is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant at Feline Minds, offering on-site consultations for cat guardians, shelters, and pet-related businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area, and remote consultations around the world. She obtained her PhD in Psychology at UC Berkeley, where she studied animal behavior and human-pet relationships. Mikel is co-author of Jackson Galaxy’s forthcoming book, Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
I’ve always loved Susan Lordi’s Willow Tree collection. IThe “With Affection” angel, a small statuette hugging a cat, has been on my meditation altar for many years. These small figurines have no recognizable faces, and yet, they convey deep emotion beautifully. “Willow Tree is not necessarily a likeness; it’s a reminder of someone we want to keep close, or a memory that we want to touch,” writes Susan Lordi on the official Willow Tree website. “I hope that people recognize subtle expressions or gestures of those they love, and select pieces that are uniquely meaningful for them.”
There are three figurines in the current Willow Tree line up that feature cats, and today, I’d like to share them with you.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Pet food manufacturers would like you to believe that the only food your cat should ever eat is a “balanced” food coming out of a bag or can. These commercial, often highly processed, foods are labeled as “100% complete,” and pet guardians are cautioned against feeding table scraps.
However, if you’re eating a reasonably healthy diet of lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and fresh fruit and vegetables, an occasional table scrap for your cat is not going to be a problem and may actually enhance her nutrition.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
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I love advent calendars. They take me back to a time when I couldn’t wait for Christmas to get here, rather than feeling like the holiday season goes by much too fast. I always had an advent calendar as a child, and my parents went far beyond the store-bought calendars that contain a piece of chocolate behind each window. One year, they built a little house made out of match boxes that were like little drawers. Each “drawer” contained a small gift. Another year, my mom sewed a felt Christmas tree with little pockets that contained a gift for each day. I still love the ritual of opening a little window each day, and of course, cat advent calendars make that ritual even more fun.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
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What kitty wouldn’t love one of these felted wool catnip hearts? Handmade in California from 100% wool and stuffed with organic catnip, generously sized at 2 by 2 inches, these colorful hearts will delight your kitty.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Cats don’t have nine lives, and they don’t suck the breath out of babies. While it’s pretty obvious to most rational human being that these two myths are not true, there are many other tall tales about cats that are completely false. Perhaps this is because cats, despite having lived with humans for thousands of years, still remain a mystery even to those of us who know and love them.
Some myths and misconceptions are simply silly, but many myths can be dangerous and may actually harm cats. The following six are some of the most common myths about cats that are not true.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia is a condition where the cat’s immune system turns against itself and attacks the patient’s own red blood cells. The immune system’s antibodies (blood proteins that are designed to counteract substances the body recognizes as alien, such as viruses and bacteria) target red blood cells for destruction. When too many red blood cells are destroyed, the patient becomes anemic.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
The beauty of cats has been captured by artists through the ages, and no wonder: cats make purrfect models. Their flowing, flexible grace, combined with fierce strength and unbearable cuteness, and the incredible variety of breeds and colors has captured artists’ imagination. In How to Draw Cats and Kittens, artist and illustrator J.C. Amberlyn offers step-by-step guidance so you, too, can indulge your artistic side.Continue Reading
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
