BEHAVIOR

If your curiosity in feline agility is piqued, heres what to do next: You should visit the CFA websites feline agility page. Heres the link: http://agility.cfa.org/index.shtml. Be sure to check out the video of a kitten doing agility on a kitty-sized course - as well the five training videos. Try it at home. Get comfortable with your cat. Theres no need to create a real course now. Sit in a chair with a lure on a long stick,…

The goal of feline agility is for your cat to complete the 10-obstacle course, the right way, in the right order, as quickly as possible. You have five minutes in the ring. From the moment your cats paws touch the first step, until his front paws touch the floor after jumping through the hoop (the 10th obstacle), the stopwatch is on. Your cat starts out with 420 points, and loses one point for every second…

Unless youre planning to breed your male cat, there are several very good reasons for you to have your pet sexually neutered at some point during the first six months or so of his life. Most importantly, the procedure will prevent his contributing to the worldwide problem of feline overpopulation. …

A study recently published in the journal Animal Cognition shows that cats appear to recognize the voices of their owners as opposed to the voices of other people. However, the study also concludes that the cats dont seem very much to care - showing little response in comparison to similar studies using dogs, who responded much more readily and with more pronounced behavior when they heard recordings of their owners voices. …

Your cat may never leave the safety of your home. She may wear a collar with an ID tag. Even so, its a smart move to have your veterinarian implant a microchip, according to Emily McCobb, DVM, MS DACVAA, a clinical assistant professor at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. …

If youve ever been to Key Wests Mallory Square at sunset, youve probably seen Dominique LeForts trained cats jumping through hoops of fire. Sure, thats showy, but you can in fact teach your cat more useful tricks that dont run the risk of burning the house down. Wait just a minute, you may be thinking to yourself. Youve always been told that its impossible to train cats - and especially not to perform tricks. If thats…

Before you begin a training session, teach your cat what the sound of the clicker means. Click and give a treat, click and give a treat. Repeat this 20 or 30 times until your cat springs to attention at the sound of the clicker. Now he knows that a click means good things are coming. Practice no more than two or three minutes at a time. Cats get bored quickly, and its best to leave off…

Letters to Tufts Veterinarians - Medication-related trauma

If you, too, are concerned about your kitten or cat jumping on kitchen counters, dining room tables or even shelves that hold your fragile family heirlooms, its comforting to know that there are solutions, says Dr. Borns-Weil. The best ones, however, arise first from understanding both the biological and psychological needs that your cat satisfies by this jumping behavior.

He believes that we should adjust our environment to our cats, rather than vice-versa. Make sure they have access to elevated spaces, he says. He suggests window inserts, carpeted cat posts with different climbing levels, ladders on bookcases, even plate-like cat shelves where cats can sit.

One of the indicators of an animals ability to think and demonstrate their consciousness is their ability to make choices between alternatives. In their book Cat Culture: The Social World of a Cat Shelter, sociology professors Janet and Steve Alger, PhDs, conducted an in-depth study of cats at a shelter.

Letters to Tufts Veterinarians - Causes of scratching behavior; eating inedible objects; a diagnosis that eludes various experts