You may have noticed that updates have kind of petered out. Never fear – Abnormal Love of Cats has not been abandoned.

I haven’t lost interest or run out of things to say about cats (I don’t think I’ll ever run out.) I’ve just got a lot going on in real life right now, so blogging is having to take a back seat for the moment.

I’ll still be writing when I have some free time or when I have something that I absolutely must share with you, but regular updates probably won’t resume till some time this fall. If you’ve stuck around through my dry spell, or if you’re a new reader, I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS feed or by email. That way you won’t miss any new posts, and you’ll be the first to know when things are back in gear.

Thanks so much for reading <3

Posted in Uncategorized |

Let me set the scene for you.

I have a spare bedroom which is the litter box room. I have four litter boxes in it, spaced out. Three have pine litter, which I scoop into a biodegradable bag, and one has clay litter. When I scoop the boxes, I carry the appropriate bag over to the box, scoop, move on to the next box and then when I’m done, return the bag to the area with the bags and scoopers.

So, last night I’m cleaning the litter boxes. I scoop the clay one, then go to do the pine ones. I scoop the first one, carry the bag across the room, scoop the second one, and box three is unused so I skip it and return the bag to the bag area. So far so good.

The, I turn around and notice there’s a pee clump sitting on the floor.

Okay, I think, I put the bag on the floor when I scoop – I must have dropped the clump on the edge of the bag and it rolled out when I picked it up. So I grab the scooper, grab the bag and go to clean up the pee clump. So far so good.

Then, as I go to put the bag away again, I notice there’s a pile of litter on the floor near litter box number one. Hmm, I think, how did I miss that? But okay, I grab the bag and scoop and clean that one up as well, and back goes the bag.

As I’m putting the bag down, I notice that there’s an awful lot of litter and a couple of pieces of poop in the spot where I store the bag. Hmmmmmm…

I lift up the bag to look at it and dirty litter comes pouring out the gigantic tear in the bottom. I look to the spots I just cleaned up and gee, what a surprise… I’ve left a lovely trail of litter behind me as I’ve moved from place to place to clean up.

Some how, in my exhaustion, I managed to not notice that I was leaving a trail of litter behind me as I moved around this small room. A second bag and some midnight vacuuming later and all was restored to order, but I can tell you, I’ll be making a point of cleaning the boxes before I’m feeling quite that sleep deprived in the future.

Tags: litter, mess, scoop, tear bag
Posted in Humour, My cats |

Sorry about the lack of updates and replies folks – I’ve had a busy (and rough) couple of weeks, and I’ve been writing but it’s just not flowing (but it’ll be great when I get the stuff I started finished, I promise!)

Particularly rough is that over the weekend I went to the Humane Society to volunteer and found out my favourite cat, Nestle, had gotten quite ill and was euthanized on advice of the vet. I was planning on adopting her if she was still there come this fall.

I feel particularly bad, because her story is sad from start to finish. She was removed, along with several other cats, from a home where she was not properly socialized. Not feral but very fearful and anxious. She never really got over her timidness the entire time she was at the shelter (almost 2 years) and was in and out of foster care to no great improvement.

She did not show well in the shelter. She spent most of her time in her cage in her little house, burrowed under blankets, so half the time you couldn’t even tell that there was a cat there at all. Yet, despite her shyness, she was an extremely sweet, nice cat, who loved being pet and cuddled (as long as you didn’t pick her up.) She was tiny and a beautiful chocolate brown. She had a small growth on her ear that I’m sure further hindered her chances at adoption, but that just further endeared her to me.

I know it’s a bad idea to get attached to animals in a shelter, but I did – she was going to be my baby, and this hurts. At the same time, I’m also glad that she was loved by at least one person during her difficult, too short life. I hope she’s at peace now.

Tags: euthanasia, humane society, ill, in memory, loss, memorial, nestle, shelter, sick
Posted in Shelter Issues, memorial |

For those not already aware, Nutro has voluntarily recalled a variety of dry cat food products.

