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Where to Buy Cat Grass – Why Buy When You Can Grow It Yourself?

By Craig / May 22, 2017

If you’re not already familiar with why you might want to grow cat grass then please check out my article on why your cat might be eating grass. Now if you’ve already read about the benefits of cat grass somewhere else and you’re asking yourself where to buy cat grass then I would ask you right back, why don’t you just grow it yourself? Growing cat grass is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying it over and over again every few weeks. On top of that, growing cat grass is super easy. It is one of the most hands off plants I’ve ever dealt with and growing it makes it even cheaper than buying it pre-grown too.

What You’ll Need to Grow Cat Grass

Let’s break down growing cat grass for your furry feline friends. Fortunately growing cat grass is pretty darn easy and it is also extremely affordable, far more affordable than buying it at the store all the time. The list of supplies you’ll need is quite short:

Cat Grass Seeds – I like these Wheat grass Seeds
A plastic or ceramic pot – I recommend ceramic just for the weight, but plastic is fine too. Drainage holes are a bonus.
Potting Soil – This type works just fine
Water
Optional: Pebbles/rocks
Optional: Fertilizer. I’ve never bothered with fertilizer for cat grass and it always grows just fine.

Below I’ve documented each of the steps that it takes to grow your own cat grass. I’ve provided both a video and a text & photo version so even if you’re in a noisy spot you can still take a look through the simple steps. Note that I planted everything outside just to save myself from making a mess all over the place, but if you don’t have a place to plant outside feel free to do this right in your kitchen sink or on some newspaper inside.

Step by Step Video Directions to Grow Your Own Cat Grass

Step by Step Text & Photo Directions to Grow Your Own Cat Grass

Step 1. Get all of the different pieces listed above together in one spot.

Step 2. Put a small layer of pebbles/rocks on the bottom of your pot. It will help weigh it down and assist with drainage.

Step 3. Fill your pot with potting soil most of the way up, leave about an inch at the top of your pot.

Step 4. Sprinkle your seeds into the pot. Note you can use any Cat Grass seeds but I’ve personally had excellent luck with the type I listed above by Todd’s Seeds. Another option you can consider is Oat Grass. Don’t be stingy with the seeds when you sprinkle them out. Cat grass seeds don’t take up a lot of room and you want a lot of it to grow.

Step 5. Top off the soil. Don’t pat the soil down, just leave it loose and shake it a bit to even the dirt out on top. This will make it far easier for the cat grass to push its way out when it starts to sprout.

Step 6. Pour water on the seeds with a watering can, hose or whatever is handy. Don’t drench them to the point that everything turns to mud, but make sure the soil is moist.

Step 7. Keep it out of a completely sunny place while the seeds germinate, a warm spot is good. You don’t need to put it in a room with no windows, just don’t set outside on a rooftop where it will receive full sun all day. Return each day for the next few days and give it a little water if the soil doesn’t look/feel moist. Again, there’s no need to soak it completely, but you want it a little moist. I live in a relatively humid environment so I only had to add water one time before they sprouted.

- Swipe left/right to see more

Step 8. Once the sprouts pop up above ground move your cat grass into a sunny spot, preferably that your cats can’t get to it for about 2-3 days while the shoots really take off. If your cats get to it too early they will likely mow it down before it has a chance to thrive!

- Swipe left/right to see more

Step 9. Watch your kitties enjoy and make sure it stays moist so it doesn’t die. You’ll still need to water the grass every 3-4 days over the 2-3 week life of the pot. Don’t let it completely dry out!

A Few Additional Tips Based on Experience

My cats are like lawn mowers with the cat grass and will easily eat an entire decent sized pot in a week. Because my cats tear through it so quickly I typically start a new pot every week or two to keep a constant supply available.
The wheat grass doesn’t ‘grow back’ once the cats mow it down to the base. Once they’ve gone through most of the grass in the pot you’ll probably need to pull out the grass and dump a bit of the root locked dirt into the garbage. Then you can add a bit more dirt and start again. You should be able to re-use the same pots quite often without completely dumping the dirt all the time.
If you decide to use plastic pots then be sure to put a few rocks in the bottom of the pot for weight purposes like you see in the photos. Otherwise your cat is likely to drag/knock the pot over as she chomps on the grass and tries to break it off.
I highly recommend you leave your pots on the floor once you grant your cats access. My cats have knocked the pots off of the window more than once when I use the lightweight plastic ones. It makes for quite a mess and you only have yourself to blame for it since I forewarned you!
One additional note, after eating cat grass cats will sometimes vomit. This is completely normal. Feel free to check out my article on why this might happen and if you should be worried about it.

Have you ever grown your own cat grass? If so, how’d it turn out? Do you have any additional tips you think should be added to this page? Also please feel free to directly email me your pictures of your cats eating cat grass and I’ll get them posted into a gallery! Please leave a comment or email me directly at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com with any thoughts!

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Pioneer Pet SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post Review – It’s Scratching Time!

General

Product Reviews

Scratchers

By Craig / May 19, 2017

Product: Pioneer Pet SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post

Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

5 stars

Product Overview:

If you have a cat, that cat is going to watch to scratch. And unfortunately they often want to scratch something you don’t want them scratching. The only real exception to cats wanting to scratch is if a cat has been declawed.

While I highly recommend you do not declaw your cat, even cats that have been declawed still tend to exhibit many of the behaviors of cats that do still have their claws, so a scratching post could still come in handy to some extent.

But if you’re wondering why you might need a scratching post, there are a couple of great reasons that cats scratch:

To remove layers of old nails from the claws. One of the most prominent reasons cat scratch is because their claws continue growing throughout their lives and they need to remove the old layers to expose the new ones.
To exercise and tone muscles. It might not look it, but stretching out and scratching is actually pretty vigorous exercise for your feline friend and helps keep them healthy by working those muscles.
To relieve stress, frustration and boredom. Have you ever just wanted to take a walk to stretch your legs? Cats are the same with scratching.
To “warm-up” for a vigorous play session. Just like humans, warming up before a big workout is a good idea to avoid injury.
To mark territory. This is similar to the way cats rub their face on everything in sight when they are happy and comfortable. The front paws of every cat contain scent glands and when they scratch something it leaves behind their scent on the object being scratched.

So Why Buy A Scratching Post?

The most simple reason to purchase a scratching post is to avoid the frustration and the cost of damage caused by your cat scratching other things in your house. Cats without an appropriate scratching post or surface will scratch anything from your molding to your door to your couch to your carpet.

Not only will they do this constantly, but the damage will mount quickly and the costs can be astronomical, especially if you own nice furniture or live in a place that has a large security deposit you might end up losing.

Bottom line, buying a high quality scratching post can help save you a lot of money and hassle in the long run by providing an approved place for your cat to scratch.

My General Take:

I highly recommend this post for you and your cats, it gets a solid 5 out of 5 stars. I tried various other smaller posts as well as several horizontal scratchers that lay on the floor.

To say the least I had nowhere near the same interest or success with getting my cats or any of my foster cats to use them on a consistent basis.

Unfortunately a lot of other posts also run the same if not more from a cost perspective and just don’t seem to be as effective. You can see Beast, my smaller cat, really getting a fully stretch while scratching the post up.

