Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

Antifreeze and other chemicals containing ethylene glycol, such as hydraulic fluid, de-icing products, motor oil, paints, solvents, and wood stains, are toxic to cats and other animals. A small spoonful of antifreeze can kill a cat, and most felines don’t survive unless they’re treated within 6 hours.

Antifreeze Poisoning

The initial signs of antifreeze poisoning include vomiting, lethargy, incoordination, excessive urination, hypothermia, excessive thirst, and seizures. Unfortunately, the cat’s condition seems to improve after 12 hours, which can cause an owner to think they have recovered.

They can become dehydrated and breathe faster, but kidney damage, comas, and death are more likely after 12 hours.

Keeping Olga Safe

I don’t let Olga outside or allow her to explore my garage, where most of my toxic chemicals are stored, so she is less likely to be exposed to ethylene glycol than an outdoor cat. However, I’m always careful about where I store household cleaners and other hazardous products.

Olga can open doors and cabinets, and I don’t keep anything toxic in the bathrooms since she likes to open the cabinets occasionally. Although cats dislike sweet food, they’re attracted to antifreeze’s aroma.

They can get sick from licking their paws after walking through an antifreeze spill in the garage or sipping from a container with ethylene glycol. It’s difficult to understand why someone would intentionally poison a cat, but it happens more often than you think.

Punishing a Cat Murderer

Several years ago, I was visiting a friend when I heard people screaming outside. When we went outside to investigate, we learned that one of the neighbors had left a tray of antifreeze outside to kill a stray cat.

Some of the apartment’s residents had become attached to the cat and frequently fed him, and they wanted to murder, or at least mortally wound, the man who had killed him. They pounded on the murderer’s door and yelled, but he was either in class or hiding inside.

He was never injured or killed by the angry mob, but one of the cat lovers contacted the local university’s editor-in-chief. The cat killer was a journalist until he murdered the cat, and I’m glad the editor decided that unethical employees don’t make the best writers. I understand that stray cats annoy people and kill wildlife, but several humane deterrents can keep them away.

Animal Cruelty Laws

In the United States, killing a cat is a felony and can result in fines of up to $5,000 or 2 years in prison. Each state imposes different penalties, but some legislatures are trying to establish an animal cruelty registry that is modeled after sex offender lists.

Increasing the fines and prison terms for offenders may decrease the number of antifreeze deaths, but they won’t convince me to allow Olga to explore the outdoors. I’m paranoid enough about dropping a chunk of onion or garlic on the floor when I’m making dinner, and I don’t want to worry about another person injuring or killing my cat.

Keeping your cat indoors may seem selfish since they cannot explore the environment and hunt small animals, but it protects them from poisons, parasites, automobiles, and cruel humans.

The post Antifreeze Poisoning in Cats: Keeping Olga Safe From Toxic Chemicals by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

I try not to bore my dog-loving friends with too many cat stories, but it’s challenging since I live with an amusing goofball who never ceases to surprise me. Cats are fascinating subjects, and I doubt I’ll ever have trouble writing about Olga’s antics. Although, like most cats, she dislikes change and enjoys following a routine, she can be unpredictable.

I can count on her to glare at me and whine when dinnertime is a few hours away, but she doesn’t initiate the begging process at the same time every day. After several naps, she’s glued to the window and can’t keep her eyes off the birds and squirrels in my yard. She spends more time there since the temperature has increased and a new visitor caught her attention.

Window Watching

A field mouse, or more likely several field mice, has been hopping across the lawn in the late afternoon. I understand that mice spread disease and carry parasites, but I’m glad to see the rodents as long as they do not inhabit my house or take over my backyard. They distract Olga and allow me to spend my last hours of work in a calmer state.

She gets so excited that she attacks the blinds and scratches the windowpanes. I don’t get upset since she’s taking her frustration out on inanimate objects instead of my legs or back. When she’s not distracted by the wildlife and thinks I’m waiting too long to serve dinner, she usually finds something else to attack before becoming violent.

Hunger Attacks

I haven’t trained her to practice restraint when handling her afternoon hunger, but she seems more patient than a year ago, when she would chew on my shoelaces, dive on my back, or claw up my legs. However, she still attacks me occasionally or runs to the other side of my house and howls in the laundry room.