Today, Nutro Products announced a voluntary recall of select varieties of NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO® MAX® Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries.  This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

Two mineral premixes were affected.  One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium.  Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO® dry cat food.

This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier.  An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected. This recall does not affect any NUTRO® dog food products, wet dog or cat food, or dog and cat treats.

Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Israel.  We are working with all of our distributors and retail customers, in both the US and internationally, to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or distributed further.

Consumers who have purchased affected product should immediately discontinue feeding the product to their cats, and switch to another product with a balanced nutritional profile.  While we have received no consumer complaints related to this issue, cat owners should monitor their cat for symptoms, including a reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea.  If your cat is experiencing health issues or is pregnant, please contact your veterinarian.

Consumers who have purchased product affected by this voluntary recall should return it to their retailer for a full refund or exchange for another NUTRO® dry cat food product.  Cat owners who have questions about the recall should call 1-800-833-5330 between the hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST, or visit www.nutroproducts.com.

If you feed Nutro to your cats, visit the FDA’s website for a list of recalled products.

Posted in Health, Nutrition |

I love a good bed cat, and I’m fortunate that I have three. All of my girls pack onto the bed with me, sleeping on me, under the covers or next to me.

When we first got Violet, she wasn’t allowed in the bedroom. My husband is allergic to cats, and the bedroom was going to be the one cat-free space in the apartment.

Fortunately, his will crumbled before mine did, and Violet had soon insinuated herself onto the bed, sleeping between us (and having occasional night time adventures across the top of the headboard.) By the time we got the other two, cats were an established fixture in the bed, and I’d never go back.

I’m not sure exactly what it is about bed cats. There’s something extremely soothing and relaxing about being surrounded by cats while you sleep. And it’s not that I generally enjoy being touched or restricted in my movements at night – drape your arm over me while I sleep and I’ll fidget in discomfort until you move it or till I shove it off. But pin me down with cats so that I can’t move a single limb, much less change position and I’ll happily stay in bed long after I had planned to get up.

Sleeping with cats is special. It’s comfortable and loving and adds another dimension to the relationship we have with our cats – they love us and trust us and grace us with their presence. I intuitively feel the value in this gift they give and I deeply appreciate it. I know they could easily fall asleep anywhere else – on the couch, on the pile of reusable grocery bags in the corner, in my laundry pile, in the middle of the kitchen floor… but they choose to sleep with me.

Do you let your cats sleep in the bed with you? Are they cuddlers or do they prefer to find their own sleeping spaces? Do you have cats that go under the covers?

Tags: bed, bed cat, bedcat, bedroom, cat, cuddle, pinned down, sleep, sleeping
Posted in My cats, Opinion |

It’s spring time, which means shedding, lots of shedding. And shedding means brushing. So this weekend all the girls got thoroughly brushed and I ended up with a rather massive ball of cat hair (which is good – it’s a massive ball of cat hair that isn’t on my couch or clothes.)

My three cats are indoor cats, but I’ve been taking them outside for some supervised romps in the back yard, for fresh air and exercise, which they absolutely love. I herd them around the yard and keep them from wandering off the property, and they run, play, explore and exercise their catness.

Normally I throw my mats of cat hair into the compost bin, but in discussing ways to be eco friendly cat owners, Ingrid of Conscious Cat suggested letting the cat hair fly free for the bird to use in nests. What a great idea! So this is what I decided to do.

I took the girls outside and pulled little tufts of hair off the ball and let them loose in the wind. Well, I’m sure the birds will enjoy them eventually, but the cats got an immediate serendipitous treat. Little bits of cat hair, flying around in the wind make for fabulous hunting and chasing.

I stood up-wind of the cats and let a few bits go every time there was a good strong breeze. The cats chased the fast moving pieces, and got in some really good stalking and pouncing of the ones stuck on grasses or just vibrating on the ground. It was great fun for everyone and the cats got a great workout. They all play well with their toys in the house, but there’s nothing quite as exciting as something that moves and flies around on its own. We must have spent an hour out there enjoying the wind and the fruits of our grooming session.

