by Nomi Berger
 
Do you live in a multi-cat household? If so, you have probably wondered if your feline friends experience jealousy.
 
Imagine lying peacefully in bed one morning, half-dozing, with one of your two kitties curled up beside you. Imagine your second kitty attempting to join in the “cuddle” only to have your first kitty reach up and smack her hard several times on the head. The implied message: you are HERS at the moment, and she has no intention of sharing you.
 
We as humans would certainly interpret this as jealousy. But do cats get jealous in the same way? According to many animal behaviorists, what WE consider jealousy is known in the feline world as rivalry.
 
Why? Cats are creatures of habit, of predictability, preferring a stable environment with a minimum of changes and challenges. They lay claim to certain places, spaces and toys in their home, and they lay claim to Y-O-U: to your time, your attention and your affection. Short of splitting yourself in two (or three or more equal parts), the result can be kitty cat rivalry.
 
In nature, cats are driven to rival one another for such scarce and highly prized resources as food and clean water. Males will run off other males to keep their resources, including their females and shelter, to themselves. Females keep their domain even smaller while they raise their kittens, and intruders in that space are less than welcome. This isn’t jealousy; it’s a competition for finite resources.
 
While our indoor cats face no such challenges, their instinct to protect their “resources” is deeply ingrained in them and informs how they ultimately behave. Despite their access to a seemingly endless supply of food, water and safe, cozy places to sleep, some cats still find sharing them with others impaws-ible.
 
The easiest way to handle cat-on-cat rivalry in your home is by ensuring there are enough of the essentials to go around, starting with food and fresh water, clean litter boxes and cozy cat beds. If you live in a small apartment with a limited amount of room, add cat trees and shelving to give your kitties more vertical space to roam, along with several snug nooks or cubbies to curl up in.
 
Since you probably top their essential “resources” list, it’s essential that you give each of your cats some quality one-on-one time with you and encourage them to engage in group playtime with one another. Fulfilling their need for attention can be as simple as sitting on the sofa with a cat (or two) on either side of you, petting them, scratching their heads and kissing them – equally! 
 
Whether its name is “jealousy” or “rivalry”, understanding what motivates your cats to behave as they do and what triggers these feelings allows you to hopefully keep them at bay. Avoiding situations that bring out the competitor in them is key to achieving lasting harmony in your multi-cat household – no matter how many possessive pussy cats you have.

by Nomi Berger
 
There are more cats than dogs in American homes and yet they visit a vet far less often than their canine counterparts.
 
Why?
 
Because our prescient pusses can sense what’s coming and both dread and detest the entire process of GETTING to the vet. Some kitties become so stressed that they vomit or defecate out of fear while others morph into hissing, spitting balls of fury.
 
Since annual (twice a year for seniors) wellness exams are essential for monitoring and maintaining your cat’s health, consider the following tips for making the experience as fear free and tear free as paws-ible.
 
1. Bring out your cat’s carrier several days before your scheduled vet appointment so that she can get used to the sight of it. Leave the door open, thereby allowing her to enter it, explore it and exit it at her leisure.
 
2. Place some of your cat’s favorite treats and/or some catnip inside the carrier to encourage her to associate the carrier with a pleasant and positive experience.
 
3. Make the carrier appear less threatening and more inviting by lining it with one of her blankets topped by several of her favorite toys.
 
4. Spray the interior of the carrier with a synthetic feline pheromone product reputed to decrease and even eliminate stress 30 minutes before using it, then gently put your kitty inside and softly close the door.
 
5. Place the carrier in your car and practice making mock trips to the vet by driving around the block. Once ... twice ... Increasing your driving time as long as she seems comfortable, and stopping immediately if she shows any signs of distress. For most cats, the only time they’re crated and inside a car – a frightening experience on its own -- is when they’re going to the vet, setting the stage for a stressful encounter once they arrive. This exercise will hopefully de-sensitize her, preparing her for “the real thing”, while rewarding her with an especially high value treat should help her associate the drive with something pleasurable.
 
6. If none of this helps and your kitty remains stressed both by the drive to the vet and by the visit itself, ask your vet to prescribe a sedative to calm her down for any and all future visits.
 
7. As a last resort, ask if your vet makes house calls. If not, ask for the name of a vet or a clinic that does. For frazzled felines who feel more confident in familiar surroundings, this may be the purr-fect solution.