She loves it and uses it just in passing all the time. There’s plenty of room at the top for a larger cat to get a good full stretch in as well.

What’s In the Box:

The Post Itself – 32 inches tall
The Post Base – 16×16
Two Screws – Used to attach the base to the post

How Is the Setup?

One of the easiest cat products to build that I have ever encountered. It has two screws and you basically screw the base into the actual post. It doesn’t get much easier than this unless it comes fully assembled.

Anything Else to Consider?

The post is incredibly durable and allows your cats to get a full stretch. At a little over 32 inches tall this makes sure even big cats are able to fully stretch out vertically while they scratch. Shorter products are often shunned by larger cats because it doesn’t allow them to get this full body stretch.
The scratching material is sisal, widely considered one of the best possible materials for cats to scratch.
The coloring is neutral and should fit in with almost any decor. If not you can place it somewhere out of sight once your cats get used to it, they’ll seek it out.
The base is very wide at 16” x 16” which ensures that even larger cats don’t have trouble with it tipping and wobbling.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Will this be a good replacement for my cat that scratches X? X could be anything from a chair to a door frame to couch.
- The short answer is this is a good scratching post that can be a replacement for almost anything your cat is currently scratching. That being said simply buying the post and putting it typically won’t automatically result in your cat switching scratching targets.
- You’ll probably have to help shift your cats attention and reward them for using the post instead of whatever they currently use.
How do I teach my cat to use it?
- I have a whole separate post on getting your cat to stop scratching things you don’t want them to scratch, but a few quick thoughts:
  - The material it is made of, sisal, naturally entices your cats to keep scratching. Once they try it once that might be all it takes.
  - Place the post near whatever your cat currently uses as a primary scratching target.
  - Play with your cat near the post, especially with wand toys that might get them to bat at or around the post.
  - Reward your cat for using the post with treats or whatever motivates your cat.
  - Rub catnip into the post so it becomes a self-rewarding activity to scratch the catnip out of the post.
Is it good for multiple cats?
- Yes, it easily accommodates multiple cats and is durable enough to last a good long time with multiple cats using it daily.

Wrapping It Up

If you have used the SmartCat scratcher and had good luck or bad luck with it then please leave a comment below. If you have any additional items you’d like to see added to this post then please comment below or directly email me at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com so I can update the information here.

SureFeed Microchip Feeder Review – You’ll Love It

General

Product Reviews

By Craig / May 16, 2017

Surefeed Micochip Feeder - Open and Close

Product: SureFeed Microchip Feeder

Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

4.5 stars

SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Product Overview

The SureFeed Microchip Feeder is a product that is designed to serve two basic purposes:

To only allow certain animals to access the food inside it.
To keep the food inside the feeder fresh/sealed.

The feeder works on a simple premise. Any cat that has a microchip can be ‘keyed’ to the feeder and then when that cat gets nearby the feeder it will pop open to allow them access. When that cat steps away the feeder will close up again blocking access to other pets. Note that the feeder can hold up to 32 microchip IDs at the same time, so even if you have a boatload of cats you should still be able to grant all of them access to a single feeder if that is your desire.

Why Would I Need That?

The first time I saw this online I had just gotten my first cat Beast. I thought to myself ‘What would you ever need something like that for?’ and that ‘Only people who spoil their pets beyond belief would get something like this.’ Apparently I was wrong on the latter and I quickly realized why I might need it.

There are a couple of reasons you might want this, but the primary reason is to control which pets can get to which food so you can easily manage the amount they eat on a daily basis. In my house we have two cats, Lexi and Beast. Lexi is super food motivated and acts like a Hoover when food gets set down. Not only did this cause her to quickly gain weight, over two pounds in about six months, it also caused our other cat Beast to get far less food because Lexi kept eating it all!

Beast on the other hand exacerbated the issue because Beast is a grazer, she eats a bunch of micro meals through out the day. She stops in for a few crunches, walks away, stops back in an hour later, walks away. We couldn’t just put them in separate rooms for 30 minutes to eat and then let them go free the rest of the day. Beast would barely eat anything this way because we’d have to pick up her food when we let her out so Lexi wouldn’t eat it.

So How Does the Feeder Solve the Problem?

There’s a small button on the back of the feeder that let’s you quickly ‘Add’ a cat to the feeder (see the cat with the + sign). Essentially you push this button and then put food in the feeder. When your cat comes to the feeder and eats from it the feeder will ‘learn’ the microchip ID and log it to memory for all time, even if the batteries get pulled out. Pretty cool right?

Now every time that cat comes back to the feeder it will pop open and if they step away it will close back up. Only that cat can open the feeder until/unless you add another. If you want to add additional cats you can just go through the same process again with another cat, up to 32 cats. Super easy, it only takes a few seconds!

How Do You Train Your Cat To Use the Feeder?

Once the microchip ID has been learned you can very easily start the training process for your cat. Training process?!? What training process? Some cats don’t require the training process at all, but some are a little bit skittish because the feeder makes a little bit of noise when it opens and closes.

My cat Beast is a giant wimp and runs from most things that make noise, but it only ended up taking her about 2 days of the training process to learn how to use the feeder. The training process basically modifies how much the lid the moves when your cat gets near the feeder. The first step moves it only a tiny bit so it makes only a little noise. As your cat progresses through training the lid will move more and more close to closing and opening completely.

This was incredibly easy for me with a very skittish little furball, so I imagine even if your cat is quite easily startled you shouldn’t have much problem at all. Once training is done, you’re done. You just fill the feeder like you would your cats regular bowl and set it down!

My General Take:

I give it a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m very happy with the purchase despite initially thinking it was quite expensive. The simple fact of the matter is, if my food motivated cat Lexi gets overweight and then sick because of it…the cost of treating her will far outweigh the investment in a decent feeder that stops her from stealing food from Beast.

The Pros:

It is super easy to setup & train your cat to use, even a skittish cat.
It works beautifully and keeps my grazer’s food safe and fresh.
My food motivated cat Lexi has lost the bulk of the weight she gained.
There is zero material difference in the time required to feed my cats.

Room for Improvement

Wet food tends to stick to the moving lid which is more of an annoyance than anything. It is easily cleaned off with a damp cloth.
The bowls are plastic and not dishwasher or microwave safe, though many people put them through the dishwasher anyway with no issue.

What’s In the Box?

The SureFeed Microchip Feeder
2 bowls custom fit to the feeder
- One bowl is split down the middle and one is not
- Each bowl holds about 2 cups of food
A small removable mat to make cleaning up easier
1 MicroChip Tag to attach to a cat collar to use if your cat doesn’t have a chip already (not pictured)

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cats can you associate?
- 32 cat microchips can be associated.
What batteries does it take?
- 4 C Batteries, they aren’t included.
How long do the batteries last?
- Mine have lasted over six months without issue and it is used daily.
What if I have lots of cats and my cats aren’t Microchipped?
- You can buy additional SureFlap Collar Microchips and key them to the feeder.
What if I have a big cat?
- If you have a large cat like a Maine Coon, you might need to set it on top of something to raise it off the floor. Otherwise your cat might have difficulty leaning down under the arch that identifies the microchip to open the feeder.
Does this product control the release of food?
- No, it just controls which pets can access the food. If you need a feeder that controls the amount of food released because your cat gorges itself then you’ll need to look into an auto feeder.
Can I buy more bowls?
- Yes, you can buy more of the fitted bowls. You can also easily buy small stainless steel bowls that fit under the lid and are dishwasher safe.
How loud is it?
- If you can avoid it I would definitely not keep it in your bedroom or any room you sleep in. While it isn’t horribly loud, it would definitely wake a light sleeper up in the same room as it opens and closes.

