🐱 Cats guides

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Cats

Feline cognitive dysfunction: home care for the senior cat

Half of cats over fifteen show at least one sign of feline cognitive dysfunction. The signs are quiet, easy to mistake for normal aging, and almost always overlap with treatable medical problems. This is the home-care guide I leave with families when an older cat starts staring at walls, missing the litter box, or yowling at three in the morning — including the part most owners skip, which is the vet visit that has to come first.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

behavior cognitive dysfunction dementia

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Cats

Leaving a cat home alone: how many days is realistic

A healthy adult cat can be left alone for a day, with preparation, for two. A kitten cannot be left for an afternoon. A senior with kidney disease should not be left for a working day. The numbers, and the multi-cat detail that quietly changes them, are below — and so is the part most owners get wrong, which happens in the hour after they get home.

Elena Rossi· ·8 min read

alone behavior kitten

Cats

Indoor cat exercise: meeting the daily activity quota

Indoor cats do not need a treadmill. They need a daily activity quota, paid out in three currencies — hunt, climb, and social play — and the right timing, in the right room, with the right toy. The plan below has worked across dozens of multi-cat homes I have visited, and the science behind it is older and more specific than most owners realise.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

behavior enrichment exercise

Cats

Why cats are hard to train: the non-reward reality

Cats are not untrained dogs. They are a different species with a different learning economy, built around a single hunter, not a pack. The work is to translate the home into a language they actually read: small, immediate, self-rewarded, and never social.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

behavior capturing multi-cat

Cats

Cat-to-cat aggression: from hissing to full fight — when to step in

Most cat-to-cat aggression is not a fight in the moment — it is a slow build of small signals the humans in the room have stopped noticing. The work is to read those signals, decide which fights are communication and which are danger, and know when to step in without making things worse.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

aggression behavior fighting

Cats

Indoor cat enrichment: designing vertical space your cat will actually use

Height is the single most overlooked resource in the indoor cat home. The fix is not a bigger cat tree in the corner — it is a slow reading of where each cat already wants to go, and a design that links floor, mid-level, and ceiling into one connected territory.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

cat tree enrichment indoor cat

Cats

Scratching the furniture: how to redirect a cat to a proper scratch post

Cats scratch for clear, hard-wired reasons. Punishment never works. The fix is to read the scratch marks, place the right post in the right spot, and make the old target unrewarding — in that order.

Elena Rossi· ·8 min read

behavior claw care furniture

Cats

Night-time yowling in cats: 6 root causes and matching fixes

A cat that yells at 3 a.m. is not being naughty. There are six common reasons, each with a specific fix — and a senior cat with new night-time yowling needs the vet before the behaviour work.

Elena Rossi· ·10 min read

behavior cat yowling cognitive dysfunction

Cats

Multi-cat resource math: the N+1 rule in practice

Two cats curled on the same sofa are not the same thing as two cats with enough to share. The N+1 rule is the simplest, oldest formula in multi-cat behavior work — and the one I see broken most often in homes where, by every visible measure, the cats 'get along.'

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

cat behavior litter box multi-cat

Cats

Bringing a new cat home: the base-room isolation method, step by step

The first 7 to 14 days in a new home set the tone for the next ten years. The base-room isolation method is the single most reliable way to land a new cat — adult, kitten, or rescue — without triggering a multi-cat war or a litter box crisis.

Elena Rossi· ·10 min read

base room introduction isolation

Cats

The litter box golden triangle: count, location, cleanliness

If a cat stops using the litter box, three things are almost always involved: how many boxes there are, where they sit, and how clean they are. Most problems resolve when these three are fixed — without ever touching the cat.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

cat behavior house soiling kitten

Cats

Feline eosinophilic granuloma complex: the three presentations, the diagnosis, and the treatment

The cat with the lip ulcer, the cat with the belly plaque, and the cat with the hind leg granuloma are all showing the same disease: feline eosinophilic granuloma complex. Here is the recognition, the workup, and the treatment.

Hannah Kim· ·9 min read

EGC eosinophilic granuloma eosinophilic plaque

Cats

Feline urinary obstruction: emergency signs that the male cat cannot pee and needs help now

The male cat that is straining in the litter box and producing nothing is the cat that is dying. Feline urinary obstruction is a 24-48 hour emergency. Here are the signs, the first response, and the in-hospital protocol.

Sofia Martinez· ·9 min read

blocked cat emergency FLUTD

Cats

Cat-to-cat aggression: from hissing to full fight, when to step in and when to wait

The hissing at the door is normal. The swat is a warning. The full fight is a crisis. Here is the escalation ladder, the intervention at each level, and the slow reintroduction protocol that brings peace back.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

behavior modification cat aggression fights

Cats

Kitten socialization: the 2-7 week sensitive window that shapes every cat for life

The 2-7 week window is when the kitten's brain is forming the associations that will determine its adult behavior. Miss the window, and the cat will spend its life being afraid. Hit the window, and the cat will be confident for life.

