Welcome!

THE CAT'S MEOW is a free weekly newsletter.
If you've received it, you've subscribed or been given a subscription,
or have had it forwarded to you by a friend.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please follow these links:
SUBSCRIBE
UNSUBSCRIBE

Please feel free to forward any part or all of The Cat's Meow
to your friends, either in e-mail or printed form!!

"Lonely Boy" (1959 - Paul Anka)
Music: On/Off

Tips for Cat Owners Who Work All Day

- If you are going to be out of the house for most of the day, its best to get two kittens together.

- Make sure there is plenty to keep indoor cats entertained. Behavior problems arise out of boredom and frustration. Invest in cat furniture and look at the way your home is laid out from your cats point of view.

- A cat flap will allow your cats to come and go and find their own entertainment. Give yourself peace of mind, and them some safety, by providing an outdoor run for them to go in.

- Before you go to work, leave out bowls of dry food so that your cats can graze.

- If you hide cat treats around the house, your cats can enjoy hunting them out.

- Have a box of cat toys and leave out the ones cats are safe to play with on their own, swapping them regularly to avoid boredom.

- Cardboard boxes and large paper shopping bags (with the handles cut off) make excellent dens.

- When you get home, give your cats lots of fuss, feed them and enjoy their company.

- Find a cat-loving neighbor or friend who can pop in and feed or check on your cats if you have to work late or have to stay away. Professional pet sitters could be a more practical alternative.

- If time at home is precious, choose a clumping cat litter and simply scoop out clumps and solid waste morning and evening, and clean out the tray thoroughly at the weekend.

- Words to the Wise: Cats like objects that amuse them, especially when left home alone for long stretches of time. These objects include: house plants, curtains that blow in the breeze, electrical cords, shoelaces, feathery boas left on the backs of chairs, and open garbage cans.

- Cats that are left alone for extended periods of time can also become overstimulated and excitable during petting. If petting and stroking are met with biting and scratching, keep the sessions short. Take note as to how long you can pet before the cat begins to bite and scratch and keep the sessions shorter than that. Many cats do not enjoy being scratched and petted on the belly or hips; so if your cat doesn’t like it, don’t do it!

- Cats sometimes are anxious and distressed when left alone for longer times, such as when you go on vacation or away for the weekend. Your cat may not eat well, may hide from the person you’ve arranged to come in to care for her, may meow a lot or not use her litterbox reliably. Because these signs can also be indications that your cat is ill, you should have her checked thoroughly by your veterinarian. Check with your cat caretaker to be sure that this person is keeping the box just as clean as you would if you were home. If she isn’t, that’s most likely the reason for your cat’s soiling behavior. Your cat is not relieving herself outside the box because she is mad at you for leaving her. Animals don’t do things for mean-spirited reasons.

Reprinted from ArcaMax.com

Cats Home Alone

THE BIG E’s (Environmental and Managemental Enrichment)

Climbing Frames or Trees: Cats really appreciate a three-dimensional environment, as evidenced by their constant attempts to climb up on top of things. To facilitate this innate compulsion, provide climbing frames in strategic locations so that your cat can elevate his position with ease and obtain a panoramic view of the outside world. This is the closet thing to a cat newspaper. From their perch they can survey their immediate environment in safety and catch up on the latest comings and goings. ( Check out TCM's Cat Trees )

Bird Feeders: The instinct to watch and stalk birds still courses through cats’ veins even though it may have been generations since they relied on catching prey for a living. The provision of window feeders for birds can provide cats with a lot of viewing opportunities at no risk to the birds.

Fish Tanks: For similar reasons, a fish tank (with its lid firmly attached) can be another great pleasure for cats. Even though they never catch the fish, that failure does not detract from the thrill of “fishing.” ( Try our Fish Tank Video for Cats )

Food puzzles: In nature, cats had to work for their food. Hunting consumed a great deal of their time and energies. Yet we simply put their food down and leave them to scarf it down in as little as 5 minutes. What do they do then – sleep? If you get creative regarding your cat’s feeding opportunities you can spin out those meals and make the process of eating more entertaining. Ideas include:

1. Feeding kibble via a toilet roll tube, with the ends taped over and holes drilled in the sides to release kibble intermittently. (The tube rolls around and is fun to chase ... so are a few sheets of toilet paper.)

2. Putting your cat’s kibble inside a Buster Cube, a plastic cube with various compartments for food that falls out as the cat bats it.

3. Ping-pong balls with a hole drilled in the side to allow you to put a single piece of kibble inside.

Non-toxic grasses: Some cats respond well to fresh catnip or cat grass grown especially for them. Along the same theme, some cats also enjoy lettuce or green beans. Other cats can be redirected onto pieces of thin rawhide coated lightly with fish oil or cheese spread. Owners should offer the rawhide chews only when they will be directly supervising their cat. ( We have Cat Grass too! )

Predatory games: It is almost mandatory to have various feather wands or fishing poles with string attached to entertain your cat. You should probably put aside several minutes a day for this activity. This will exercise and mentally stimulate the cat, and help to dissipate otherwise undirected predatory tendencies. Some predatory toys are automatic and allow activation by the cat even in your absence. For those of you who don’t want to spend much cash there’s always the old milk-bottle-lid-on-a-string trick or a bunch of ping-pong balls that you leave around on a smooth floor. Laser mice are at the high tech end of the spectrum of toys and there are new electronic toys in the pipeline.

Reprinted from PetPlace.com

Reminder: The Cat's Meow is becoming 2 sites!

Several weeks ago, our helpful friends at Bright Byte notified us that we'd outgrown our website.
So, in order to serve you better, we decided to create two websites.
Here's what you'll find in our new plan of organization:

www.the-cats-meow.com

www.online-thecatsmeow.com

• Backgrounds


• Cat Cartoons


• Emoticons


• Ezine & Website Tips & Resources


• Games & Trivia


• Halloween Clipart


• Music Downloads


• Webmaster Resources

Please visit both sites! Let us know if you have any problems finding your favorite pages!!!