If you have any other thoughts on the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder please leave a comment below or send me an email at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com so I can update this article.

Why Is My Cat Eating Grass and Is It Safe?

General

Why do Cats?

By Craig / May 11, 2017

Cats are considered carnivores. Now this doesn’t mean they can’t eat other things, it means that if they don’t eat meat they can’t survive. This is quite a bit different than dogs which are considered omnivores, meaning they can survive without meat in their diet. That being said, most dogs do eat meat in some way shape are form, but we are here for cats, so onto the cat diet. Most recommendations on a diet for a cat aim for a target of about 80% protein. This is why you generally speaking don’t want to feed your cat a bunch of grain based foods, they need protein to thrive. So what is your little furry pal doing when she’s chomping down on the grass outside or in one of your flower pots? And is there anything you need to worry about with your cat eating grass? Good questions. Let’s take a look into this in a bit more detail.

So what exactly is cat grass?

Cat grass is kind of a catch all for a large number of grasses that attract our feline friends. The most common ones you’ll see in the store are going to be things like Wheat Grass, Barley & Oat Grass. There’s little overall difference in the impact these will have on your cat, but it is good to know there are various different kinds out there you might run across. All of them are perfectly safe for your cat to eat and won’t have any toxicity to worry about. Note grass outside in your lawn isn’t good for your cat, and even more dangerous if you use any chemicals to fertilize or treat the grass for pests etc. Do your best to keep your cat away from eating grass outside!

And why does my cat eat it?

There is no proven reason on why cats eat cat grass. It is similar to the question we often hear people asking on why humans have an appendix. The short of it is we have a few good assumptions, but we have no guaranteed proof (yet). So let’s get into the reasons that have been theorized and have some substance to them:

Historically when cats hunted they would typically consume their prey in a far different way than your standard house cat. The things cats swallowed could include all sorts of stuff including bits of bone, feathers and various other things the cat couldn’t digest effectively. Given this, one of the primary theories on why cats enjoy cat grass is because it tends to cause them to vomit which helps remove indigestible from their system. Note that it is totally normal for a cat to eat cat grass and then vomit. If your cat is vomiting all the time though check out my post on why your cat might be vomiting.
Following on the same track of consuming prey, there is a theory that indoor cats crave plant matter due to genetics. Essentially, when cats used to eat their prey they would consume whatever their prey had recently eaten. These smaller animals often survived primarily on plant matter and thus cats ate plants indirectly.
Another theory focuses on on nutrients. When your cat chews up grass she ingests with it folic acid, something she may not get enough of through her standard diet of store bought canned and dry food. Folic Acid is considered essential for the daily operation of your cat’s bodily functions. It does thing like help produce hemoglobin which helps move oxygen in the blood.
Grass is also a great source of fiber. If your cat is constantly after cat grass it is possible your furry friend isn’t getting quite enough fiber in her diet. The cat grass might be their way of letting you know you need to change up their diet a bit to ensure their digestion is moving along as expected and they won’t get constipated.

While none of these theories has been proven as the single reason your cat is interested in grass, they all have some merit and could all be partially responsible for your cat’s behavior. So where can you get some safe grass to fulfill the desires of your cat?

Where can I get cat grass for my furry friends?

There are two primary methods of acquiring cat grass, grow it or buy it. Either way you’ll be buying something though:

Buy: If you’d like to buy it then you can find it at most major pet stores like Petco & PetSmart, lots of hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s & you can also find it even at Whole Foods, typically labeled as Wheat Grass.
Grow: If you decide you want to grow it then you can follow my step by step guide on How to Grow Your Own Cat Grass, it has both video and picture based steps to give you a full walk through.

One key item I will point out is that if you decide to buy Cat Grass you’ll end up spending a heck of a lot more money than you would if you simply grow it yourself. There is of course a trade off in time & effort, but cat grass is quite easy to grow to be honest. A small tray of cat grass will run you a couple bucks and most cats will get through it pretty darn quickly. You can grow it for pennies on the dollar and easily setup a recurring cat grass supply to keep it handy with only a few minutes of work each week.

Closing it up

One additional note. It is by no means necessary to feed your cat Cat Grass. They would certainly not die without it in their diet, and in most cases won’t even notice the difference. That being said most cats do seem to enjoy it from time to time and it is a good way to keep them away from your potentially hazardous houseplants. If you’re anything like me, having your cat do your gardening work probably doesn’t excite you. They don’t seem to be too good at maintaining symmetry :).

If you have any other thoughts on growing Cat Grass or in relation to Cat Grass please leave a comment below or send me an email at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com so I can update this article.

How to Stop Cat Shedding – Is it even possible?

General

How to Guides

By Craig / May 10, 2017

Does the phrase ‘Cat got your tongue?’ sound familiar? Probably, but I’m not using it in the common sense. I mean more in the sense that you have cat hair in your mouth, on your tongue. Not only is there cat fur in your mouth, it is likely all over your clothes, your furniture and practically anywhere and everywhere it could possibly be. It even gets in your pockets! From time to time you’ve probably debated shaving your cat, I know I have! Well, I’ve joked about it at least. I don’t think my cat Beast would be too happy about it though, she’d likely get quite cold! This constant fur assault did lead me to ask how to stop cat shedding though.

There is no way to stop a cat from shedding

The answer I found was not what I wanted to hear, but also not terribly surprising. The short answer is, there’s not a way to stop cats from shedding. Ok, so if you can’t stop it you might at least want to understand what’s behind it right?

So what is causing your cat to shed? You might think it is the temperature, I certainly thought this contributed to it at at least. While associated, the temperature change doesn’t cause the shedding. It’s actually the amount of light your cat is exposed to each day. The relative lengths of light and dark influence the shedding cycle in your cat. So outdoor cats that are mostly exposed to sunlight and less artificial light will shed more in the summer and less in the winter. Indoor cats on the other hand experience a heck of a lot more light at all times of day and this impacts the growth and shedding cycle of the hair. The basic result, year round shedding. Lucky us for providing them a nice warm home huh? So we can’t stop the shedding, we know what’s behind it, what do we do about it?

The best we can do is control the fur

Despite quite a bit of research, it doesn’t appear that anyone has been successful in stopping shedding. Unless you count those folks that have hairless cats like the sphinx. But if you ask me that’s cheating because the sphinx doesn’t have any hair to begin with! So what other options do we have? Well, we can control the fur as best we can through a variety of methods.

