Tag Archives: Behavior

Start of the school year : is your cat ready ? 5 tips to leave the rhythm of the holidays

Do you smell it, Pixie ? This reeks of start of the school year ! The school bag is ready, pens are new, there is some excitement in the air, no doubt : here we go again !

We, cats, love routine : we feel immediately when something is going to change. We feel the stress of back to work or to school, and we witness your preparations with disapproval.

The more the change of rhythm is important, the more we hate it, and the more we risk to let you know that we miss you by more or less moved unusual behavior.

PIXIE : We really cannot go to school with Claire ? I read the history of Splat the Cat well, school sounds swell !
ZORRO : Shy as you are, I would like to see you with 20 children around you, hi hi…

5 tips to help your cat leave the rhythm of holidays

Adopt a routine which can be kept all year round for the meals.
Resume gradually the rhythm “work” by decreasing little by little your presence time at home. Ideally, this transition should be made during ten to fifteen days.
Get up a little earlier to have time to play with your cat before leaving.
Occupy your cat while he’s home alone : offer him a tree to climb, toys, hide croquettes in diverse places, …
Take time to play a moment with your cat when you come back before beginning other activities : yes, your schedule is loaded, but there are priorities.

The advice above is valid for all humans on holiday, big and small. And if you have children, they will take advantage just as much as your cat of this smooth return to the working life.

In the canton of Vaud, the teachers will get back on the way to school next week, and the children will begin on the 22nd. And at your home, have the children already gone back the school ?

Many thanks to the talented Glogirly for our wonderful back-to-school header.

Pokemon Go (Pixie style)

PIXIE : I played Pokemon Go, and I caught one !

ZORRO : Pixie… It’s not a Pokemon, it’s a bird, and you played enough with him : you are supposed eat him now…

PIXIE : Really ?

The hunting instinct in cats

Our article is a little longer than usually to answer these three questions :
– How does a cat hunt ?
– How does a cat learn to hunt ?
– Why does my cat offer me his preys ?

A supple body, sharp claws, sharp teeth, an excellent coordination, no doubt, we’re made for hunting. It’s instinctive. Every playing moment is a training to capture a prey, no matter that the target is a string, a leaf, or the ankles of our human.

How does a cat hunt ?

Here is the A-B-C of the hunting cat :

Choose the good time, rather dawn or twilight.
Choose the good place.
Listen to to locate your prey, then let you lying in wait, observe, and wait. Sometimes for a long time.

When your prey appears, get closer very discreetly. Lower your body by keeping the tail well in the horizontal. Use every shrub, every crevice, every blade of grass to hide.
Focus your attention on your prey from the point of ears up to the end of whiskers.

Squat to jump up better. Rock a little your bottom to relax your muscles and guarantee a perfect jump. Capture your prey by a short and precise jump.

Celebrate your grip and evacuate the stress of the tracking by playing with your prey (optional, but highly recommended) before killing it.

Enjoy your meal !

How does a cat learn to hunt ?

It’s my mom Razemoquette who taught me how to hunt :

At the beginning, she brought a dead prey and ate it in front of my sister, my two brothers, and me.
Then, she put a dead prey in front of us, and let us manage to try to grab something to eat.
Then, she brought a half dead prey, killed it in front of us, and ate it with us.
Then she again brought a half dead prey, but this time, we had to try to kill it ourself.
We repeated several times every stage to train to be good hunters. We also continued our training during our kittens games : fights, ambushes, everything was good to develop our coordination and our capacity to react quickly.
And when Razemoquette considered that we were ready, and capable of holding us quiet when she asked to us for it, we were able to accompany him in the hunting to perfect our technique.

This is the way I taught how to hunt to Pixie.

Why does my cat offer me his preys ?

Because he loves you ! Poor humans, you are so little talented for hunting ! Sometimes I often mew noisily by coming back with a prey, as my mom Razemoquette did to tell us that dinner was served. I would like that Claire learns how to hunt, that’s why I offer her a prey from time to time to train and get fed. But she doesn’t seem to be hungry : she congratulates me and thanks me, then gives me friendly my prey back (outside !) so that I can eat it myself.

Never scold a cat which brings you a prey : it’s a mark of affection. Congratulate him, and thank him, because he considers you as a member of his family, and takes care of you by sharing his prey as a momcat does with her kittens.