Podcast #16: Cats in Winter

Whether we are Northern or Southern Hemisphere, most of us have a change of seasons, and thechallenges that brings to both us and our cats.

My latest podcast, Cats in Winter, is all about what we can do for our cats during this mostchallenging season.

Their air gets dry and chilly, our cats get bored more easily, we create challenges from stamping ourboots to coming inside bundled up like a Yeti.

Tristan loves Mithy, at last

Learn the cues that let us know our cat is chilly with Dear Pammy, Is my cat comfy?

I discuss the importance of Cat Fountains.

And why we might consider Changing Outdoor Cat to Indoor Cat.

There's good parts to winter, too. There's more cuddling, more feasting, more closeness. So let'senjoy the best of both worlds.

See my podcast page on Pet Life Radio for the latest broadcast. We and our cats, learning how tolive in In a Purrfect World!

Transcript after the jump:

Welcome to... In a Purrfect World. Where cats get everything they need for the snowy season!

I'm Pamela Merritt, from the Way of Cats.

Today, let's talk about what cats need during the winter months. Depending on where we live, snowcould be a little or a lot. But the good news is that many of the things we do to improve our cat'sliving conditions during the winter would be good for ourselves, too.

Where I live with my cats, there are four distinctly different seasons, and our winters are cold and

snowy. Since my cats are indoors-only, I understand people thinking that nothing changes for them.But that's not true. Our cats still have all their instincts for survival in the natural world. Thatdoesn't change when they live indoors, because light still comes through the windows. Light cyclesare how we, and our cats, adjust to the changing seasons. It affects mood, energy, sleeping patterns,even appetite.

In my area, New England in the United States, the days begin to shorten, rather dramatically,following the fall equinox. This is September 21st when the days and nights are of equal length.Daylight hours then decrease in length until the winter solstice on December 21st. This signals bothus and our cats to adapt to the changing conditions, helping our minds and bodies handle the cold.We humans have dodged many of these requirements by creating a civilization where we wearclothes and live in heated dwellings and have food available regardless

of growing seasons. While we can provide the illusion of not being dependent on exterior conditions,our bodies will continue to take note of the change in light from the sun. We'd have to liveunderground to avoid that. So, despite our best efforts to ignore season change, it happens anyway.It still affects us. And this goes for our cats, too. Some of the puzzling things our cats do will becomemore clear when we look at their behavior as a response to the seasons. Our cats experience andrespond to seasonal changes with adjustments to their energy and play patterns.

Our most devoted window watcher is Reverend Jim. He moves from window to window, studying thepatterns of the birds, chipmunks, and squirrels. It's just as well, for everyone, that none of them evermeet. But RJ loves observing, just as my grandmother loved watching "her stories." For both ofthem, it was highly enjoyable and driven by important needs. For my grandmother, it was anemotional tie to a society that was highly dramatic and interesting. Yet, she was not responsible fortheir decisions and mistakes, not did these affect her own life.

It works like that for RJ, too. He will not be going out there and hunting down the chipmunks he socarefully studies, any more than Grandma expected to sit down with one of her favorite soap starsand give them some of her excellent life advice. (Thank you, Grandma!) Similarly, RJ does enjoy thestudy process. So as the days get colder, and we start shutting the windows, his pleading look is notjust about losing the fresh air and nature smells. He's old enough to know "his stories" will beshutting down for the season. Along with a source of interest and entertainment.

If our cat acts bored and restless as winter deepens, we might not have realized just how muchwindow watching figures into their day. They might be doing it while we are not home. But now,without windows or us, they can wind up bored and restless. Then we come home to signs our cat islooking for other things to occupy their time, like playing with things they aren't supposed to. Now isthe time to break out some new toys, upgrade their cat tree, and see if they will enjoy videos onYoutube. I tell RJ "It's a magic window!"