Stopping the fur at the source

Brushing – Frequent brushing will help extract loose hair from your cat, long haired or short. If you’re not already brushing on a consistent basis then be sure to start with short brushing sessions. Also note you might need to try a few different types of brushes to see which one your cat likes. Some cats might never really like brushing, but beyond minimizing shedding, brushing will also help decrease the likelihood of hairballs.
Bathing – While bathing a cat is not a necessity by any means, it has been shown to reduce shedding by removing excess fur from their coat. You should be careful with this method though because if bathing your cat makes it unhappy this can lead to additional shedding based on the high stress caused by bathing. Talk about your all time backfires right? If you want to try bathing your cat then you can follow this guide on Cat Bathing 101. Always remember to use specially formulated cat shampoo and avoid their face, especially their eyes. And give them a good drying with a towel, the hair dryer scares most cats quite badly.
Bathing Alternatives – If you don’t even want to try bathing your cat, but you would like to achieve the same results, you’re in luck. There are a few additional things you can try that should help, like wipes and pet hair conditioner! First use the specially formulated wipes then spray on some of the leave-in conditioner to moisturize the coat. Moist healthy hair is less likely to fall out!
The Groomer – There is also the option of taking your furry friend to a professional groomer, especially for those of you with long haired cats that are especially afraid of brushing and bathing. Having your cat trimmed down once or twice a year is a good way to help decrease the visible hair you’ll end up seeing throughout the house.

Maintaining inner beauty

Ensuring your cat stays hydrated – Be sure that your cat has a constantly supply of clean fresh water. Cats will often avoid drinking water out of a bowl with their hair in it, kind of a vicious cycle huh? So you need to ensure your cat has clean water because staying well hydrated helps ensure your cat has a sleeker/shinier coat. A more hydrated coat means a healthier coat and a healthier coat means less hair falling out.
Developing a high quality fur coat – If your cat doesn’t have a healthy coat with a nice sheen to and he or she is getting plenty of water this may be a strong indicator that your cat might not be getting all of the right nutrients she needs to maintain a healthy coat. Some of the key nutrients that produce a shiny coat, not surprisingly, come from fatty acids. Omega-3 and Omega-6 to be exact. There are a bunch of different ways to get your cat more of of these fatty acids including supplements and specially formulated food. Check with your vet to see which is best for your cat.
Maintaining a healthy body weight – If your cat happens to be overweight she might be having a tough time grooming herself. When she has a tough time grooming herself this can lead to an unhealthy coat which can drive additional shedding. If your cat is overweight (you can’t feel her ribs at all when gently pushing on her tummy) then you should help her work on shedding a few pounds. Get it? Shedding? Pounds. Sorry, I make lame jokes, but this is seriously important!

Cleaning Up The Strays

No matter what you do there will be some hair that manages to find its way onto the floor or onto your clothes, this is just a reality of cat ownership. So here are a few ways to clean up the fur:

A damp cloth – This works great on most any surface, including furniture. Be sure not to soak the cloth and drench whatever you are wiping down, otherwise you can easily damage wood surfaces in particular.
A lint roller – Great for clothing. There are multiple types of lint rollers, some of them have the tear off sheets and others have specially designed fabric that traps fur and lint as you drag them across a surface. I’ve had success with both, but the ones with the special fabric are less wasteful.
Swiffer Sweeper – The Swiffer is great for cleaning up cat fur off of wood floors. It really does make it super easy to just quickly run around and pick up a ton of fur without much effort. Swiffer replacement pads can get pricy over the long haul though.
A vacuum – A vacuum huh? Duh, thanks Craig. I know it is obvious, but one recommendation I would make is to focus on vacuums that are pet specific models. These are special designed to deal with the extra hair that would be gathered when you have pets around. You might also consider one of the automatic vacuums if you have specific areas your cats frequent.

Wrapping it up:

Remember shedding is a natural process for your cat and that we humans are largely responsible for our indoor cats shedding all of the time. The tips above should help you decrease the amount of fur you end up encountering, the most important one, and probably one of the easiest, is establishing routine brushing. Establishing a consistent cleaning routine is equally as important because once the hair falls off it starts to pile up.

If none of the above seem to be making a dent in your shedding problem then you should definitely get your cat to the veterinarian for a checkup to ensure there’s not something else causing it! As mentioned above as well, before providing any supplements or significantly changing your cat’s diet be sure to consult your vet for recommendations and doses.

If you have any other thoughts on how to stop cat shedding then please leave a comment below or send me an email at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com so I can update this article.

Why Does My Cat Keep On Vomiting – And What Should I Do About It?

General

Health Care

Why do Cats?

By Craig / May 7, 2017

Ugh, disgusting, you just stepped in it in the dark…Any cat owner here knows what I’m talking about. You might have heard your cat in the middle of the night, or you might not have heard anything, but either way you’ve discovered the results and they are plastered all over your foot. There are few things less enjoyable than stepping in a pile of cat vomit, but as uncomfortable as that might be for you, it is something you need to pay close attention to so you can ensure the general health of your feline friend. So let’s first consider the question why does my cat keep on vomiting and then talk about what you might do about it to help your cat avoid it in the future.

Common Reasons Your Cat Might Vomit & Ways to Treat Them:

Is Your Cat Eating Right?
- There are a couple of things you should look into related to your cats diet, bust the biggest one is what your cat is eating. Just like humans, we have things we can digest and things we can’t digest that cause an upset stomach. When a cat consumes anything outside the realm of decent quality food — be it low quality food, string, or even their own fur — their digestive system reacts just like a human, by giving them an upset stomach and in most cases causing them to vomit.
- I mentioned low quality food above, this means food that is not high enough quality for human consumption. If you’re buying your cat food from a place like Petco or Petsmart this isn’t really something you should be worried about, but definitely keep it in mind if you are getting your food from a highly discounted location.
Your Cat Has Developed a Green Thumb
- If your cat loves to eat your household plants then you might have a problem. Most plants aren’t too good for your cat, and that includes a lot of plants that are perfectly healthy for us humans. You might need to move houseplants into a room your cat isn’t allowed into or you might need to reconsider the plants you have in your house to ensure the long term health of your cat. If your cat insists on eating plants you might consider growing yourself some Cat Grass. It is super easy and I’ll soon be posting a simple how to guide here at How To Grow Your Own Cat Grass.
Your Kitty Has a Milk Mustache
- Are you feeding your cat milk in a saucer like you saw in old cartoons? If so, you should probably cut it out of their diet unless it is specially formulated for cats. Your cat can’t actually digest milk from a cow or a goat or any other animal other than a cat, and they stop doing this after they reach adulthood. If you find it necessary to feed your cat milk then please use something like this so your cat can break it down properly.
Your Feline Might Have Food Allergies
- Just like in humans, animals have food allergies and can easily get sick from eating food that they are allergic to. This is one of the main reasons you’ve seen a significant increase in the number of grain free cat foods hitting the market in recent years. Not only are they generally healthier, but they are less likely to tweak or irritate a food allergy.
- Other common cat food allergies are caused by all of the common meats in cat food: beef, fish, eggs, etc. So if you feed your cat a lot of different foods then you might try rotating specific foods in and out of their diet to see if removing one decreases the vomiting incidents. An additional note, just like in humans, even if your cat never showed an allergy in the past it doesn’t mean that allergy cannot surface later in life.
The Need For Speed
- If your cat is anything like my cat Lexi, the second you put food down on the ground she inhales it like a Dyson. Lexi is an incredibly food motivated cat that will eat anything you put down even if it is two or three times the size of her regular meal. A cat who eats too quickly can easily end up throwing their meal up a few minutes later.
- While more often than not this originates in households with multiple cats, it isn’t specifically restricted to this situation. If you have a cat that simply eats quickly, you might want to try portioning out their food into multiple smaller meals and separating those meals by a few minutes each so your kitty can’t gobble everything down too quickly. If you do have multiple cats in your household you may also want to read my upcoming article on Ensuring Your Cat Isn’t Stealing Food.
Remember Waiting 30 Minutes To Swim?
- If you’re anything like me then as a kid you were constantly told you shouldn’t swim until at least 30 minutes after eating cause you might get a crank. While this is somewhat over embellished, you certainly get some nasty stomach irritation if you exercise too soon after eating. The same goes for cats. If you feed them and then attempt to play with them immediately after you are kind of asking for them to get sick. Give your cat a solid 30 minutes or even a full hour after feeding them before attempting to engage them in physical activity. This will give them ample time to adjust and ensure they aren’t getting sick for such a simple reason.

General Treatment

Your best bet to help your cat out right after they vomit is to make sure they don’t have anything additional to eat or drink for a little while. This ensures if their stomach is upset that they won’t eat more and then have another episode. I’d wait at least an hour, but you can wait a bit longer if you want. After an hour or so you can put down a fresh bowl of water for your cat. If they take a drink and don’t end up vomiting again for say half an hour you are probably in good shape to give them a small amount of food.

Start them with food that isn’t super rich. Definitely avoid foods with heavy gravy, cream sauces etc. From a dry food standpoint avoid huge mixes of stuff like the classic Meow Mix with 10 different types of dry food in the bag. There are some special designed foods for sensitive stomachs that you may want to consider as well. If they do well with small portions feel free to migrate back to larger portions.

If none of the above seem to be the culprit and your cat is still vomiting please read on below…

Your Cat Might Be Really Sick:

Did Your Cat Ingest Poison?
- While houseplants don’t agree with your cat as mentioned above, there are a bunch of other poisons that can cause your poor kitty all sorts of grief. Most things poisoning to other animals, including humans, are poisonous for cats. This includes weed killers, bug killers and all sorts of cleaning chemicals. These will cause vomiting if ingested and unfortunately could result in far worse if left without treatment. If you think your cat has eaten any of the above you should call a 24 hour vet hotline immediately. The ASPCA also offers services on a toll free Poison Control Center Hotline at 1-888-426-4435.
Does Your Cat Have a Virus, an Infection Or Something Else?
- Your cat could potentially be truly sick. There are all sorts of different sicknesses that can cause a cat to vomit ranging from worms to diabetes to cancer. Given I am not a veterinarian it is not even remotely appropriate for me to provide any potential diagnosis, but do understand it could be something minor that a simple set of antibiotics might fix for good. That being said, if the vomiting continues then you should get your cat to a veterinarian as soon as possible so a professional can help you diagnose and treat your pet as quickly and effectively as possible.

I truly wish you the best in getting your cat healthy and helping them stop vomiting. I know it is no fun for us, but it is certainly no fun for them either. If you have any questions or any thoughts on other things that might cause your cat to vomit then please post a comment here or shoot me a note at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com so I can update this post.

Special Note: If there is blood in your cat’s vomit you should immediately get your cat to a veterinarian. This, just like in a person, is the sign of a potentially serious problem. You need to get medical attention for your cat ASAP.

How to Stop Cat Litter Tracking – A Comprehensive Guide

General

How to Guides

Litter Mats

Product Reviews

By Craig / May 5, 2017

stop litter in its tracks

While not all cats use litter, the bulk of them certainly do. It is usually the easiest way for us humans to provide a good place for the cats to relieve themselves. But litter can be a pain in the neck. Anyone who has picked up a couple 40+ pound bags of litter can relate.

The biggest hassle though, is litter tracking. You’re walking around on your nice clean floor and ugh…You now have litter stuck all over the bottom of your feet. Gross, and it can be really painful too. Or probably the worst, when you find a streak of something on your table or counter.

Let’s dig into how to stop cat litter tracking for good.

The Litter Box – Get The Right One

While litter ends up all over your house for multiple reasons, the biggest one is often the litter box itself. The biggest reason is just that the litter box doesn’t contain it when your cat decides to kick litter everywhere.

Most traditional litter boxes only have walls that stand 5 or 6 inches. This means when your kitty tries to bury their business they end up scattering litter all over. Once it is on the floor it will track it all over the place. You’ll want to consider a couple of options to help alleviate this problem:

A high sided litter box – High sided boxes help minimize litter being kicked out. This is a rather simple upgrade, but there is a dip in the front of most high sided litter boxes that still leaves a gap for litter to get booted through. There are a wide variety of them to choose from and they can make a significant difference if your cat isn’t a big kicker.
A fully enclosed litter box – A fully enclosed litter box uses a top that will help contain kicked litter to a higher degree as it also includes a flap or a door that will ensure even less litter sneaks out. If you do decide to get a box with a top I’d also be sure to get one where the top itself raises upward. This makes it significantly easier to scoop.
A top entry litter box – I’ve never used one, but there are top entry litter boxes made by a few companies, the one I’ve seen reviewed the highest is from a company called CleverCat (and is much cheaper than the Modkat “brandname” version). The general idea is that since your cat needs to enter/exit through the top they are forced to jump up onto the roof of the box on the way out. This will shake off a good chunk of any littler stuck to your cat and also completely limit any litter from slipping out the sides.

Get a Litter Trapping Mat:

While a high sided box or a fully enclosed box is the first step, it typically won’t stop litter tracking completely. There are mats that are custom designed to trap litter as your cat exits the litter box. Here are comprehensive reviews of the most well known:

A good mat is imperative. It’ll do way more than any regular rug you can find because of the special design, they are also a heck of a lot easier to empty than your traditional rugs.

Consider the Litter:

That rhymes and you know it rhymes. But in all seriousness, litter itself comes in a bunch of different forms. Your standard clumping litter is the most likely type to stick to your cat and get tracked out of the box.

You might consider switching to another litter. If you do decide to make a switch be sure to read up on switching out your litter gradually. While some cats are fine with a quick switch, most aren’t too happy if you switch litters on them all of a sudden.

Crystals – As opposed to clumping up, crystals essentially absorb urine and control odor for a period of time. While crystals have benefits, you do have to completely replace them quite often (weekly or every two weeks) depending on the number of cats you have. This can get quite a bit more expensive than traditional litter.
Paper – Paper based litter is similar to crystals in that it is focused on absorbing urine and controlling the scent. It is normally easy to see which bits have been used based on color/size, but you can end up scooping out a lot of it that you don’t mean to since it doesn’t clump. This can get pricy longer term since you can end up wasting unused litter.
Pine – Pine litters in general are an alternative to clay, but based on all of the information I’ve seen to date they have similar tracking problems. If odor control is a higher priority you might consider this.
Go ‘Litterless’ – There are a few systems out there that don’t use any actual litter, but instead use things a combination of a water hookup from your toilet and ‘fake’ litter that then gets flushed away. The most common one is a CatGenie.

