Cat Chat ®

#286: Stephen Quandt (https://catbehaviorhelp.com/) says the time to get your cat ready for the new sights, sounds and smells of a newborn are before your baby comes home. Get a recording of baby crying sounds and play it quietly at first then increase the volume. Elevate the cat’s food and water bowls in anticipation of an eventually crawling baby. Bring in all the baby furniture and equipment you can and let the cat investigate it. And if you know someone with a babe in arms, ask them to come over and let your cat see and hear it.

#285: Jerry D. Moore’s nonfiction book “Cat Tales: A History” is a long look back at how cats evolved alongside humans and made a pact to cohabitate with us (on their terms!)

#284: Mikel Maria Delgado discusses the variety of positions in a cat’s tail and how it reflects their feelings and mood, which is very particular to each kitty. Tracie likens deciphering cat tails to learning to read Morse code signals.

#283: Stephen Quandt (https://catbehaviorhelp.com/) suggests ways to make a cat-centric city apartment including a space-saving cat climbing tree that is suspended from the ceiling and a window perch. 

#282: Keoni Vaughn, the Executive Director and caretaker of 767 cats (!) at the Lāna‘i Cat Sanctuary on the tiny Hawaiian island of Lāna‘i, explains its history and how they look after these previously feral cats (40% of whom become so tame they are adopted out to some of the nearly 20,000 tourists a year), while protecting a rare and vulnerable local bird population.

#281: Jennifer Mowdy of the Literary Cat Co bookstore and cat cafe (where you can buy the book) joins Tracie to discuss this beautiful, quirky posthumous book of collected works (prose, poetry, drawings) relating to cats, from the late renowned science fiction author, Ursula K Le Guin.

#280: Dr. Michelle Dulake discusses the ingredients in her Fera Pets Kidney Support for cats: how it binds the phosphate in their diet, which is the culprit in most chronic kidney diseases. Tracie recommends that the sooner you start the supplement (and switch to an all wet food diet!), the better chance you have to stave off the inevitable kidney disease that affects all cats as they age.

#278: Mikel Maria Delgado talks about how very much cats dislike covered litter boxes — which might be aesthetically pleasing to humans, but can be scary for cats who feel trapped because there’s only one way in and out and no way to guard against intruders.

#279: David Stirling wrote “The Cat That Followed Phantoms” and “The Cat That Chased Cadillacs” which Tracie compares to Richard Adams’ “Watership Down,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “Stuart Little" and “Alice in Wonderland,” introducing us to an utterly believable alternate feline universe in which cats have fully realized inner and outer lives in which they talk, wear nice outfits, solve mysteries, have interpersonal dynamics — and boil water for tea in their little kettles. 

#277: Jennifer Mowdy — owner of the Literary Cat Company book store and cat rescue — discusses this magical, allegorical Japanese best-selling novel by Yuta Takahashi, about a restaurant that appears only to those who need closure with a departed loved one and need to have one last meal with them.

#276: Dr. Bruce Elsey talks about the $17 million he and his wife Kathy [a Multiple myeloma survivor herself] have raised over the years for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation through their Dr. Elsey’s Fund to Cure Cancer — through litter coupon donations and an annual million dollar matching grant — because all cancer research helps find treatments and cures for every kind of cancer and the Elsey’s feel fortunate that their cat-centric company has been able to make a difference.

#275: Stephen Quandt (Certified feline behavior specialist in private practice  (https://catbehaviorhelp.com/) working virtually with clients works in feline behavior and for the Animal Care Centers of New York City)  gives recommendations on traveling with a cat, whether in a car or plane — for holiday travel, relocation or emergencies.

#274: Filmmaker Tania Bashkatova discusses her film “Loki, Ukrainian Cat,” (which will be in the 8th Annual NY Cat Film Festival premiering in NYC October 26th) chronicling the journey her cat Loki had to make with her to escape the Russian attacks on Ukraine.

#273: Mikel Maria Delgado's kitties love the Cat Sushi bonito flakes but are uninterested in other crunchy treats - proving how important it is to have friends with cats who can happily receive your food and toy “rejects!” 

#272: Film director Kim Best discusses having two films (yet again!) in the upcoming NY Cat Film Festival — “Paws and Purpose,” a documentary about a cat rescuer in North Carolina and “When Left is Right,” about a “southpaw” kitty.

#271: Author of "The Cat Men of Gotham," Peggy Gavan leads cat-centric, architectural and historical walking tours of three different Manhattan neighborhoods at Cats About Town Tours. 

#270: Anaya Kay Dalton made her first film as a student about her kitty who went to college with her — and served as an ESA for her and all her roommates as they dealt with anxiety, depression and the general stress of being a student.

#269: It’s our good luck to have the wisdom and feline support of our very own Mikel, since she is in high demand as a speaker at many conferences — including the very recent World Feline Conference in Scotland, which she describes as having a quite different perspective from gatherings in America.

#268: Dr. Michelle Dulake — the practicing veterinarian who co-founded Fera Pets supplements and devises all the formulations — talks about how she created feline supplements to address the special and specific health needs of cats, from immune system support to kidney disease.

#267: Jennifer Mowdy — the proprietor of the Literary Cat Company in Kansas — discusses the Japanese best-selling novel “The Full Moon Coffee Shop” by Mai Mochizuki, an allegorical novel about a mysterious coffee shop run by cats that only appears to those in need of its magical powers.