If you have a windy day, a ball of cat hair and an enclosed yard (or a cat you know won’t go wandering) I highly recommend partaking in this fun activity.

Tags: adventure, chasing, fun, fur, Grooming, hair, huting, My cats, outdoor, prey, running, stalking, wind, windy
Posted in Grooming, My cats, Toys |

There is nothing quite so fine as the quiet comfort and love of a cat when you are feeling down or stressed out. Cats seem to have the amazing ability to make any situation seem a little less grim.

Tags: better, comfort, empathy, love
Posted in Opinion |

My cats love furry cat toys. There’s something about real fur that brings out the primal kitty in them. With real fur toys they play longer and more enthusiastically and they just seem to enjoy their toys more.

By far one of their favourites are Hartz Mini Mice and Kitty Frenzy – both real fur mice with a rubbery centre. They have a bit of weight to them and they bounce nicely and make for hours of fun.

However, despite my cats’ great love for real fur toys, I don’t buy them any more.

Ethical problems with fur

Before you bristle in indignation (or pat me on the back) please understand – I don’t have a broad ethical objection to fur in general. I eat meat, I feed my cats meat, I wear leather and I don’t have a problem with hunting or farming animals. As long as it is done humanely.

And there is where I have issues with real fur cat toys.

Most fur trim on novelties and small items, such as on cat toys, is rabbit fur imported from China. If you’re not familiar with China’s horrific track record when it comes to animal welfare abuses, there’s plenty of reading on Google. To briefly sum up some of the issues with imported fur:

• Animals are often kept packed together in tiny, filthy cages, with not even enough space to turn around.
• Animals are frequently skinned alive and then tossed aside to suffer horribly in their last moments.
• Fur is often mislabelled. What is sold as rabbit fur may actually be dog, cat, raccoon dog or any number of other fur bearing animals. In fact, once you remove the head, paws, tail and internal organs, cat and rabbit carcasses are virtually indistinguishable.
• Many animals are raised for their fur, but that imported fur could be someone’s pet that was snatched off the street.

And while it’s easy to focus on China, North American and European fur trapping and raising practises are also barbaric. Again, we have animals that have a wide natural range confined to tiny cages, normally solitary animals confined in close proximity to each other, poor care, inhumane killing methods, inhumane trapping practises and all sorts of other acts of cruelty. There’s also the matter of waste – raising an animal for nothing but its skin.

What about humanely farmed fur?

I spoke with a Hartz representative a while back, as I was concerned about the source of the fur that was used in my kitties’ favoured toys. They confirmed that the fur came from China, that it was rabbit fur and that it was obtained humanely.

I’m a naturally sceptical person, but I’m inclined to give Hartz the benefit of the doubt. If they say that their fur is humanely obtained rabbit fur, then I believe that they believe that is the truth.

But I’m still not going to buy anything made with imported fur, because in the end, I just don’t know enough about the source. The fact remains that suppliers have deceived their buyers in the past and it could happen again. People who thought they were buying rabbit fur, fur that was labelled as rabbit fur, have received fur from companion animals. I’m not willing to entertain that risk. I don’t know about you, but even the slight chance that my cats’ toys might contain the fur of another cat that was skinned alive is too much of a chance for me.

Left: cat fur; centre: unknown animal fur; right: rabbit fur. Would you be able to tell the difference?

Have your cake fur and… eat it too?

However, just because I’m not going to buy mass produced fur toys from corporate giants (or unknown dollar store brands), doesn’t mean my cats have to give up real fur toys for good. There are still sources of fur that I can feel comfortable with:

• Second-hand fur coats. Readily available at the Salvation Army and other second hand shops. While there are no guarantees about the original source of the fur, you won’t be contributing to the proliferation of the fur industry. Coats in good condition have gone up in price lately (around here anyway) but you can get a ridiculous number of cat toys out of a full length fur coat. If you can find a coat that is slightly ratty and cheaper, bonus! The cats won’t care if the fur is slightly worn. They’re just going to chew the hell out of it anyway.

  Note: Clean the fur with a cat-friendly cleaner before you turn it into toys. It may have been sprayed with Febreeze, stored in mothballs or treated with some other chemical cleaner that would be bad for kitty.

