Total Cat Mojo

by Jackson Galaxy

Overweight cats have difficulty grooming themselves, which is unpleasant for cat and human alike.

  As you can see, folks, feline obesity is an all-out epidemic, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s what you can do to help:

  Stop free feeding your cats, and stop feeding your cats junk, especially dry food. They should be eating scheduled, bio-appropriate meat-based meals (that means a raw diet or at least a grain-free wet diet).

  Use slow feeding bowls and/or food puzzles to prevent them from scarfing. Just like humans, cats need a minute to register that they are full, and that can only happen if they are eating at a reasonable pace.

  Don’t forget about HCKE. Play, in conjunction with the tips above, will absolutely help get your cats to that optimal weight. They’ll be happier, and because they are healthier and around longer, you’ll be happier, too.

  And as for the notion that you might fall out of favor with your cat once you put the kibosh on all of the junk food, consider this: A recent study surveyed guardians who had placed their cats on a sensible eating plan. Almost all of the cats lost weight, and most cats became more affectionate to their guardians, getting in their laps more, and purring more. So lest you think that restricting your cat’s food will make him upset with you, it turns out the opposite is true.

  DON’T FRET THE VET

  Cat guardians generally take their cats to the vet half as much as dog guardians. Not only does it end up costing them more, but there are so many diseases that can be taken care of if found early: kidney disease, diabetes, dental disease, eyesight loss, hyperthyroidism, and heart problems. These are all treatable or manageable, but the earlier you know, the easier it will be. At the very least, you should be running a senior blood panel once a year in your healthy adult cat.

  Sounds logical, right? So if you’re not doing this, what’s the holdup? Probably it’s because the whole process of going to the vet is an ordeal for both you and your cat—on every level. I’ve known an unbelievable number of cats throughout the years who had never been to the vet, period. Not once. And we are talking ten-year-old cats! Basically, it’s not until I call the guardians on their folly that these cats finally see the inside of a vet clinic for the first time since they were spayed or neutered—yet another example of how the “unpleasantries” can take avoidance to a new level. So how can you get on the other side of this?

  First, consider the destination: your vet’s office. Knowing what might set your cat off in terms of his or her surroundings, certain offices might be more stressful by nature. So go and visit a few in your area. Is the environment there loud or calm? What kind of ratio of dogs vs. cats do they generally have? Are there separate entrances for dogs and cats? A true litmus test is when you bring up concerns about your cat’s anxiety to the staff. Are they responsive? Do they seem as if they genuinely care? I’ve had the pleasure of working with many a vet who, knowing that my cat is nervous, hustles us through the waiting room and into an exam room to avoid the stimulation. The point is, you don’t have to settle. You have lots of options these days, so do your due diligence.

  So we’ve talked about the destination. Next, we have one of the most dreaded elements of vet visits, the double whammy of the journey: getting your cat there, and getting her into a carrier.

  CARRIERS CAN BE A CAT’S BEST FRIEND

  Over half of all cats aren’t making it to the vet for a yearly exam. And over a third of cat guardians get stressed out just thinking about taking their cat to the vet. The main reason your cat doesn’t like the cat carrier is because every association they have had with that box has been negative. Think about it this way: What if, as a child, you had two cars in the garage. One car, a red convertible, was used every day to take you to school, friends’ houses, the movies, etc., while the other car, a yellow station wagon, was used only to take you to the dentist. After this had happened to you enough times, you made the association. So, all your mom had to do was grab the keys for the station wagon and WHAM—racing pulse, sweaty palms, and a deep sense of foreboding took over you. To put it gently, you would do anything in your power to keep your butt out of the backseat of that damned yellow death sentence. This is how many if not most cats perceive their carrier. So what do we do? We change the station wagon into the convertible, of course!

  First, we need to change the carrier from a place of dread and fear to a destination, a portable base camp.

  Start by taking the carrier apart. Part of what will help undo the association is if it no longer resembles the yellow station wagon. Use the bottom part as a starting point, and turn the carrier into a cocoon. Make it cozy with some bedding that contains the scent of both your cat and you.

  Use treats to make that cocoon even more inviting. Give your cat a treat for any curiosity around the carrier, even if she just gives it a sniff. Remember the concept of the “Jackpot!” Treats? Now is that time. While training your cat to love her new den, break out the Jackpots. Break them out only around the carrier. Even better, get your cat eating her meals in the carrier. It may take a few times, moving the bowl closer and closer to her new favorite place, so have patience and push that Challenge Line every day!

  Once there is a sense of predictability in terms of your cat using the carrier not just to eat treats but to hang out, even for small periods, it’s time to begin the reconstruction. First the top—use the same techniques to reinforce the continued positive association. Then the door. Then close the door for short periods. Many cats are triggered simply by the sound of the latch closing. In that case, start with the latch taped open and then gradually desensitize. If you can get to the point where you can feed dinner with the door closed, the yellow station wagon is officially a red convertible!

