Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Is your cat fat? Inactive? Bored? That’s not normal or healthy, and here’s why. Cats instinctively nap 16 or more hours daily. Back when they lived outdoor lives, napping was a mechanism to reserve energy to keep their hunting skills sharp. But in a time when most cats live indoors, with no need to hunt […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Why all the lab work before your pet’s spay/neuter surgery or other procedure? He looks healthy, and as far as you know, there’s nothing wrong with him. The key words are “as far as you know.” Pre-operative testing is an important part of pre-surgical prep that can alert your veterinarian to underlying problems that could […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sometimes travel is a passion and a hobby; sometimes travel is a necessity. When we have to travel and leave our cats, it can be difficult for them and for us. If you are like me, you’ve spent years observing and getting to know your cats. Put this knowledge to use to make sure your […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes We dread the deaths of our beloved cats, and every death is different. We may or may not get notice; we may or may not have time to say goodbye. Assuming there is time to say goodbye, what can we do to make an already stressful and possibly dreaded process as calm and meaningful as […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes From bobtail to slender “whippy” to magnificent plume, cats carry their tails proudly. Like a semaphore flag, the feline tail is a visual signal that communicates emotions up close and at a distance. Flexible, the tail moves up, down, high and low, back and forth. It may be straight, curved entirely, or curved only at […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Elated and relieved people all over proclaim “Good potty!” and “Good pee!” when their dogs perform these necessities during leashed walks. But when is the last time you really looked at your dog’s poop? And how much attention do you really pay to the clumps you scoop each day from your cat’s litter box? One […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Legendary Lassie did more than “save” little Timmy from being stuck at the bottom of the well. The beloved television Collie seemed to accurately read when Timmy was happy or scared and knew when to spring into action to save him from danger in each episode. It turns out our dogs–and cats–may be better mind […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes Raise your hand if you just finished or are in the midst of a major house renovation. Nod your head if your frustration and uncertainty during this ordeal sparked a spat or two with your spouse or made you want to scream out loud. As stressful as these construction projects can be to us, imagine […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes A video circulated around the internet of a little girl leading her kitten through an agility course in her backyard. The girl’s energy and the tails-up, fearless enthusiasm of Suki, the kitten, were endearing. For most of our cats, their best sport is competitive napping. But the Suki video shows that cats can indeed be […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes Does Fear Free matter? Are you kidding? Here’s an example. My own 15-year old cat, Roxy, went to the veterinarian recently for some medical issues. She’s actually fine with going into her carrier and the car ride, and in the past she has never minded the veterinary visit. This time, however, both Dr. Natalie Marks […]