Some people hate cats because of their unusual or unpredictable behavior. They’re worried about a surprise attack, but I look forward to them. When Olga runs up to me after hiding behind the couch, paws me in the back of the leg, and fluffs up her fur to look more menacing, it cracks me up.

Demonic Behavior

I keep the door closed when I’m in the shower so that she can’t tear into the shower curtain, but besides that, I’m pretty tolerant when she morphs into a demon. I like watching her run laps around my house and leap from the couch to the recliner. Her eyes are dilated, and she looks like a cat possessed. I have a rocking recliner, and when Olga dives on it, the back slams into the drywall.

It sounds like someone hit the wall with the sledgehammer, and the first time she did it, the noise scared her, but now, it doesn’t phase her. She ignores it and continues to run at full speed until she slows down a bit and attempts to climb the wall molding in the hallway. Sometimes, she scratches my antique desk or tears into the headboard of my bed. I tell her to stop or chase her away, but it’s hard for me to get mad at her. She’s an amusing little creep, and that’s why I think some pet owners love talking and writing about their insane felines.

The post Why People Love to Talk About Their Cats: Olga’s Entertaining Nature by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

Aggressive cats sometimes guard their resources when they live in multi-pet homes, and they can prevent other felines from using the litter box or eating their meals. Although resource guarding and other undesirable behaviors can be addressed with training and veterinary assistance, some cats are protective over more than just their food, toilet area, and toys.

The Canine Advantage

Using dogs as reliable protectors is an ancient practice that still exists today, but can we rely on our housecats to protect our families and property? In most cases, I would say, “No!” If humans had been more involved in selectively breeding cats with desirable traits thousands of years ago, we could rely on larger felines to attack burglars, recover illegal drugs, rescue lost humans, and remove explosives.

Dogs are easier to train for those tasks because they’re more eager to please humans, and working breeds have a long history of serving them. Most cats are more likely to hide when their owners are threatened, but there are exceptions; some risk their lives to save other animals and humans.

Life-Saving Kitties

You may have seen videos of cats protecting small dogs from coyotes or drawing enraged dogs away from their owners so they can get to safety. I prefer those clips to the ones of cats playing the piano, and they make me wonder whether Olga would protect me in a life-or-death situation. She’s a guard cat in some ways, but her idea of protection is much different than mine.

I don’t expect her to repel a home invasion or chase a porch pirate into oncoming traffic, but she protects me from pests. A flying insect’s life expectancy plummets when it enters my home because of the gray panther prowling around.

Pest Control

Like most healthy cats, Olga is a light sleeper. She springs to action if she hears or senses a housefly or other bug in her territory. Her impressive eye-to-paw coordination allows her to catch flies in midair, sometimes using two paws.

I don’t think she’s protecting me exactly; most felines enjoy hunting insects and other small creatures because of their instincts but not out of their love for their owners. However, flies and other insects carry diseases, and when fewer pests inhabit your home, you’re less likely to have an infestation or get sick.

Olga the Watch Cat

Sometimes, Olga alerts me with a grunt when someone pulls into the driveway. If she’s sleeping, she may not react until there’s a knock on the door, but she usually comes to me if someone or something approaches my house. When she hears a helicopter in the distance, she jumps up and runs to the window.

Unlike fireworks, she’s not afraid of helicopters, but the sound irritates her, and instead of running away, she stares at the sky and paws at the windowpanes. Our cats protect us in some ways, even if they aren’t as skilled as dogs. I’m confident that Olga, like Sam the Shetland Sheepdog in Lethal Weapon 2, will alert me in time to escape a helicopter attack.

• See also: Working Cats: Felines That Have Important Jobs & How to Have One

The post Do You Have a Guard Cat? How Olga Guards Her Territory by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

Most kittens are wild and energetic, but they grow up fast, and some reach maturity much faster than others. Olga wasn’t incredibly affectionate as a kitten, but she liked to play and got irritated if I ignored her; even loners need attention. I didn’t consider her an “old soul” until she entered adulthood and became more independent. She still looks like a young cat but seems wiser than other cats her age.

Olga isn’t less energetic, at least not to any measurable degree, but she goes through phases where she spends more time alone in another room. I didn’t know cats sometimes preferred to be alone until I adopted Olga. My Siamese cat rarely left my side unless he was trying to escape to explore the outdoors or annoyed by an obnoxious guest.

