March 28, 2018

Does Your Cat Get The “Zoomies?”

Categories: Feline Behavior

cat-zoomies

I actually found a definition for the word “zoomies” in Urban Dictionary, and even though the definition was for dogs, it’s exactly what I’m talking about: “when your dog runs around the house like crazy jumping on the couch, running up and down the stairs, and all over the house. It usually ends with them falling to the floor, panting like crazy and taking a nap.”

At our house, Ruby is the Queen of the Zoomies. Several times a day, she races through the house, up and down the cat tree, and up and along the back of the sofa. Her zoomies loop seems to be almost exactly the same every day.  Continue reading…

March 27, 2018

Balanced Blends Guide to Raw Feeding: De-Mystifying Pet Food Labels

Categories: Feline Nutrition

pet-food-label-ingredients

This post is sponsored by Balanced Blends

This article is part of a series sponsored by Balanced Blends, a raw pet food company, answering some of the most common questions around feeding a raw food diet to your cats.

Buying pet food can be an overwhelming and confusing process. Pet food labels are supposed to provide information to consumers, but unless you know how to interpret the information on the labels, they may only add to the confusion. Continue reading…

March 26, 2018

Caring for Abandoned Kittens

Categories: Feline Health

bottle-feeding-kitten

Raising abandoned kittens can be challenging, but it can also be very rewarding. Depending on their age, kittens who have been abandoned or rejected by their mother, or whose mother has died, may need to be hand raised.

Ideally, kittens should be with their mother until they’re at least five or six weeks old. The longer they can nurse, the better. Young kittens need their mother’s milk not just for nutrition, but also to receive important antibodies that will protect them against disease later in life. Since orphaned kittens don’t have this protection, they can be particularly vulnerable to disease. Continue reading…

March 24, 2018

Mews and Nips: Why Your Cats Like to Knock Things Over

Categories: Mews and Nips

cat-on-table

Most cats enjoy knocking things off tables and counters, and while this behavior may be frustrating for us humans at times, it makes purrfect sense from the cat’s perspective. “A lot of cats knock things over because they have learned it is a quick and easy way to get their human’s attention,” cat researcher Mikel Delgado, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis and our resident cat behavior expert, told Inverse. “This behavior typically stems from boredom and/or a failure of the owner to acknowledge cats for good behavior.” Visit Inverse to read more about why cats do this, and what you can do to stop the behavior.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap: Continue reading…

March 21, 2018

Saying Goodbye to Hedda, Part Three: Creating an End-of-Life Ritual

Categories: Pet Loss

end-of-life-ritual

Guest post by Sarah Chauncey

This is the third post in a three-part series. Sarah Chauncey is the author of an upcoming book for adults grieving the loss of their cat. We featured part one, Facing the Possibility of Euthanasia, two weeks ago, part two, Making the Euthanasia Decision, last week.

Euthanasia is one of the most excruciating decisions a cat guardian will ever have to make. Part of what makes it so difficult is that our culture has no rituals to mark this transition, nor to grieve the end of a relationship that holds a unique place in our hearts and lives.

In my experience, creating a ritual to say goodbye before euthanasia made a significant difference in my ability to process grief. Continue reading…

March 20, 2018

Review: Galaxy Spiral

Categories: Products

Jackson_Galaxy_Spiral

This post contains affiliate links*

The concept of the Galaxy Spiral is nothing new: a ball inside a round track, a scratching pad in the center. However, since it’s designed by the Cat Daddy Jackson Galaxy himself, it’s pretty much guaranteed to have some special touches that the other versions don’t have. Continue reading…

March 19, 2018

Clinical Trial Verifies Efficacy of the Assisi Loop on Pain and Inflammation

Categories: Feline Health

Assisi-loop-cat-cystitis

This post is sponsored by Assisi Animal Health

Over the past year, you’ve seen multiple accounts here on The Conscious Cat of how the Assisi Loop helped cats with issues ranging from arthritis to lymphoma to lameness to post-surgical recovery. The Assisi Loop, created by Assisi Animal Health, is a non-pharmaceutical, non-invasive device provides targeted pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (tPEMF™). tPEMF uses low-level pulses of electromagnetic energy to stimulate the body’s own healing mechanisms to help relieve pain and swelling.  Continue reading…

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