• Rabbit farmers. While rabbits certainly aren’t the most popular meat animals, there’s a good chance that there’s a small rabbit farming operation near where you live. Some meat rabbit operations may tan the hides, while others just throw them away. Whether you buy pre-tanned hides, or get the untanned hides and do it yourself, buying locally means you can check out the farm before hand and find out how the rabbits were raised and killed. You might even be fortunate enough to find that they make cat toys and other items from their pelts.
• Hunters. If you know any responsible hunters, ask them to save unwanted pelts for you. Most hunters will just dispose of the pelts after the finish dressing their kill, so chances are they will be up for grabs.
• Your cat (her shed fur that is). If you prefer an option that requires no animals be harmed, you can collect your cat’s fur when you have a brushing session and felt it.

* Tanning is a learned skill and quite a bit of work, so unless you have an interest in it or are really determined to prepare your own pelts, you’ll probably want to opt for sources of tanned pelts. Rabbit fur is ideal for cat toys, because it is soft and the thin skins are easy to sew. These qualities also make it one of the more challenging pelts to tan.

We need not sacrifice our ethics or turn a blind eye to cruelty in order to give our cats the things they enjoy.

What I’m doing

I still have a few fur toys kicking around the house, purchased before I clued into the major issues with imported fur. I’ll keep these around till they’re worn out, and then start making my own fur toys. I’ve made one attempt at tanning (epic fail) using the pelts of a couple of meat rabbits I bought at a local farm, and I have another fresh pelt from a wild rabbit sitting in the freezer. I’ll tackle it one of these days.

What are you thoughts on real fur toys? Do you buy them, avoid them or just not think about it? Do your cats love real fur, and would you go to the effort of making toys for them from safe sourced fur? Share your thoughts.

Toy photo from hartz.com
Fur photos by Michal Zacharzewski, Asif Akbar & Sirkullay.
Fur coat photo by RebeccaJBuckley.

Tags: cat hair, china, cruelty, farm, felting, fur, fur coat, fur industry, fur trade, humane, inhumane, rabbit, rabbit fur, second hand, trapping
Posted in Causes, Ethics, Opinion, Toys |

Today is Earth Day. To celebrate, here are a few things you can do to be a greener cat owner.

Clean up your litter box

The litter box is a big source of waste. Thankfully, there are some easy steps we can take to reduce the impact our litter boxes have on the environment.

Choose a biodegradable, recycled litter

Clay may feel great on the paws, and it’s certainly the most common litter substance on the market, but unfortunately, it’s terrible for the environment. Clay is strip mined and then sits in land fills when it is thrown out.

Fortunately, there are many great alternatives out there, that are much more environmentally friendly such as:

• Paper litters, like Yesterday’s News, made from recycled paper.
• Wood litter, like Feline Pine or Feline Fresh, made from wood reclaimed from the lumber industry.
• Grain-based litters, like World’s Best Cat Litter or Swheat Scoop, made from non-food grade grains or corn cobs.

As a bonus, all these litters are biodegradable and can be composted.

Use a biodegradable bag or box liner

Don’t add to the plastic going into landfills – use biodegradable liners and scoop your litter box into a biodegradable bag. Biodegradable bags, such as the ones made by BioBag, are made from corn, contain no polyethylene and decompose at about the same rate as other organic material.

Compost your litter

If you choose a biodegradable litter then its easy to start composting your litter. Remove the feces and then dump the rest of the box into your compost pile (bonus – the nitrogen in urine is great for your compost pile.)

You can compost the feces too, just be cautious. Because certain zoonotic diseases, like Toxoplasma gondii, can be passed through contaminated feces, you should use a composting toilet or other composter, like a NatureMill, that heats the compost to high temperatures. Don’t put poop into your regular back yard composter – it will never reach temperatures high enough to ensure that parasites are killed. If you have an indoor cat then it’s unlikely they are infected with parasites or disease that will b passed on in their poop, but better to err on the side of caution when it comes to your vegetable garden, right?

