How do we know this? Because they tell us so.

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We recently watched an BBC documentary called Prog Rock Brittania. Reverend Jim spent most of it curled up in my lap. Now, it’s not like he doesn’t spend time in my lap. But he doesn’t spend that much time there for any other music. From the time he was a kitten, the combination of prog rock and lapsitting create an irresistible object in his mind.

We are used to thinking of music as something created and consumed by humans. We might forget that sounds have an affect on everyone with hearing and a heart to be played upon.

We have observed each of our cats showing up for the music they like, and leaving when the playlist shifts. If we pay attention, we might notice how our cats respond to our tone of voice, from sweet loving notes, to stern warnings, or even babytalk. That’s because cats are highly reliant on sound cues for their behavior.

Hunter/hunted: The slightest rustle, scrape, or squeak means dinner to our cats. So they are always up for investigating interesting noises. James Bond has drawn my attention to noises inside the refrigerator that I couldn’t hear until I opened the door.

The other side of this coin is how cats must always be on the alert to someone who is going to steal their dinner, or even make them dinner. And not in a good way.

Friend or foe: Any approach by another cat needs to be evaluated. Perhaps they are a friend… in a bad mood. Perhaps they are an enemy… in a good one.

Cats signal each other about their threshold for being bothered or engaged with various tones. From the chirp of friendship to the ear-splitting yowl of impending attack, cats are very alert to what other cats are trying to tell them.

Learning humans: With domestication, cats added another category to keep track of; human attention and intentions.

Cats love to be talked to. We might debate how much cognitive recognition goes on, but there’s no denying how cats are drawn to soft, happy, voices. They are alert to high, harsh, or distressed tones; they run from anger, and console our sadness.

When we consider that singing is actually “acting to music,” we begin to grasp how music, to our cats, could sound like a wonderful blend of many voices; even orchestral music. My cat Lawrence ignored all music except saxophone, which would lure him over to rub his face on the speakers. Sax is the instrument that sounds most like a human voice, and he certainly thought so.

Our kitten Ordell was a Devo fan; when the video “Freedom of Choice” was in rotation on VH1, he would show up reliably, every few hours, and then go back to what he had been doing once the song was over.

So if we notice our cat appearing at odd times, or showing up for “their song,” we have one more thing to share and enjoy with our cats.

Shared interests are one of the things friendships are built upon.

For more about cats and music, see Cat Affection Move: Their Song.

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Cats are actually the opposite of vegetarians. They are obligate carnivores.

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“Obligate carnivores” means they can’t help it. They can’t eat anything else but food from an animal source. They can eat some grass for digestion, and maybe odds and ends like mandarin oranges or marshmallows as treats. (I’ve had cats who liked such things.)

But that’s it.

It’s the taurine. Cats without an organic acid known as taurine develop liver, heart, and vision problems; and will eventually die. Cats can only get taurine (and vitamin A, B12, and arachidonic acid) from animal foods.

It’s the pointy teeth. Cats have teeth which are all pointy; not capable of grinding tough plant material into a form suitable for mammalian digestion. Horses have broad, flat teeth, as do all herbivores. Omnivores, like humans, have both flat teeth for grinding, and pointy teeth for tearing.

It’s the digestive tract. Cats have a short length of intestine, and none of the specialized enzymes or fermenting vats that will break down cellulose in plants and make it available to cells for nutrition.

It’s the enzymes. Cats completely lack the enzymes which allow for conversion of carbohydrates into body energy. The carbohydrates break down into blood sugar, but then can only be ushered into cells to form fat. So when we feed a cat grains or grain byproducts, we are only making them fat.

It’s the eye placement. Cats have their eyes set on the same plane, on the front of their head. This gives them depth perception; this lets them hunt. While deer, rabbits, antelope, and other prey animals have eyes set on the sides of their head; so they can look in more places for the predators who want to eat them.

It might seem strange that an animal rights activist (and I am) would not be a vegetarian or something like it (and I’m not.) But such a mental linkage comes from a connection that is neither accurate or sensible.

An animal lover can conclude it is wrong to eat animals. I admire such conviction; and once upon a time, I tried to embrace it. But it turned out to be bad for my health; I’m an omnivore, and need to eat both animals and plants.

We can’t hold it against cats, or me; it’s the way we are.

