My cat’s always got poopy paws. Help!

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I’ve got a problem with my senior cat: she has started walking into the house with poop on her paws. Obviously it’s inconvenient to keep cleaning up, but my main concern is that she’ll end up ingesting it when she cleans herself. I clean it off her as much as I can but I’m not at home all the time. She’s always pooped outside. I’ve made sure the flower bed that she uses is free of fallen leaves and I’ve loosened the earth to make sure she can bury her waste. I also tried a litter tray so she doesn’t need to go out when it’s raining, but I’ve…

My cat’s getting all scabby and phlegmy. Help!

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I had to move back into my parents’ house three months ago, and my cat has moved here with me. She has to live in basement. I am unable to sleep down there at the moment since I’m allergic and am in the process of undergoing treatment for these allergies so I can move down there. In the meantime my cat doesn’t seem to be doing well. Within a month of moving here, she started to scratch her head a lot. It now looks like she is scratching off fur, and the insides of her ears are slightly spotting red (sort of scabby). The last week or so, she…

Am I leaving my house too cold for my cats?

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I’m having a debate with my sweet opinionated boy about what room temperature is comfortable for cats in a non-drafty heated home with new double-sealed windows, with access to lots of cozy blankets, heat blowing registers and all the dry food they ever want to eat. He’s come just short of implying that I’m a bad mother for keeping the day temp at 68 (20 degrees C), night temp at 64 (18 degrees C) and is on the verge of setting up a permanent space heater for his cat, who is staying separately in my finished basement, where it’s actually always a few degrees warmer than the rest of…

I’m afraid my cat might have had rabies. Help!

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I had a 9-year-old Russian Blue mix. He was an outside cat due to the fact that even though he was neutered, he still sprayed. I brought him in the house last night in a small kennel because the weather has been so bad. He was fine when I put him in. I picked him up and he seemed normal. But this morning when I went to put him back out, I found he had died during the night. He was laying as if he just died in his sleep. I knew he was getting older for a cat, especially since he was an outside cat, but I’m worried…

Whenever I try to pet my cat, he bites me. Help!

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: Hi. I am taking care of a 14-year-old orange tabby cat named Nick. Nick is my significant other’s cat. My SO is in the military and is currently deployed, and I think that has to do with the problem I am having with Nick. He won’t let me pet him. Whenever I try, he bites me. But he will lay down next to me or climb into my lap and give me kisses. I’ve read that biting when being petted could be because of over-stimulation. But if that were the case, wouldn’t he bite everybody who petted him? He only bites me. I have had friends come over, and…

Mama’s New Mission: Be the Change for FIV-Positive Cats

Mama’s on her way home from BlogPaws West, a gathering of people who blog about pets, so we’ll make our usual weekly advice post tomorrow. But we did want to convey a message from Mama about some of the things she learned. Once again, she was amazed at the nationwide — and actually, worldwide — community of people who share their love of animals through their blogs, and through their actions in the “real world.” While she was there, she also found her passion and her particular niche in the world of cat lovers. She has decided (with our approval, of course) that she could make a huge difference in the lives of cats by…

How can I make sure my cats are safe in a new country?

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: We are going to have to give our beloved cats, Kala and Bansi, away because we are going to Afghanistan to work with an NGO on a humanitarian relief project. We really want to give my cats to my father-in-law, who lives in a different country, because we know he adores animals and will move heaven and earth to take care them. This is a home where pets are in charge and cosseted in the most shameful ways, and I know that if they can adapt to their new life, their living situation will be superior to the cramped life of a New York apartment cat. The problem is…