In my blog post "Tristan teaches Mithrandir", I explained how Tristan taught our new kitten Mithyhow much fun it is to watch videos on my Chromebook. Mithy was so fascinated he fell asleep infront of the "birds at a feeder" video I had playing. There's cat channels devoted to such catfavorites, but we can also get creative. RJ loves deep sea features, while Tristan will watch long pansof scenic wonders. They do make an excellent substitute for boring winter windows.

This season can bring other adjustments to our cat's heads. Every winter my deeply Gamma cat,Smokepuff, would be upset because we'd come in from outside in bulky coats and funny hats. Hedidn't recognize us until he had taken them off, so quite often he felt strangers were invading hishome. Other cats might be upset by the stomping of boots to get the snow off, or the roar of the

snowplows going by, or especially the freight train rumble of snow falling off the roof. We don't haveto have snow to create these problems for our cats.

Winter is a season like no other, and we should be alert to the special challenges which affect bothus and our cats. One of the biggest, and yet often overlooked, is the effect of heat on the humidity inour home. If our heating system dries out our indoor air, (and most of them do,) then we and ourcats have a problem. One we might not realize until we go to pet our cat, and zap them instead. Thiscan create a bizarre situation where our cat becomes afraid of us, because they don't understandwhy we keep zapping them when we attempt affection.

There is more going on than the static electricity jump from our finger to our cat's head. It is a signthere is not enough humidity in the air. This dries out our nose and throat, which makes us moreprone to picking up an illness, at the exact time when we are exposed to more illness than ever. Thehealth risks apply to both us, and our cat. Fortunately, the solution can be simple and elegant andbeneficial. We can get a cat fountain. These come in a wide variety of types, and will work for us onmany levels.

I became a huge fan of cat fountains when we began leaving those giant coffeehouse mugs aroundthe house for the cats to drink from. We had a filter pitcher which we used to fill our water glasseswith, and the cats indicated they vastly preferred drinking from our glasses than their own dish onthe floor. This could look like snobbery, but in fact the cats had the same reason for drinking fromour glasses as we did. The water tasted better. So we got some mugs for them to drink from, made apoint of filling them with the filter pitcher -- See? Your mug has the

same water as mine does! And this solved our problem of the cats drinking out of our glasses. Theyhad their own, ones that were better designed for their drinking needs. They want something whichwill not interfere with their whiskers, or require their eyes to drop below the rim of the container.This is an important design point that we might not realize can be the reason our cats reject certaineating and drinking vessels. Cats do not want to feel vulnerable at this time, and prefer broadshallow dishes for this purpose.

Understanding cats in winter, cats indoors, and cats' interaction with their drinking sources is a big,interlinked, subject. It all harkens back to our cats' origin in the Middle Eastern desert. There isn'tany winter there. And though cats cope with dry conditions better than we can, this background hashad a marked effect on their drinking habits that many people are not aware of. This in turn impactsour cats' behaviors, and long-term health, in a very profound way. I'll be delving into this deepsubject after the break.

Find out more about optimum cat health at way of cats dot com backslash blog. I've spent years ofobservation and research to keep my cats their happiest and healthiest.

Don't go away. I'll be back with more In A Purrfect World.

~

And... we're back! Talking about how our cat's desert origins have shaped their health needs in ourhome.

One of the best ways to illustrate how our cats' desert origins inform their behaviors is how theyALWAYS win any staring contest. That's because cats, despite the relatively large surface area oftheir eye compared to us, have special corneas which do not dry out very easily. So they don't have

to blink nearly as much as we do. And so, they always win. This also is why cats speak so much withtheir blinking behaviors. What I call Cat Kisses is the long slow blink of their eyes which signalsfriendship. To cats, an intense stare is not rude. It's interest.