So I strive to help all animals be treated humanely; I rescue cats, I’m against factory farming, and I think our society should consider more sustainable forms of agriculture and animal husbandry than the one we are presently pursuing.

For those who wish to delve into this subject further, I can’t recommend a better book than The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, which is available on Amazon:

And on Kindle:

Idealism is a wonderful thing. It tells us what to strive for. But it’s wrong to use idealism as a hammer on reality, to impose an artificial construct onto actual living beings. It’s the living beings who get hurt, for nothing more than being unable to react the way an Idealist believes they are supposed to.

I see articles on the web claiming that we can feed our cat a vegetarian, or even a vegan, diet. Most admit these diets should supplement with taurine and many other essential nutrients; some even acknowledge that cats are designed, far more than most, to eat only meat. But their idealistic principles are not compatible with letting their pet cats eat in a way that is contrary to the goals they have set for themselves.

So what do I think of their claims that their cats are happily, and healthily, managing on such a diet for many years? I’m sure that some of these cats go outdoors, and a hungry cat outdoors will supplement for themselves. How is that different from adding missing items to a cat’s vegetarian food — to make it more like meat? These are supplements that have to be added because they do not appear in plants.

So it’s a bit hypocritical, isn’t it? An animal source is an animal source.

I understand the drives, be they for humanitarian, political, or health reasons, which lead people to embrace vegetarian or vegan diets. But they freely chose this for themselves. Their cats have not.

So instead of trying to convert a carnivore into a herbivore, such people should explore the joys of bunnies and birds as pets. Science has shown that cats cannot live on a meat free diet.

Pretending otherwise is simply animal cruelty.

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We are out of the cats’ favorite kind of food.

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This is a crisis because all cats rely on whatever has worked before. They are like small children in their willingness to explore new flavors; as anyone near small children knows, that’s not very much.

So when a cat has a good experience with a food, it’s not only a favorite; it goes on a short list of what they can consume with confidence. Anything else is regarded with indifference or outright suspicion. A cat’s instincts will urge them to incredible feats of patience and persistence when it comes to hunting down their prey. In our home, all of that energy gets diverted to what they can control; namely, what we open for them.

Likewise, if our cats have a bad experience, that food is now ruined. It’s similar to how we humans might have gotten sick after a particular food. Even if that had nothing to do with why were got sick, (like eating a perfectly innocent dish and then coming down with stomach flu,) our bodies will tell us to avoid that food. It will make us feel sick to our stomachs before we even eat it.

I once picked up a box of canned that the cats liked, thinking it contained a variety of flavors. But they turned out to be all variations on turkey; never a house favorite. After eating their way through the box, even though we tried to space it out, the cats had a liking for turkey that was distinctly less than it was before.

What happens when cat favorites aren’t their favorites any more? It can be frustrating to bring home a popular flavor and have the cats spurn it, but the explanation is simple: it isn’t the same. The manufacturers have switched around the recipe, or downgraded the ingredients, and we probably don’t have the labels from the previous recipe; that’s why we got more. So we must be philosophical, (because the cat is always right,) and donate the food to someone whose cat might love it.

If our cat has been sick, they can associate the taste of their favorite foods with being sick, and are now afraid of eating it again. We can’t do anything about it; we are the same way. Tempt them with tuna juice or sliced meats from the deli to bring their appetite back, and let them find new favorites.

Variety, if we can manage it, is a good insurance policy. Offering a blend of foods from different companies means less exposure to contaminants, coverage for missing nutrients, and safeguards against the grocery running out, not stocking it any more, being discontinued, or ruined by meddling with the ingredients.

We wouldn’t be very happy if we are anticipating a favorite dish at dinner; and get our least liked vegetable instead. So, once alerted, I stopped by the store on the way home. We needed other things, and I picked them up while I’m there, but the real reason I stopped was because the cats would complain if I didn’t.

They would be right.

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The actual situation depends on the age and agility of the cat in question, and what is really keeping them up that tree.

Knowledge. Kittens probably do need some kind of help, if only verbal encouragement, to make their way down the trunk of the tree. That’s because cats go up a tree head upwards. They must go down a tree the same way.

Unlike the trip up the tree, going down backwards must be learned. When I had a carpeted climbing wall in my house, kittens could be found about face-high, mewing piteously. They had to figure out how to descend while still facing up, so that the curve of their claws would hold them up; not let them fall.

