Cat Chat®

#172: Dr. Ron Gaskin in Minnesota talks about the revolutionary surgical reversal he has pioneered to relieve the pain and disfigurement of the feet of declawed cats. He and Tracie talk about the cruelty and suffering being imposed on cats by veterinarians still mutilating cats' feet with declawing [although they know better] — and owners who don't discover the harm done until their cats...

#171: Jae and Adrienne, The Crazy Cat Ladies, developed a "Cat symptom checker" which is an informational chart based on thousands of questions they have gotten from cat lovers about holistic, naturopathic treatments for feline problems.

#170: Katie Haegele's richly illustrated book “Cats I have Known” will remind you to reflect on the diversity of cats who have left their mark on your heart throughout your own life.

#169: Cat behaviorist Dr. Rachel Geller responds to the complaints of the owner of Ringo, but she and Tracie are sad to learn the owner didn't wait to hear solutions to the problems before giving up on her kitty. Please ask for help before you reach your own "last straw" moment.

#168: Lili Chin has taken the research about how cats communicate with us (or how they try to but we are not listening!) — and with charming drawings and simple explanations has made it easy for us to "speak cat." 

#167: Stacy LeBaron talks about starting a podcast about TNR and feral cats years ago, when people barely knew what a podcast was — and how her work has grown.

#166: JJ Yosh Simon is famous for his exploits with Simon, the Bombay cat who swims, kayaks, snowboards, white water rafts, and rock climbs with him. So he built his house for Simon!

#165: Megan runs Basil's Cradle Sanctuary and talks about helping many cats who were fat from eating "kitty crack" lose weight slowly and safely. She tells the sad but ultimately happy story of NeNe the Siamese — who went from 22 lbs. to 8 1/2 under her careful and loving care.

#164: Cat behaviorist Rachel Geller offers free advice to cat owners in a "no judgment zone" where she works together with them to solve problems. 

#163: Justice Le, owner of Doyen World, designs and creates unique cat toys with a "wow factor." Her fetching catnip toys will be in the party bags at the Dr. Elsey's' Meow Party (October 20th) at the NYC Meow Parlour, and in the filmmakers' gift bags at the 6th Annual NY Cat Film Festival on October 21st.

#162: Jae & Adrienne offer advice on social media to a huge following of cat lovers — learning and sharing information about cat wellness.

#161: Dr Elizabeth Hodgkins talks about the importance of slow and steady weight loss for overweight cats (no more than 1/4 lb a week) because abrupt weight loss can overwhelm their liver and cause life-threatening fatty liver disease. The fat cat needs at least 50% of his diet from high quality protein, which will bind with the fat packed around his liver and package it out of his body. 

#160: Author Cate Conte discusses her most recent Cat Café Mystery, set in a haunted inn visited by a psychic during Halloween, with an intrepid cat who solves one of the many mysteries.

#159: Jonathan Losos returns with his book “The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved From the Savanna to Your Sofa” and describes what we can gather from the many different meow sounds each cat can make.

#158: Tracie’s co-host, Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado, explains the anatomy of a cat’s whiskers and also what you can learn about a cat’s frame of mind from watching the twitch of those whiskers.

#157: Brian Porter (the author of “Dreams of Arcadia,” a novel about a country veterinarian) discusses the challenges of taking in 11-year-old kitties, who had spent their entire lives in one home with his mother, until she passed away.

#156:  Carolyn Rafferty created the Scoop Buddy — a simple clip to hold a plastic bag on the end of the litter box to catch the litter when cleaning.  Her company, Cat Savant, is a MissionMeow partner along with Tracie, supporting generous grants to cat rescuers.

#155:  A listener whose kitten had feline leukemia gets sick every 2 weeks with 3 really bad days. Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins recommends finding a cat-focused vet to consider broad spectrum antibiotics to manage the upper respiratory symptoms.

 #0154: The simple answer is: Good grief NO! Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado discusses the myriad behavior problems that arise from cats who are not fixed, which optimally needs to happen before a kitten turns 5 months of age (when they can start reproducing --- kittens having kittens.) 

Christina Rutz (Full Circle MO Feral, St Louis) on winning MissionMeow grant to help them support volunteer TNR trappers

Dr. Mikel Delgado on the challenges of bringing a foster cat into your home, and problems it can cause with resident cat(s)

Jonathan Losos (“The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa”) on “the cat conundrum,” how most cats have changed little over time, others radically different

Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado on various ways cats deal with the loss of a housemate, some despondent, others exhibit no grief

Emily (Travel Cat) on the innovative kitty backpacks, cat-safe harnesses and related travel items to make it easy to take cat with you

DJ Bornschein (Catsbury Park, New Jersey) on MissionMeow grant allowing them to expand their TNR, Catsbury Lounge and adoption