Cat Lover Gifts World Newsletter

Newsletter for Cat Lovers January 2008 vol.3 no.1

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Cute Kitten

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Talk About Cute Kittens!!

Historically speaking (historically speaking from my perspective, anyway), the evolution of social networks on the internet has been an easy development to predict. The very idea of computers connecting people in a way that eliminates any distance between them, allowing for the sharing of information in 'real time' was a topic raised often in my philosophy classes in college. That was in the early 1970's. Just think. I was involved in deep discussions about the social/legal and ethical implications of MySpace, Facebook and Flickr long before the first PC was ever developed or produced (let alone the complicated platforms or software needed for these sites to work). I don't know if that implies that I'm smart, or a little older than I care to admit.

Conversely, since putting Cat Lover Gifts World up on the web, I have found that just as the advent of social networks has given people the ability to talk and share thoughts and ideas with like-minded others, it also shows just how isolated one can be in the midst of a crowd. I think that when most people put a web site up, they tend to think of it as a one-way street.

It might go like this:

"I have a product or idea to sell to, or share with others. I'll build this web site and because it's such a great idea or product, and there're so many people on computers these days... it only follows that the world will beat a path to my door."

Then shock sets in. Just like in the brick and mortar, or 'real' world, no one's going to find you or even be interested in what you're doing if your product isn't of interest, of useful value, or if they can't have some kind of trust-based interaction with you. One of the aspects much discussed in my college courses was whether a person's life through the computer environment would imitate virtual reality (even to the point of replacing the human experience with virtual experience), or would virtual reality take on the characteristics of the human experience, and by doing so, expand human experience. I'm happy to say that since creating Cat Lover Gifts World some 4 years ago; watching it grow in size, sophistication and popularity, it's my human experience that has been expanded. I don't look or feel like a maze of pixels. Though the 'delete' button is a little too convenient.

It's with the desire to make Cat Lover Gifts World a two-way street that I have developed the ability for those who visit this site to reply, show-off or sound-off about what they find here, or about anything that's on their mind. And, to do so not just with me, but with others, also. I'm not sure where this will go. I have no specific goal in mind other than to create the capability for social interaction through words and/or pictures. It's the start of an interesting journey.

With that in mind:

Do you have a cat or kitten story? How about a cute kitten picture? Share experiences, pictures and anecdotes; ask questions or give an answer to someone who is perplexed about their kitty's behavior which you may know something about. Write an article about cats or kittens as you understand them. You can become published, or maybe even famous, at the same time.

Your Cat and Her Litter Box

Cats on a Toilet

One of the great things about cats is that they come as a complete package, especially with regard to their bathroom habits. Unlike dogs, gerbils or birds who seem to use the bathroom just about anywhere the urge comes to them, cats have very definitive toilet habits. Why's this so?

The neat and careful etiquette cats have about burying their waste deposits comes from a precise evolutionary development:

The ancestors of domestic cats and cats in the wild today have learned to bury their wastes in order to hide their presence from predators and prey alike. Queens teach their kittens to bury their waste just for this self-preservation instinct. When the den becomes odoriferous enough, the Queen will move her family to a new spot. Doing this makes it difficult for prey to detect the vulnerable kittens and prey will not be alarmed and avoid the area.
Cats are clean creatures. A typical cat will devote about 1/3 of her waking hours to groom herself. This doesn't sound like a lot, but it translates to about three hours' worth of self-pampering a day. Cats clean themselves with their saliva, which is thought to contain a detergent-like deodorizing substance which keeps her fur-coat soft, glossy, and clean. The hook-like appendages that cover her tongue remove loose hair and dead skin. Her grooming tones her muscles and stimulates blood circulation, too.
When Queens clean their newborns, and shows them how and where to bury their wastes, it teaches them the same habits. Somewhere in the evolutionary growth of cats, they learned that keeping good, cleanly habits meant less attraction for vermin and the diseases they carry, safety from predators and their prey would tend to not be scared away making the chase more convenient for cats.

The natural habit of a cat burying her waste in a litter box is one that should be appreciated because the training period that most other pets have to go through is eliminated. But, cat owners are not unburdened of all responsibility. If you don't keep the box clean, she will look for other places to 'go to the bathroom'. Moreover, there can be other reasons your cat stops using her litter box. Falling under the general heading of stress, she may stop using her box as a result of some kind of disturbance to her environment. This may be because of:

The introduction of other cats or pets into the household.
The placement of her box where she is not comfortable using it or has to share it with too many other cats. I'm convinced cats do want bathroom privacy.
Putting the box in places she can't easily get to, such as a room that gets shut off with a door.
Most importantly, clean the litter daily, if possible.

Illnesses, such as a urinary tract infection, can cause her to stop using her box, also. Just realize that if she isn't or stops using the litter box, there's a reason for it and you'll have to search the problem out.

You can teach Fido to go to the door and whine a little when he has 'to go'. But, in Fluffy's case, things could get a little more complex. You'll know when everything in her world is o.k. ... and, when thing's aren't going so well.

See you next time