Why Do I Stink After the Dogs Chase Me?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: Hello, my name is Koda. I am a beautiful (does that sound vain) three-year-old black domestic shorthair. I live with three dogs, and two of them like to chase me on occasion. It seems that after that happens, I have a foul odor. Seems to be from my back end, but I guess it could be my front. The smell goes away after a half hour or so. What could that terrible odor be? ~ Koda Kitty Siouxsie: Well, of course it doesn’t sound vain to call yourself beautiful! We cats are all beautiful. Especially black cats like me. Thomas: Tabby cats are beautiful too, you know! Dahlia: Anyway,…
My cat seems lonely. Should I adopt a kitten to keep her company?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I recently moved from my family home to my first apartment (a very small 1-bedroom) with my 3-year-old declawed (not my choice!) female kitty. There are lots of nice windows for her to watch the birds, but there’s not much room to run around and she doesn’t have the company she’s used to. I’m a student, and while I’m not gone a lot right now, when the fall comes I won’t be home much. She adapted to the move very well, but I can tell she’s a bit lonely. I schedule playtime with her into my day, but I still think she’s not getting enough exercise. I’m considering adopting…
Crazy cats and a baby on the way. Help!
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: My cat and I moved in with my boyfriend in October. My boyfriend has two male cats, one of whom is obsessive and anxious and doesn’t clean himself very well, so he often has feces stuck to his fur and smears it across the floor. The other cat is territorial and competitive for my boyfriend’s attention; he also steals food and breaks into closets and drawers and sleeps on the clean laundry. I recently discovered that I’m pregnant, and we’re very excited about the baby. But I’m concerned about the cats. I won’t have time to wash poop off the floor, clean a ton of litter, chase the cat…
My cats don’t play and snuggle together anymore. Should I add another cat to my household?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I have two cats adopted from a shelter a year ago when they were kittens, and as kittens do, they used to play fight a lot and cuddle. They’re brother and sister (fixed very early on), and the staff at the shelter were so glad I took them both because as they put it, they’re ‘inseparable.’ Unfortunately, things have changed. Now they each get all of their affection from me, separately. They respect each other and seem to genuinely care about each other, but keep their distance from each other when sleeping or lounging. However they’re usually in the same room — wherever I happen to be. They investigate…
Why is my deaf cat suddenly so aggressive?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I have a deaf cat who hasn’t been right since his brother went to the Bridge. Ever since he was a kitten, he used to be very well behaved, but for the last month he has been extremely obstinate: he seems to do things intentionally, like getting on the counter and pawing things off, or picking fights with the other cats. He’s turned in to an uncontrollable mad cat. I’ve taken him to the vet and she said there’s nothing medically wrong with him. He doesn’t respond to the spray bottle anymore, it’s like he’s laughing at me for trying. Though I’ve worked with MANY cats over the years,…
Hasn’t my quarantine been long enough? I’m bored!
Bonjour, Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties! Je m’appelle Zoya and I’m 8 weeks old. This is somewhat of an urgent question because I’m so bored! You might remember my mom from her earlier message to you regarding her first cat, Figo. Well, I was living in a shelter, and even though mom wasn’t thinking about bringing another cat into her home, I had other plans! I mewed at her and stretched out my paws and blinked my eyes until she couldn’t sleep all that night for thinking of me and had to come back the next day to sort out my adoption papers. Unfortunately, the shelter was not a good place to be. Mom took…
My cats suddenly started fighting with each other. Help!
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: This question is urgent, because my roommate and I are going away on vacation soon and we really want to have things fixed before that because the cats will be fed by my mom but no one will be watching them full time. I have two cats. One of them is an 8-year-old neutered female tortie named Sabrina. The other is Speck, a year-old female stray we adopted last year and had neutered, vaccinated and vet-checked. When I lived with my parents, Sabrina had to stay in my room with the door closed all the time, because she had serious social problems with my mom’s cat. She’d cower and…
