A couple of years ago I was at the Fido Festival in New Jersey as the Petco spokesperson for natural pet foods. I brought with me a big box of bags of treats from my good pals at Halo (the whole Halo, Purely for Pets line of foods and treats is carried at Petco, and it was my favorite brand of premium, healthy food to champion when I got up on my soapbox!) It was a fun day with lots of visitors to my booth who wanted to learn more about how to avoid unpleasant ingredients in pet food and embrace the good ones. They all walked away with a bag of Halo biscuits, which served as a “lesson in a bag” for what I was talking about. By the day’s end I still had a large number of treats left so I went in search of some of the local rescues that had booths on the fairgrounds. I gave lots of the Halo treats to the Greyhound rescue and some other booths manned by the dedicated volunteers who keep rescues going across this country every day (and boy, is my hat off to each and every one of them!)

But then I came upon a booth for SEER Farms Sanctuary from Jackson, NJ, and discovered a one-of-a-kind temporary home for cats, dogs and other pets. I discovered that this uniquely brilliant facility was created as a safe haven for the dogs and cats of people whose lives were in upheaval but who were determined to save their pets by finding a safe place for them until they could be reunited again. Folks going on military duty, those in financial distress (including home foreclosure), divorce, domestic violence, medical issues — you name it, any of the misfortunes or obligations that can befall people and put their pets in jeopardy, were all welcome at SEER Farms. You can be sure that I showered them with all the Halo treats I had left, knowing they would be put to extremely good use and appreciated not just by the dogs, but by all the volunteers who walk and play with the animals to keep their hearts light until their original families can reclaim them.

Please go to DogTalkTheRadioShow.com to listen to my recent interview with Laura Pople, who heads up SEER Farms, to hear the wonderful story of how many of these pets go back to their families (who pay a sliding scale fee to have them at the Farm) and the growing network of volunteers who come from all over to keep those pets well loved and cared for until their families are ready for them again.

–Tracie Hotchner

[P.S. SEER Farms Sanctuary also benefited from the incredible kindness of Dr. Elsey’s Precious cat litters, who sent a whole truckload of Cat Attract litter to help keep the hundreds of kitties at the Farm using the litter boxes, followed by a second donation of another huge pallet of litter this year. To learn what you might be able to do for SEER Farms (or how to create a similar sanctuary in your own area!) go to www.seerfarms.org.

I got this question on my new “Ask Tracie” blog on the Pets Best insurance Facebook page and thought I’d answer it here:

Alison said: In June, we adopted my Mom’s 10-year-old female cat after my mother passed away. We have two male cats, ages 12 and 9, that have begun spraying all over the house. The female cat is always hissing at them, but they seem to leave her alone. All three are neutered. Please tell me what I can do to get them to stop peeing everywhere!!

Hi Alison — I can imagine how distraught and frustrated you are with this situation, but imagine how terrible the kitties feel, too! I chose your question to answer on DOG TALK® that airs January 7th when my guest is Dr. Elsey, who owns Precious Cat litters and personally developed all the formulas, including Cat Attract litter.  He and I agree that the main problem with the cats disliking each other and marking to prove their territory was that there was a too-rapid introduction of the new cat, which is almost sure to cause disharmony in the feline world.  My book THE CAT BIBLE has a step-by-step guide about how to do a slow and successful re-introduction.  You need to have a “do over.” Start with your new female cat in her own room with a litter box and a cat tree or other vertical surface. Then do the “tube sock scent exchange” as outlined in the book (and which Elsey explains on the air). As for the marking, until you completely remove the odor of where they have marked, they will return to those spots. Precious Cat has a revolutionary product called Urine Removal Program which is both anti-bacterial and enzymatic — follow the directions carefully. And for now, the boys should not have the run of the house. Please limit their territory so they will have less area they feel compelled to scent mark. You can listen to the show right on the website anytime www.DogTalkTheRadioShow.com or sign up there so you get weekly announcements of the topics.

–Tracie Hotchner

The Cat Bible

I felt so terrible — I got terribly swamped with email and for months didn’t get around to writing Lori in Culpeper Virginia who had 13 kitties and wanted to know whether Giant foods cat food was made by Weruva (it is! The fish flavors, anyway). So I wrote and asked whether I might send her a gift for her patience of a coupon for $20 worth of Precious Cat litter and an autographed bookplate to put inside her copy of THE CAT BIBLE, if she had one. So here’s what she wrote back:

Thanks so much for the reply. I figured you get so much mail that I probably wouldn’t get an answer due to sheer volume, so this is a nice surprise!

I have noticed the Giant Naturals has been on sale for some time and am a bit concerned they are going to stop carrying it. But yes, I am definitely going to get as much as I can in the meantime! It’s good to know it’s actually good for the kitties, too!

Sadly, we lost one of our cats since I wrote you. Cindy got feline leukemia, even though she had been vaccinated. We are very fortunate that no one else caught it from her. So, we are now at 12 kitties. Yes, I’d be honored to have the autographed bookplate and the cat litter coupon! Thank you so much! We go through a lot of litter, as you might imagine, and Dr. Elsey’s is my favorite brand.

