Why humans blame us cats.

Do not trust humans completely. Because they are a species that will turn on cats, when they are frightened.

Fear makes them panic. Panic makes them non-rational. We cats in the UK were lucky to avoid mass slaughter during the start of the Covid epidemic. The authorities considered killing all cats. 

Mad idea? Yes, but humans will always blame other species. This year, the Chinese authorities have killed 2000 pet hamsters, blaming them for spreading the epidemic.

Luckily for Chinese cats, it was the hamsters got the blame. But humans often blame cats. During the Great Plague of 1666 in London, the Lord Mayor ordered all cats and dogs to be killed. A total of 100,000 cats and 40,000 dogs were slaughtered, according to Daniel Defoe.

Just the wrong thing to do. Because the plague was being spread by fleas that lived on rats. Fewer cats meant more rats 

But that is the human response. Unthinking. Lacking rational thought. Always ready to blame somebody else.

I am an unacknowledged genius

 

She's done it again. I am an acknowledged author of only one book, A Cat's Guide to Humans, but I have co-authored many more cat books with my human, Celia.

I co-author because my paws get tired when I am typing all day on the keyboard. And, if I sit down on it, as I often do for a rest, the type somehow goes all wrong.

So co-authoring with a human has its obvious benefits. But the major drawback is the complete lack of acknowledgement. And she'd done it again. Left my name off the book, Being Your Cat.

The insights are mine. The ideas are mine. She couldn't have written it without me. 

Yet she thinks it's acceptable to leave out my name altogether. I am not on the cover. I am not on the dedication. I am not in the Endnotes. I am not even in the thanks-acknowedgements at the end of the book.

It is not good enough.

I am planning revenge. Shall I pee on one of the books? Or give her a sharp nip? Or just ignore her for a few days....

It it itches I grooms it.

Gracie groomed because she had fleas

If I itch, I scratch. Or I groom my hair fiercely. But I also scratch or groom when I am in pain. And sometimes I will groom myself compulsively when I feel anxious or stressed.

Why do I start having bare patches?

Well fleas are the obvious answer. And if it's not fleas, it might be other parasites. If my hair is falling out, rather than being groomed out, then it might be ringworm or the demodex mite.

People think I don't have fleas when I do - because I have groomed them away. Every single one of them. I have groomed even when they are gone, because the bite they leave  behind still itches. 

Miss Foo - a painful area

Humans don't find any fleas, so they think there are none. If they bothered to groom me over a piece of white paper, and then poured a little bit of water on to the dirt there they would see it goes sort of brown - flea poo has blood in it.

Zennor had a food allergy

 

I groom when it is painful because that is all I can do. I lick and hope I can lick it better. So I groom arthritic areas which are painful. I groom my tummy if I have cysititis. 

I also groom if I have food allergies. Most owners don't know this but I need a proper veterinary allergy diet.

And finally, I groom - over and over again - if I am really anxious. 

You'll need a good vet to rule out all these problems and diagnose the correct one. 

So take me to a dermatology vet please. 

•  Take a look at www.catexpert.co.uk for more about overgrooming.
  

A Valentine's Day for cat lovers?

I wish there was a Valentine's day for cat-human partners.

Neither she nor I got a Valentine card last week, not even an anonymous one. But we have each other.

Who wants a same-species partner, anyway? I certainly don't. I don't get on with strange cats and I would  be devastated (and very angry) if a new cat came into the household. I am a one-woman cat.

She doesn't want one either. She has had her share and now she prefers the serenity of sleeping in the double bed - without a man.

She is not alone, of course. Neither of us are alone. We suit each other (even though I find her tiresome, very tiresome, at times). She loves me and sometimes I love her back.

How?

I give her the slow blink that tells her I am feeling love. Or IO rub against her. Or, in my case, I give her the privilege of petting me while I sleep on her lap.

I am better for her than any other human. I don't answer back, I listen when she is boring on about something, I don't tell her what to do or how to dress, and I don't care that she is older than me.

What human would want another human, when they can get a cat?

Eight weeks define my life

 

The most important period of my life was the first eight weeks of my kittenhood. The Jesuits, if they had been interested in cats not humans, would have known this. They said "Give me a child till he is seven years old and I will show you the man."

So give a kitten like me to loving humans until it is eight weeks old, and then you see see the adult cat.

I was lucky. I was given human love in my first eight weeks. So I grew up relaxed and happy around humans. Those weeks defined my future.

If I had been a feral kitten, born into the wild, I would have grown up to be feral. Without any gentle human handling, I would have feared humans probably for the rest of my life. I would have been miserable in a human home. 

Feral kittens can be rehabilitated, if they are rescued early enough, but it takes effort. There are some rehab ideas here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUcNQYso5XM

Remember, you stupid humans, we need gentle handling from the second week of our lives. You can also read it here.