  Again, staying consistent with the association techniques that have worked best for you, pick up the carrier with the door closed (and of course the cat inside!). Don’t even go to the car the first time. Close the carrier with your cat inside, and go outside for thirty seconds. Then go back in, open the carrier, put some treats inside, and let your cat try to figure out what the heck just happened. Hint: good stuff!

  The next step would be a short car ride, just around the block. Rinse and repeat. Make sure every trip—whether short or long, whether a purely positive experience or somewhat challenging—ends with Jackpot!

  What are we doing? We are showing your cat that being in the carrier doesn’t always mean something monumentally bad happens. Being in the car doesn’t always mean getting a shot or sharing a lobby with a growing number of other cats and dogs. The carrier is not the enemy. And if your cat gets in a carrier fifty times, but only one of those times he goes to the vet—not bad.

  THE MARY POPPINS ASPIRATION

  Whether we are discussing topics like bringing your cat to the vet, putting him in a carrier, giving him medication, trimming his nails, leaving him when you go to work, feeding him meals instead of free feeding, etc., they all have an emotional connective tissue—guilt. And this guilt is centered on the unbearable notion that WE are the reason our cat is miserable, that we are causing him pain (even if that pain is momentary).

  Even if our avoidance of these “unpleasantries” would eventually spell increased misery for our cats, subconsciously we still sweep it under the rug. The Challenge Line suddenly emerging in this moment is yours. The paralyzing guilt that accompanies these tasks becomes the line you must cross if you want to be the most Mojo-rific cat parent you can be. (Hey, this is a judgment-free zone! Believe me, if I’m shining a light on something here, it’s because I’ve had to cross this line, too.)

  How do we cross our own Challenge Line and simultaneously get our cats to accept the nail trimming, vet visiting, pill taking, and every other “unpleasantry?” As Mary Poppins would say, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”

  Why the Mary Poppins reference? As it turns out, she represents both the calming persona and the skilled nanny. Sh
e knows all about the intricacies of getting done what has to be done, but is also mindful about the way she does it. This is an excellent model for every cat parent to follow.

  “A Spoonful of Sugar . . .”

  The guilt that we feel permeates both the tone of our voice and the words that we choose when trying to get through these various activities. As we just discussed in the last chapter, words matter; in truth, so does the rest of it, from tone to physiology. If you treat it like a big deal, it becomes a big deal. If you are in the midst of doing one of these uncomfortable things with your cat—like giving him a pill, for example—and your inner monologue is “my cat is miserable, I’m making him miserable, I’m a bad parent,” you will most likely manifest a tone, an anxious energy that your cat will feel. Now you find yourself tiptoeing toward your cat, fists clenched around the medicine bottle or nail trimmers, every muscle from your shoulders to your jaw tightened as you verbalize, “Okay, baby, this is not going to be a big deal at all. . . .”

  That’s where Mary Poppins comes in. “A Spoonful of Sugar” is the idea that we let go of the angst and consciously bring the sweetness to a stressful situation. We do things “in the most delightful way.” This is how we mitigate the misery.

  “. . . Helps the Medicine Go Down”

  I can’t know what the big red button inside you is that brings you to your Challenge Line. We took you through methods for dealing with various challenges, such as getting your cat to the vet, for instance. But when it comes to your specific sweat-inducing task, it’s a pretty individual thing. Is it nail trimming? Pill giving? Simply leaving the house for ten hours? Switching food? Whatever it is, your goal is a true sense of ease in establishing an everyday context for the task. And here is where the “skilled nanny” element comes into play. This is all about getting more competent and confident about the mechanics of a given task, particularly those where you feel resistance.

  The way to do this:

  Define your Challenge Line moments.

  Research methods to turn these moments into step-by-step tasks. Your due diligence, of course, includes online research. But don’t forget to mine the knowledge and experience of your local pet professionals. Your vet, vet tech, groomer, or pet sitter can either demonstrate, or offer valuable info, about the how-tos.

  There are many methods: find the one that resonates for you. For example, there are more animal nail trimmers on the market than I can possibly count. In the meantime, using ordinary human nail clippers works so comfortably for me that when I grab them, because I know what to do with them, my anxiety is immediately lowered.

  Use the concept of the Fire Drill I laid out in chapter 10. If, before you even approach your cat, you have gone through the process so many times in your head—thinking about how you would react if things went sideways, so that there aren’t many surprises that can happen in the actual moment—you’ll be more able to release the stress you feel.

  Take a moment before you approach your cat to ground yourself. Go through your fire drill, take a few breaths, consciously do a quick body check to become aware of where you are holding your physical stress, and release it.

  When you combine both of these Poppins attributes—the what you do and the how you do it—you transform what was once a necessary but dreaded activity into yet another Mojo-fied interaction you experience with your cat, another slice of life, this time set to your musical mantra: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down. Now, you can just be walking by your cat, bend down as if you’re petting her to say “hi,” and give her a pill. A flash of magic.