Olga’s Stare

It may be unfair to compare him to Olga since he was a different cat in every way, but I’ve only had two cats, and I think most pet owners evaluate their pets’ behavior based on past experiences. Olga is more stoic than my Siamese and only complains when she’s hungry. Since she doesn’t constantly meow, her blank stare makes her seem more thoughtful and relaxed.

Her unblinking gaze can hypnotize you, and I think hypnotists would have better luck if they used a close-up image of Olga’s eyes to put people asleep. It is fascinating to see how fast her eyes change under different lighting and emotional states and how it alters her appearance.

Windowsill Waiting

When she’s waiting impatiently on the windowsill for me to feed her in the afternoon, her pupils are tiny slivers because of the sunlight streaming into my room. It’s when she looks more like a wise old soul, and it would be the best time for an artist to sculpt a rendition.

She’s Russian, but when she’s perched on the windowsill, she favors the African wildcat of ancient Egypt. She can’t take her eyes off the birdfeeder earlier in the day, but she’s only focused on me in the late afternoon before supper.

Manipulation and Intelligence

Wisdom and intelligence are difficult to evaluate in a feline, but wildlife researchers suggest manipulation is a sign of intelligence in animals. When they studied squirrels’ foraging habits, they discovered that some pretend to hide nuts when they sense other squirrels are watching them.

Then, they dash off and hide their snack in another location. Because of their deceptive tactics, squirrels are now considered more intelligent than they once were. However, I think cats, like Olga, are more manipulative. She stares at me to motivate and irritate me, and as I’ve discussed in previous articles, she employs more drastic measures when the “hungry gaze” is ignored.

She hasn’t jumped on my back in a while but leaps into the bathtub and howls or slams the blinds against the window when I’m late (in her mind) serving dinner. When I tell her it’s time to eat, her pupils dilate, her ears flatten, and she whines.

She looks more frantic and doesn’t resemble the calm, wise cat she was a few minutes before. Olga can be manipulative to get her way, but I guess I should be happy that it’s an admirable quality associated with animal intelligence.

The post Is Your Cat an Old Soul? Olga’s Calm Nature by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

When the temperature and humidity increase in the late spring, I notice that Olga’s routine and habits change. Her increased shedding is a biological change that prepares her for the summer, but she also acts differently than she does in the winter. It’s not as profound as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transformation, and you wouldn’t see the difference unless you lived with her.

Olga isn’t a clingy cat, even though she likes to be nearby when I’m working, resting, or cooking. In the winter, she’s a part-time lap cat, but when it gets warmer, she becomes more antisocial. A warm lap isn’t as appealing, and she prefers napping by my feet.

A Change of Venue

Her napping spots also change. Instead of sleeping on the chair or bed in my office, she naps on the floor behind my chair, which is beneath the air conditioner vent. She sleeps more on the windowsill but not for very long. In the summer, there are more birds and squirrels near the bird feeder, and the large population of Anoles and Skinks often causes her to strike the windowpanes in frustration.

Birdwatching and Hunting

Although the mild winters in my area don’t drive away all of the animals, Olga’s more entertained in the summer when the rabbits, songbirds, and reptiles appear. She doesn’t seem to gain or lose weight in the summer, but she’s more active. The garden, fruit trees, and evergreens attract more insects and arachnids, and they unfortunately invade my home occasionally.

I’ve never allowed Olga to hunt a bird, reptile, or rodent, but I can’t let her hunting instincts go to waste. Her paw-to-eye coordination is exceptional; she can instantly knock a housefly to the ground after spotting it and pin a spider down so I can trap it and throw it outside.

Olga’s Bird Dog Skills

One of her most helpful hunting traits is her pointing. Like an English Setter alerting a bird hunter, she stands up and points her head toward an unreachable insect. Once, when I was almost asleep, she jumped up, whined, and pointed to a stink bug on the ceiling.

She also alerted me when a tree frog was relaxing on a curtain rod. I think “pointing” may be unusual for a feline, but my Siamese cat possessed the same gift. He kept screaming and pointing to the dryer when a colony of yellow jackets made a home in the exhaust vent.

Warm weather encourages more people and animals to spend time outside, and the sights and sounds of my neighborhood are more interesting to Olga. She would probably prefer to live in a foreign country with fewer ex-pats on July 4th because of her fear of pyrotechnics, but she generally seems happier in the summer.