I also want to thank you for the catchat20 code which I use frequently at Pet Food Direct. I don’t know what I’ll do if that code every expires! It has been a lifesaver for us.

Thanks again for all you do for pet owners!

Gratefully,
Lori (and Snickers, Shanequa, Mama Kitty, Addie, Fannie, Willie, Pepper, Toonces, Spike, Angel, Greta, and Kimmy)

Can you imagine that? Lori had to wait so long she actually lost a kitty during the time between emails! And poor Cindy, even though vaccinated she got leukemia — such sad luck. I was happy to see she is already a Dr. Elsey’s customer so she knows how great all his litter products are — she’s not kidding when she says she goes through a lot of it! Anyway, she was so gracious to forgive me for the delay and be grateful, anyway — she let me off the hook! Plus, she can now stock up on the Giant fish cat foods knowing they are made by Weruva, so the quality is assured.

–Tracie Hotchner

UPDATE:

Awww Tracie, thank you for that.  That’s wonderful.  And a nice memorial to our beloved Cindy.   But you are too hard on yourself!

Thank you again,
Lori

P.S. I think since I wrote you that original email, we finally got all the cats spayed and neutered.  It was a long and expensive process, but what a huge relief to have it done!

I got this question recently from Peggy — who as kind enough to adopt a senior kitty, and a tail-less one at that!

I recently adopted Cookie from our local shelter.  He is a senior male cat who had been shuttled around for quite a while before ending up in the Shelter. He is gray in color with amber eyes and no tail.  No one has any idea what happened to his tail.

We love him so much and he is adapting to us very nicely. He has/is having a problem with the litter box.  He will urinate in it but that is all. I want to try Cat Attract insofar as I have been trying everything I can think of to get him to do his “business” in the litter box and not throughout the house.  I have changed litter/boxes, etc.

Do you think Cat Attract will help him?

Thanks so much.
Peggy

Hi Peggy

I know that Cat Attract litter will make a huge difference for your wonderful new kitty. The herbs Dr. Elsey puts into the litter actually draw the cat into the box!

Thank you so much for adopting the little beauty, even without a tail! Although I usually send a coupon for free Cat Attract litter only to those people who have bought my book The Cat Bible, I would like to do the same for you in honor of adding Cookie to your home and also to support your patience with his litter box issues. I would certainly recommend adding a second box — some cats are so finicky they like one box to pee in and one box for poop — with the addition of Cat Attract litter, I think you’ll have your problem solved! So please send your mailing address so I can send you the coupon. Also, tell me if you do decide to get The Cat Bible so I can send you an autographed bookplate to put in the front inscribed to Cookie.

–Tracie Hotchner

I have Daily Tips that pop up on Catster.com and every so often the comments get startling in their nastiness — both to me and others who comment. It was really discouraging since all we’re all trying to do is support happy living with kitties, right?! So I commented back to the commenters and got a lovely note from one who calls herself “Little Doll” when she posts.

Little Doll you are doing a great service to be taking care of so many kitties and I salute you. Here are some thoughts on how to make it easier and more affordable. Feed each cat on a small paper plate then no wash up, more sanitary actually. For the best food bargains you can go to PetFoodDirect.com and my website has the code — CATCHAT20 — to put in at the end for a 20% discount. You can get any brand on the planet, no dragging home heavy bags (UPS man does it all!) and often they have many choices on sale, which is how I do it for my dogs. If you have to use dry (for a variety of reasons) you’ve picked a quality brand so the higher the protein and a named protein source as the #1 ingredient, the less worrisome it is to feed dry food. But it must be without corn, wheat, soy,powdered cellulose (which is SAWDUST!!) etc. I like HALO because they use actual real meat, muscle meat, in their kibble which no other company does. Still, any kibble is bad for cats’ health because at the end of the day it is highly processed and carbohydrate heavy. As for listening to my shows, any chance you can download them from the online library onto an iPod or other device? I am a dope and don’t know how, but loads of people are doing it. I really appreciate your very kind words and hope you’ll have a chance to get THE CAT BIBLE at some point because I know it will give you even more insights and advice you can use. If you do get it, remember to send me your mailing address and a list of ALL your kitties names so I can send you an autographed bookplate to put in it — and a coupon for $20 worth of Cat Attract litter and a CD of my show about nutrition.

Thank you so much, Tracie.  There’s a place here in Chico (CA) called Northern Star Mills that has some good prices on dry pet food and I will have to check out Halo.  I did forward PetFoodDirect (I’m on their mailing list) to a good online friend of mine who has MS and it is very difficult for her to wrestle big bags of dry food home.  My neighbor has a three-year-old daughter who has been fascinated by my cats for the last year and a half and it inspired my neighbor to adopt three kittens.  She then realized how much commitment they can take and stopped there.  I am, somewhat slowly, trying to educate her without preaching, which is difficult for me.  The quality of pet food bought is one topic I’m working toward.

