Dr. Cookie's Guide to Living Happily Ever after with Your Cat Book

CONTENTS

Prefacexiii

1GENERAL STUFF ABOUT LIVING HAPPILY EVER AFTER WITH YOUR CAT How cats show affection - Interpreting a cat's tail - The advantages of the "independent" cat - Cat lovers with an allergy to cats - Common and unusual coat colors in cats - Raising a social cat - Keep your cat indoors! - Taking pity on stray cats - How to name and rename your cat

2 GENERAL STUFF ABOUT CAT BEHAVIOR Introducing a new cat - Introducing a new cat to a multicat home - Introducing a dog and a cat - Unpredictability of pet cat compatibility - The solitary cat and new housemates - Three-dimensional territory in cats - Territorial time sharing - The fear response - "Hallucinatory" play in cats - Tail chasing - Synchronizing your circadian rhythms - Nuisance play - Sleep-wake cycle in kittens and cats - Cats are dogs that purr

3HISSY FITS: STUFF ABOUT FELINE AGGRESSION Growing up alone and the socialization of kittens - Intolerance to human handling in kittens - Conflicts between housemates - Redirected aggression between cats - Aggressive play directed toward owners - Territorial behavior directed against family - Territorial aggression toward visitors - Catfights as territorial conflict - Irritable aggression in pet cats - Hidden risk of aggression and the outdoor cat - Hunting instinct in cats - Prey presentation - Preventing undesirable predatory activity - Aggression at the veterinarian's office - Pathological aggression in cats - Aggression and your cat's coat color

4YOUR CAT AND THE LITTER BOX Litter-training your kitten - Care of litter boxes - Choosing a litter box - Litter box location - Moving the litter box - Health concerns underlying inappropriate urination - Marking novel items - Elimination in potted houseplants - Litter boxes and the territorial cat - Aversion to the p0litter box - Inappropriate defecation - Urine-marking cats and human targets - Soiled hair in longhaired breeds - Failure to cover waste

5DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR Climbing elevated surfaces - Destruction in your absence - Houseplants that are hazardous to your cat - Wool and cloth chewing - Chewing electric cords - Food-related destructiveness - Destructive scratching - Pros and cons of declaw surgery - Declawing adult cats - Scratching behavior in declawed cats

6SEX-RELATED PROBLEMS Spay your female cat - Neutering your male cat - Maternal rejection of kittens - Estrus and courtship behavior - False pregnancy - Masturbation in male cats - Male sexual behavior directed toward the owner

7 MISCELLANEOUS CAT TALES The superstition of black cats - A cat's whiskers - The catnip response - Purring - Kneading Cats and water - Deafness in kittens and young adult cats - Vocal communication in cats - Moving to a new home with your cat - Car travel tips for cats - Long-distance travel with your cat

8SECRETS OF PET SELECTION How I found my cats - Choosing your breed - Well-matched cats and owners - Grooming requirements as a criteria for breed choice - Cats are not just "women's pets" - Evaluating a litter of kittens - Age at adoption - The advantages of pet cats - "Hypoallergenic" cats

9CATS AND KIDS A cat as the family pet - Preparing for your baby's arrival - Teach your child pet etiquette - Toddlers and cats - Your cat and your baby's food - Territorial marking of baby items - Cats and children's toys - Cats as children - Teaching your kids the facts of life

10FELINE HEALTH Visually impaired cats - Ear mites - Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) - Excessive licking in cats - Quarantine of new cats - The dangers of obesity in cats - Cat scratches and cat fights - Car accidents - Mammary tumors in cats - Fleas, ticks, and worms - Heartworm disease in cats - Vaccine-related problems - Feline asthma - Heart disease in cats

11n0NUTRITION Normal feeding behavior in cats - Hand-raising orphaned kittens - Aggression at mealtimes in multicat households - Strange things that cats eat - Prescription diets for health - The difficulty of treating diabetes in cats - What cats drink - Raw fish and thiamine deficiency - Vitamin supplements and your cat - Exclusive meat diets and your cat - Perils of free-feeding

12GROOMING How and why to bathe a cat - How to groom your cat/kitten - How to introduce grooming to your kitten or cat - How to deal with a matted coat - Grooming behavior in cats - Hairball tips and facts - Psychogenic licking (overgrooming)- Training your cat to tolerate nail trims - Extra toes (polydactyly)

13GOLDEN-AGE CATS On aging gracefully - Thyroid disease in cats - Kidney failure - Arthritis and getting by - Hearing loss (acquired deafness) in aging cats - Helping your cat cope with acquired blindness - Increased vocalization in geriatric cats - Veterinary care for a lifetime

14SURVIVING YOUR CAT'S DEATH Coping with the loss of a pet - When euthanasia is appropriate for a pet - Social support for grieving cat owners - Explaining pet loss to your child - Grief in cats - Stages of mourning - Moving on

EPILOGUE Dr. Cookie's top ten tips on how to live happily ever after with your cat What your cat can teach you . . .

Index