Elena Rossi· ·8 min read

2-7 weeks behavior foster

Cats

Stranger fear in cats: a desensitization plan for shy cats that hides when guests arrive

The cat that disappears under the bed when guests arrive is not a cat that dislikes strangers — it is a cat that has not learned that strangers are safe. Here is the desensitization plan that builds the association.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

stranger fear

Cats

Moving house: the 3-3-3 rule for cats and how to make the transition less stressful

A cat's adjustment to a new home follows a predictable timeline: 3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to learn the new layout, 3 months to feel at home. Here is how to support each phase.

Elena Rossi· ·8 min read

3-3-3 rule cat behavior moving

Cats

Moving house with cats: the 3-3-3 rule and how to keep your cat from disappearing into the closet

Moving is one of the most stressful events for a cat. The 3-3-3 rule — 3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to settle in, 3 months to feel at home — gives the owner a timeline and a protocol.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

3-3-3 rule cat moving

Cats

Carrier training: making the carrier a good place, not a vet-visit panic chamber

The cat that bolts at the sight of the carrier, the cat that screams in the car, the cat that needs to be wrestled into the carrier at the vet — all of this is preventable. Carrier training is the protocol.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

carrier cat counter-conditioning

Cats

Multi-cat resource math: the N+1 rule in practice for households with two or more cats

The single most common reason for inter-cat aggression and inappropriate urination in multi-cat homes is too few resources, not too many cats. The N+1 rule is the math that fixes it.

Elena Rossi· ·8 min read

cat behavior litter box multi-cat

Cats

Multi-cat resource math: the N+1 rule and why most cat households are under-resourced

Two cats do not share well. The N+1 rule — one resource per cat, plus one extra — is the simplest framework for preventing inter-cat conflict. Most multi-cat households violate it, and the cats pay the price.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

Cats

The prey cycle play pattern: how to simulate hunting indoors for an indoor cat

Indoor cats hunt nothing but their food bowl, and that is why they are bored, fat, and stressed. The prey cycle is the play pattern that simulates the hunt and ends the boredom.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

cat play enrichment hunting simulation

Cats

The prey-cycle play pattern: how to simulate hunting indoors for a happier cat

Cats need to hunt. Indoor cats that never express the prey cycle develop boredom, obesity, and behaviour problems. The fix is structured play that mimics the four stages of a real hunt.

Elena Rossi· ·10 min read

cat enrichment hunting

Cats

Hyperthyroidism in senior cats: what owners need to know

Hyperthyroidism is the most common endocrine disease of older cats. Here is what the diagnosis means, what treatment options exist, and how to choose between them.

James Morrison· ·8 min read

hyperthyroidism methimazole senior cat

Cats

Multi-floor apartments: cat superhighways and pathways that actually work

In a multi-cat household, the territory is not the floor. It is the vertical and the temporal - the heights, the paths, and the times of day each cat owns. Designing the apartment for that territory is the difference between a peaceful home and a chronic war.

Elena Rossi· ·7 min read

apartment behavior cat

Cats

Multi-floor apartments: cat superhighways and pathways that actually get used

Cats in multi-storey apartments don't need more floor space — they need vertical space. Here is the superhighway system I design for clients, with the elements that cats actually use and the ones they ignore.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

apartment cat cat superhighway enrichment

Cats

Inappropriate urination in cats: 12 behaviour vs medical causes (and how to tell)

When a cat stops using the litter box, half the time it's a behaviour problem and half the time it's medical. The trick is telling which is which — and ruling out the medical before assuming behaviour.

Elena Rossi· ·9 min read

cystitis FLUTD litter box

Cats

Inappropriate urination: 12 behavior vs medical causes and how to tell them apart

A cat that urinates outside the litter box is the most common behavioral complaint in feline practice. The challenge is that the same symptom can be medical, behavioral, or both - and the treatment depends on which it is.

Elena Rossi· ·8 min read

behavior cat litter box

Cats

Night-time yowling in cats: 6 root causes and what to actually do

A cat that yells at 3 a.m. is not being naughty. There are six common reasons, and each has a specific fix. Here is how to tell them apart.

Elena Rossi· ·8 min read

cat yowling

Cats

Lilies and cats: why they are lethal and what to do if exposure happens

Even pollen on the fur can cause acute kidney failure in cats. Here is the full list of dangerous lily species, the timeline of toxicity, and what to do in the first 30 minutes.

Sofia Martinez· ·8 min read

acute kidney injury cat poisoning lily toxicity