Now that we grasp how eye signals are such an important part of the cats' language, we might startgetting the picture of how important their water drinking behaviors are. This is the desert! We don'thave to be Lawrence of Arabia to know how important water is to desert dwellers. We need tounderstand that our cats' water seeking, and water drinking, behaviors are tied in with theirinstincts about getting clean water. Science has informed me that cats have a limited ability to getrid of toxins, once those toxins have been ingested.

So cats have evolved different strategies. They don't have good toxin filtering, so their behaviorsmust concentrate on not ingesting toxins in the first place. They use their great sense of smell todetermine if a food or water source is good enough to ingest. This is also why they are fussy! Theyhave a whole repertoire of behaviors designed to keep them healthy by avoiding spoiled food andcontaminated water. This makes them finicky eaters in our home, where we sometimes offer food informs that does not fit their instincts.

And makes them downright detectives when it comes to their water sources. We noticed that ourcats would go to the most recently filled giant mug, no matter where it was in the house. We noticedhow much they liked fresh water, so we no longer put their water bowls down on the floor. Instead,we would position the giant mugs on pieces of furniture which the cats had access to. They soappreciated this special attention we gave to their water. When we saw how much more water theydrank when we took those steps, we took another, giant, step.

We got a cat fountain. Our first fountain was not specially designed for cats. We weren't sure howmuch they would like it, and so we hedged our bets by choosing a zen style fountain that would beaesthetically pleasing, as well as something the cats could enjoy drinking from. But this fountain wassuch a hit, with the cats standing in line to use it like children at a school water fountain, that westared scouting around for a fountain that would be designed for cats to drink from.

We knew from our previous fountain that we wanted something that looked good, would have a largecapacity for our multiple cats, and was easy to clean. While the running water is a great source ofattraction to cats, any kind of dirty water is not. Our research indicated that porcelain is an idealfountain material. And then we found the right company, Thirsty Cat Fountains, on Facebook. Theirfountains were everything we were looking for.

We chose a beautiful fountain with a seashore theme and a lovely misty rose color. In the center ofthe fountain, there was a beautiful little conch shell that the water bubbled out of. There was even alittle seashell plate which covered the cord that ran the pump. It turned out to be a gorgeous, nearlysilent, large capacity fountain which our cats took to immediately. This was because they werealready used to drinking out of a fountain, and so the fountain itself

was not a new concept. We had let our first fountain run, all by itself, until Olwyn showed all theother cats how wonderful it was to drink from it. The most important step we can make inintroducing our cats to such a new device is to show patience with them. It's important to Shape theResponse, which is what I call introducing new items to the cats with excitement and happiness. Thishelps the cats understand that this is a good thing that they will like.

How did I get from zapping our cat on the nose to buying them a cat fountain? When we have a catfountain we are putting humidity in the air. This makes our indoor atmosphere so much more

pleasant, for both us and our cats. Depending on our situation, we might need more than a fountain.We might need to put in an actual humidifier, or even something like a clay flower pot upended in adish of water. The clay soaks up the water and lets it escape into the dry air.

Our cats will seek out warmth with extra vigor when it's cold outside, no matter how warm ourhouse feels to us. Cats run hotter than we do. Their normal body temperature can be over 102degrees. So we should be aware of our home heat sources to make sure our cats are accessing themsafely. Space heaters, fireplaces, even electric blankets can be a source of danger; especially whenour cat naps near such items. The heat might build up to a point where they are not noticing theyare becoming uncomfortable, until they sustain

an actual injury. We can be pro-active and create safe, and warm, spots for our cats. There are catbeds with reflectors which conserve body heat, or with regulated heat elements which are safe forour cat. We can throw a blanket over a heating pad and exclaim over the nice spot we've made forour cat that will keep them away from the radiator or the floor vent. It can be as simple as a cottonbag of rice. We microwave it, and it gives off heat for hours.

Older, arthritic, or ill cats can really use this extra warmth. If we can help their body not have towork so hard to keep warm, they will be better able to cope with any health challenges. Present theirspecial place or bed to them with soft, happy, words and demonstrations. We can put our hand onthe warmth, and then on their head. Or let their feet touch the warmth while we hold them, thenstep back to let them come to their own conclusions about the spot.

Many people have complained to me "The cat won't use their bed!" This usually is not the fault of thebed. The cat bed itself may be nice and comfy. The problem is often where we put the bed. The flooris not the best place. If we do not see our cat lounging around on the bare floor, it's not because thefloor is not squishy enough. Cats feel vulnerable on the floor, and don't find them good places forrelaxing. First, observe where our cats like to hang out, then, we know where to put the cat beds.

Do we know all the ways we can meet our cat's needs? Let the way of cats website help! Discover allmy helpful articles about keeping our cats comfy!

Don't run away. I'll be back with tips about living In A Purrfect World.

~~~

And... we're back! Talking about the special needs of cats in the cold months -- whenever that maybe. Hello to my fans down under!

We were just discussing how we can best keep our cats warm and safe during the winter months. Avery important point to consider is where our cat usually spends their time. Because this will have tobe enhanced in the winter. Even cats who go outside will find themselves going out far less whenthere's that awful white stuff on the ground and the temperatures whistle through their, possiblyshort, fur. When it's less comfortable for the cat outside, our cat be spending more time inside.Which makes this is a perfect time to consider making

"indoors only" a permanent state. If we have been considering making our cat indoors only, now isthe time to lay the groundwork for this transition. More and more people are deciding to make theircats indoors only, because it is a sad fact that our cats are safer, less prone to injury, and will livelonger, if they are kept indoors all the time. Winter is merely an extension of keeping our cat indoorsall the time. It will require more work from us in terms of amusement and litter maintenance. But ithas many serious advantages, too.

My work on Way of Cats has become a mission to help people develop a deeper, stronger, moreaffectionate relationship with their cats. When we spend more time with them, we naturally developa stronger friendship than we would if we were only a pit stop in the cats' busy activity spentoutside. It's not that the cats don't want to go outside. Of course they do! But I've come to see this asthe same desire our teenaged children have. They would love to rampage through the localnightspots with a fake ID and a pocket full of cash, but as parents,

we don't want them to. People who regard the cat as a wild creature whose natural home is theoutdoors are forgetting that our outdoors is probably not what they are adapted to. If we lived in themiddle of a desert, it would be more likely to fit our cat's instincts, but this environment also runs ahigh risk of our cat becoming prey to a larger animal. We run a terrible risk every time we let ourcat outdoors. I have decided not to roll the dice with my cat's life every time I open the door. I havebecome too fond of my cats to risk losing them.

As we spend more time caring for and interacting with our cats, we develop fun routines andenjoyable daily rituals. This enhances our cat relationship. When winter comes, even indoor only catsincrease their need for amusement and exercise. We must rise to meet it. If we don't have a cat tree,now is the time. If we don't have a cat tree, now is probably past the time. Because every cat canbenefit from a cat tree. There's no excuses. From budget to high concept decor, cat trees can fit intoour home... and enhance it.

Mr WayofCats was one of these skeptics. We have a small apartment and a tight budget. I did notpress the matter when we had two older cats who were mostly the Gamma cat type. They had their

scratching needs met by a cheap throw rug apiece and their exercise needs met by a short wand toysession. We go two kittens over the years and I brought up cat trees again, but these were Northerncat mixes, long-haired, big-boned Beta cat types, and we got away without having one. And then, wegot Tristan, Alpha cat type, and we had a

cat tree by the time he was several months old. Suddenly, when we had a long, lean bundle of atomickitten energy, we had the money and the space! Mr WayofCats agrees he was wrong to wait so long.The scratching post, exercise, and hanging out possibilities of cat trees were not in his previousexperience. Now, he considers them essential. This may surprise those whose concept of "desert"are those endless dunes of unvarying sand. But back in the day, the Fertile Crescent was a lot morefertile. There were bushes to hide in and

