CAT OWNERSHIP

Scratching posts, unpleasant scents sprayed onto fabric, distractions like catnip and toys — you’ve tried everything to keep your cat from digging her sharp...

Your little tigress has landed yet another mangled mouse at your feet, having dragged it up from the basement. A week earlier, she even...

Research has shown that some cats in windowless settings, such as shelters, really enjoy the distractions of watching typical prey like birds, rodents, and...

The worst has happened. You have fallen in love with a dog person. And although your partner loves your cat, this mate with whom...

Self-grooming only goes so far, especially as a cat ages and cant reach around to his body parts as well. Thats why you want to supplement a cats licking baths with brushing. It wont only help your cat look his best. It will remove dirt, grease, and dead hair from his coat, not to mention cut down on hairballs. In addition, it will help remove loosened skin flakes and improve circulation.

There are only 42 recognized cat breeds in the U.S., compared with 192 dog breeds. Still, why are cat breeds so similar-looking compared to dog breeds? (Think Chihuahua versus beagle versus German shepherd.)

I am about to have a baby and wonder how that will affect my 6-year-old cat. My husband and I have had her since she was a kitten. Anything I should know or do in advance?

There are literally dozens of books about grieving over the loss of a pet. Its an industry unto itself. But Fred Rogers book, When a Pet Dies, stands out among the others, even though it was first published more than 30 years ago. The book is meant for preschoolers as well as those in the early grades but, of course, also for their parents, who will go through the pages with their young ones.

You fall out of a 19th-story window, and the word splat is in your very near future. A cat falls 19 stories, and she glides earthward to live another day. It really happened several years ago when a white fluff ball named Sugar dropped out of her owners high-rise window and walked away to enjoy her eight remaining lives with only some minor bruising on her lungs but no broken bones, no lacerations, no anything. What is it that makes cats nimble enough to be able to land safely, even from great heights?

Your new diffuser emits the calming scent of lavender, your counters and floors gleam from a cleanser suffused with the uplifting odor of peppermint, and youre thinking of placing a diffuser in your house-maybe with the cheering scent of lemon. But did you know that products like these, all made pleasing with the aromas of essential oils that have taken off in consumer use, could be toxic to your cat, and in some cases even lead to life-threatening reactions?

A Christmas tree to a cat may seem like a laser beam on steroids - lots of lights to chase, lots of other shiny objects. Which is why you should always anchor your tree. It can too easily tip and fall over onto a curious cat who views it as a fully outfitted play space, perhaps with fragile glass ornaments breaking into shards as they hit the floor and causing even more potential for your pet to harm herself as she scampers away.

Does your 12-year-old cat seem, well, a little different than she did when she was younger - perhaps not seeming to recognize you or other familiar people, or unable to maneuver around obstacles she used to find easy to navigate? Is she less interested in interacting with you, or perhaps more clingy, or anxious? She may have feline cognitive dysfunction, the cat equivalent of Alzheimers disease. And if she does, shes not alone.