Alleviate Holiday Stress for your Family Felines

With Christmas just a few weeks away, life can be crazy in December.  As special as Christmas is, this
season is also filled with lists and errands and company and chaos.  Lets consider this time of year from your cats point of view:  favorite furniture moved to make room for a tree, bright lights flashing, scented candles, strangers visiting, doorbells ringing, things out of place -WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE!

Help your cats survive the holidays.   Start with Feliway!  Feliway is an amazing product specifically made to manage feline stress.  If you have not used it, you owe it to your cat to have some on hand for stressful times (like the holidays!). 

Feliway is a synthetic copy of the feline facial pheromone, used by cats to mark their territory as safe and secure.  By mimicking the cat’s natural facial pheromones, Feliway creates a state of familiarity and security in the cat's local environment.

As a result, Feliway can be used to help comfort and reassure cats while they cope with a challenging situation and help prevent or reduce the stress caused by  changes in their environment.  FAQ about Feliway

I recommend Feliway for a variety of stressful situations:  travel (to the vet), new baby, remodeling, moving, new pet, and especially holidays.  It also works well in the treatment of territorial aggression and urine marking. It is simple to use, and will really make a difference in your cats happiness!

STRESS REDUCTION = HAPPY CATS.**   
 ** Create safe zones  in your house so that when your cat is stressed, they can "hide" in the safe zone, where there is no chaos and minimal noise.   This is as simple as adding several cardboard boxes under the bed or in a quiet closet.
 ** Offering food and water dishes in multiple locations will eliminate the need for kitty to venture into the chaos of the holiday spirit if they are hungry.       **Remember to add "play with the cat" and "groom the cat" to your holiday list of daily tasks.

Stress and anxiety can lead to medical issues like cystitis, loss of appetite, dehydration.  Being aware of how much your cat is eating and drinking daily is valuable information during stressful situations.   Any changes should be closely watched and reported to your veterinarian.

The holidays are a special time for many of us.  Finding quiet time for your felines will allow them to adapt to the temporary craziness in their house, and will also help you relax and enjoy the little things that you love so much about having a pet.
 Happy Holidays to both you and your feline friends from my family and felines.  Stay warm, travel safely, and remember the Feliway!

Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic

The View From My Side of the Table

Understanding CAT BODY LANGUAGE is essential in my line of work.  As you can imagine,  if I
read a cat wrong, someone could get hurt.   I need to know when your cat is relaxed enough for me to begin my examination, or take an radiograph, or draw a blood sample.  Here are some of my secrets.

  If your cat is rubbing on my leg while I am chatting with you , it is an all-clear signal "you may pick me up now."

 If your cat is walking around the room with their tail pointing toward the ceiling, I am being told, "I am comfortable, and it is OK to handle me now."

If your cat is purring, it does not necessarily mean they are happy.  Cats will purr when happy, scared or in pain, but a purring cat will rarely act aggressively.

Growling comes in many different flavors.  Some cats are giving me a warning, some cats are out of their comfort zone and just scared, and some cats mean "DO NOT reach for me".   Usually I can
differentiate these guys by their body language.

Facial rubbing and head butting is my favorite exam room behavior -it means that I am recognized and accepted as a friend.

The "flop on their side and expose the  belly" cat is also a favorite of mine.  However, I don't want to touch the belly as most cats see this as a breech of trust.  I scratch under the chin and behind the ears -a more generally accepted form of attention.

Flattened ears should never be ignored. These cats are SCARED, and need quiet calming from their owners.  Once the ears are upright, I will slowly proceed with quiet and gentle handling.

Yawning can be a sign of  stress.  Rarely are cats tired in the exam room, but I see a lot of yawning -this indicates that they are nervous and under stress. 

Feliway, a spray product that mimics facial pheremones, and that helps many cats relax -can be used
at home as a way to decrease the stress associated with going to the vet.  Feliway is now available in a wipe.  Used inside the carrier about 10 minutes before you are ready to cage your cat, the Feliway Wipe with act in a natural way to allow your cat to become calm before travel.   I use Feliway on my exam towels.  Some of my patients will only relax when covered with a towel.  We spray these exam towels with Feliway before the appointment.  Feliway makes a BIG difference in some of my patients stress levels.

Learning to read the body language of your cat will help you to understand what they are saying to you.  Cats CAN talk, just not with words, but with actions! 

Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic

Another cat -a great idea or a nightmare?

Adding another cat to your household can be either a great idea and a nightmare .  The end result depends on many factors:  the size of your home including vertical space, the number, health, and temperament of your present cats, and your own patience and expectations.
 
First, chose the right newcomer.  It is MORE important to chose a new cat for their  personality than their beauty.  The newcomer should be friendly, confident, and relaxed around other cats. Kittens are less threatening to a resident adult cat, but their youthful exuberance may not always be appreciated. If you have an older resident, they may appreciate a more mature, less energetic adult friend.  Young male cats tend to play rough at times, and also weigh more, so consider this with an older female cat.

Have PLENTY of vertical space for your cats to perch and observe. This allows even a small home environment to be  multiple-cat friendly.  Padded window seats, multi-level cat towers, access to tops of shelving, are all examples of vertical space, and cat friendly perches should be present in most rooms in your house.

Cat society is a delicate balance of solitude and sociability and you are now messing with the balance.
A newcomer will be viewed as an invader of the territory.    To decrease the liklihood of fighting, housesoiling, stress and  hiding, confining the newcomer to their own space (room) initially  is ESSENTIAL, and so is TAKING THINGS SLOWLY.  The newbie sanctuary should be equipped with all the needed comforts of home, but well away from the resident cat(s). Spend quality play time with the newbie every day.   This will allow the new cat  time to adjust to you, and his room, his new food, his new litter box, and will greatly decrease HIS  overall stress level.

This is the perfect  time to use FELIWAY.  Feliway is a spray or plug-in  to use in your home, that helps cats to relax and relieves anxiety.  Want more more information on Feliway? , click here.

Remember, your newcomer is a source of potential disease: fleas, ear mites, ringworm, lice, intestinal parasites, herpes virus , feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, and more. Confining the newcomer until after they have been examined by your veterinarian, and given the "all clear" signal is a smart move, and may prevent you from having to treat your whole menagerie for a disease or parasite.

During this ESSENTIAL confinement period (days to weeks) , you have work to do.  First,  STEP ONE:  scent swapping. Scent swapping allows the cats a non-confrontational way to become acquainted.  Taking a towel, give the newcomer a  daily rubdown around the face and back (assuming no contagious skin diseases), then leave the towel near a spot that your resident cat frequents.  Repeat in the opposite direction for the newcomer.  Do this daily and place the scented items in a variety of places, and gauge the responses. Go to step two only when you are seeing NO NEGATIVE responses with step 1.

STEP TWO, allow the newbie to roam the house AFTER CONFINING ALL RESIDENT CATS.     Depending on newbie's confidence level, this exercise may need repeating several times before the whole house has been explored in a relaxed manner.  The opposite of this is confining the newbie to a carrier, putting the carrier in a closed room, and allowing the resident cat access to the newbie's sanctuary.  Remember,  do this daily until you see:  NO growling, no puffy back hair, no flat-to-the-head ears -just relaxed happy inquisitiveness from ALL cats.

Once you are seeing no negative responses, it is time for STEP THREE, visual introductions, in a controlled manner.  Again, using your cat carrier, confine the newbie, and set the carrier in the middle of the family room, allowing the resident cat a slow, gradual, non-threatening view and smell of the newbie.  Stay close and use a calm relaxing encouraging tone to your voice.  Do not reprimand or say "NO" to growling or hissing.  This is an expected response initially.  Reverse the scenario the next time with the resident in the carrier.  Be positive and relaxed, as the cats will pick up on your reactions.

LAST STEP, they meet.  You will need 1 person per cat for this, each with food treats and control of their cat.  Stay separated in a large room  where the cats can see each other, but at least 5+ feet apart.  Using food treats, gauge the response of the cat(s).  If everyone is eating and happy, you can let them interact. If not, separate and attempt this again the next day.  Be patient. Go as slow as necessary.

Even after the introduction, I would recommend separating the newbie when your are gone (to work) and when you are sleeping at night.  This will help to control their interactions until you are certain that everyone is behaving appropriately.

Taking these steps slowly -days or even weeks -will help insure that your new family member will be accepted as one of the gang.    Congratulate yourself on a job well done!  Now you can honestly say, "adding another cat was a GREAT IDEA"!
Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic