Cat Chat®
Brought to you by Dr. Elsey's
CAT CHAT ® was Tracie’s own weekly, live call-in show on the Martha Stewart channel of Sirius-XM for 7 years – until the channel was canceled. Since 2015 it has been a weekly podcast carrying on her mission to educate and inspire cat lovers to optimize their relationship with their kitty cats by giving them the best possible nutrition and environmental enrichment.
Tracie’s frequent co-host is Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado of Feline Minds Cat Behavior Consulting and author of the new book Play With Your Cat! the Essential Guide to Interactive Play for a Happier, Healthier Feline.
Sponsored By:
Dr. Elsey’s, who developed America’s #1 kitty litter and also created a healthy dry and canned food for kitties called cleanprotein™ inspired by a cat’s natural prey.
8 Cat Tail Signs Decoded
#0143: Annie Butler-Shirreffs, the Editor of Catster, talks about a cat’s tail being an amazing and beautiful thing. Not only is it an anatomical wonder, it’s an excellent tool for feline self-expression. The 8 different tail signals Catster identified are: “in the air,” “question mark,” “tip twitch,” “single flip,” “cat tail hug,” ”exclamation mark,” “cat tail tag,” and “hunting tail.”
10 Things NOT to Do to Your Kitty
#0142: Dr Mikel Maria Delgado and Tracie agree there are a handful of things you should never do to your cat. Advice like don’t let young children pick up a cat…or don’t pick him up yourself unless you know he likes it… or don’t pull him out of a hiding place.
What NOT to Do With Your Kitty
#0141: Don’t hit, squirt or throw anything at him. Never pull a cat from safety. Don’t let kids pick up cats. Don’t lift a cat yourself who doesn’t like it. Don’t leave a cat for more than 24 hours. Don’t ignore a change in your cat’s habits or behavior — call the vet!
9 Cat Sounds & What They Mean
#0140: Annie Butler Shirreffs, Executive editor of Catster, talks about their recent article describing the sounds cats make. The Clickety Chirp. The Friendly Trill. The Bark. The Bleat. The Mom. The Midnight Whine. The Demonic Growl. The Cartoon Scurry. The Sleep Siren.
Is that Roughhousing or a Cat Fight?
#0139: Questions to ask to know if it is only play: Is it mutual? Are they taking turns chasing? Are they silent? Do they stop, reassess and then start again? Can you interrupt their play?
Tracie Becomes a Mission Meow Partner!
#0138: Mission Meow founder and director Sally Williams invites Tracie to become a partner. Mission Meow gathers donations from cat lovers so they can give larger grants to groups they identify as doing especially valuable work on behalf of cats in their area. Tracie was inspired by Mikel Maria Delgado, her co-host on CAT CHAT®, who is a partner and board member of Mission Meow, so how could Tracie not jump in, too?!
Get Your Cat’s Consent Before Petting
#0137: Does your cat really want to be stroked? And if so, where on their body? In what way? And for how long? Zazie Todd, author of “PURR: the Science of Making Your Cat Happy” explains why touching your cat should not be your decision entirely out of respect for your individual cat’s personality and mood.
Are Cat Cafes Actually Good for Cats?
#0136: Dr. Mikel discusses some of the management and feline health challenges facing people running cat cafes. She also discusses the sort of cats who can thrive in a cat cafe environment, those for whom it may not be good, and how to keep a cat cafe from becoming a “petting zoo” rather than an adoption platform
Does Your Cat Know What You’re Saying?
#0135: Ever wonder if your cat is listening to you? Mikel Maria Delgado talks about a study done in Paris, France looking at whether a cat’s pet parent’s voice means something to them. It does! Cats do recognize and respond to the voice of their human family member.
Wow! Mission Meow
#0134: Mikel Maria Delgado is on the board of Mission Meow, a nonprofit that raises money so they are able to give sizeable grants to other feline non-profits — a larger donation which allows them to make a significant impact in their life-saving work with cats.