Guest post: Why Cats Need to Climb

by Kosin Huang

As an avid viewer of Cesar Milan's Dog Whisperer, it was natural that I started enjoying a show called My Cat from Hell. The show features folks going through difficult issues with their feline family members and a "cat whisperer" in the form of tattooed hipster, Jackson Galaxy coming to the rescue. I started seeing some patterns in how Jackson would address each kitty's problems and ultimately, resolve the matter at hand. Just like Cesar Milan has his prescription of "exercise, discipline, then affection" for dogs,  I noticed that Jackson was always recommending cats get their own space to navigate and climb high up around the house. This means a route for the cat to feel safe to go from perch to cat tree, bookshelf to mantle, for example.

If you have a cat at home, just observe your cat and you will notice that he or she is usually in an elevated position. Whether sleeping or just hanging out, cats prefer to be high up off the ground. Being able to climb is paramount to a cat feeling safe, because in the wild, cats must be able to climb in order to escape predators. It's a cat's survival instinct that prompts it to find perches up high.

The more vertical areas you offer your cat, the more territory it has. It gives your cat a sense of security and is even more important in multi-cat households to reduce conflict between your feline friends. Providing opportunities for a cat to navigate a complete route around the house from high up, such as from bookcase to fireplace to cabinet will go a long way towards decreasing anxiety and other behavioral issues.

So next time your cat is climbing furniture, don't shoo him or her away. Instead, clear some space for your cat to climb and everyone will be happier!

To learn more, see:

High Places: Satisfy Natural Instinct - Drs Foster and Smith

Catch My Cat from Hell on Animal Planet and check out other tips here.


Kosin Huang is a board member and development committee chair for Berkeley Humane. She lives in the East Bay with her husband, daughter, and a rescue mutt named Spartacus.

Going Home: Cali

Happy Woof Wednesday, everyone! Are you all ready for Thanksgiving? We sure are. 

We're always very grateful when one of our animals find a new home and we firmly believe that the dogs are grateful too!

Today we share the story of Cali, formerly Conchita. She is doing well in her new home and we thought we’d share her family’s update with you:

"Oh my goodness she is so amazing. We LOVE her. We named her CALI. Like California puppy. She knows a few commands already and she is 99.9% potty trained. We went for a walk this morning which she loves. Thank you again for your help."

It’s always our pleasure to assist humans and pets in meeting! Do you want to participate in this too? And get to meet sweet, snuggly puppies like Cali as a bonus? Become a canine friend at Berkeley Humane—email our volunteer manager Dana Bushouse to get involved at dbushouse@berkeleyhumane.org!

Dogtober = Canine science in October

What a BOOMING month for dogs and science October was! We've captured the links to all the latest blogs, research and news that caught out attention throughout Dog-tober.

Thanks to Storify (click here if the you can't see the collection of links below) you can make sure you didn't miss out too.

Further reading:

Bradshaw J.W.S. & Nicola J. Rooney (2014). Why do adult dogs ‘play’?, Behavioural Processes, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2014.09.023

Bozkurt A., Barbara Sherman, Rita Brugarolas, Sean Mealin, John Majikes, Pu Yang & Robert Loftin (2014). Towards Cyber-Enhanced Working Dogs for Search and Rescue, IEEE Intelligent Systems, 1-1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/mis.2014.77

Canine science catch up: 16-30 September 2014

Gosh, it's been a busy ride since posting the excellent guest post by research, Cat Reeve, about her interesting detector dog research. 

So now it's time to play catch up, starting with the canine science related things that we noticed in the second half of September, captured with the help of Storify - did you miss any of these?

Further reading (some of the abstracts from Canine Science Forum 2014 now available):

Westgarth C. & Hayley E. Christian (2014). How can we motivate owners to walk their dogs more?, Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 9 (6) e6-e7. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2014.09.023

Fehringer A. (2014). Stress in shelter dogs and the use of foster care to improve animal welfare, Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 9 (6) e11. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2014.09.038

Horowitz A. & Hecht J. (2014). Categories and consequences of dog-human play: A citizen science approach, Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 9 (6) e15. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2014.09.052

Browne C.M., T. Mary Foster & James S. McEwan (2014). Dog training: Reinforcement timing and owner body language, Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 9 (6) e17. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2014.09.059

World Diabetes Day: November 14 2014

Today, November 14th, is World Diabetes Day

World Diabetes Day is the primary global awareness campaign of the diabetes mellitus world and is held on November 14 of each year (1). It was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to the alarming rise of human diabetes around the world.

World Diabetes Day is a campaign that features a new theme chosen by the International Diabetes Federation each year to address issues facing the global diabetes community. This year's campaign theme is "Healthy Living and Diabetes"(1).

While the campaigns last the whole year, the day itself marks the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922 (2). You can also find out more about Frederick Banting in Wouter de Herder's review Heroes in Endocrinology: Nobel Prizes (3).

Charles H. Best and Frederick G. Banting (on right) with one of the diabetic dogs used in their studies of insulin

In the past few years, diabetes rates among our pets in the U.S. have increased roughly 33% among dogs and 16% among the nation's cat population, per a national analysis of pet health (4). This emphasizes the importance of this disorder in our cats and dogs as well as human patients with diabetes. To successfully manage diabetes in animals, one must understand the disease and monitor and provide daily treatments to the cat or dog with diabetes. Treatment involves a combination of weight loss (if obese), diet, and insulin injections generally twice daily.

References 

1. World Diabetes Day – Official website.
2. Frederick Grant Banting (1891-1941), codiscoverer of insulin. Journal of the American Medical Association 1966;198:660-661. 
3. de Herder WW. Heroes in endocrinology: Nobel Prizes. Endocr Connect. 2014;3:R94-R104. doi: 10.1530/EC-14-0070. 
4. Washburn L. Human health risks on the rise in animals. The Record. April 20, 2011.