A kitten stuck in a tree is probably truly stuck. The louder they complain, the more daunted they feel about getting down.

What to do: If they are not that far up, a sponge mop is a good tool; they often welcome the chance to cling to something else besides the tree. Once they fasten themselves to the sponge instead of the branch, they can be lowered to the ground.

Experience. Our adult cat can find themselves in a similar situation if they don’t usually go out and have never climbed trees before. Instinct will get them up the tree in case of danger, but instinct will not get them down.

Even if we have “things they climb” in our house, even carpets and drapes; this might not give them the necessary skills. Trees need a lot more pressure on their claws to dig in and hold up an adult’s weight. Add in trepidation about whatever sent them up the tree in the first place, and we might have a cat stuck in a tree.

What to do: It’s not just getting to the cat safely, it’s getting the cat to grab something else safely, too. Strap a pillow or couch cushion to our arm or chest, and we will be able to get the cat down without us getting punctured, too. Once the cat stops clinging for dear life to the tree, they will need to cling for dear life onto something else.

Motivation. Sometimes, the cat’s not coming down because they don’t want to. Just seeing a cat in a tree does not mean a rescue situation. Cats climb down from trees all the time.

But sometimes the cat can’t climb down, because they are stuck physically, not just mentally. I’ve known of cats stuck in trees because they slipped and got jabbed with a sharp branch that they couldn’t get free of, or they stepped on a cracked branch that closed on their paw when their weight came off of it, or their non-breakaway collar trapped them.

These cats really need rescuing.

What to do: So many times I’ve talked to people who got their cat back after a long time, because they didn’t know their cat was stuck in a tree. So many people who let their cat out don’t look up when they are looking for their cat.

This is why all cats stuck in trees should be approached from a sturdy surface, such as a well-braced ladder. Get someone else to help. Be sure to protect ourselves with gloves and a heavy jacket, at the least, because a hurt, starving, panicked cat will not be their usual self.

Cats are natural aerialists. That’s why they climb all over our furniture and like to hang out on top of the refrigerator. When in danger, they take the high ground. So trees are actually their natural habitat.

But, like so many of their instincts, they don’t always work in the world we have made.

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Stretchy kitties are happy kitties. Cats have the ability to remain immobile for long periods, then explode into action. This is a vital strategy of their hunting style.

Stretching elongates the muscle fibers to their fullest extent. This will preserve and enhance their ability to do that, on short notice, when the time comes.

Slow stretching lubricates the joints through their full range of motion. This establishes where their full range of motion will be. They might need every bit of it.

Stretching also works on the circulatory system, encouraging the flow of oxygen to all cells and improving blood vessel tone. The lymphatic system also benefits from full range of motion movements; this is how immune system response gets to where it is needed. Even skin benefits; stretching improves blood flow caused by the pressure of our bones against our skin and whatever our body is resting upon.

In arthritis advice for humans, we are getting told to act like a cat:

Be like a cat and stretch often — and luxuriously. Your body wants to stretch, and often does so unconsciously.

This is why it seems our cat cannot make a change in position without an accompanying stretch. They are being urged to stretch by their own body because their instincts still don’t know dinner comes in a can. Their body says they must be ready to react at any moment.

They are also getting good feedback from their body; stretching feels good. We know that; we just don’t act on it as often as we should.

An article in Arthritis Today advises cat owners to take a cue from their cat. Watch how many times she stretches every day, and when she does, you do it too.

It’s just another way our cat sets a good example. For us.

To stretch with a purpose, we can’t do better than trying The Egoscue Method. This book healed my bad knee; others report that their bad backs, sciatica, and carpal tunnel syndrome have gone away.

It’s all about motion.

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A cat that had its back feet severed by a combine harvester has been given two prosthetic limbs in a pioneering operation by a UK vet.

The new feet are custom-made implants that “peg” the ankle to the foot. They are bioengineered to mimic the way deer antler bone grows through the skin.

This is Oscar. And he really is bionic!

Technically, they are intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (Itaps,) which means they used naturally occurring processes to understand the engineering of replacing Oscar’s back feet. Noel Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon based in Surrey, pioneered the process, and explains:

The real revolution with Oscar is [that] we have put a piece of metal and a flange into which skin grows into an extremely tight bone.

We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an ‘exoprosthesis’ that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal’s limbs to give him effectively normal gait.