Trimming Paw Fur:

While this is probably a last resort, and should be handled by a professional unless you have a super relaxed cat, you can get the fur between your cats paw pads shortened up. With long haired cats especially, this can be one of the biggest reasons that litter gets stuck to their feet. Shortening the hair up a bit can help keep the litter sticking to a minimum.

clean up the rogue litter

Clean Up the Rogue Cat Litter

All of these methods will inch you toward a tracking free household, but very likely you’ll still get a few little bits here and there outside the litter box.

If you’ve got wood or tile floors keep a broom and a dustpan nearby and sweep the area on a consistent basis.

If a broom won’t work consider a dust buster. My wife and I have The Shark and it does a great job not only for litter, but also for cat hair as well. The more you confine the mess the less it’ll get out and about!

Changing the Game Completely

Now there is one other option available for those of you that wish transcend us mere mortals that still use litter on a daily basis. Cats, especially younger cats, can be trained to actually use the toilet. I have never even attempted this method, but you can find details on such methods in a couple of different places:

You really shouldn’t attempt this if your cat is older or if they might have any injuries because it can make it way too difficult for the cat to get up onto the toilet. This is also noted as a long and arduous process, so it isn’t for the faint of heart. One last thing to keep in mind, in general cats don’t flush, so you might constantly be finding stuff in your toilet….

Wrapping it Up on How to Stop Cat Litter Tracking

The biggest reason cat litter gets everywhere is it gets out of the litter box, do your best to get a more enclosed space for your kitty to do their business
Get yourself a great specially designed litter mat that will trap and hold litter
Clean up the space around your litter box(es) on a daily basis
You can always consider training your cat to use the toilet if you want to avoid litter completely

If you have any other thoughts on how to stop cat litter tracking then please leave a comment below or send me an email at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com so I can update this article.

What Do I Need to Adopt A Cat – Product Breakdown

General

Product Reviews

By Craig / May 2, 2017

If you’re in the process of adopting a cat you’re going to want to know all of the things you might need for your cat before you bring him or her home. But you might have never had a cat before and you might be asking yourself “What do I need to adopt a cat?” This post is directed toward helping you identify a breakdown of specific products that fall into each category outlined in my Cat Adoption Kit post. If you don’t know what types of stuff you need yet or why you might need it you might want to read that post first. If you’ve already read it and you’re ready for a breakdown of great products then please continue on below!

Here’s a quick list of all of the things you need, feel free to click the link to get to that exact product on the page:

Litter Box
Cat Litter
Litter Genie
Litter Scoop
Cat Food
Bowls
Cat Carrier
Scratching Equipment
Nail Clippers
Brush

Do note as you move through all of these different products and links that these are based on my own opinion on these products. They may not be as effective with some cats as they are with others, but in general I’ve recommended what I think will be best with your average cat! If you have any questions or any comments then please do let me know below!

1. Litter Box

The litter box is a clear essential for any cat. Let’s look at a couple of different options you have available from a litter box perspective:

Budget

Mid Range

Expensive

Top of the Line

Nature’s Miracle High-Sided Litter Box

Hagen CatIt Hooded Cat Litter Box

Modkat Litter Box Kit

The Fully Automated Litter Robot

This is your basic high sided litter box. It will help contain litter a heck of a lot better than a standard low sided one and it is cheap to boot. A great product at a great price.

For those looking for a bit more cover up and a fully enclosed space for both odor control and additional litter control this is a great option. It is also a very affordable option.

The Modkat litter box is specifically designed to help control litter tracking. I’ll have a comprehensive post on litter tracking control soon. It is a pricy investment, but if litter tracking is an issue for your cat it is certainly worth considering.

The Litter Robot is fully automated . It handles itself for an entire week and all you do is change the bag out. It is a wonderful invention and takes the hassle out of owning a cat! If you click the link above you’ll also save $25 dollars off of the price.

2. Cat Litter

Clumping

Non Clumping

Crystals

Precious Cats Clumping Litter

Fresh Scent Clay Scented

Just the Crystals

Clumping litter is probably the most standard litter out there. It absorbs moisture to form clumps and makes it easier to scoop, but it can also stick to your cats feet and hair in the process resulting in tracking (dragging litter out of the box into the house).

Non Clumping litter is intended to help solve the problem of tracking, but it does tend to make scooping a bit more of a hassle because not everything will ‘stick together’ as you scoop.

Crystals are a good alternative to litter, but they function based on absorbing cat urine and you have to just scoop poop off the top. While they are great to avoid tracking my personal experience is they start to smell bad after a week or so and require replacement. It can get expensive to constantly replace crystals.

3. Litter Genie

The One and Only Litter Genie

The Litter Genie

By far the best investment you can make in litter cleanup if you are still scooping manually! This is a life saver in saving you trips back and forth to the garbage can and dropping litter everywhere.

4. Litter Scoop

Budget (Plastic)	Mid Range (Metal)	My Favorite (Metal)
Petmate Ultimate Litter Scoop	Endurance Stainless Steel Scoop	Duranimals DuraScoop
Plastic scoops work well and get the job done, but over time they will start to crack and break and you’ll have to go get another. The is especially true in a large/deep litter box where the scoop will flex more toward the back.	Metal scoops are far sturdier and will take a much better beating over the long haul. This scoop in particular is completely made of stainless steel so it lasts well, but the handle isn’t as comfy as a rubber covered one.	This is an excellent scoop. It has a super comfortable handle and more importantly, it has lasted an extremely long time being used on a daily basis. I highly recommend this scoop!

5. Cat Food

Option 1 Wet Food

Option 2 Wet Food

Dry Food

Purina Fancy Feast Variety Pack

Muse Natural Grain Free

Science Diet Indoor Dry Cat Food

This is a go to option to get some variety in a large package. This makes sure you get a lot for your money, but you don’t get all the same thing which might bore your cat.

This option is grain free and there are a wide variety of flavors available. I’ve found the Ocean Whitefish is one the favorites in my house.

This is one of my go to foods when I bring home a new foster cat that is in adult. They typically love it and it is at an affordable price point.

One additional note on food. In general cats tend to like variety in their food. If you feed them the same thing over and over then they will often get bored of it and sometimes stop eating it. New cats might also have a specific taste for some kind of food or another. You should definitely ask the rescue/shelter what type of food the cat has been eating in the past and buy some of that. If not, I highly recommend trying a wide selection of different foods as opposed to buying a ton of one specific kind.

6. Bowls

Stainless Steel Bowls

Stainless Steel Bowl Set

This bowl set is super easy to clean, it is super durable, and it holds plenty of food or water for your cat. These are my favorite bowls by far. Steer clear of glass, it chips and can cut or your cat you long term.

7. Cat Carrier

Soft Carrier Option 1	Soft Carrier Option 2
Amazon Basics Soft Carrier	PawFect Soft Pet Carrier
The basic carrier was the first carrier I ever had. It works great, especially if you only transport your cat to the vet and back for the most part.	Once we got a second cat we needed a bit larger of a carrier and a second one in case both cats had to travel at the same time. This was a slight upgrade in cost, but it is far more comfy inside and the carrying strap is far more comfortable in my opinion.