trees to climb. Providing this for our cat benefits both of us. Our cat will have more of their needsmet, more often, and we will feel the pressure on us, and perhaps our furniture, lighten. Becausewhen it comes to scratching, play, and security, a good cat tree does absolute wonders. Part of thereason is a cat training concept I spoke of in Podcast #1, "The Cat's PR Problem." This importanttraining concept is something I call Yours and Mine. In essence, our cat can more easily trained toNOT scratch our sofa when we have given them what amounts to

their own "sofa." In Podcast #5, "The Cat's Needs," I explain the magnetic attraction cats have forheavy upholstered furniture. If we give them their own heavy objects covered in things they like toscratch, they have "yours" and we have "mine." And we are both happy. A cat tree fulfills a cat'sdesire to have a tree of their own. And nothing wears out a kitten, or an athletic grown cat, likerunning full speed to the very top of the cat tree. By encouraging them to pull their own body weightup a vertical surface, we are exercising all of

their muscles, relieving stress, and completing the all-important energy cycle. Discharging our catsenergy is important, and is a lot of the force behind their scratching behavior.

It's all part of "changing outdoor cat into an Indoor Cat," which will be the subject of a later podcast.The important Winter Point I'm making is that even our indoor cats need more playtime andstimulation in the winter, since their Cat TV (that is, window watching) has shut down and

there are extra stresses on them which accumulate energy, which in turn must be discharged. It ispartly because of this phenomenon that, every year, I get my cats a Holiday Rug. A local discountstore has inexpensive, welcome mat-sized, throw rugs with holiday themes on them for a few weeksof December, every year. And, each year, I get a new rug for my cats to enjoy. They play territorygames, they enjoy the new smells, they revel in the new spot where treats appear. All winter, thisrug gets scratched and rumpled and

enjoyed. And then, spring comes, and I

let the cleaned rug go to a local shelter, which always needs disposable comfy spots. (This is a goodtime to mention that any of our old towels, sheets, and blankets will be welcome there!) The holidayrug is a seasonal ritual our cats just love! They act like the holiday rug is a new "fort" and have allkinds of play battles, scratching enjoyment, and other cat fun with it all winter. By the time they aretired of it, it can go on to a new purpose.

Another item to be aware of in a wintry area is keeping supplies handy. In our town, we haveperiodic snow emergencies which motivate us to keep the larder stocked with canned goods. Wedon't want to be looking down at plaintive little faces asking where dinner is, do we? Certainly not

when it's so easy to stock up on non-perishable items like cat litter, canned food, and bagged treats.Unlike dogs, cats are not so easily appeased with frozen pizza.

Another tip if we have a cat who is used to the outdoors is the status of our houseplants. If they areused to browsing among vegetation during the summer, there's going to be a gap in their provisionsduring the winter. Head off such conflicts by growing "kitty grass." By growing oat grass in a pot forthem, we can play "yours and mine" and convince them that this pot of tender, tasty, grasses are forthem to nibble on...and the rest of our houseplants belong to us, and they are not to be nibbled on.

By giving our cats what they miss about summer, we can have them happily handling the indoorsduring winter. And then, we humans have a bit of summer around the house all winter, too. Withproper humidity, safe heat sources, a bit of greenery, and a tree we all can enjoy, we will enjoy thecold months with our cat. It means we have increased time together. This makes our affectionatebonds deeper and closer. Which is what our cat experiences is all about. It's the feelings we alltreasure.

I have both winter and summer tips on my cat blog, way of cats dot com backslash blog, along withmany more tips and concepts to increase our cat enjoyment. Something that goes both ways!

~~~

Tune in next time for more about creating happiness In A Purrfect World.

Thanks for stopping by! Find me on Facebook. To get my monthly eNewsletter, sign up here to getmy FREE eBook, Ten Cat Tricks (Every Human Should Know.)

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