Cats: They’re Sensitive (and they’d like to stay that way)

Cats are funny creatures. So independent and in your face with their needs and desires. They seem so low maintenance. You just get a cat, some food and a litterbox and you’re set! Easiest pet you ever had!

Sweet Toad – the perfect cat – except that he’s a nasty bully to the other cats.

Oops, no! Sure, some cats are ridiculously low maintenance and use their litterbox all the time, eat, drink, don’t vomit on your important documents or pee on your laundry or chew on your electrical cords. But getting one that great from the get go and their staying that way is a gamble much like life insurance (or worse, short term disability insurance).

Spicy Penelope – except to other cats – she’s the target of their aggression

Litterbox habits: This is the number one behavioral complaint we get with cats. Now, I am no behaviorist, but will try to explain what I tell clients when they’re having trouble with urinating or defecating outside the litter box. First thing’s first: as a vet, I definitely want to make sure there’s nothing medical that is causing this issue. Urinary tract infections, cystitis (which can also be behavioral), arthritis, diabetes, kidney disease, crystals or stones, other health issues. So, we will start with bloodwork and urinalysis to rule out the easy ones. For arthritis, we may, next try X-rays or pain medication trial. Once we’ve ruled out medical reasons the cat may be giving you the fluffy finger, we’ll move on to behavior/social/psychological issues.

This is Delphi – she’s 18 and hyperthyroid and pees on our counters and herself – hence the bath.
  1. There’s a rule of thumb that you should have 1 litterbox per cat plus 1. So, if you are like me and have 5 cats, you should have a minimum of 6 litterboxes.
  2. If you have multiple cats, make sure to spread out the litterboxes in case one cat is secretly bullying another cat and chasing them out of the litterbox. I have multiple litterboxes on each level of my house, including the basement. If you have dogs, make sure the cat can get to the litterbox without a dogs nose up their butt waiting for the “fresh from the oven” treats. Consider a baby gate raised to 5-6 inches off the floor to allow the cat to scoot under, but not the dog – or if you have a small dog and young cat, baby gate on the floor.
  3. Some cats like the covered litterboxes, some feel claustrophobic. You’ll have to try different ones. Give different options. Regular open ones, closed ones, tupperware bin with a hole cut in the side, deep ones, shallow ones. Who cares? Cats. They care. A lot.
  4. Clean the boxes VERY regularly. At least once daily. Cats are bourgeoise and don’t want to use a dirty bathroom just like you.
  5. Try different litters. Some like the clumping, some don’t, mine hated the pelleted recycled stuff that was supposed to save the environment. Like many people, cats are more about themselves – tiny, soft, fluffy narcissists. (My cats really LOVE Dr. Elsey “Cat Attract” litter)
  6. Don’t keep the boxes where there’s a lot of noise, or commotion. Or, God forbid, change what’s in the room. My sister’s cat stopped using the litterbox in the laundry room when she got a new washing machine.
  7. A cat’s stress organ is their bladder. So, if something is stressing them out, the bladder will get inflamed and can even make them urinate blood without their having a bacterial urinary tract infection.

Food and water secrets: In general, cats are desert animals and are prone to not drinking enough which can lead to urinary and kidney issues.

  1. Offer water in several forms. Beautiful bowl you tediously picked out online that perfectly matches your décor and your cat’s unique personality? Complete garbage. Try leaving a disgusting dish in your shower to collect water haphazardly – they LOVE it! Leave a faucet dripping, leave a cup of water on the counter – they’ll drink it.. then dump it. Pretend to fix yourself a glass of ice water and look away for a few minutes. Run the shower for just a second and watch them happily clean the droplets off the walls. Cats are bougie, but also sometimes hipster.
  2. If you’re ever in the position to need to try to force feed your sick cat – remember this: whatever food you decide to use, your cat will HATE that food forever! So have an alternate food to offer to see if they will eat on their own and don’t use their regular food if they have special prescription diets that they need. Talk to your vet about options.
  3. Cats DON’T NEED MUCH FOOD. Really, most domestic animals are obese these days, but for the most part, cats only need about 200 kcal per day (average for a 10 lb/4.5kg cat +/- weight for tiny cats or TRUE Maine coons – talk to your vet to get an idea of what your cat should weigh). Look at your bag of cat food and figure out how many kcal/cup of food and calculate from there. Overweight cats lead to unhappy, sedentary, arthritic, diabetic kitties who can’t even groom themselves and have to get shaved or develop sores on their rears from excrement sticking to them.
This is Dan the clinic cat. Dan is 20 lb. Dan has an eating problem and needs to be on a diet.

