Love Our Meows

Microchipping is a permanent identification method for cats and dogs. Unlike a collar, a microchip can’t be taken off or lost. It remains with your pet for life.

Losing a cat is a stressful, heartbreaking experience. Indoor-only cats occasionally escape—even the most attentive cat owners can lose their cats. A child may leave a door ajar, or a window screen may fall out.

Yes. According to an article in Science, catnip affects your cat much like heroin and opioids affect people. The difference? Catnip is harmless and not addictive.

Cat lovers may use the terms stray and feral interchangeably, but they have different meanings. A stray cat has been socialized by people, but a feral cat has not.  

You’ve probably heard of puppy mills. These are places where dogs are kept in filthy, crowded cages. Adults are bred continually, and their puppies are sold solely for profit. Unfortunately, kitten mills also exist.

Like a tiger ready to lunge, she’s crouched down on the edge of the sofa, her enormous owl-like eyes fixed on the feather at the end of the toy I’m dangling in front of her. I swing the feather in a full circle once, twice. On the third swing, she does it—a full somersault in the air—landing triumphantly with the feather in her mouth. We cheer.  

The big cats in the wild—lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs—get their drinking water from streams. (And they’re the cool cats, after all. Your cat likes to pretend it’s one of them.)

When your cat’s climbing a cat tree, it’s a big cat in the wild. It might be asserting its authority as the ruler of a jungle, looking for prey to pounce on, or escaping an imaginary predator. Regardless of the game it’s playing, your mini-tiger is having a blast.

Last year, I bought an areca palm tree, a plant that’s nontoxic to both cats and dogs. It was beautiful, a touch of greenery that added warmth and depth to our living room.