She gets to greet more visitors and friends and investigate their footwear. If you come to my house wearing hiking boots, she’ll be your best friend. I don’t know why, but she is fascinated by men and women who wear boots and will fall asleep on their feet if they allow it. Olga is a freak year-round, but she’s even stranger when the temperature rises.

The post How Seasonal Changes Affect Your Cat’s Behavior: Olga’s Routine Modifications by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

Domestic cats are talented climbers, leapers, and hunters, and although most love to view their environments from elevated positions, they also enjoy hiding in cramped spaces. Squeezing their bodies into small spaces is a skill most dogs probably envy, but it comes naturally to felines. They have an anatomical advantage; unlike humans, their shoulder blades and collarbones are connected to other body parts by muscles, not bones.

Fearful Hiding

When homes become too chaotic or noisy for cats, they usually run and hide. It doesn’t seem remarkable or out of the ordinary, but I’m impressed by how quickly Olga disappears when she’s scared or ready to play. If someone in my neighborhood sets off a bottle rocket, Roman candle, or firecracker, Olga breaks the sound barrier when she runs for cover.

Thunderstorms don’t faze her, but she’s miserable on the 4th of July. It’s the only time of year she spends hours hiding under the couch, and the terrified expression on her face makes me feel sorry for her.

Hiding to Relax and Annoy Humans

However, she also hides every morning after eating breakfast when she’s content. Hiding because of fear isn’t unusual for cats, but I think they also enjoy it when they’re not stressed or frightened. Cramming themselves into tiny spaces may make them feel more secure, and some cats understand how hard it is for humans to find them, and they enjoy watching their owners trying to locate them.

Olga usually runs up to me if I call her name, but if she sees me packing my bags for a trip or hauling the cat carrier out of the closet, she finds an effective hiding spot and won’t respond to my calls. Her morning hiding spot is under the bed, but when she doesn’t want to be found, she hides in the bathroom or behind a cabinet in the living room.

Skillful Hiding

Sometimes, she hides in the bathtub, and once, after searching my house for 30 minutes, I found her behind the toilet. Discovering her hiding spot hurts her pride, and she lashes out when I try to pick her up. When she was a kitten, she was more violent and often used flatulence to convince me to put her down. Thankfully, she no longer uses that defense mechanism.

It’s irritating when you can’t find a hidden cat, but Olga isn’t as difficult to locate as my last cat. My Siamese cat rarely kept his mouth closed unless he was eating, sleeping, or hiding, and he was a talented escape artist. He didn’t stay in one place but moved around as I searched for him.

He escaped when I took him to the coast to visit my friends several years ago. We searched for hours and even had the local Sheriff help after he questioned us about why we were creeping around a cemetery in the middle of the night.

At some point during the search, he ran back into the house, and I found him in the kitchen cupboard behind the canned goods. Olga isn’t as devious when she hides, and I’m lucky that she’s never tried to run outside.

See Also 

• How Do Cats Squeeze into Small Spaces? (The Surprising Details!)

The post Why Cats Hide in Tiny Spaces: Olga Looks for Cover by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

Although some of them were mummified and buried with their owners, cats in ancient Egypt generally led privileged lives. The pharaohs’ felines had servants to care for them, and some Egyptian deities, like Bastet, were cats. You probably don’t think of ancient Egyptian rulers as peaceful, but they would have been horrified by the ASPCA commercials with abused animals.

When I see skinny, feral cats eating garbage or a dead cat on the side of the road, I realize how lucky Olga is to be a house cat. She doesn’t have a cat tree made of Brazilian Rosewood, a silk cat bed, or a gold water bowl, but she has a good life.

Indoor Freedom

She doesn’t have to hunt for meals or hide food from predators, and she can scratch up her favorite chair as much as she likes. I won’t let her tear all my furniture to shreds, but I’m pretty tolerant of her wild behavior.

Besides the outside world, the kitchen counter is the only area off-limits to her. I thought about training her to use a leash and harness, but she wouldn’t be allowed to walk with me around the neighborhood.

Canine Dominance

I feel guilty that she can’t roam outside or walk with me at dawn, but my neighborhood has more dogs than residents, and most of them are large pups. Some of them, like the Chow Chow, go into attack mode when they see me, and I’m lucky their owners can restrain them.

