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Health

Peeing Outside of the Box

Yani · December 17, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Peeing outside of the box! It’s kind of like ‘thinking outside of the box’, but with less fun results. And it seems to be the theme for this month. So why do cats do this? Well, for a number of reasons.

One reason is for communication. They don’t speak English, and they are trying to tell us something, and it’s usually not good. They might be feeling unwell, but they don’t know a way to show you directly, so they might demonstrate by doing something unlike themselves. They also might be upset and are demonstrating their discontent via protest.

So from there we can narrow things down to physical and/or emotional.

Physically, they could be feeling discomfort in general, or specifically around urinating. They could have a urinary infection, a bladder or intestinal issue, cramping, or are arthritic. Sometimes they pee outside the box to let you know something is off, or they simply can’t make it into the box. Cat boxes are often raised off the floor and there is some climbing involved. What seems minimal to us, can be painful for them, especially as they get older. Sometimes when they get older, they don’t even realize they are going outside of the box, as their front end is in the box, but not their back end. This could be a lack of senses, like sight or mental capacity, or just a sense of “I’m in the box, this is good enough.”

Emotionally, cats are very sensitive creatures, and it doesn’t take much to upset them. Broadly speaking, cats are more attached to their surroundings and routine, and any kind of change can upset them. Moving to a new home, rearranging or getting new furniture, an unclean litter box, a critter outside taunting them through a window, or something in your life has changed. You could work new hours, or are at home or away from home more often, or maybe you’re dealing with stress. When things change in our life, especially if by choice, we think nothing of it, but for them it can be super stressful.

Years ago I was going through a very tough situation and dealing with some incredible stress. At the same time one of my cats starting peeing in my dog’s bed — which of course just added to my stress. I took my cat into the vet, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. He continued this, and one night I had to drive him to the emergency vet after our regular vet had closed. The emergency vet determined that his urethra was blocked, and wanted to do emergency surgery on him. I agreed, and the vet started to put him under. Once my cat was under anesthesia his bladder released and he peed all over their surgical table. Turns out he was feeding off my stress all that time, and it was affecting him physically. I had to put on a happy face and be mindful of my emotions when I was home. I acted like everything was wonderful, and sure enough, his bladder issue completely resolved. I learned a huge lesson during that time.

So with all these things in mind, go through all the scenarios and see if you can determine if any of them apply to your cat. Put yourself in their shoes, so to speak. If you rule out the emotional ones, consider taking your cat to the vet for a check-up, and be sure to let your vet know about the new habit. If you rule out the physical ones, see what might be different and possibly stressful for them, and then take a good look at your life and see what might be stressful for you, and therefore stressful for them.

Practical tips: Keep their litter area super clean, accessible (near by, easy to get into, maybe stairs have become difficult for them), and in a safe location (in a quiet place where they don’t feel cornered or threatened). If you recently changed litter, consider changing back to the old tried and true (at least in their eyes). Add a litter box, especially if you have more than one cat. If you have more than one cat, make sure the other(s) is not bothering them.

Good luck, and let me know if you’d like some help brainstorming!

Our Pets Are Just Like Us

Yani · December 10, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Do you feed your children junk food? Why not? Because it’s not healthy?

Providing you are on-board with feeding your kids wholesome meals, do you apply the same kind of thinking when feeding your furry family members?

We come from a society that doesn’t put a lot of thought into their pets’ food, and often think that “pet food” is the only thing that is good for them. Many people have never thought about what animals ate before food came in bags and cans. Back when I worked in a local health focused pet shop, I had many conversations with people about what dogs and cats would eat in the wild, and the common comeback was always “Wow, I never thought of that.”

So what would cats and dogs eat in the wild?

Cats are carnivores, and would hunt and eat small animals that they could catch. Their meals were always fresh, raw, and full of all the enzymes and nutrients they required. They ate their catch whole, so they got meat, bones, and organs. They also got fur and feathers that acted as a fiber. Sometimes they would also eat fresh grasses.

Dogs are omnivores, and like us, can eat a whole variety of foods. They will also hunt and eat smaller animals, but they will also eat ripe vegetables/vegetation and grasses. They are also scavengers, so they will chase off smaller hunters and eat their catch, that may not be as fresh.

What won’t they eat in the wild?

Well, they wouldn’t eat processed foods, and they wouldn’t eat chemicals used as preservatives, or additives that make “pet food” more appealing to humans. Incidentally, cats and dogs do not crave sugar, that you’d usually find in treats, probably because people associate “treats” as sweet.

They also wouldn’t eat grains as we know them. They likely will eat the grasses of grains, but by the time a grain is ready to be harvested and processed, the grass portion is dried out and less appealing. And animals certainly don’t process grains to make them into rice, wheat, barely, etc.

How did “pet food” come to be?

Back when wild animals started to develop relationships with humans, they would be given scraps in exchange for the help they provided, and probably to keep them coming around. They still lived outdoors and fed themselves naturally, and the scraps would be supplemental.

Over time as they started to become domesticated, they were fed scraps more regularly from human cooking. This was the norm for thousands of years until relatively recently, along side the industrial food revolution, when “pet food” became invented. It was (and still is for most “pet foods”) a way for food manufacturers to utilize food scraps that weren’t suitable for human consumption. Think about it, it was food waste that they could still make money on! Then, like all processed foods, the manufacturers had to figure out how to make the food shelf stable. Hence chemical preservatives. And for the bagged “food”, in order to make a kibble, additives such as wheat or rice needed to be added so the ground “meat” would stick together in a little ball.

On the surface it all seems to make sense, but if you pay attention to what you feed your kids, you know that the process of making foods sellable when they are not fresh, really degrades the quality and nutrients. We all love our dogs and cats, and it behooves their health that we give their food the same kind of attention and consideration we give our kids’ food.

Cats and dogs are biological beings, just like us. Their bodies have all the same working parts as ours, and they have the same needs as us. They need fresh real foods, pure water, fresh air, exercise, security, and mental stimulation and support. We humans often forget we are also animals, and we really all have the same needs.

So if you don’t already, as you move forward when thinking about your pet’s needs, remember to take into consideration that your choices align with their natural biological needs. This will keep them happy and healthy for years to come!

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