Cat Chat®

Christina Rutz (Full Circle MO Feral, St Louis) on winning MissionMeow grant to help them support volunteer TNR trappers

Dr. Mikel Delgado on the challenges of bringing a foster cat into your home, and problems it can cause with resident cat(s)

Jonathan Losos (“The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa”) on “the cat conundrum,” how most cats have changed little over time, others radically different

Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado on various ways cats deal with the loss of a housemate, some despondent, others exhibit no grief

Emily (Travel Cat) on the innovative kitty backpacks, cat-safe harnesses and related travel items to make it easy to take cat with you

DJ Bornschein (Catsbury Park, New Jersey) on MissionMeow grant allowing them to expand their TNR, Catsbury Lounge and adoption

Long-time listener Jean from Cincinnati (who bought "The Cat Bible" when she adopted cats, Iris and Lily) asks about feeding wet food only, gets recommendations for Weruva, Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein

Annie Butler-Shirreffs (Editor of “Catster”) on why cats chirp, the origin of the sound and what purpose it serves

Dr Mikel Maria Delgado on figuring out why your kitty walks all over your kitchen counter: food obsession, elevation, or social interaction

Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado advises you to “Ditch the spray bottle” if you don't want to ruin your relationship with your cat, address cat issues instead

Annie Butler-Shirreffs (Catster) on anatomical wonder of a cat's tail, and 8 different tail signals Catster identified, including “question mark,” "tip twitch,” & “cat tail hug”

Dr Mikel Maria Delgado and Tracie give advice on what to never do with your cats

Dr. Mikel Delgado discusses things NOT to do with your cat, e.g., don't hit, squirt or throw anything, don't let kids pick up the cat, don't ignore changes in behavior, etc.

Annie Butler Shirreffs (Catster) on their recent article describing sounds cats make, including the Friendly Trill, Midnight Whine, Demonic Growl, Sleep Siren, etc.

Dr. Mikel Delgado discusses questions to ask to determine if your cats are roughhousing or having a real cat fight

Mission Meow founder/director Sally Williams invites Tracie (inspired by Cat Chat co-host Mikel Maria Delgado) to become a Mission Meow partner

Zazie Todd ("PURR: the Science of Making Your Cat Happy") on why touching your cat should not be your decision alone, respecting cat's personality and mood

Dr. Mikel discusses the sort of cats who thrive in a cat cafe environment, those who do not, and how to keep a cat cafe from becoming "petting zoo"

Mikel Maria Delgado discusses study in Paris, France looking at whether a cat's pet parent's voice means something to them

Mikel Maria Delgado (Mission Meow) on giving sizeable grants to feline non-profits to make a significant impact on lives of cats

Kimberly LaRussa on how Ten Lives Club in Buffalo became the largest No-Kill cat Shelter in New York State

Zazie Todd ("PURR: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy") discusses what animal welfare groups in the UK call the Five Freedoms

Dr. Mikel on not subjecting your cat to a bath --- a cat's self-grooming is sufficient --- and on finding the right grooming brush or grooming glove

On choosing a cat (or kitten) and how their personality develops over time with you in your home

Shana Aufenkamp on volunteering with Sue Bell (Homeward Trails Animal Rescue) to bring some cats from Ukraine back to Washington, D.C.

Melissa Jenkins (Operation Catnip, Gainesville Florida) on performing up to 200 surgical sterilizations of stray cats in a day in M.A.S.H. style clinics

Cat behavior expert Dr. Mikel (FelineMinds.com) on planning ahead and preparing a cat for the eventual arrival of a new baby

Sally Bahner ("The Art of Kitten Raising") on all the ways you can get a kitten off to a happy healthy start in life

Dr. Mikel Delgado discusses how cats crave warmth because their bodies do not regulate their core temperatures as well as ours do, and recommends heated cat beds

Dr Mikel and Tracie bemoan the madness of trying to take canine "talking buttons" and apply them to cats

Cat Chat --- Brought to You by Dr. Elsey's (12-21-2022) #0123: Cate Conte's newest Cat Cafe mystery revolves around the death of a cat hoarder and community antipathy towards her.  

Cat Chat --- Brought to You by Dr. Elsey's (12-14-2022) #0122: Pet me where?! --- a cat would say, if only people would listen (and notice signs of discomfort before the cat resorts to biting or scratching). Dr. Mikel explains that most people don't realize there are ways to pet a cat (briefly, and when "asked") and places not to touch them (belly or hind end) that would enhance their relationship with their cat if they understood human-feline differences in what is pleasurable in physical touch.

Tracie gives advice to Kathy from idaho, who recently re-homed a very frightened, underweight Ragdoll kitty, Freya, on how to to overcome the cat's distrust of people

Dr. Mikel describes what zoomies are, sudden bursts of energy, completely normal cat behavior, known as Frenetic Random Activity Periods (FRAPS)

Dr. Elsey on donating $15 million to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation since 2009, the power of pets to help cancer patients, and the humans-animal bond

Terry Masear ("Connecting With Enchanting Cats"), a hummingbird rehabilitator half the year, on her Abyssinians, as described in her enchanting book

Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado (FelineMinds Cat Behavior Consulting) on how it's instinctive for a cat to bury their waste, keeping right size/number of regularly cleaned litterboxes

Zazie Todd ("PURR: the Science of Making Your Cat Happy") on what attachment means to a cat, misinterpreting a cat's feelings, how felines form bonds, express feelings

Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado and Tracie discuss misuse of crate training on a cat with out-of-litter-box issues, and crate overuse with dogs

Director Sarah Jayne Portelli and her co-creator Ivan Malekin ("Cats of Malta") on inspiration to make documentary about the island's dedicated community of cat minders

Mikel and Tracie discuss types of cats known as Asians, breeds developed by crossbreeding, and hair-mutation breeds, including the long-haired Siamese, known as a Balinese cat

Sami Carroccio (Cat Cavorting) on supporting TNR community in Phoenix, how she volunteered at a shelter, then served on boards of animal welfare non-profits before starting her own