The Cat Behavior Answer Book: Practical Insights & Proven Solutions for Your Feline Questions (Answer Book (Storey)) (Paperback)

Cats can be difficult to understand. They often seem secretive, aloof, and maddeningly independent. But they also earn deep love and devotion from millions of cat owners who cherish that incomparable feline spirit. For cat lovers everywhere, pet expert Arden Moore explores cat behavior in an inviting, browsable Q&A format. She answers the questions that come up again and again among devoted cat owners, opening an intriguing window on the feline brain and physiology.

How, for example, can a cat in deep sleep three rooms away from the kitchen come zooming in within seconds of the refrigerator door opening? It's not just instinct. Cats really do have amazing hearing. Their ears are perfectly designed to pick up more sound vibrations and at higher frequencies than either humans or even dogs. And what does it mean when a cat's tail swishes slowly from side to side? That cat is probably getting ready to pounce on a mouse—either a toy or the real thing. Tail swishing is part of the cat's predatory positioning.

In addition to explaining why cats do what they do, Moore shows readers how to prevent many common feline problems. Her practical advice and workable solutions help cat owners work with their pets to banish bad litter box habits, nighttime howling, and destructive clawing. Even finicky eaters can become feline gourmands with a little gentle encouragement.

There are hundreds of tiny quirks and kooky habits that make a cat a cat. This sturdy, fun-to-read handbook explains those catticisms and opens every cat lover's eyes to the complexity of feline behavior. To know them is to love them!

About the Author
Arden Moore is the author of 17 books on cats and dogs, including The Cat Behavior Answer Book, The Dog Behavior Answer Book. She is also the editor ofCatnip, a monthly newsletter for cat lovers, and managing editor of Fido Friendly magazine. Moore has appeared on CNN Headline News, HGTV’s Smart Solutions, and Steve Dale's Pet World radio show. She lives in California with four very well-behaved pets. Visit her at www.ardenmoore.com.

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Drinkwell Original Pet Fountain

My aging cat, like many others, needs to be encouraged to drink as much as possible. I read lots of reviews for cat fountains, and decided on this one (there are basically two other options that I know about.)

I have a pergo floor that isn't impervious to water, so I varnished a thin 2'x2' piece of plywood to set the fountain on, to catch any random splashes.

Maisie wasn't sure about the thing at first, though maybe the smell of the varnish was putting her off. After a few days she has taken to it fine. I don't know if she LOVEs it, as other owners have seen, but she does use it, which is all I could reasonably expect.

Good:
- It is quiet. The motor is virtually inaudible. I don't know why some other people complain about the humming or buzzing noise. I don't hear a thing, and mine is sitting on a hard floor (on top of a sheet of 1/16" plywood.) It can make a trickling water sound at the high setting, but apparently some people like the sound, and anyway turning down the flow almost eliminates it.

- It holds a fair amount of water. I don't have to worry about it going dry every few days as I did with the old water bowl. So Maisie always has water to drink.

- Doesn't splash water everywhere. In fact it doesn't splash at all. The water has a landing ramp that lets it down easy.

- Stable, not easy to tip over.

Not so good:
- It does need to be refilled every few days, not because it will run out of water, but because the impeller pump requires a fair amount of water so it doesn't run dry. It complains if the water level falls below the top of the intake in the bowl, which is maybe 1/2" above the floor of the bowl. It becomes noisier, making a sucking, thrumming sound, since it is pulling in air as well as water. If the water level falls below that, the pump will run dry and possibly burn out, and that can happen while there is still water in the bowl. But I would rather the motor burn out than have the water run out, which was the danger with the old water bowl. The large add-on reservoir might be a good idea.

- It isn't that easy to clean. I clean mine every week or so, which is often enough, it appears. It doesn't take me 30 minutes as it does another reviewer, more like 10. I don't have the problem with cat hair (I brush Maisie twice a day) but I do get a bit of brown or pink slime (just as I did with the water bowl.) That is anaerobic bacteria, just like you get on the lower edge of your shower curtain, and it isn't dangerous to your cat. But it is icky.

The fountain was designed with absolutely no thought to making it easy to clean. There are several nooks and cranies that are hard to reach and would have been easy to eliminate. For example, in the water reservoir there is a deep, round cavity about 1/2" in diameter and about 4" deep, closed at the bottom. It serves no purpose other than to align the reservoir assembly with the base, and it is continuously filled with water. To clean it well requires something like a test tube brush (long thin round brush with bristles on the end.)