Note that I don’t specifically recommend hard carriers. Plenty of people use them, but I’ve personally not found any need for a hard carrier and they are a much more difficult item to break down and store in a small space. I would personally avoid them unless you need something that might go in the back of a car where something could potentially fall on top of it. This is just a personal preference.

8. Scratching Equipment

Vertical Scratching Post

Horizontal Post

SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post

Cat Scratching Board

Hands down the best scratching post I’ve had. It is tall enough for most any cat, has lasted for years, and it is easy to rub cat nip into it to keep the cats using it instead of the carpet.

This kind of board works really well in the case that your cat doesn’t like something standing up. Every cat is different, but I’ve found most prefer vertical scratching posts.

If you have any questions on how to ensure your cat uses the scratching post please check out my post on ensuring your cat doesn’t scratch up your furniture.

9. Nail Clippers

Cheap & Effective Clippers

Safari Professional Nail Clippers

These are some of the cheapest clippers on the market and they are remarkably durable and effective. I highly recommend them.

10. Brush

General Use Cat Brush

Extra In Depth Removal

ChirpyCats Cat Brush

The Furminator

This is a great general cat brush. If your cat doesn’t much like being brushed, this will help you pull off the loose hair and decrease shedding to some extent.

The Furminator is by far my favorite brush. Just like its name says, it basically terminates stray or shedding hairs. My cats absolutely love it. I have one for the short hair and one for the long haired cat.

Cat Adoption Kit

Adopting

General

By Craig / April 30, 2017

cat adoption starter kit checklist I assume you’ve landed here because you’re in the process of adopting a cat and you’ve never had a cat before. That or you just want to see if I have any idea what I’m talking about as a cat owner. So let’s get down to brass tacks, what products do you need in your cat adoption kit? In other words, what does it take to take care of a cat when you first bring it home? While a few of these things will depend on the age of the cat there are a couple of basic supplies that will be required no matter what. I’ve first provided an overview in each section and a link to a comprehensive list of my favorite products after years of ownership and fostering cats from our local rescue.

The Basics:

Litter Box – Litter boxes range in size & shape and also in autonomous versus ones you manually clean. The prices also range accordingly. They key recommendation I’d make up front is to get a litter box with a closed top, but one that opens up from the front where the top actually lifts up as well. There is one major reasons to get a litter box with a top, it stops your cat(s) from scattering litter all over when they are finished doing their business and decide to kick litter all over the place. Beyond this, from an aesthetic point of view it does just look a bit nicer, especially if your cat decides not to cover things up. The top lifting box isn’t a necessity, but it does make it way easier to scoop than one that has only the little front door/flap.
Cat Litter – Cat litter varies extensively as well. There are so many kinds available that it will make your head spin. They all claim different benefits and some of those benefits are easy to recognize and others are not. I personally use standard clay clumping litter for my cats. You should always ask the organization you are adopting from if the cat has been using any special type of litter to ensure you can match it at home, at least at first. Most shelters and rescues use standard clay clumping litter because it is one of the cheapest types available. I’ll later post a comparison between different cat litters.
Litter Genie – While this isn’t an absolute necessity, I would never want to go back to not having a Litter Genie. If you’ve ever had a baby before and had a Diaper Genie, this is the same thing for cat litter. This will enable you to not have to scoop your litter box and run out to the trash outside every day or tie off the litter in a plastic bag each day. I can use mine at home easily for 6-7 days before emptying it out and I have two cats using the same litter box daily.
Litter Scoop – Note the Litter Genie comes with a scoop so you wouldn’t need another one if you get a Litter Genie. That being said, if you decide to pass on the Litter Genie you’ll need to select a scoop. These vary extensively, but I’d recommend a firm/stiff plastic scoop because otherwise it is likely to break easily over time.
Cat Food – Cat food is a tough one because you can read an endless number of articles arguing about whether or not you should feed your cat wet food or dry food. Cats in general live on a diet that is primarily protein based. Wet food is generally speaking heavy in protein where as the lower cost dry foods are often carbohydrate heavy. Many other factors go into food selection, one in particular is long term health/hygiene for your cat, and their dental health in particular. Both wet and dry food will cause plaque to build up on your cats teeth, but there are certain types of dry food that are focused on helping remove some of that plaque by forcing the cat to chew on the pieces. Few if any have been proven to work really well because cats often simply swallow dry food without chewing, but I’ve had some luck with my cats chewing the larger pieces in specific brands.
Bowls – I’ve personally found that stainless steel bowls are by far the easiest to clean and maintain over the long haul. They don’t dent easily, they don’t break if you drop them or if your cats flip them over etc. They are also dirt cheap for the most part.
Cat Carrier – A carrier is an absolute necessity for a cat of any size. You’ll use it to transport your cat most everywhere outside your own home. If you decide to adopt a kitten you should definitely ask how big he or she can be expected to grow before you buy a carrier. You’ll want a carrier that will easily fit your cat once it grows up into its full size. Note there are both hard and soft carriers, the choice is really yours, but soft carriers are a little easier from a storage standpoint since many of them breakdown.
Scratching Equipment & Nail Clippers – You need something for your cat to scratch their claws on. This is a natural part of cat life and they do it on a daily basis. You’ll want them to use a scratching post so they don’t use other things like your furniture or your rugs to do it. I’ve found that taller vertical scratching posts tend to be the most effective for the cats I own and the numerous cats I’ve fostered, but not every cat loves vertical posts. If you do choose a vertical scratching post I’d highly recommend you choose one that is tall enough so your cat can use it fully stretched out. If you can afford to get a few different options up front you might consider something that sits on the floor and something that stands up to see what your cat likes. You may also want to read through my post on How to Stop a Cat Scratching Furniture before you get your new feline friend home.
Brush – A hair brush is an essential for any cat owner. While cats certainly groom themselves, a good brush will help both you and your cat. It will help you by ensuring there’s less cat hair floating around your house and also decrease the chances your cat will cough up a hairball (that you listen to and then get to clean up). It will help your cat by ensuring their coat stays beautiful and sleek and doesn’t get matted.

Additional things to consider:

Cat Furniture – Cat furniture comes in all shapes and sizes and will range anywhere from a few dollars to over a few thousand dollars. If you keep your eyes out you can often find great deals on cat castles or cat play houses on sale cheap. If you want a specific place for your cat to relax and climb I would recommend you consider some cat furniture, but it isn’t a necessity by any means.
Cat Beds & Caves – Cats are great at finding soft spots to lay down and sleep. While a bed is certainly a good way to try to keep your cats sleeping in a controlled zone, there is no easy way to convince them to always sleep there. More often than not I find that my cats sleep wherever they want and that is often not in their beds.
Cat Toys – There are so many cat toys out there I could never cover the details here. You can go down the road of fully automated and remote control toys, or get something simple like stuffed mice or a classic wand toy. I’ve found the most luck with a laser pointer and a wand toy, or even a piece of string. Note with wands and string you should never leave them out while you aren’t home. Cats can and will swallow them and cat get very sick or even die from doing so.