  She won’t know what hit her.

  To Treat or Not?

  Another very individualized component of this process is the reward. Could you offer a Jackpot! Treat after giving a pill? Of course, and that’s a part of your fire drill. Whatever it takes to get you to feel absolutely nonchalant about the process. How many times have I personally done that? None. For these objectively small tasks, the reward portion of the proceedings actually made me more stressed because it heightened the significance of the event. In my experience, the better I got at the steps I outlined above, the more my fire drill became muscle memory, and the less I wanted to make it into a rewardable action.

  In my view, there is a connection between the tension-fueled “It’s okay, baby; this is SO not a big deal . . .” vibe before the action and making a big deal about how great she is for doing this, and how beautiful it is after the fact. The bigger the reward you give her for this action, the more you’re also setting it up as a big operation. A small, matter-of-fact operation calls for small, matter-of-fact appreciation.

  That said, it is your Challenge Line, which makes it your process. The key to figuring out your strategy is mindfulness and preparation. Whatever falls between those lines that works for both you and your cat works for me, too.

  Lifelong Mojo: A Spoonful of Sugar for Kittens

  If you have a kitten, all of these “unpleasant” activities we have to do for our cats are opportunities. Set up a lifelong dynamic now, because if they need a pill today, they are probably going to need a pill later. If you burrito them, scruff them, or sit on top of them, you are making it so there is going to be a boomerang effect; every time you go through the action of giving them a pill, they are going to struggle harder. Therefore, you are best served to find a way within yourself to stay centered. When people do something that they perceive their cats don’t like, they tend to overdo it, or don’t do it at all. Either way, you are not doing anybody any favors.

  KEEPING CATS INDOORS

  If there’s one topic that causes fights to break out (and I mean of the human variety), it’s whether or not cats should be allowed outdoors. The indoor/outdoor debate centers on the concept of quality versus quantity—the idea that cats’ lives are of a better Mojo quality when given access to their original stomping grounds, and that cats love being outside and it goes against nature to restrict their movements. At the same time, if they are given that free access, dangers abound and their lifespan can be shortened.

  To be fair, both sides of the fence here make very strong arguments. Are cats innately “happier” when allowed access to the outdoors? I believe so. Are there problem-solving opportunities and challenges from both their environment and through practicing the Raw Cat HCKE that are difficult to replicate? Again, yes. Some say cats need to be outside, and by denying that, we’re making their lives miserable. In the same breath, people acknowledge that the threats outside are numerous and can be fatal. Between the transmission of diseases like FIV that come from the inevitable fights with other community cats, and the usual suspects of cars, people, and predators from both air and ground . . . it’s rough out there.

  Where do I fall in the debate? I believe that cats should be kept indoors. I don’t believe that we should even be getting into the debate about quality versus quantity of life. We can replace the perceived loss of quality by involving ourselves in our cats’ lives more. My personal model of parenting dictates that I want my animal children around for the full natural duration of their lives. Do they love being out there? No debate. But I loved riding the subway around New York City as a teenager. I still had a curfew.

  That said . . . it’s a personal choice whether you’re going to let your cat be indoor/outdoor. But if you do fall on the outdoor side of things, consider at the least these additions to you and your cats’ lives, which will give them access to the outdoors but keep them safe at the same time:

  Catio: This is a real game changer. A catio is basically a space that you can make for cats (which of course you can share with them) by enclosing your existing patio or creating an enclosure. There, you can offer great vertical spaces, wooden objects that they can scratch on, different grasses including catnip that you can plant and they can enjoy—even hunting that can happen when critters make their way inside.

  Harness Training: Enjoying the great outd
oors via a leash isn’t just a “dog” thing. If your cat demonstrates that he really, really wants to get outside (not just because you think he should get out there), he can be trained to a harness and leash, and you can spend quality time every day cruising around the neighborhood with your cat.

  Window Boxes: Sometimes you can’t even take them outside because of your schedule or your apartment lifestyle, or you determined that they didn’t want to go out badly enough to train to a harness. Or perhaps once they were trained, the outdoors just wasn’t for them. There are kits that fit in your window just like an air conditioner that allow your cats to enjoy the view. Getting in the window box can become a wonderful hangout spot with a front-row seat to Cat TV.

  Fencing in Backyard: There are several companies offering different versions of the existing, fairly foolproof method of fencing in your backyard. You can attach toppers to your existing fences or purchase a freestanding system. Either way, your cats won’t get out, and just as important, nobody else can get in.

  Still want to let them out? At least make sure your bases are covered just in case. Consider the following:

  Letting Cats Outside Responsibly

  Please make sure your cats are microchipped and have their ID tag and a breakaway collar.

  Make sure they’re up on their vaccines.

  Let your cat out only when you are home, so if your cat needs you, he can find you.

  When the sun goes down, your cat comes in.

  Stop free feeding. Have mealtimes so your cats will come home at certain times, and, again, you retain a measure of control about when they are out and when they are in.