Holiday dispatch: purr therapy, healthy cat news & a cool gift idea

Happy holiday season, cat lover! 

I hope this message finds you and your furry family well! I have three cat-centered discoveries to share with you today.

1. Purr therapy: just in case your holidays aren’t always 100% happy…

If your life is anything like mine (aka, you’re human), the holidays don’t look like a Christmas movie every year. So please, indulge yourself and your cat in some purr therapy. I once wrote an article about research on this (to which many people have added their own moving personal stories). And, a designer created this pretty cool infographic that cites that article and others: Healing power of cat purrs infographic. Nicely done!

2. Happy news from the “What to feed cats with feline IBS, diarrhea, or frequent hairballs” page + a TIP from me.

I want to share what reader Nick wrote in the comments: “I tried everything, and almost had to put my boy down on many occasions due to his condition and losing what seemed like a pound over night at times.  The only cure was Rad Cat raw food. He loves it, and it has made him stable. No vomiting, no diarrhea, he has solid brown stools now. It is expensive, and working with raw takes patience, but if you love your cat and you have this extremely frustrating condition, this is the cure in my opinion. (Male tabby colored cat, he is about to turn 20) (No, I do not work for Rad Cat).” 

TIP: We often feed Rad Cat and it’s my #1 cat food choice, but I want to add that our cats can get constipated on Rad Cat and ALL high-quality, low-fiber, grain-free wet foods. We resolved this by giving them 100% pure canned pumpkin (about 1/2 to 1 tsp per day or every other day) with their food. Our cat Joel loves pumpkin no matter what, but our cat Phil requires it to be mixed in (hidden).

3. Gift idea for you and your cat: how about beautiful, visual how-to’s for Catify-ing your home?

When I interviewed Jackson Galaxy a couple years ago, he explained the need for “feline superhighways” for indoor cats – especially if you have multiple cats in a small space. It’s key to cat health and harmony. He called this “catification” and said a project with designer Kate Benjamin was in the works, but he couldn’t announce it yet. Well, project launched x2! They’ve published two gorgeous how-to books related to this:

• Catification: Released last year. This is all about making those fabulous feline super-highways. See some examples here.
• Catify to Satisfy: Simple Solutions for Creating a Cat-Friendly Home: New. This touches on more super-highway concepts and ideas, but also includes various other projects that help make sure your cat is happy and healthy and has the best scratching and litterbox experiences – you know, the kind you want them to be having in your home!

I’m hoping you and your cats get everything on your wishlists! See you in 2016!