If I were walking with a little gray cat, everyone in the neighborhood would wake up from their dogs barking in the backyard. The dogs walking around with their owners would break free of their leashes and charge toward Olga and the only fool dumb enough to walk his cat. I support the cat-walking movement, but it’s not practical for me.

Exercising Indoors

Until she learns to walk on a harness in my fenced-in backyard, she has to find entertainment indoors. Preventing indoor cats from becoming overweight is difficult, but for now, Olga is healthy and seems content with her exercise program. She plays with her new silver vine stick every day and sleeps on it after enjoying the euphoric effects.

She also likes playing tag, but it’s not much fun for me in the summer when I’m not wearing long pants, and she carves up the back of my leg. However, I don’t get too upset. Since she’s a hunter without prey, she needs to attack something, and inanimate objects can only hold her attention for so long.

Olga’s happy with her dull, temperature-controlled life inside my house. She gets irritated if her dinner is late or I’m not paying attention to her when she’s energized, but she doesn’t try to escape when I open the door or care that she’s missing out on the Great Outdoors.

If you watch the video below of Olga kneading my couch, you’ll see her in her most relaxed state, and if you’re not careful, her large, unmoving eyes will put you in a trance.

The post When Cats Enjoy the Good Life: Olga’s Indoor Existence by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

Indoor cats don’t live very exciting lives when their owners aren’t around to entertain them. They can play with toys and interactive games, tear up the furniture, and nibble on houseplants, but they prefer interacting with their owners to the alternatives. Although I work from home, Olga’s playtime schedule doesn’t always align with mine.

When I’m finished with work and dinner, she’s usually conked out on the couch and doesn’t want to chase a paper ball or run around the house. I don’t buy new treats or toys because I haven’t had much luck in the past, and Olga is an incredibly opinionated feline.

Catnip’s Effects

She likes catnip toys, but she gets tired of them quickly. She undoubtedly enjoys the euphoria of catnip, and I’m unsure why, but she prefers to roll around on the kitchen floor rather than the carpet when she’s hallucinating. Perhaps the vinyl comforts her when she sees colorful patterns and fantasizes about flightless birds.

I haven’t given her catnip in a while, but I did something out of character last week and bought her a bag of silver vine (Actinidia polygama) sticks. I was skeptical that they would affect her since she’s a freak of nature, and like most cat owners, I believe my cat is stranger than everyone else’s.

Prepping the Silver Vine

The instructions on the silver vine bag said to remove the bark before giving it to your cat, which I thought was odd since every picture on the company’s website had cats chewing on sticks with bark. Removing the bark is supposed to make the silver vine more aromatic and appealing to cats, and I think they only kept the bark on because it looked better in the photos.

Silver vine has a dark brown bark, but the interior is lighter and less photogenic. I peeled the bark off with a potato peeler, and when I dumped it in the trash can, Olga ran over and started sniffing the floor around it. I called her over to the living room and held out the stick. She sniffed it for a few seconds and tried to knock it out of my hand.

Olga’s Mystical Journey

When I threw it out in the hallway, she ran to it, and for the next 20 or 30 minutes, she rolled around on the floor, chewed on the stick, and acted like a happy drunk. Unlike catnip, the silver vine kept her glued to the floor. After she stretched out, she didn’t want to get up.

When I tossed the stick across the room, she scooted toward it by using her front legs as carpet paddles. I’ve never seen a lazy cat move so fast while lying down. Silver vine doesn’t affect all cats, and I was concerned Olga wouldn’t like it, but it turned her into a comical fool and allowed me to make an amusing film:

The post How Silver Vine Affects Cats: Olga’s Experience With Hallucinogens by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

The African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) is the ancestor of domestic cats. Although they aren’t endangered, they’ve suffered from interbreeding with housecats. They can catch the same diseases as pet felines, and the healthiest populations live in arid, mountainous regions away from human settlements.

Olga doesn’t need to hunt for her food and cannot sit up as straight as an African Wildcat. African Wildcats have longer front legs, and when they’re in a sitting position, their poses resemble those depicted in drawings by ancient Egyptians. However, that’s where their differences end; she’s just as wild as Felis lybica, but she’s trapped in a suburban home.