So instead of cleaning it with a brush, I am experimenting with simply rinsing it with white vinegar, which should kill most of the bacteria, and unlike dishwasher detergent or spray cleaners, it leaves no residue and especially, no odor (once it is rinsed away.)

Or I will just use the dishwasher. The fountain is top-shelf safe, but a different plastic would have made it anywhere-safe. Also, it would be hard to position it so that it won't collect dishwasher water (with little bits of coffe grounds, etc.) somewhere inside.

For those reasons, I give it four stars. The filter, by the way, is nice, but it is quite thin, and I don't know that it does very much. Nor do I know if it is really necessary. It is supposed to remove tastes and odors, but there wouldn't be much in tap water, and Maisie certainly doesn't mind when she drinks from the faucet. Also, it filters water that has already passed through the pump. It would have made more sense to put a screen or filter in the water flow in front of the pump where it can keep hair out of the impeller.

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Cat Tip 10: Genetic Link for Deafness
Did you ever wonder why many blue-eyed, all white cats are deaf? White fur, blue eyes and deafness are all recessive traits. The gene for fur color is linked to the gene for hearing. Thus many cats born with the recessive gene for white fur will also carry the gene for deafness!

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Cat Tip 9: Wacky Whiskers - What Do They Do?!
Whiskers are one of the most prominent features on a cat. But whiskers are more than just simple hairs on the cat's face that look cute. Cat's whiskers can be thought of as little sensory organs similar to insect antennas or even human fingers. Whisker follicles are linked to nerve endings which send information to the brain. Thus whiskers allow the cat to take in information about their surroundings in an instant. This is one reason we can observe our cats stretching their whiskers towards a narrow opening they are about to go through, or a toy they are about to play with!

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Cat Tip 8: Could Your Cat's Vomiting Be More Than Just Hairballs?
We've all commented on how cute our cats are when they clean themselves. Cats spend a good portion of their day grooming themselves; this involves licking their fur and bodies to rid their coat of dirt and loose hair. When a cat grooms ingested hair passes through the gastrointestinal tract. These hairballs are normally passed in the feces or by 'coughing up a hairball'. For the most part we accept this infrequent vomiting as a normal part of feline life. If your cat seems to be vomiting frequently or persistently she may have something more than just a hairball. Other illnesses which cause vomiting are often mistaken for a hairball problem. When a cat vomits, any hair which is already in the stomach will be expunged. This sometimes leads owners to think the vomiting is *just* from a hairball. If your cat seems to be vomiting a little too often or if you are giving your cat hairball medications/foods and they don't seem to be working, you may want to consult your vet.

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Holiday Cat Tip 7: Look into the Light!

During the holiday season many of us put up strings of lights around our home or on our Christmas tree. Cats can become mesmerized and fascinated with such lights, especially if they blink. However that fascination usually ends when kitty starts to chew on the cords and gets a nasty shock, an electrical burn, or worse. One way to deal with lights is to keep light strings off the lower branches of the tree and areas that your cat has access to. As for cords you can purchase plastic cord covers or spray the cord with a cat repellant (found at your local pet store).

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Holiday Cat Tip 6: Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

A Christmas tree can be a very exciting addition for your family and for a curious cat! Cats, assuming this is just another tree, may try to climb, scratch, or jump on your X-mas tree. If your tree isn't secured inside the tree stand you may one day find your tree on the ground with kitty under it! Cats also go crazy over hanging ornaments, especially if they make noise! Such ornaments, mistaken for toys, may be smacked at, bapped at, or even pulled off the tree. Glass ornaments can break, creating shards that could cut or be swallowed by your cat. Ornament hooks and hangers can also pose problems for kitty if chewed on or swallowed. The best solution is to keep all ornaments off lower tree branches or any branches that your cat can get to. Tinsel can also be a problem for kitty. Many cats will chew and swallow tinsel or icicles. Such objects can get lodged in the stomach or intestines which can be harmful or even deadly to your cat. The pine needles of the tree are also toxic to your cat so try to keep as many pine needles as possible off the skirt of the tree and floor. Also try to train your cat to avoid chewing on or eating needles off the tree if he/she is a nibbler.

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