by Nomi Berger
 
While not the norm for most healthy cats, in special circumstances, your vet may recommend the use of an elevated cat bowl for YOUR kitty.
 
Which felines, you may wonder, fit into this purr-ticular category?
 
Cats with megaesophagus: A medical condition in which the esophagus doesn’t function properly, inappropriate muscle contractions in your cat’s esophagus affects her ability to move food smoothly and efficiently from her mouth to her stomach. This will cause her to regurgitate whatever undigested food remains shortly after she’s eaten. An elevated cat bowl will allow gravity to move the food she’s eating downward from her mouth and directly into her stomach. Now her esophagus no longer has to move that same food upward towards her stomach as it must when she’s hunched over her food bowl on the floor.
 
Cats with other eating and/or swallowing problems: If your kitty, for example, is suffering from a neurological disorder, severe dental disease or an acute upper respiratory infection that makes swallowing difficult, the use of an elevated food bowl will, again, overcome gravity, making it easier for her to take food into her mouth and then swallow it properly.
 
Cats with mobility issues: If your cat – particularly a senior cat -- suffers from severe neck, back or joint pain in her front and/or hind legs, for example, bending down to eat from a bowl on the floor may be as cumbersome as it is challenging. Experiment, through a process of trial and error, with bowls of different heights to determine which one is most comfortable and most likely to ease at least some of her extreme discomfort.
 
Whatever your kitty’s issue, take into consideration both the height of the bowl and the diameter of the bowl (choose either a rounded or a slanted interior). Pay special attention to the material of the bowl. Generally, stainless steel, ceramic or glass bowls are best because they’re easier to sanitize – which is essential. Avoid plastic bowls since they’re prone to developing tiny surface scratches with use and over time, making them next to impossible to thoroughly disinfect.
 
Elevated bowls are available as individual bowls or as a combined stand that holds both a food bowl and a water bowl. Once again, experimentation is key. While some cats do well using a stand with paired food and water bowls, others, mainly messy eaters, don’t -- and shouldn’t use them. Why? A pair of bowls, side by side, may lead to the water in their water bowl being contaminated with food particles from their food bowl far more often.
 
For safety’s sake, clean your cat’s food and water bowls once a day -- or after each meal if you’re feeding her wet canned food – to reduce the risk of bacteria contaminating them and thereby potentially posing a health risk to you both. While they can simply be hand-washed in hot, soapy water, most bowls are dishwasher-safe and can, instead, be washed even more thoroughly and safely, in your dishwasher.
 

by Nomi Berger
 
Have you ever wondered why cats’ coats in general and yours in purr-ticular change color?
 
If so, consider some of the paws-ible reasons for this feline phenomenon.
 
1) Changes in temperature: Some cats, like Oriental Himalayans and Siamese, known as pointed breeds, are genetically predisposed to changes in their fur color depending on the temperature of their skin. Their skin is naturally cooler at their bodies’ extremities – faces, paws and tails – which partly accounts for their white or light cream bodies and darker-hued faces, paws and tails. The temperature of the environment in which any cat lives can also play a role in her coloring. Owners may notice that their cats are darker during the cold months of winter and lighter during the warm months of spring and summer.
 
2) The sun’s rays: If your cat -- as most do -- LOVES the sun, her fur will change color and fade because of her prolonged exposure to its rays. Most noticeable in black cats whose coats lighten and turn “rusty,” it results from the sun’s UV rays destroying the dark pigment, melanin, in their bodies that protects their delicate skin from being burned. Thankfully, however, cats are constantly replacing melanin, meaning their fur will eventually return to its normal shade, but they’ll have to go through an entire shedding cycle before this happens. Nor does this type of fading apply only to outdoor cats. The coats of indoor cats who spend too much time stretched out on sunny window perchs will also fade. 
 
3) Lack of important nutrients: Dark-haired cats may appear lighter or redder than usual due to an insufficient amount of the amino acid tyrosine in their diet. Considered a non-essential amino acid since it’s created within their own bodies, cats require twice as much tyrosine as their bodies can produce (the average cat needs over 5g of tyrosine daily). Tyrosine is needed to make melanin, and if cats don’t have enough of it in their diet, their fur can begin turning a reddish hue. Similarly, a diet high in such elements as copper or zinc may also cause their coats to change color.
 
4) The natural aging process: If your cat is 10 years or older, her body will automatically begin producing less melanin. But unless her coat is pure black as opposed to either a paler coat or one with stripes, you may not notice the change until her coat starts turning from its normal color to a browner and then, finally, to a grayer tone. Gray hairs customarily appear first around a cat’s muzzle and fan out from there. 
 
5) Stress and physical pain: While still controversial, some experts believe that stress or pain may be responsible for turning a cat’s fur gray. Such premature graying is linked to heightened levels of noradrenaline, a hormone constantly released by a cat’s body in small doses. Noradrenaline is connected to the nervous system, and during times of intense stress or pain, it will, literally and figuratively, flood her body.
 
If, on the other hand, your cat’s fur has changed color seemingly overnight, there could be a medical reason for it, and you should arrange to have her seen by your vet.

by Nomi Berger
 
Whatever their purr-ferred position, cats typically sleep with their paws over their faces.
 
While obviously comfortable and undeniably cute, why DO our feline friends cover their faces when they sleep? Here are some of the most plausible explanations for this behavior.
 
One reason is warmth. When they’re asleep, they lose more of their customary body heat due to the fact that they’re lying still. And since most of that heat comes from their paws, ears and the tips of their noses, covering their faces with their paws or curling themselves into a ball helps keep that essential heat inside while they sleep. They also instinctively curl themselves up more tightly in winter because the cold can be dangerous for them. Should their body temperature drop below a certain level, they can get hypothermia, which, in worst case scenarios, can lead to coma and even death.
 
A second reason is it blocks out the light. Since cats are crepuscular -- most active during the twilight hours – by nature, they spend most of their days sleeping. This means they must sleep when it’s light outside, often in direct sunlight thanks to its soothing warmth, and they use their paws to cover their eyes the way we humans use sleep masks.
 
A third reason is it blocks out noise. For most cats, even the slightest noise can wake them from their slumber. An instinct born as a survival mechanism for cats living in the wild, they would snap awake at the slightest noise, and if that noise meant danger, they could swiftly flee. How likely your own cat is to be wakened by a loud noise depends on how deeply she sleeps and how well her ears are covered.
 
A fourth reason is a sense of security. While cats, primarily outdoors and feral cats, are predators, hunting birds, mice and other small rodents, cats in the wild are the prey of many larger animals. Most vulnerable when asleep, their faces are vulnerable too, and should their faces be attacked, these cats’ chances of survival would be slim. And although your inside cat isn’t in danger of being attacked by a predator when she’s asleep, this behavior is, once again, instinctual.
 
A fifth reason is exhaustion. Cats don’t only use their paws to cover their faces when they sleep, they also use their paws to self-groom. Obsessively devoting nearly one third of the day to grooming themselves – a tiring feat in and of itself – if they fall asleep in the middle of washing their faces, their paws will land directly over their eyes. The very act of moving their paws down in order to sleep may, quite simply, be too much of an effort for them.
 
Last, but not least, your cat may be covering her face while she’s sleeping as a hint to the rest of her loving household that she needs her space and purr-fers to be left alone. Think of it as an unwritten “Do Not Disturb” sign and respect your favorite feline’s wishes. Rest assured: she’ll amply reward your thoughtfulness when she wakes up.

by Nomi Berger
 
Have you ever been in the position of finding a litter of kittens and wondering what to do next? To keep or not to keep, that is the question.
 
Here, then, are some answers -- together with more questions.
 
1. If you find a litter of kittens on or near your property, quickly assess their health. If they appear healthy, watch them, but don’t move them. Their mother is likely nearby. Stay far enough away – several car lengths – that you’re not considered a threat by their mother if she’s feral. If, however, the kittens seem distressed or are very vocal, and if their mother hasn’t returned by the end of the day, she may NOT be returning.
 
2. Unless they're in danger, however, it's best to give their missing mother another chance to return and tend to them. Place them in a carrier or cardboard carton to keep them warm, safe and secure.
 
3. Try to determine the age of the kittens. Are they newborns with their eyes closed and weighing less than 8 ounces? Or are they 8 weeks old, weighing 2 pounds, and resembling miniature cats? Not to mention every age and weight in between. Each age brings with it a different set of criteria as to their proper maintenance and care. If they’re newborns, contact local rescue groups or no-kill shelters ONLY that may be willing to take them in immediately.
 
4. Are they feral (part of a colony of cats born to live and survive outdoors) or domestic kittens born to a family’s lost companion cat? Once again, this will determine the steps you take next.
 
5. If it’s either too hot or too cold outside, raining or snowing, bring the kittens indoors and confine them to a clean, quiet and small room -- whether a spare bedroom, bathroom or laundry room. Leave them in their carton or carrier with the door open, and provide them with a high-quality kibble, fresh water and cat litter.  If the kittens are too young to feed themselves, you’ll need to bottle feed them every couple of hours. Should you choose this course, either contact a local vet or rescue group for advice and guidance.
 
6. Within a few days, decide whether you want to temporarily foster them, bearing in mind that socializing them as quickly as possible will improve their chances of ultimately being adopted.
 
7. Although adorable and impossible to resist, kittens do have little claws and sharp teeth. To protect yourself from unnecessary “battle scars”, wear gloves until the kittens grow comfortable with being handled.
 
8. If you have other pets, keep them separated from the kittens to minimize the risk of their transmitting either parasites or infections to them.
 
9. To make fostering the kittens easier, speak with the volunteers at the rescue group you’ve already contacted and ask for their advice – on all matters from A to Z.
 
10. When it’s time for the kittens to “leave the nest”, either contact your vet, one who operates a re-homing center that will welcome yours if there’s room, or the rescue group. Relinquish the kittens into their care where they’ll be spay/neutered, then set on the right path towards finding their fur-ever homes.
 
By your actions, compassionate and caring, you’ll have not only saved several small lives, but you’ll have shared in an extraordinary experience, one you’re unlikely to ever forget.

by Nomi Berger
 
To ease the discomfort of teething, kittens are notorious for nibbling and chewing, chomping and biting on anything within reach of their tiny paws – including your fingers and toes.
 
Kittens invariably begin to lose their baby teeth at around the age of nine weeks, while their adult teeth won’t have grown in fully until they’re between five and six months old. What more purr-fect time then, for every pet parent to teach their kitten some early “table” manners, i.e., what is and what isn’t appropriate when it comes to chewing and biting.
 
Consider the five following suggestions to make your new life together ever so much easier.
 
1. Once solely a doggy’s domain, chew toys are now fabulously feline friendly. Manufacturers, near and far, produce toys specifically designed to provide appropriate “targets” for those budding kitten teeth. Choose from a vast array of these treasures ranging from cloth toys that can be chilled to ease your kitten’s tender gums and firmer chews that will exercise her jaw muscles to nylon-based toys made expressly for teething.
 
2. Discover the wonders of interactive playtime and integrate it into your own daily routine. Why, you may ask? Every teething – and growing -- kitten requires vigorous, interactive play because it not only helps her work off excess energy, it also helps develop her balance and build up her strength. Using one or more of a variety of specially designed teaser toys at least twice a day for 10 to 15 minutes each time will both give your kitten a suitable object for her chewing and reinforce the growing pet-parent bond between you.
 
3. Of utmost importance: whenever you’re petting your kitten, make certain to keep your hands away from her mouth. Follow this same rule when playing with her. Never use your fingers as objects she can all too easily and confusedly consider fair game for her teeth. No mixed signals, paw-lease!
 
4. Be prepared to use the word “Ow!” if your teething kitten happens to bite you. Why? Because whenever the play between two cats becomes too rowdy or rough, the victim will emit a high-pitched cry, causing the aggressor to back away, and, ultimately flee. Say “Ow!” in a high-pitched but not overly loud voice, then promptly put your biting kitten on the floor. Referred to as the “Ow” and Down” technique, using it consistently will teach your wayward kitten that biting on her part means no playing or petting on your part.
 
5. Always ensure that, wherever you are, you have several chew toys close by. This way, if you’re sitting with your teething kitten and notice her expression suddenly signal, “I’m in the mood to bite something,” you can swiftly hand her a teething-appropriate toy, thereby taking your fingers safely off the proverbial menu.
 
In short, by lovingly, patiently and consistently reinforcing the message that only certain items are reserved for your teething kitten’s nibbles and chews, chomps and bites, you’re paving the way for the most purr-fect of futures together.

by Nomi Berger
 
With the arrival of spring comes the birth of millions of newborn kittens, the majority of them born to feral cats living outdoors. Fortunately, however, most of these kittens will make excellent family pets if they’re rescued and properly socialized at an early age.
 
Enter the compassionate, attentive and nurturing foster home. And yet, tragically, despite the most ideal conditions, a disproportionate number of these well-tended kittens will succumb to fading kitten syndrome. According to the most recent estimates, 15 to 27 percent of them will die before they’re nine weeks old, while mortality among litters of foster kittens can be as devastatingly high as 100 percent.
 
What, then, is fading kitten syndrome? And, more importantly, can it be treated?
 
Fading kitten syndrome describes and encompasses a number of problems and conditions that can cause young kittens to die. Most of those who die from this syndrome seem to sicken and die suddenly. With a few exceptions, such as trauma and hypothermia, however, the problem usually builds gradually and is extremely difficult to detect until a crisis develops. The key, therefore, to reducing such a high mortality rate in these kittens is the early detection of any subtle problems before a crisis develops.
 
Potential causes of fading kitten syndrome include:
Inadequate mothering by the kittens’ mother. Most foster kittens are particularly at risk if they were orphaned or abandoned by their mothers. Even kittens with mothers can be at risk if those mothers are young and inexperienced, stressed, malnourished, unable to produce enough milk, unwilling to allow their kittens to nurse or are, paradoxically, obese.
 
Bacterial infectious that result in sepsis. Viral infections like calcivirus, feline herpesvirus, feline AIDS (FIV), feline leukemia (FeLV) and panleukopenia. Parasitic infestations with coccidia, roundworms or other organisms. Many of these infections are linked to a complete collapse of the immune system, usually associated with a condition called thymus atrophy.
 
Hereditary defects ranging from heart irregularities to undeveloped immune systems. Hemolytic anemia, which occurs when a kitten’s blood type differs from her mother’s. When that kitten nurses during the first days of her life, she ingests antibodies that will attack her blood cells.
 
While the early signs of fading kitten syndrome are subtle, they’re usually detectable, and foster parents should be aware of them. Sick kittens may not be capable of righting themselves when turned on their backs. They may have a poor suckling reflex. Their eyes may not open at the usual age of five days to two weeks. They will often be smaller than their littermates and may not gain weight normally. Healthy kittens should gain from 7 to 10 grams a day. (Many experts recommend weighing kittens on a gram scale twice a day). Kittens not gaining weight at an appropriate rate must, therefore, receive extra attention with a special focus on feeding.
 
Fosters should be on the alert for constant noises such as whining or crying even after feeding, gradually worsening lethargy, weakness, labored breathing, vomiting, diarrhea and nasal or eye discharge. These symptoms constitute a crisis and require an immediate visit to the vet. Recovery is possible if the underlying cause can be quickly identified and treatment started in time. Supportive care usually includes fluids, dextrose to support blood sugar levels, antimicrobials, nutritional support, oxygen support and body temperature support.
 
If a kitten does survive this crucial period and grows stronger, long-term management in her foster home must focus on proper nutrition, scrupulously clean living conditions, preventative health care, and especially close monitoring of her food intake to ensure she gains weight. Sadly, though, the prognosis for most kittens in crisis is poor, with many of them dying even with treatment. And one kitten lost doesn’t augur well for that kitten’s remaining littermates.

by Nomi Berger
 
Are unsightly and uncomfortable scabs making YOUR kitty itchy and irritable? If so, what’s causing them?
 
One of the main culprits is miliary dermatitis, where itchy scabs appear on a cat’s neck, back and tail. Most often the result of a fleabite allergy, whereby a cat is allergic to a substance in flea saliva, a single bite can trigger severe itching in her. Although you’re unlikely to find fleas on your affected cat due to her fastidious grooming habits, you will be able to see flea droppings -- composed of digested blood.
 
Some cats have food allergy dermatitis and may exhibit hypersensitive reactions to one or more components in their diet. Other possible causes of allergies include atopy, a type of allergic reaction in response to inhaled allergens, and contact dermatitis or contact allergies. Some cats may react adversely to materials in their owners’ bedding, carpets or rugs. Seasonal allergens – from pollen in the air to grasses, weeds and bushes -- can also cause intense itching in especially sensitive cats, not to mention chemicals commonly used in households and on gardens and lawns.
 
Next on the list of possibilities are skin parasites such as ticks, lice and mites, nutritional deficiencies due to an unbalanced or inappropriate diet, and immune-mediated skin diseases. While they themselves don’t cause a cat’s scabs, her frenzied scratching, chewing and licking in an attempt to find relief from the itching will – by eventually breaking the surface of the skin. The longer she claws at the scabs, the greater the chance of secondary bacterial or fungal infections, making treating her all the more complicated. It’s therefore essential to bring YOUR unhappy kitty to the vet as promptly as possible.
 
The diagnosis of miliary dermatitis is based primarily on your cat’s medical history and her symptoms. Your vet will, in all likelihood, check for signs of fleas and flea dirt, collect some skin scrapings, run allergy tests and take biopsies if necessary. You may even be referred to a veterinary dermatologist.
 
Ultimately, treating her scabs and itchy skin will depend on identifying the trigger and then, relieving her symptoms. If a flea allergy is to blame, your vet will prescribe a flea medication for at least two to three months. If it’s a mite or lice infestation, medicated baths or sprays should help. If it’s a food allergy, a hypoallergenic food trial (without the offending allergens) may make all the difference. She may also be put on a brief course of corticosteroids or other anti-inflammatory drugs to help ease her itching while any other prescribed medication works to eliminate the root cause of her condition.
 
Should a secondary infection be involved, your vet will prescribe a round of antibiotics or antifungals for a given period of time. But remember: even if her skin problem begins to resolve itself within a few days of starting any medication, you MUST finish the entire prescription to prevent it from recurring, which can be more serious and more difficult to address. Additional protocols may also include giving her antihistamines and/or cyclosporine and supplementing her diet with essential fatty acids.
 
Fortunately, most cats diagnosed with miliary dermatitis have an excellent prognosis. But to err on the side of caution and keep it, wherever possible, from becoming an issue in the first place, your cat’s preventive health program should include a monthly flea preventative to ensure she’s adequately protected throughout the year. If your cat spends any time outside, keep her inside instead, thereby reducing both her exposure to various outdoor allergens and keeping her away from any cats potentially infested with fleas, mites and other parasites.

by Nomi Berger
 
Has your kitty gone from “pleasingly plump” to frighteningly fat? And if so, why?
 
Does the term “polyphagia” sound familiar? If not, it’s a medical condition that causes a cat to increase her food intake to the extent that she seems ravenous most of or all of the time. Since polyphagia can be either behavioral or physical in nature, it’s vital to determine which of the two is affecting your particular kitty.
 
The simplest way is starting at home – to see whether you’re simply over-feeding her.
 
Since most healthy adult cats require only one or two meals a day, use measuring scoops (follow the serving size recommended on the tin or packaging) to refill her bowl and feed her on a fixed schedule – despite her many initial meows of protest.
 
Although she may be eating a great deal, she may not be getting enough essential nutrients. If this is the case, change to a higher quality cat food, one that provides her with the vitamins and minerals she needs to stay healthy – and lean.
 
Use a slow feeding bowl – their bumps make it more difficult for kitty to reach her food, forcing her to eat more slowly. And if your cat is one who eats when she’s bored, a slow feeding bowl will provide her with the added benefit of some much-needed stimulation.
 
Turn mealtime into a game by purchasing one of a wide variety of feeding toys that automatically dispenses food as your cat plays with it. Not only does this limit the amount of food she eats but it also encourages her natural prey drive and affords her the chance at some additional exercise.
 
If your cat is either lonely or stressed (some cats will habitually beg for food as a means of attracting their owners’ attention), alleviate these feelings by devoting at least 15 to 20 minutes a day to actively play, play, playing with her.
 
If, on the other hand, the reason behind her overeating is medical, among the various possible culprits are diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism, certain medications, and impaired digestion and absorption of nutrients. But to make the proper determination, a visit to your vet is essential.
 
As with any other suspected condition, the first step will be a thorough physical examination of your cat augmented by extensive blood and urine tests. A blood count enables your vet to evaluate her thyroid levels, examine her blood for the presence of infectious agents, and to see if she’s suffering from anemia or any inflammation in her blood vessels. Abnormally low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) may also be found – possibly the result of insulin-producing tumors that interfere with the proper functioning of her pancreas. A complete urinalysis will show if there’s an infection in her urinary tract, an infection of the organs involved in waste elimination or if sugar is present in her urine -- commonly found in cats with diabetes.
 
Should these tests prove inconclusive, however, your vet may suggest x-rays of her thorax and abdomen and, possibly, an endoscopy. This procedure involves inserting a tube through your kitty’s mouth and into the hollow cavity of her stomach to take tissue samples from her stomach and small intestine.
 
Once the cause of her condition has been diagnosed, your vet will provide you with an at-home treatment plan to follow going forward. Examples: Diabetes mellitus can usually be managed by a combination of insulin and a special diet. Gastrointestinal conditions such as exocrine pancreatic insufficiency may respond to dietary changes and oral medications. Hyperthyroidism can be treated with medication, radioactive iodine therapy, diet, or surgery to remove the thyroid gland, while impaired digestion or absorption caused by gastrointestinal disease may be controlled through medications and dietary changes.
 
But if kitty’s polyphagia doesn’t improve or worsens, schedule an appointment with your vet to have her re-evaluated.

by Nomi Berger
 
Have you thought of adding some new and different resolutions to your traditional New Year’s list?
 
Have you ever thought about getting involved in the world of cat rescue, but didn’t quite know how?
 
Here then, are twelve different ways – one for each month – for you to resolve to make a difference in the lives of rescue kittens and cats this year. Even if you choose only one, that choice will make all the difference in the world to them.
 
1. Contact a local cat rescue and ask to volunteer for them. Since volunteers form the backbone of every nonprofit organization, no group can function successfully without them, and there are many ways (it varies from rescue to rescue) to help out.
 
2. Refer ONE feline-loving friend to the same rescue to volunteer alongside you.
 
3. Click onto their web site and make a monetary contribution to them online either as a onetime payment or as recurring monthly payments.
 
4. Purchase and donate items to them from the “wish lists” featured on their site such as Amazon and Chewy.
 
5. Follow their Face Book page, “like” them, “comment” and “share” their postings on a daily basis, and vote for them in every online competition.
 
6. Respond with donations to as many pleas for funds as possible – from one kitty’s medical needs to GoFundMe appeals.
 
7. Instead of accepting birthday gifts this year, ask your family and friends to make contributions to the rescue in your name.
 
8. Host a small fundraiser (bake sales, garage sales and yard sales are among the most popular) and donate the proceeds to them. You will receive not only their gratitude, but a tax receipt as well.
 
9. Sign petitions calling on your city to ban the sale of cats in all pet stores unless they’re from animal shelters, rescue groups or people surrendering them for free.
 
10. Sponsor a kitty.
 
11. Foster an available cat. Learn precisely what’s required of you, then welcome one very needy and deserving animal into your home temporarily, until he or she can be placed in a permanent home.
 
12. Adopt a rescue cat and save two lives – the life of the one you’re adopting, and the life of the one immediately taking his or her place.
 
As for next year? Either continue working your way down this list, or resolve to draw up a list of you own.

by Nomi Berger
 
It’s a question posed by puzzled cat parents everywhere: Do our feline friends truly HATE water?
 
According to most animal behaviorists and scientists, the answer is more complicated than a simple “yes” or “no.” Why? Because the relationship between cats and water is, in itself, complicated -- for several reasons.
 
From an evolutionary standpoint, today’s domestic cats are descended from Arabian wild cats who inhabited areas where the climate was arid with few if any large bodies of water, thereby negating the necessity to learn how to swim in order to survive. Succinctly put, there’s virtually nothing in the ancestral lineage of domesticated cats that would have ever prepared them for being bathed – in a tub or even a sink. 
 
Because they still retain many of the same instincts as their ancestors, today’s cats are always alert to potential threats and must be fit enough to either fight or flee should the need arise. But if their fur is wet (read “drenched” or “soaked”), it’s akin to being weighed down by a cold, heavy blanket due to the fact that their coats dry very slowly. Not only is this distinctly uncomfortable, it impedes their ability to move, compromises their agility, and leaves them vulnerable to attack.
 
And since cats typically spend 30 to 50 percent of each day meticulously grooming themselves, licking their fur to remove skin oils and fluffing their coats, they scarcely need bathing. In fact, their sole exposure to water seldom extends beyond their water bowls. It’s purr-fectly understandable, then, that their reaction to anything else would be one of fear. Especially if their earliest exposure to water was getting caught in the rain, being forced into a flea bath or being disciplined with a spray bottle or squirt gun to dissuade them from jumping onto or scratching furniture and/or kitchen counters.
 
Cats are gifted with a highly developed sense of smell and are thus able to detect the chemicals in tap water – an extremely unpleasant experience, at least for them. They also have numerous scent glands in their bodies that produce pheromones used for marking and communicating with other cats, and water – from tap water to scented bathwater -- interferes with these abilities. 
 
Why then, do so many cats splash about in their water bowls and/or stare in such rapt fascination at the water streaming from a sink faucet or filling up a bathtub? Because it has very little to do with the water itself and everything to do with the way it looks, sounds and moves. To them, the shimmering, flickering light patterns dancing about so seductively means only one thing: potential prey and, thus, a source of food – an instinct as old as the species itself.
 
And yet, surprisingly, there are some cats who not only enjoy water but LOVE swimming in it! Among them are the Abyssinian, American Bobtail, Bengal, Japanese Bobtail, Maine Coon, Manx, Norwegian Forest Cat, Savannah, Turkish Angora and Turkish Van.
 
If you have a young kitten, it’s always possible to help her feel more comfortable around water. Since her most impressionable time of life is between three and 16 weeks, expose her slowly to water using treats or toys as positive reinforcement. Should you have an older cat who’s either sick or has arthritis and can’t groom herself properly, bathing her may become a necessity. Even she can be conditioned to enjoy – or at least, tolerate – the water, although the process will, understandably, be slower and take longer.