I do forward some tips on to a few of my friends who have cats and recommend Catster to cat people I chat with.  The Cats room in Pogo Addiction Solitaire seems to be a special gathering place for cat people, more than any other room or game I’ve been in.  Whenever I come across someone who is grieving over a lost feline friend, I recommend putting a memorial page on Catster.  Also, there are many cat people at Care2.com and cat groups.

Thank you very much for your kind offer.  I may surprise you someday by taking you up on it!

I am very sorry about the people who attacked you in comments on your Daily Tips.  It was certainly out of the blue.  I think these people feel threatened.  Most people want to be patted on the back without doing the work.  We often do things like putting in five inches of kitty litter in the box or filling the dry food bowl without even realizing why.  Often, it is because the product itself recommended that amount.  The more used, the better for them.  Or maybe their parents did it that way, never stopping to consider that their parents might not have really known or understood about cats and then they have an emotional attachment to doing that way.  The point is to get beyond that emotional reaction and reexamine the best way to do things for the animals we say we love, not for our own emotional fulfillment.  Just because we did it that way it and it seemed to work doesn’t mean we can’t, in the light of new information, rethink our methods and try something different.

Actually, I think one drama queen had a knee jerk reaction which influenced a few other people, but I don’t think the majority of your readers feel this way at all.

I noticed that Comments are closed on the last couple of Tips.  I hope this was your decision and wasn’t forced on you.  Please don’t be discouraged, the presence of crazies actually means that you are being effective and getting somewhere. Certainly, you are being noticed.

Thanks for your kind words & encouragement — it means a lot. I did tell the folks at Catster about the out-of-control responses so they probably turned off the tap. Great to know you are out there!

Best wishes,
–Tracie Hotchner

The Cat Bible

This beautiful note amplified the satisfaction and pleasure I had visiting Detroit. Oh! And the folks at Precious Cat — who are wonderful supporters of the educational work I do — will be donating a load of CAT ATTRACT litter to the shelter, especially for the two kitty cats who won’t use the litter box — they were declawed by their previous owners, who then abandoned them when one of the common miserable “side effects” of the cruel declawing practice was the out-of-litter-box behavior that often results. With any luck, CAT ATTRACT may be able to encourage them back into the litter pan.

We wanted to thank you for coming to Michigan to support Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue (FMAR) and to talk about pet nutrition at our local Petco store in Westland, Michigan yesterday. It was such a pleasure to be able to talk to you in person and give you a tour of our shelter. For the past 7 years, our volunteers have worked so very hard to keep our shelter the best it can, and their efforts show by how much we have been able to grow. It was a dream come true to be able to share their accomplishments with you.

It isn’t every shelter that can say they have the support of great people like Tracie Hotchner, the host of Cat Chat® on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112 / XM157. We can’t express our appreciation for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit and talk about the importance of great nutrition for our pets. In fact, I have been talking about your canned cat food recommendations for years now and to have you validate it in person has already made an impact on the people who support the shelter as well as the families who have adopted pets from FMAR that came to hear you speak.

FMAR is looking forward to our future and hope that your visit from New York to Michigan was as pleasant for you as it was for all of us. We will let you know when the pictures are up on our website. www.fmar1.org

We wish you abundant blessings and heartfelt success always and forever.

Marcy and Pete LaFramboise, Founders And all the Volunteers & Supporters of FMAR

Robert lives in Calgary — where my dear Mama was born and raised! — and he was delighted to receive an inscribed bookplate for his copy of THE CAT BIBLE — along with the $20 coupon for CAT ATTRACT litter that came with it. And guess what?! Cat Attract was a game changer!

I’m the dad of Tora and Moo. You sent me a bookplate already and a coupon for Cat Attract. At Pet Smart in Calgary, I found the unscented Dr Elsey’s litter. It’s amazing. My female is now using the litter box. YEAH!! She loves the litter I guess.

I think I also told you I had some weird allergies… this litter does not make me ill at all.

I wanted to follow up with you a couple weeks ago by calling to your radio show but you were very busy with some sadness on the show over the death of a pet.

My story was not that important, just this exciting follow up! So I have a 2 cat house and 2 litter boxes. All is good. Thank you again! and stay well.

–Robert

I’ve been recommending Cat Attract litter for years and recently this lovely man and his private company became my newest Website sponsors — and to celebrate that, they have given me coupons for a free big bag of Cat Attract. This note really touched me.  So off went two bookplates and some Whisker Smackers from Dr. Harvey’s, some Liv-a-Littles from Halo Spot’s Stew, information about Weruva, my favorite canned cat food, and a little bottle of Nordic Naturals omega-3 pet oil to drizzle on their paws.

Hello my name is Holly and me and my mom heard about the Dr. Elsey’s cat litter and we wanted to try it because with me and my mom we have 15 cats we have rescued. As you know, all cats have different personalities and we wanted to see if you could send us a couple of coupons and a book plate — both of us have Cat Bibles [the book and] your show have helped us a lot. Thanks so much we would really appreciate it if you could sent us those.

Thank you for having such a helpful talk show.
Holly and Cindy