By now, most of you know that we have a new feline family member, little Kizmet that I got from a Pet Supermarket adoption, and the pressing question of the day is “how is he getting along with the other cats?” Well, truth be told, I have no idea because he has not met them yet and that is the subject of today’s post – how to properly introduce a new cat or kitten into a household with one or more cats already settled in it.

Since I had not anticipated leaving Pet Supermarket with a kitten, I was unprepared for Kizmet’s arrival. Here he is in my office where he is spending his time until he can meet the other cats. You will quickly note I did not have time to vacuum the rug.

When you make the very serious decision to adopt a new pet, in this case, a kitten, you envision all sorts of playful hi-jinks and shenanigans with your existing cat (in my case, seven) who will welcome the new feline mate with open paws and it is so tempting to want them to meet right away. What you normally get is a long and sometimes traumatic period of anger issues, territorial issues, jealousy issues – in a nutshell – a lot of hissing, fur flying, growling, territory marking, and a host of other behavioral issues from your residing felines who are typically NOT HAPPY at all that you have invaded their delicate social dynamic just because your eyes bonded and you fell head over heels in love with your newest furry bundle of joy. Read more

Typically when we think of holiday gift giving, we envision toys, furniture and whatnot for our indoor kitties. But, not all cats are indoor pets and with much of the country already affected by heavy snowstorms and frigid temperatures, I thought it would be fitting to highlight the innovative products from KatKabin as the next feature company in our holiday  review series since they carry a full range of stylish, functional, and comfortable housing shelters for the needs of any type of cat. Read more

This cartoon of me was created for my book, The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey, for Chapter 25, "The Whole Truth & Nothing But The Truth."

We’ve all been in circumstances where you walk into a room and you don’t have to be a detective to know something is wrong…. Yeah, anyhow, welcome to my edition of “True Horror Stories of the Cats Living in my House!”

Intrigued? The title of the post implies online data backup –what the heck does that have to do with my cats and is this going to be one of those weird, off-topic types of stories that has no relevance to my readers?  That’s initially what I thought when my  buddy Caroline Golon of Romeo the Cat contacted me and asked if I wanted to do a post about a company called SurDoc that offers automatic online data backup. Read more

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"The Cage"

“Eight is Enough” is the title of this post, but what I really wanted the title to be was “Damn-it, would someone please not allow me to go into Pet Supermarket any longer?” Here’s the thing, for most of us cat lovers, having to walk past “The Cage” – you know the one I’m talking about – the one that is in front of the store that is filled with cats/kittens that you have to unavoidably walk by to get to the cat food aisle is heart wrenching at the very least.

Normally I do my best to make a very polite visit to say hello, but I try to avoid any serious eye contact that would involve an overly dramatic emotional connection with the cat(s). It’s the only way I can get through it without turning into a pile of mush when I leave the store without all of them in my arms. Read more

I typically don’t do a lot of cat product reviews, but as a result of Zee & Zoey’s Cat Ruler Contest and Campaign for a Cause that I held in August/September, I had a handful of items sent to me from some of the prize sponsors for my own kitties to try out. Since I have a multi-cat household of felines who are certified cat testers (hereby decreed by me) and the holidays are coming up, I thought I would begin a weekly series of reviews/giveaways of some of these items to help those of you who are looking for great gift ideas for any cat on your shopping list.

Jazz has immediately claimed the Turbo Star Chaser Toy as his. Can't argue with such solid evidence of possession...

One of these great toys is the Turbo Star Chaser Toy from Bergan Pet Products. I can say without any exaggeration whatsoever that my cats went ga-ga bonkers over this interactive toy, but not just all the cats, in particular, our senior resident, Mr. Jazz. Jazz who is 14 years old was instantly attracted to this toy that is basically a plastic donut with a scratch pad in the center that is surrounded by a tubular track that has a motion activated LED ball in it that lights up when the cats touch it. Read more