Social order:

  1. Don’t TOUCH me! For a cat, the only acceptable place to be touched (until consent is fully achieved and a safe word is established) is the top of the head. This is the only place that they cannot groom themselves and will more readily accept touch on this area. So, if you’re first meeting a cat or trying to gain it’s trust, start with a little scratch on top of the head and then move on from there.
  2. Cats are like potato chips, you can’t just stop at one. Buuuuut… maybe you should. Yes, some cats LOVE companions, but for the most part, cats are solitary creatures that really need their own territory. If your cats aren’t getting along, you may need to establish their own territory complete with their own food, water, litter boxes, beds, toys, humans, etc. I recently thought I would be smart and get two kittens from the same litter so they would “love each other” and it totally worked for about a year. Now, they hate each other and break out in full on screaming, hair flying battles. We have 5 cats now and have to rotate who gets to be around humans between the main floor, the basement, and even the outdoors. Only my 18 year old dirty hippie kitty is accepted/picked on equally by the other four.
  3. Kitties seem like couch potatoes once they reach adulthood – happy to eat, drink, and sleep. In reality, cats get really bored really easily and to keep them mentally as well as physically healthy, it’s very important to keep them stimulated in their very controlled environment. My household does not allow for toys on the floor (per poodles), but a cat tree next to a window, a bird feeder to watch, laser pointers, SCRATCHING toys (flood them with scratching toys to keep them from shredding your furniture), toys with moving parts, there’s some mouse toys you can put their regular food in and hide throughout the house instead of in a bowl so they can feel like they’re hunting, there’s compressed catnip in a ball you can hang on the wall and they can rub/lick/play with it. Cats like tunnels, ramps to get to high places. Leave Amazon boxes on the floor for a few days, plastic or paper bags from shopping, kids’ canvas tunnels, tents, etc.
Popcorn, sibling to Toad. Hates Toad. And Penelope.

Dr. Elsey’s Cat attract litter: https://www.drelseys.com/products/cat-attract-litter/

Cat toy: https://www.chewy.com/doc-phoebes-cat-co-indoor-hunting-cat/dp/179101

Cat nip balls: https://www.amazon.com/Potaroma-Silvervine-Catnip-Healthy-Cleaning/dp/B08T7493WJ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2MIY8OB36U2B0&keywords=catnip%2Bballs&qid=1663263254&sprefix=catnip%2Bball%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-2-spons&th=1

22 Replies to “Cats: They’re Sensitive (and they’d like to stay that way)”

  1. Nailed it ! Enjoyed reading this because I could see our two cats in your descriptions. They are litter mates, but completely different in personalities. Both used to take mile walks with me in the countryside, but now one is submissive to the other and the fur does occasionally fly. Humans domesticated the dog; cats will probably domesticate humans in the future. Thanks.

  2. I have 2 cats and 1 of them likes to on an infrequent basis poop outside the box, not sure why she does this. I was wondering if maybe she smells the other cats feces in the box and that causes her to go outside the box??

  3. Love my cat!! 4 years old but she is not losing hai in patches. Vet gave me a spray to apply to stop her for licking. Can’t get the meds in her. But I wanted to know why is she licking. Any comments?

          1. Same food-blue-; just my brother and I in the house; indoor only. If it is fungus, what and how could she get it. The vet saw the one large area but it is now down her tail and her legs.

  4. Love your posts, Dr. Emily! Wanted to add that a pet fountain works well with my two cats. It’s a bit of a pain to maintain but well worth it. Also, I bought inexpensive, flexible cutting mats (Walmart kitchen goods) and stuck them in the litter in three sides of the litter boxes. Cuts down butt-over-the-edge accidents as well as litter spray from my enthusiastic digger. God bless you and your family. ♥️

  5. Declawed cats might not go into boxes if the litter hurts their paws. There are special litters out there. And sometimes chunks outside the litter box – if you have a household member with long hair- can come from the jerk cat who eats every tiny thing he can find off the floor, swallowing long hair in the process- making kind of a soap on a rope situation. Always good policy to check the rear to see if there’s still a hair making its way out …

  6. I love your remarks about. I have /cats. One is 20 years old and has to eat gruel and the other was a feral cat who adopted us but is kept Sept from out older car. Her friend is our 8 year old German shepherd who also loves her and shared the gravy from her food with the car
    I love your narratives and really loved you on Dr Pol

    1. You’re are never too old to dye your hair fun colors. Why be boring when being fun is…..we’ll much more fun!

    2. Dr Emily,
      I love your hair! I mean I loved when you cut it and went blonder now the pink is fabulous! Sexy, I bet Tony likes it!
      Miss you in MI
      Bonnie

  7. I have a Norwegian Forest cat that was just supposed to heal up in the house for 6 weeks, then go back outside (he WAS a barn cat). He has a long double coat & it constantly shedding everywhere!! I’ve tried so many brushes but they just don’t seem to work that great. ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

    1. I always used a curry brush(think is called that). It’s a round brush and looks like saw teeth on it. I believe it was used for horses. It won’t clog or pull the fur. Got mine at Tractor Supply. Blessings.

  8. I have 3 cats. We just bought a new tv. One of them will sit and watch the live fish aquarium forever. She is infatuated!

  9. I use a Furminator comb for cats. It works amazing like magic!! Sold at Petsmart, Walmart, Amazon…
    Love reading your posts Dr Emily 😊 (and your super cute hair) Keep ’em coming!

  10. Very thorough as usual; thanks, Dr. Emily.

    My apartment complex doesn’t permit pets, but even if it did, I’d only have one – a spayed Golden Retriever. I also can’t stand bodily fluids, so…. 😐

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