Eco-friendly eating

Food animals are a huge strain on the environment, but whether or not we choose to eat meat ourselves, we know that cats require meat to live and be healthy. That doesn’t mean we can’t make more environmentally friendly food decisions for our fuzzy little obligate-carnivores.

Can it

If you feed a commercial cat food, make sure you recycle those cans. Pretty much all municipal recycling programs can recycle tin, aluminum and steel cans, and curb side pick up is available in many areas, making it very convenient to recycle. Most kibble bags should be recyclable,  too.

Reduce packaging by buying larger containers – those tiny, single serve cans of premium cat food might be cute and convenient, but over the course of your cat’s lifetime you’ll save on a lot of packaging if you opt for the larger cans.

Make your carnivore an organic locavore

If you prepare cat food at home, you can reduce the environmental impact of your cat’s meals by feeding locally grown organic meat. While any health benefits from eating organic are questionable, it’s easy to see the environmental benefits of local, organically grown food. Shorter shipping distances reduces the amount of pollution released into the atmosphere through transportation and going organic means that raising those animals didn’t contribute more chemical pollution to our ecosystem (certified organic meat comes from animals that were raised on organically grown feed. Non-organic methods of growing crops contributes to chemical run-off from herbicides & pesticides getting into the water table and impacting native flora & fauna.)

Grass-fed/pastured/free range meat is also good for the environment in many ways. Pastured animals graze on the  plants grown where they are raised, rather than having heavily processed feed shipped in from far away. The ground is covered with green growth for a long portion of the year (or all year, if you live in a place with mild winters), pulling carbon from the atmosphere. Manure benefits the earth by adding nutrients back into the soil where it falls. Grass pasture helps reduce soil erosion…  responsible management of pastured animals has all kinds of environmental benefits.

As an added bonus, pastured meat has health benefits, such as higher levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and is a more humane way of raising meat animals than factory farming, where animals are penned into over crowded or undersized feedlots or cages, where they are unable to engage in normal animal behaviour.

Other things you can do

• Compost cat hair. After brushing your cat, toss the mat of hair into your compost bin instead of the trash.
• Make toys out of houehold items or recycle materials that you would otherwise throw out into cat toys or bedding.
• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products to wash litter boxes and cat dishes (and around the rest of your house.) Not only will they benefit the environment but they can also benefit your cat. Cats tend to be very sensitive to chemicals in their environment. Vinegar and baking soda are great natural cleaning products that are cat- and environmentally friendly.
• Donate unwanted cat supplies to your local shelter or Freecycle them, instead of throwing them out.

What are you doing?

What are you doing to reduce the impact your cats have on the environment? Do you have any ideas or suggestions on being a more eco-conscious cat owner? Share them here.

Cat in the grass photo by Sande Hamilton.
Compost kitty photo by Birrell Walsh.
Free range chickens photo by woodleywonderworks.
Cans photo by N-ino.

Tags: carnivore, cat hair, compost, Earth Day, eco, environmentally friendly, feeding, food, free-range, grass fed, Grooming, humane, litter, Litter box, locavore, pastured, recycling, resolutions, Toys
Posted in Causes, Litter box, Raw Feeding, Responsible ownership |

One of the things I enjoy most about having cats is watching them play. Clover in particular has the most amazing imagination, which is really evident in her play.

We might think of imagination as being a human trait, but it’s very evident that Clover’s imagination gives life to her toys. When she really gets going the toys seem to move with a life of their own. She’ll throw one up into the air and then leap after it; kick it away with a back paw and then dart after it as it tries to make its escape; kick, bite and struggle like it’s putting up a fight and fling it along the floor so that she can stalk and catch it unawares.

Watching the cats play together or playing with them myself brings me a great deal of pleasure, but watching Clover’s solo play is a genuine treat. It’s amazing to watch her creativity and imagination and it’s really clear that she’s having a great deal of fun.

Do your cats enjoy solo play and active imaginations?

Tags: Clover, creativity, fun, imagination, play, toy, Toys
Posted in My cats, Toys |