But which specific products work well?

curious cat Above I’ve provided a general outline on the types of things you’ll need for your cat, but I didn’t provide any particular recommendations. This is because what has worked well for me and for my cats might not work especially well for you. Every cat is different and some of them may enjoy things that others don’t want anything to do with. A key example is that my cats have zero interest in empty boxes. Despite popular belief and a slew of YouTube videos showing otherwise, some cats simply aren’t going to play in boxes. If you are interested in my specific list of recommended products, I’ve provided a separate post that details all of the products that have all performed well for me as well as a couple options from a price perspective. Please feel free to check it out here: What Do I Need to Adopt A Cat – Product Breakdown.

One last thing in closing…

While it isn’t anything you can buy, the last thing you’ll need with adopting any cat, young or old, stray or owner relinquished, lap cat or not…You’ll need patience. Be prepared to have patience if your new friend hides under the bed for the first week or two. Be prepared for them to not be interested in the toys you have purchased for the first few days. Cats take time to adjust to new surroundings, be sure to provide them plenty of it!

Training Cats to Stay Off Counters – Simple Strategies

General

By Craig / April 28, 2017

If your cat is anything like either of mine, or any of the multiple cats that we’ve fostered in the past couple of years, and I’m guessing they are, then they love to get up on your counters. Or as the cool cats say, they love to go counter surfing. They jump up, wander around, sniff a bit, track litter all over, eat things they shouldn’t, leave a trail of fur all over the place and in general cause all sorts of mischief! While it would be nice if we could just tell our cats to stay off the high spots or the specific spots we don’t want them climbing on…it doesn’t quite work like that does it? Even if you can keep them off the surface while you are at home you’ll still find evidence that they were up there while you weren’t home. Sneaky little beasts aren’t they! So how do you go about training cats to stay off counters or any other surface you might not want them on? Let’s first discuss why they like being up high…

Why Do Cats Like High Places?

Cats love getting in high spots for a variety of reasons. In short though, it is genetic. Cats like high places because historically it helped make sure they stayed alive. Two key reasons for this are:

Safety: When a cat is up in a high place it is less likely to attacked by land based predators bigger than it. These days you can think of that as a dog, but historically there were all sorts of animals that would attempt to kill and eat a cat. Being up in a tree was a form of safety.

Birds Eye View: Having a perch to look down from also gave cats an advantage when looking for and attacking prey. They didn’t necessarily pounce on prey from the top of a tree, but they could easily spot prey moving below and then position themselves accordingly for a good butt wiggle in advance of a jump.

As you can see this behavior is instinctual, it helped ensure your cat’s ancestors survived to give birth to cute little kittens. So now you know, your cat naturally migrates and explores high places because it is in their blood. Great you say, how the heck does that help me?

Cats Need a High Place to Call Their Own

If your cat naturally seeks high places then it is going to be extremely difficult for you to break them of this behavior, it is basically ingrained into them. Given this, as opposed to simply stopping them from going high places you’ll need to locate a high place or two that you’re ok with your cat going! There are lots of different places you can use to give your cat his or her height fix. You can use window sills, book cases, cupboards or whatever else is already around your house that you’re ok with your cat getting on top of.

A cat in a cat castle If you don’t want your cat on any of of your current furniture then that’s a bit of a different concern! If this is the situation you are in then you should consider some sort of cat some ‘climbing equipment.’ No, I don’t mean a rope and harness, they lack the opposable things to climb like us humans anyway. I’m talking about things cats only dream of, the coveted Cat Castle, or the fluffy Window Bed that feels like sleeping on Cloud 9 while the sun shines down. Other options include Climbing Shelves, Climbing Trees, Cat Trees & Cat Climbing Posts. I’ll be honest, all that is important is that it will let your cat get up somewhere high where they can look down on us humans (potentially in disdain depending on what we’ve done for them lately).

Beast cat in her window bed

Any of these options will suffice, but I find the least invasive for us is the window bed. You can see my cat Beast relaxing in it to the left. We also do have a cat castle which our cat Lexi absolutely loves. I have no idea why, but she curls herself into a ball in the smallest possible part of the castle and goes to sleep. Cats right? Anyway, what’s important here is that they’ll need a place up high that you’re ok with them going and you should reward them for using that high place. Leave some treats on it every few days so they know that high place is for them and they are supposed to be there. This alone will help drive them toward spending time there, but how do we handle the other side of this problem?

So How Do I Keep Them Off Other High Places?

So once you have a spot that you’re ok with your cat going you can start working on keeping them off the places you don’t want them. There are several different methods you can consider for this:

Packaging Tape: It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? But as you may know the little pads on the bottom of your cat’s feet are super duper sensitive and those pads don’t like a sticky feeling one bit. You can flip over packaging tape so the sticky side is up and you can lay it in places you don’t want your cat to go. Cats have a hard time spotting the tape, their eyesight is much more geared toward tracking moving things (those hunting genetics at work again), so they’ll step on the step, not like it and not come back.
Aluminum Foil: Yes, I’m talking Reynold’s Wrap folks. If you crinkle aluminum up just a bit so that the pattern is a bit uneven (don’t just unroll it and lay it down) then it makes noise when your cat steps on it. Cats apparently don’t like the feel or the sound this makes and thus are unlikely to come back.
SSSCAT Spray Deterrent: The SSSCat system is a pretty cool little gadget. Check out my full review here. In short though, it is a motion sensor combined with a compressed air sprayer. It basically detects when your naughty little feline is where they aren’t supposed to be and blows a jet of compressed air at them which startles them and they’ll stay away for a while.
Spray Bottles & the Change in a Can: Both of these are also options, see my post on How to Stop Cats Scratching Furniture for the full details. The key concern is they don’t work at all when you’re not home. All 3 of these options work when you aren’t around which is when you need this most.

My personal recommendation, and what has worked the best for us from the free/super cheap department is the packaging tape. There are a few drawbacks here as well to consider though:

Sticks in Cat Fur: No surprise, it is tape after all. The tape, especially on our long haired cat Lexi, gets stuck and matted into her fur. Given this we leave lots of short pieces of tape around so they are less likely to cause a huge mess for her. Even so we sometimes end up having to cut the tape out of her fur.
Space Usability: While there’s an obvious problem for the cat if the tape gets stuck, the other problem is that you have to move all the tape every time you want to use the space. This can be quite the hassle for the first few weeks of anti counter surfing training. It also tends to be rather wasteful as moving packaging tape without it sticking to itself is darn near impossible.

After a few weeks it won’t need to be out all that often, maybe once a month as a reminder in case they jump up…Because of the drawbacks of the tape we have put the SSSCAT to use as well. The SSSCAT has been quite successful for us, I think the key drawback of the SSSCAT is when I forget it is on and it scares the heck out of me in the middle of the night or right after work. Beyond that, replacing the air canisters over the long haul can get expensive, but it is the most hassle free of all of the methods outlined above in that it has zero cleanup and can be flipped on and off in seconds.

Wrapping It All Up:

So to close this up, let’s do a quick recap:

Cats instinctively seek out high places for safety and for hunting (watch that butt wiggle when they pounce!)
Cats need some high place to call their own, provide them one if you don’t have one you’re ok with them using
Cats can be deterred from other high places using a variety of measures including tape, aluminum foil & low tech gadgets
You’ll have to reinforce your cats behavior with treats in the good spots and the deterrents in the no go zones

If you have any other thoughts on keeping cats off of counters or other high places please leave a comment below or send me an email at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com so I can update this article.

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