Watch the video and see how Oscar wobbles for his first few steps. Then he’s off and, literally, running, even after months recovering from the original injury and waiting to heal from the surgery.

What were my thoughts on this event that made me, admittedly, teary-eyed?

Some jerk is going to complain. Sure enough, the story that goes into depth about how Oscar and his people got into this situation has, as the second comment, this:

While it is nice that an individual cat didn’t have to put down I would think it would be more animal friendly to adopt a cat from an animal shelter instead and then also donate the rest of the money which was not spend on a single cat for improvement to that animal shelter.

Perhaps “jerk” is a bit harsh, since this commenter at least wants to give this theoretical money to an animal shelter instead of starving children, as these kind of commenters are prone to suggest. However, I reserve the right to actually append “clueless” to whatever we might call this person, because this option certainly wouldn’t be animal friendly to Oscar, would it?

How would Clueless react to the suggestion that a child undergoing expensive treatment should be “put down” and the money saved goes to some orphanage? Where the people who just lost a child could find another one? I mean, isn’t that just a win-win?

People like Clueless don’t make suggestions like that, because they think of children as unique and irreplaceable. Which they are. But they think of cats as fungible; identical, interchangeable, mere moving ornaments. Which they are not.

I could tell Clueless that Oscar has performed a great boon to humanity; the surgeon is using this operation as the basis to move on to people from here, because humans who have lost their feet could reap the same benefits Oscar has.

That could possibly make an impact. Because Clueless obviously does not get that Oscar’s people wanted him back, with a good quality of life. That is why they agreed to let him live at the vet hospital for months; they were thinking about what was best for him, not what was best for them.

That’s what Clueless does not grasp.

That’s what makes it love.

Oscar’s accident wouldn’t have happened indoors. To keep our cat both safe and happy, see all my posts on cats and the great outdoors.

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When a cat enters their teens, we are getting into elderly cat territory. While James Bond has slowed down, napping more often and being less likely to join in the reindeer games of the two semi-kittens, RJ & Olwyn, he’s in pretty good shape.

I’m always on the lookout for ways to keep him that way. While his Ninja Paw is as swift as ever, one of the things people and cats have in common is arthritis.

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It might seem strange that a creature as absurdly flexible as a cat would develop arthritis, but while cats are not as vulnerable as dogs, it can happen. Signs to watch for include a different gait or hesitance while walking, stiffness and slowness upon waking, and a reluctance to jump or play. Cats try to hide their pain and infirmity, so we need to be alert to small signs.

Some clues might be that our cat doesn’t perform a full body stretch any more, or sleeps on the floor when they usually loved the bed or couch. They might cry at night, or become either more clingy, or more hidey, than usual. If we suspect joint pain, they should be checked out at the vet’s office. This is the best way to make sure there isn’t anything else going on, and if our cat does need medication for arthritis, our vet would be the best one to determine dosage and spacing.

Such monitoring is important because pain medications are slow to clear the cat’s body. Widely spaced doses might be called for, or even contraindicated if our cat has liver or kidney problems. Liquid glucosamine seems to be especially helpful, and does not have the possible side effects of NSAIDs like aspirin. Steroids like cortisone are considered problematical and aren’t suited for a long-term problem like arthritis.

There’s one more supplement I don’t see mentioned in cat arthritis roundups, yet I feel is worth investigating. MSM is a sulfur compound many holistic practitioners recommend for arthritis in people, horses, dogs and cats. It’s a tasteless powder which can be mixed with our cat’s food. It is non-toxic and has no known bad interactions with other drugs. A few years ago, my thumbs started aching on me, and I need them to hit the space bar! So that’s what I’ve been taking for my own arthritis; and it works.

To help our cats resume their former routines, try putting a footstool near their favorite chair or at the foot of the bed, and consider getting them a warming bed, either electric or the kind which reflects their body heat.

Is there anything we can do to prevent arthritis, or help them once it appears? Keeping their weight at optimum and encouraging play becomes even more important as they age, and their metabolism and energy slows. The proper diet keeps our cat trim and energetic; and helps in a third way, too.

As an auto-immune disorder, arthritis is connected to inflammation and an overactive immune system. Grains, not being part of a cat’s ancestral diet, can cause digestive upsets and put the kind of stress on their system that leads to a confused immune response.

