My cat has started wailing in the middle of the night. When I go out in the hall to see what’s going on… nothing is. The vet said she isn’t sick, just old. Isn’t there anything I can do?

Dear Reader,

This is “cat dementia.” While any disturbance in our cat’s routine should be checked out medically, especially if we have a senior cat, there’s no cure for old age. However, there are some steps we can take.

This is James Bond on his recent 15th birthday.

That’s 77 in human years; and James feels it a bit more, as he’s such a large cat.

A few months ago, James started sitting in the hallway in the middle of the night, wailing his heart out.

This isn’t a game, as it once was; because when I call him he doesn’t seem to hear me until I raise my voice, and because he doesn’t come when I call him. That let me know he’s starting to lose his hearing, and that he’s doing this to tell me he’s uncertain and confused. As our cats age, their bodies are hitting new challenges to their most basic functions.

A couple of years ago I started asking the vet for a blood panel every checkup; so we can get a picture of their organ functions, and jump on problems while they are small. So I knew James wasn’t doing this because he was sick; it’s because he’s old.

Here’s some steps we can take to help our cat in their very senior years:

Help their digestion. It’s like a snowball rolling downhill. Our cats lose digestion ability, then they aren’t getting the nutrients they need, then their bodies can’t function the way they used to.

If there’s any nutritional stone we’ve left unturned, now is the time to try it. We can serve more canned and less dry food, supplement their intake, and ask the vet for kitty vitamins.

We started giving James chamomile tea; this is a digestive aid which is also calming. Tummy troubles are very upsetting and will magnify all our cat’s difficulties.

We can get tea bags, or the loose herb, at the health food store, brew some up, and keep it in the refrigerator. Put some on their canned food and then warm it (just a bit!) in the microwave. This will help our cat’s lessened senses pick up the scent of their food and encourage their appetite. We also get more fluids in them; they can lose track of time and not drink enough, either.

Help their anxiety. As our cat’s senses dwindle, they become uncertain about what does come through. This can make them wander around familiar places, not trusting their environment the way they could before.

Once they have anxiety, they have trouble thinking and interpreting… which increases the problem! Vets are often reluctant to prescribe anti-anxiety drugs until the problem is big enough to actually interfere with eating and eliminating, because of the effect of these drugs on the cat’s aging liver and kidneys. But in the meantime, no one is enjoying themselves.

Natural solutions are the chamomile tea, Bach’s Rescue Remedy, or a Feliway Plug-In Diffuser.

After some research, we started supplementing James Bond’s food with coconut oil. This is a naturally occuring medium chain triglyceride; a healthy fat with some incredible properties. It helps nutrient absorption, and is itself a quickly assimilated source of food energy. Poor digestion can lead to lowered blood sugar; and in turn, to brain confusion.

This fat also directly helps their brain work better. It encourages the brain’s own natural fuel; ketone bodies. There’s some evidence that it improves brain function and restores myelin sheathing.

It easily melts over their warmed food; or, put a 1/4 teaspoon on our fingertip and rub it gently into the fur on their foreleg, where it’s easy for them to clean off.

Help their focus. We can restore our cat’s lost trust in their own senses by doing things that turn up the volume for them.

Serving warmed food reaches their nose and taste buds. We should encourage gentle exercise to help their circulation, or give them kitty massages.

We can make our rituals bigger and better so they will make more of an impression. If there was anything our cat showed interest in, and doesn’t anymore, we might wake them up by making a huge fuss over it again.

Our cat’s sense of smell is much greater than our own, but alike in that it is directly connected to our brain’s emotional center. It’s also the sense most likely to keep its strength as our cat ages. So we should reinforce times and places with scent cues to create a new structure our cats can use, the way older people can still be mobile if they have a walker.

We had a built in advantage to this; James Bond had already chosen a favorite herbal toy while we were testing different blends, and we noticed he would actually leave it in his nap spots. Since he tended to suffer from confusion upon waking up (the middle of the night wailing) he was doing this to keep himself grounded during sleep. So we started tucking it under his chin when we would spot him napping without it.

All these things have helped James stop wailing in the hallway. The other day, he went ballistic on the Cheese Chase toy… for a few minutes. He’s still got it.

While he’s not as lively as a kitten, he’s certainly showing signs of being happier and healthier.

It’s great to be able to do that for him.

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They look so cute and floppy and inviting! We just want to scoop them up and hug them and squeeze them!

But it’s a bad idea.

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If a cat has committed to their nap, if they are “in deep,” then they won’t want to be physically and mentally yanked from one state to another. If they are simply cruising along, happy and relaxed, then they probably won’t mind some cuddling; if we do it right.

How can we tell?

Low level: Cats do “cat nap.” This is when they are half awake, or half asleep, as the case may be. If our cat stretches out a paw, or rolls over to expose their belly, or talks to us, they are inviting further interactions. We should take them up on it by petting them while they are lying there, or even join them on the floor or furniture if there’s room.

We might find, to our surprise, that our cats are more welcoming of our physical overtures when we are on the floor or couch with them. Why is this so?

In my post, Cat Affection Move: The Shift, I explain how cats respond to our signals of equality. Getting down on their level, and using only parts of our bodies to pet them, works because we are not overwhelming them with our superior size.

Pretending to be their own size not only tickles the cat’s funny bone, it signals respectful friendship. Their favorite kind.

Mid level: This is our cat, asleep; but in full view. Cats sleep on sunny spots on the back of the couch, or follow the window sun across the carpet, or curl up on a chair in the room we are in. They’re here, but not really awake.

They want the same kind of signal from us. Most cats won’t mind if we speak sweetly of them, and follow up with a gentle, full body, stroke or some head and ear scritchings. These are pleasurable, and equally important, they do not move the cat.

My post, Why do cats like to lie on things?, explains why cats seek out soft, cushy places. They need this kind of gentle support as they unwind their springy muscles and tendons. All that flexibility needs full extension and deep relaxation. Trying to pick them up, or even pet them too vigorously, and they have to quickly realign everything and make their body ready for action.

We aren’t being very respectful when we ask them to do it… just to get some of our affection. Show we really care, by being thoughtful about the effort it took them to get this way, and not disturbing them.

They have paid us a great compliment by trusting us enough to sleep near us. We should be gracious about accepting it.

Deep level: If our cat hides away to sleep, this is the equivalent of putting up a DO NOT DISTURB sign. Even highly affectionate cats do this; the only time Olwyn is not around is when she is taking her daily Deep Nap.

My post, Cats in Their Spots, explains how our cats hide away when they need to. We should try to figure out where their spots are (though we haven’t found Olwyn’s yet.) Once found, we shouldn’t do anything more than send them a slow eye blink to let them know they aren’t doing anything wrong… we just miss them.

Cats do their most recharging during these times of very deep sleep. That is why they find a place where they are unlikely to be disturbed. So this is the least likely of all times for us to insist on attention.

At all these times, our cat is signaling what they want.

All we need to do is listen.

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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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Why do cats sleep on our bed? Because it’s so comfy and smells like us.

Add in the fact that cat breakfast and a new play opportunity often happens after we go to bed and get up again, and we have a bunch of reasons for cats to be interested in our bed.

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If we are gone during the day, our cat will often sleep on our bed. Things are quiet in the house, letting them relax and not have to monitor events. It can also mean they miss us and want to feel near us.

At night, we are relaxed and quiet, not likely to dislodge a cat from their comfy resting spot. The cat is in touch with our situation; as soon as we get up, they will know.

Best bedspreads to share with our cat: get something easily laundered, and with a variegated pattern of some kind to help our cat distinguish movements under the covers as well as on top of them. Fuzzy materials will cling to cat hair more.

Many cats adore our bedroom, and want to spend time there. If we cannot let the cat have the run of our bedroom, we should choose another room in the house where we like to spend time, and will spend it with our cat. This will make up for leaving them out of the bedroom.

Sharing our furniture with our cat is a vital move in the relationship.

It makes all the other moves, possible.

Is our favorite room the one we stand around in? Never. It’s always a room with some kind of leisurely, fun activity. It could be eating breakfast. It could be making breakfast.

Any room, where we are relaxed and available for petting, can be our cat’s favorite room. A shared activity can actually be taking a nap together. It’s a relaxing activity for both of us.

Most cats, and most people, enjoy this most close of all times.

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Humans use the night hours for sleep, and it’s a third of their day at a stretch. Cats devote twice as much time to sleep, but it’s broken into chunks that are only a few hours in duration, and they are naturally more active at night.

We couldn’t be more different.

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Since we are asking cats for a departure from their natural, instinctive, behavior, we need to signal them that we are about to go into our Sleep Mode. Otherwise, we go around doing the usual inexplicable things humans do, and then suddenly… we vanish.

Cats who mark our bedtime by wailing and walking on us are actually expressing their distress at what seems like a sudden disappearance. Are we sick? Why are we lying here not moving? What is going on?

We need to create a ritual that both signals the cat that we are about to activate our Sleep Mode, and sets the cat up for sleeping properly with us; or at least not bothering us while we are doing it.

We already have a bedtime ritual of our own. Checking the doors, brushing our teeth, and getting into our nightwear are all ways we can signal the cat, if we draw their attention to it. Talk to our cat while we are gearing down for sleep, reminding them that we need to be left alone for our own nap.

We should also incorporate rituals for our cat which helps them conk out when we do. A rousing play session and then a snack are the right things, in the right order, that will make them sleepy, too. Cats naturally discharge a lot of energy, and then take a nap to recharge. Arranging their tendencies to match ours will put us both in the same mood.

Bedtime is quiet time. We can cuddle. They can find the right curve of our knee or stomach to settle against. There can even be some petting and feet grabbing, as I do with Mr. Bond, as they take advantage of us being prone. But soon, the lights go out and it’s bedtime.

The right signals, at the right time, is how they learn that.

So far, so good. If they wake us up too early, see The 3 AM Problem.

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When we know cats run hotter than we do, at a footwarming 102°, this behavior seems more puzzling, not less.

That’s only because we aren’t looking at it from the proper perspective.

When we put together the cat’s origins in the deserts of the Middle East, their high metabolism, and their particular style of hunting, the picture becomes clearer.

As a desert creature, cats would have developed a high heat tolerance. The original model (as seen at left) was short-coated and long-bodied, all the better to throw off excessive heat.

Cats who cope better in cold climates are different; stocky bodies and longer fur work to keep the heat in. That’s why we can have a Siamese soaking up sun on the windowsill while their Persian companion is belly down on a tile floor, all on the same summer day.

Cats are mammals, which means a certain amount of their fuel intake goes to keeping them at that toasty temperature. Almost a third is used just to keep their skin and coat in top shape. Cats are so dependent on protein, even synthesizing their body’s glucose needs from it, that their liver keeps producing metabolic protein enzymes 24/7, unlike other mammals who have an on/off switch.

Then there’s the cat’s predatory style. They are very fast for short periods. Since they can’t outpace their prey; they must outwit it. That bright brain uses up energy too.

It all adds up to a metabolism with a high overhead. So…

If a cat can run on solar, they will.

With the heat of the sun helping them stay warm, they are actually conserving energy. They like to seek out sunlight for naps because this offsets the drop in basal metabolism that comes with sleep’s shutdown of certain body processes.

It doesn’t have to be sun. We can be puzzled by cats seeking out stifling spaces in the un-airconditioned garage or curling up under a lamp even in summer, but that metabolic heat advantage is why they will seek out what seems like an uncomfortable temperature to us.

But for our cat, it means their body doesn’t have to work as hard, and they stay warm and comfortable during their naps.

That’s why they will wake up just enough to inch along with the square of sunlight as it moves across the rug.

And give us one more delightful reason to enjoy their wild side.

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Cats will sleep on the doily part of the wooden table. They are a little like the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. Cats can detect slight differences in softness.

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Cats have a practical side to these preferences. Their highly wound, flexible bodies need corresponding down time to fuel those incredible acrobatics. To relax, they go all the way into their famous “boneless” poses, where they drape themselves over and off the edges of things. Extra “cush” offers a far better surface for this purpose than hard, unyielding objects.

Cats and laundry are a case in point. Yes, they like sleeping on our dirty laundry, because it’s soft and smells like us. They also like sleeping on the clean laundry, because it’s even softer. Depending on the products we use, we could be making our laundry even more attractive. Botanical scents, like lavender, wheatgrass, and the mint family, can attract the cat because they find these scents pleasing, just as we do.

Warning: Bleach can be sending the wrong message. After we clean bedding or floor areas with bleach, cats can sometimes detect a scent they interpret as “go to the bathroom here.” Ammonia sends this signal even more strongly.

That’s why vinegar is a better cleaner/deodorizer in cases where we wonder if the cat is getting the wrong signal. If we have a problem with the cat mistaking the bed for some other purpose, leaving the bleach out of the laundry for a few cycles can solve this problem.

We can signal the cat about good sleeping spaces by draping an easily laundered throw over corners of couches or chairs. Cats will seek the extra softness, and we have something that can be whisked away when company comes. I make my bedcovers easily laundered types, because I want to encourage the cats to sleep on the bed. It’s not only attractive because it offers acres of softness. It’s the way cats communicate closeness with us, whether we are there at the moment, or not.

If we have a cat seeking “cush” in places that we dislike, we can try coming up with better, even cushier, places for the cats. But we should not be ruthless about our goals. The cat chooses their lounging places for other reasons besides their softness. They also want outposts to detect activity, a place that offers good escaping or ambush possibilities, and places that mean something to us, so they can display their good feelings towards us and our territory.

Keeping some designated towels around to throw over fresh laundry can be a simple step that keeps both of us happy. Remember, it is also their house. When we share, there is enough for everyone.

The cat’s liking for the softest possible surface is hedonistic. Cats will always opt for the pleasurable side of almost any choice.

But their pleasure seeking has practicality; they need, and must have, sleeping spots that fulfill many purposes. There’s nothing wrong with having more than one good reason to do something.

This is a lesson we can learn from the cat.

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Because their sleep cycle is faster than our own. We can all go to bed perfectly happy, but they are not designed to sleep as long as we are. So, in the middle of our night, they wake up refreshed, ready for action, only to discover we are not doing anything, really.

And here they are, bored and lonely. Surely we have gotten enough sleep by now!

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Cats who wail, walk on us, or otherwise indicate they want us to get up in the Middle of The Night might not be as completely to blame for the situation as we might think. Because of all the training mistakes people can make, the most likely one to happen is doing the wrong thing in this particular situation.

The wrong thing to do in this situation is… anything.

That’s right. We could have created these monsters. Because if they are trying to get us up, and we get up, we have just trained them. Doing that thing, that thing they just did, will work. As dedicated cat scientists, they do not write papers or high-five each other in the lab, but they will most certainly do that thing again.

The proper response to a cat trying to get us up, for playtime or breakfast or anything else short of a screaming smoke alarm, must be: Nothing. If we have to react, like from a paw on the face or several foot-pounds on a tender spot, we can mutter and thrash and turn over, but we can’t do anything else. And we certainly can’t get up… that’s what they are after, isn’t it?

We don’t have to be a Russian named Pavlov to realize that it doesn’t even matter if we curse or yell or act upset when we get up… if we get up. What they did worked since we got up. The cats figure the goal can be fine tuned later. What’s important early on? Results!

We have to make it not possible for them to get what they want, so they can shift their goals.

Chances are, if we have this problem, we have already trained the cat. Now we have to retrain the cat.

Create a “depths of the night” toybox or other quiet distraction that we put out in the living room when we go to bed. This contains things they like but will only be available to them at night. Explain that this is for playing with while we are still sleeping. If we could have it opened by them as needed or by some remote method, all the better.

They have to see that they are not getting us up at 3 AM, but we are still meeting their needs at such times. Of course, the toys and treats must be quiet; no balls with bells in them! But anything that engages their minds (how do we get the toybox open?) will keep them from being bored.

Play them into the ground before bed so they will be going to sleep when we do, but when they wake up, they will have something to do that is not available at any other time.

We might also need to have an aversive feedback when the meowing starts coming from downstairs. We can leave the vacuum cleaner out in the hall, with the plug nearby. A quick blast of noise in response to their noise makes them rethink their approach.

If they don’t get what they want from meowing, keep a bottle of air or water nearby, where we can reach it without making too many motions or getting up. If they appear in person, a quick blast into the air, not even directed at them, makes them realize that this is not the response they want, either.

If we need to make a pitstop in the night, make it as quick and quiet as possible. Don’t turn on any lights or otherwise confuse them about our intentions. Putting nightlights in the right places, or keeping a flashlight by the bed for such trips, will be sufficiently different from our morning routine to let them know that even though we are up, we are not really up. We are not awake (don’t respond to the cuteness!) and all they will get is the usual nothing.

If the cat makes overtures when we go back to bed, all they might get is grabbed and hugged as we fall asleep. If that’s what they want, great. If not, they will have to seek amusement elsewhere.

Remember, once we are asleep… we are asleep! Even our reactions must come from the depths of sleep. They can’t get any attention, except the kind they don’t like, by waking us up.

As dedicated scientists, they will only be moved by results they like. Showing them that this experiment is a failure will let them get busy coming up with new solutions to their 3 AM boredom and loneliness problem.

Or they will keep doing it.

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Most of the time, they will want to sleep with us.

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Since cats spend so much of their time sleeping, it’s only natural they want to spend some of this time with us. But it can require some give and take to successfully train both us and the cats to make sure everyone gets the rest they need.

If we want the cat to sleep with us, we should bring them into the bedroom at bedtime. But this is not necessarily a fast process. Active kittens will sleep for a few hours and then want to prowl. Even adult cats will need to make a pitstop or grab a snack in the wee hours before they come back.

One of the things about sleeping with our cats is how we sleep for much longer at a time than they do. I leave the bedroom door open so the cats won’t have to wake me up for their needed activities.

We can encourage the cat into a position we think will work. Mr. Bond choose the “teddy bear” spot against my chest on his own, but this is an easy one to cuddle them into sleep, and drift off ourselves. Other cats, such as RJ, prefer to cuddle up against our feet, or in the curve of our knees.

If we are a generally quiet sleeper, we won’t be sending “get up” signals to the cat. But someone like me, who changes the side they sleep on throughout the night, requires some reassurance to let the cat know they can still stay. I roll over under the covers, and the cats ride the comforter like boats on a wave. When they were young, I would verbally, or with my hand, reassure them they could stay and I liked it.

If we need to make a pitstop ourselves, this is also a time we can try to disturb the cat as little as possible. Whisper we will be back, and then pet them on our return. One of the endearing things Mr. Bond does is insist on getting up, too. When I exit the bathroom, he’s usually there in the hall, blinking and sleepy, ready to go back to bed. If we can’t get up without disturbing them, try to slide them to an unused part of the bed with our open hands under them.

Sharing our bed, and making sure we both get what we want from it, is one of the best Mutual Respect moves. We should be flattered by the cat’s desire for closeness, and willing to work with them for the best outcome.

This is a reader’s cat, Yoshi, and there’s no question about the love here. His person tells me he came up with this on his own.

But they are both happy about it.

Remember, the cat wanting to sleep with us is a expression of great trust and closeness.

Isn’t that what we wanted?

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We can soothe our conscience by realizing that sometimes cats do welcome our overtures while they are sleeping. We need to know where and why cats are sleeping to make this call.

If the cat is hanging out in the living room during a Lost marathon with our friends, the cat is looking for notice and interaction. They might not be up on the plot, they might not be drawn into the discussions of character development, but they are saying that, even asleep, they have an ear cocked for what might interest them, and are in the mood for the occasional stroke or directed question that will make them feel a part of the event.

If the cat has sought out the littlest used room in the house, with or without parking themselves under the bed, the cat is seeking deep sleep, and low input. If we encounter them there, and they aren’t doing any harm, we can tell them they are good and leave them alone. The cat has indicated they are “sleeping in,” and doesn’t particularly want any fussing right now.

Part of the puzzle is that cats do “cat nap.” They are capable of an indefinite drifting state where they are attuned for possible happy events, but are not on full alert, either. It’s always a compliment when a cat does their “drifting time” in a room with us. Sleeping on our lap or against our leg is what we rightly regard as serious closeness, and we often seek out such opportunities.

But a key way to maximize these “lap or leg” opportunities requires a commitment on our part. Put the drinkies and snackies close to hand, the remote nearby, and signal our “settling in” by tossing a throw across our lap or opening a book. If the cat is going to settle in, they want to settle in, not be constantly dumped off our lap or otherwise disturbed.

That’s because most cats are highly sensitive to our cues. If we are restless, only going to be sitting down for a little while, or ready to bounce up when our team scores, this is not the atmosphere the cat will regard as conducive to serious snuggling time. In the minds of many cats, it doesn’t matter why we are nudging them off our lap, whether it be checking the fridge or an urgent call of nature. We have nudged them off our lap, and they will wonder if we really meant it in the first place.

So if we want to cat to curl up with us, we should make the effort to not disturb them unduly. It’s a wonderful feeling to have a relaxed cat enjoying our affection, and returning it. But this isn’t a state to be rushed, or for us to get a charge and not return one to the cat. We might have been signaling to the cat all along that we won’t stay still long enough for either of us to get the most of this kind of contact. So the cat will choose a more stationary nap spot than our lap.

Where ever they might be, a cat choosing a nap spot in a room we occupy, especially a prominent and easily accessible one, is a cat declaring trust and affection. They will welcome non-dislodging activities as ear rubs, paw holding, or a couple of “hand hugs” because that’s why they are hanging out there. But we shouldn’t pull the cat out of bed for a quick cuddle and expect to put them back in the same way. The cats finely tuned body has already found the right configuration for itself. It’s disruptive to make them try to find it again.

Cats do spend two thirds of their life in some kind of sleep. We can expect a lot of our cat interaction to take place while they are in some form of it. Respecting the cat’s needs, while rejoicing in their decision to be near us, lets us connect with the cat when they are in their most relaxed and mellow moods.

By making our overtures in that same spirit, we know we are doing it in a way the cat will welcome.

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