Feline and Canine Domestication

Cats seem wilder than dogs because humans haven’t selectively bred them for specific traits for very long. The farmers in the Fertile Crescent didn’t train their new friends to hunt rodents and had no need to manipulate their breeding pool.

They provided shelter, and the cats were happy to prowl around and eat rats. On the other hand, dogs have been with us since the Mesolithic Age when we were hunter-gatherers. We domesticated them before other mammals and trained them to be hunters, guardians, and companions.

Olga’s Wild Ways

Like most felines, Olga doesn’t want or need to perform a service that benefits humans. She’s an African Wildcat with a gray coat who loves attacking inanimate objects. It took years before she became comfortable sitting in my lap, and she still has a low tolerance for excessive petting.

She’s not as agile or athletic as my last cat, but she’s wilder.

I read a story on an exotic cat forum that reminded me of Olga. An owner of an African Wildcat mentioned that his cat wasn’t much different than a Domestic Shorthair, but he had scars on his legs and arms from her playful attacks. He also said that the cat was more affectionate in the daytime, and she became more aggressive when the sun went down.

After Olga has had her ninth or tenth nap of the day and enjoyed a healthy meal before dusk, she gets a boost of energy. It’s strange because she acts more like a hunter when her belly is full. She runs laps around my house and attacks the back of my legs if I get in her way.

An Owner’s Duties

If I ignore her, she slams my bedroom door and howls if she has trouble opening it. She wants me to participate in her hunting games but only from a distance. Besides being her caretaker, Olga also thinks I’m an estate manager or gamekeeper.

I’m in charge of keeping the property stocked with wildlife (toys), and if I fail in my duties, I don’t get fired like a manager of an English estate; I become the prey. I admire Olga’s wild nature and am glad she acts more like her ancestors than her cousins. Although I don’t have a rodent problem, I can always count on my blue panther to keep my home insect-free.

The post How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga’s Wild Streak by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.

When Olga was a kitten, she wasn’t as finicky and always ran to the kitchen when she smelled my cooking. I gave her dry food every day and wet food a few times a week, and I made the mistake of replicating my previous cat’s diet. Free feeding isn’t recommended for most pets, but my Siamese cat never became overweight when allowed to graze all day on kibble.

Free-Feeding Frenzy

I shouldn’t have free-fed Olga; her head was much larger than her body when she was young, and her belly was starting to catch up. When my veterinarian said she was a little heavy for a kitten, I changed her diet and only gave her dry food in the morning and wet food in the evening.

It took several months, and by the time she entered adulthood, she no longer had a bulging belly. She loves wet food but only eats formulas with chicken or turkey. I discovered early on that seafood and beef weren’t kind to her gut, and until recently, she liked dry food.

Kibble Conundrum

She stopped eating her kibble, and when I tried to introduce new brands gradually, she ate them for a few days until they made her vomit. I’ve tried limited-ingredient diets and too many brands to remember, but nothing seems to agree with her stomach. She only tolerates wet food, and I no longer give her treats.

I don’t know why, but she eats more when I’m in the same room. If I go outside to fill up the birdfeeders after leaving a bowl of food for her in the morning, she waits at the window until I return and then runs back to her bowl to eat.

She doesn’t like to eat alone, and sometimes, she leaves most of her food uneaten and walks away. If I call her back and tap on her bowl, she returns to her food and devours it. Some dogs and cats become irritated or aggressive if you stand too close to them or pet them on the back when they’re eating, but Olga prefers it. She eats all her food now, but I still have to encourage her.

Picky and Proud

Living with a picky cat is annoying, but Olga is healthy. She doesn’t bother me when I’m eating and doesn’t consume foreign objects, plants, or toxic chemicals. Being selective and indecisive may be an advantage for her. Since she has such a sensitive stomach, she may be less likely to eat something harmful.

That’s not a statement from someone with veterinary expertise, but it applies to my stubborn cat. Before dinner, she stares at me and whines if I look at her. She acts like a starving animal and tries to intimidate me by slamming the closet door or knocking my pen off my desk.

Her begging is relentless, but as hungry as she appears, she doesn’t eat all her food unless I join her in the kitchen. Olga is a freak of nature, but she’s a good cat.

The post Taking Care of a Picky Cat: How Olga’s Eating Habits Have Changed by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.