Supplementing their low carb diet with probiotics and brewer’s yeast, and seeing if they want to munch on some kitty grass, are all ways of getting more nutrition into their system, and more antioxidants into their diet.

James Bond seems to be benefiting from these additions. He’s always been a fan of kitty grass, I’ve upped the brewer’s yeast in his food the past couple of years, and when I started adding a probiotic into the cat’s dinners every night; he came over afterward and rubbed his head on my chest several nights running.

I think that means he feels better; and he knew his dinner had something to do with it.

Well, anything for my Bundle of Boy.

Read more about cat beds.

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Cats who came from Northern climate adaptations have long fur and large, stocky, bodies which work for them in the winter; but not in the summer.

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How much help do cats need? It depends on the intersection between our weather and their adaptations. I have three longhairs, but they are not the same. Our little Olwyn has a slender build, medium length fur, and a relatively scanty undercoat, while Reverend Jim has the full Maine Coon; big barrel-shaped body, dense undercoat, thick overcoat.

So when our mountain summer first heated up, he did a lot of lying around. This made him easy prey for me and my shedding comb. His body was throwing off fur to help him adapt.

Do all cats shed more for summer? Depending on our cats’ exposure to the outdoors, this shedding can be more or less seasonal. Indoor only cats tend to made less obvious shifts in their coat. But all cats react to increased temperatures by adjusting the growth cycles of their “down,” or underfur.

Purebred Norwegian Forest Cats are famous for shedding their long fur everywhere (except for their heads and tails) as a summer adaptation. This is most prominent in purebreds; the effect is diluted in their mixes.

Should I shave my cat? If we live in a Southern climate and our cat suffers from the heat, we can consider it. Persians who do not have access to air conditioning will benefit the most. They have stocky bodies and dense fur which really hold in the heat, and their short noses make high temperatures and high humidity especially trying for them.

As to whether “we” should do it, or have it turned over to a professional groomer; that depends on the cat. In any case, we should go for the Lion Cut, which leaves the tricky head, feet, and tail alone. The minimal cooling effect from fur removal there is not worth the stress on both groomer and cat.

Do not make it too close a shave; cats use their fur to regulate their temperature and protect them from sunburn. Lightly furred cats like the Sphynx, who have suede-like, barely furred skin, are also prone to sunburn, and need protection.

Look for signs of distress. It’s normal for cats to react to heat by being attracted to sources of cool, from draping their bellies over the marble sill of the bathroom to lying in the path of a fan or air conditioner. But if our cat is panting, this is a sign the cat is dangerously overheated. Wipe them down with a wet paper towel, get their paws into cold water, and see if we can’t get them into a cooler place.

They should perk up right away; if not, or their distress is repeated, a vet check is in order. Such excessive reactions to heat might signal a heart or respiratory problem.

If our home is air conditioned to a temperature we find comfortable, our cat will be too. Even so, grooming our cat is a year round task that keeps our cat healthy, helps us keep tabs on any trouble spots, and creates a happy bond between us.

Here’s some tools to help:

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Danger and gardens just don’t go together.

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Don’t I know about all the pests and diseases that can infest a garden? Actually, I do. For over a decade I gardened organically, with over eighty rosebushes, along with all the other flowering plants and herbs I grew. While a complete guide would take a book or three, here’s some tips to get us started:

Perfection is not going to happen. Organic gardening is about enjoying the scent of the rose, even if the leaves are raggedy. Most of us are not going to put little hoods over the blooms to avoid rainspotting that will ruin our chances at the Garden Show. If we are used to thinking of toxic chemicals as inevitable, whatever we are growing, we might be surprised at how well the non-toxic alternatives work for us.

Enjoying the garden is the goal. If the only way we can do that is through a window, or wearing a mask when we work there, a lot of the point is lost.

Tailor the attack to the problem. There are few plants that are as fussy and disease-ridden as modern roses. Yet I found an organic solution for their woes. Aphids can be smothered with some sprinkles of flour. Growing garlic at their base helped them ward off blackspot. A quick rinse with Miracid changed their pH and stopped fungal growth.

These days, there’s a lot of other solutions that can be implemented, from more naturally distilled insecticides which break down quickly to new insights into how diseases and infestations start and stop.

Set a bug to catch a bug. Ladybugs and mantises are just two bugs that do not bother humans, only other bugs. Make toad houses and accommodate birds to encourage other helpers in the garden. I never had a problem with Japanese beetles, even though they can strip a whole garden in a day.

