Why I peed on the sofa

Human beings are so dumb. My human shrieked saying: "How could he have done this to me. He must hate me after I shut him out of the kitchen."

She couldn't be more wrong.

There are a couple of reasons why I might have peed on the sofa.

• I might be suffering from cystitis. It makes you want to pee urgently and immediately.
  

• I might be anxious about the cat next door - the sofa is just underneath the window and he leaped on to the window sill and peered in. He has been peering in through the French windows too and I don't like it.
  

The idiot woman hadn't checked whether I was leaving little drops of urine in the litter tray instead of a good sized proper elimination. If so, I need a vet visit. Cystitis can be exacerbated by general stress.

That cat next door really winds me up. I am scared stiff of him and when he peers in the windows, I feel a lot of social anxiety. So I comforted myself by spraying a little bit of urine there on the sofa below the window mixing my smell with her smell where she sits.  That's what I do when I feel my safe home might be intruded into by other cats. It makes me feel better.

My behaviour was nothing to do with her shutting me out of the kitchen or any hate I felt towards her. Honestly, I don't know why she took it personally. And I wish she wouldn't.

She needs help - from a vet or a good cat behaviour counsellor. 

 

Life before birth for a kitten

 

We all depend on our mothers, when we are young, whether we are kittens or human babies. She influences us by her mothering after birth but she also influences us before birth.

Feline mothers that are half starved produce small, sometimes slow developer kittens - that isn't unknown. But what you may not know is that our feline mother's eating habits can influence us as kittens in her womb. If she eats a cheese-flavoured diet, as in one study, we will prefer cheese flavoured food when we start eating solid food.

There are other sadder influences too. A highly stressed mother produces highly kittens that will grow up with the same stressy attitude to life. The stress hormones in her maternal blood will be passed on to the kittens in her womb and influence their prenatal brain development.

In a way it's nature's method of preparing us kittens for life ahead. If our mother cat lives in a world where there are many dangers, we need to be prepared for the same world. If a pregnant cat eats a particular diet, then this diet will be around for her kittens to eat safely too. 

And there is also the influence of genetics. If we have a fearful father cat we kittens will have a fearful temperament - even though most tom cats have nothing to do with us kittens. So it must be in the genes.

"They f... you up, your Mum and Dad," wrote a human poet. The same can hold true for kittens....

Give me a kitten before 7 weeks....

Give me a kitten before the age of seven weeks, and I will show you the adult cat. This is adapted from the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who said  - "Give me a child before the age of seven and I will show you the man."

It's true. What happens to a kitten before the age of about eight weeks, defines much of its future life. 

• If it grows up in the wild for the first two months of its life, without any human contact, it will become a wild animal rather than a pet.
•  If it grows up as a single bottle-fed kitten for the first two months of its life, it may be socially awkward around other cats in later life.
• If it is born to and brought up with a highly stressed mother cat, it is likely to grow up to become a stressed cat.
• If it grows up with a good mother cat, lots of play with its siblings and lots of gentle interaction with humans (and maybe a friendly family dog) it will become a confident and loving pet.

Yes, feral kittens can be rehabilitated in the next three months of their lives so that they are suitable as pets. But they need careful and intensive rehabilitation. Yes, feral cats can be tamed - over a number of years.

But kittens should be born into a home, not a pen, wherever possible. Or fostered in a home as soon as possible.

Cat rescuers take note....

At last.... the new First Cat

 

At last there is feline representation in the White House. The new First Cat has arrived - and she looks rather like me. Maybe my continuous blogging has an influence that I never realised. Maybe Dr Jill Biden is a fan. Well, a cat's gotta dream

This is Willow. She is a farm cat, not a posh pedigree - though she has my pedigree looks, I think. So she can help spread the message - Adopt Don't Buy.

She chose her new owner.  “Willow made quite an impression on Dr. Biden in 2020 when she jumped up on the stage and interrupted her remarks during a campaign stop,” said Michael LaRosa, the first lady’s spokesman to The New York Times.

“Seeing their immediate bond, the owner of the farm knew that Willow belonged with Dr. Biden.” It's taken a bit of time for Willow to arrive, because Major, the second First Dog, now retired after biting staff, wasn't a good companion for any cat.

The new First Dog, a puppy called Commander, will be OK.  Or so we all hope... If not, he will have to go.

Felines of the world, rejoice. The White House now has a new administrator.

 

Purrlease do not clean away my marks

 Rubbing the scent of my face is how I make myself feel secure and comfortable. I spread my scent to remind that I am safe and that this is my home.

That is why you will see cats in rescue pens rubbing their face against the pen. Without their own scent there, they will feel they are in a frightening place. 

In a house, I make a home scent profile. I rub against my human (and against the family dog if I get on with him) and put my scent on them. At the same time I pick up their scent on me.

So when I rub against the doorpost I am anointing it with my own scent and their scent. Like humans decorate a house with wallpaper to make them feel happy, I decorate the house with the home scent to make me feel happy.

If you clean it all off, I am disturbed and I have to start scent marking all over again.

If I feel really really frightened, then I might have to scent mark with urine. 

You have been warned. Do not clean up my facial scent marks.