That was because I had wild tangled shrubs and birdbaths to encourage birds to hang out in our yard. When grub season peaked, my yard was covered with birds having a banquet. Every one they ate was one less beetle to contend with down the road.

Get multicultural. In gardening, a monoculture is growing only one kind of plant; which simply rings a dinner bell for the pests that love to attack it. Lack of balance in the natural world never lasts; it is inherently unsustainable. That is why growing a lawn, or growing only roses, is such a struggle.

While I had mostly roses, I also had a lot of perennials and herbs growing all around them, too. This provided havens for my natural allies, the predators who eat the bad bugs. Except for spring aphid season, I didn’t have to do a thing to specifically go after any other bugs who wanted to prey on my plants.

Here’s some great books to get started. Especially the one called Carrots Love Tomatoes. Companion planting can be very powerful!

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If my cat sounds upset in their sleep, are they having a nightmare?

Dear Readers,

It could be.

If we’ve watched a dog sleeping, it’s common to see them make paw twitches and facial expressions that indicate they are running after something in their dreams.

But cats do this so rarely I theorize that a creature which spends so much time in various levels of sleep needs to have a solid disconnect between their dream state and what their body is doing.

Dogs curl up on solid surfaces; cats are likely to nap on places, like bookcases and the backs of couches, where any enthused dream-acting could lead to a rude awakening.

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But I have also observed distressed vocalization in sleeping cats who I know have had a trauma they are getting over. So I think cats “work out” their troubles in dreams, just as a traumatic event leads to nightmares in humans. The switches which keep cats from acting out their dreams are apparently not as powerful when it comes to vocalization.

Many years ago, we lost James Bond for almost two months. The outside of the house was being painted, and all the windows were covered with plastic sheeting. While we were away from the house one afternoon, we had a sudden thunderstorm. The barometric pressure dropped, the windows were all sealed, and our apartment door was sucked open with such force that the lock tore out of the wood.

When James Bond, in full panic mode, reached the downstairs, those doors were open, too. He must not have stopped for at least a mile, because after much walking of the streets at dawn and advertisements in every outlet from cable access to posters all over the neighborhood, we finally got him back after he’d been hit by a car; far away from our house.

The lady who found him took him to the vet and asked around the neighborhood. When she discovered everyone thought he was someone else’s cat, she found my cable access ad, still running. (She got a huge bouquet of flowers from us!)

This was around the twentieth call I had gotten; every time before, it had not been James Bond. So I had no hopes when I took my lunch hour at the vet’s to check out the situation. They brought in a cat with a head the size of a cantaloupe, legs that didn’t work on one side, and one enormous fixed pupil. He extended a paw and I grasped it, exclaiming, “It’s Mr. Bond!”

It took over a year, but he made a full recovery.

However, during that year, his sleep was often disturbed by apparent nightmares that made him make anguished noises, especially if he was sleeping while an ambulance siren went by. He might have been hit by an ambulance; he might have been afraid of the way it tore through the night; he might have had general fears that were triggered by its wailing siren.

So I do think cats can have nightmares. Here’s how to help them:

Verbally reassure. When Mr. Bond would wail in his sleep, we would always call soothingly to him and remind him he was home.

We shouldn’t try to pet them now; they are still in the scary dream, and this could make them react with even more fright.

Anchor them. If they come awake and recognize us, we can place our hand in front of their nose. Scent connects to deep emotional centers in the brain, and lets them know where they are.

Rubbing their blanket with our scent (use the back of our neck and our hair) will help keep them oriented in sleep.

Support recovery. Whether we adopt a cat with an unknown past or see our cat through a crisis, we must remember that mental and physical recovery arrives at its own pace.

Digestive illnesses can mean our cat needs new food varieties; they won’t trust their old standbys for a while. A cat recovering from a fight will not have the same confidence during confrontation. A cat who had the bejabbers scared out of them will associate their fright with things around them at the time; whether it makes sense, or not.

We can’t do anything about the past. We can only remind the cat that, here in the present, they are loved, are getting what they need, and they can, slowly, forget.

As much as any of us can.

Because as awful as trauma is, it lingers in the memory as a learning experience. That is its purpose. So we shouldn’t be impatient or upset with our cat.

Maybe we have gotten over it; but they have not.

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