Recently I had Jackson Galaxy as my special guest on my live weekly radio show CAT CHAT® (on the Martha Stewart channel #110 of Sirius/XM satellite radio). We were discussing how he helps people overcome serious behavior issues in their cats by using treats to both entice and reward a cat for doing — or even trying to do — some desired behavior. Jackson stayed on the air with me for the whole hour because we were having such a good time answering peoples’ questions and helping solve their feline problems together.

One caller asked what sort of treats she should use for re-training her kitty. I said it needed to be a “high value” treat — one the cat would really make an effort to please you to get. I pointed put that an all-protein treat is preferable for cats since they are obligate carnivores and do best with real protein as their prize. I suggested that the person could use little bits of cheese or chicken but they are messy to deal with. I began to say there is a terrific line of pet treats made of freeze-dried real proteins, but before I could continue, Jackson Galaxy jumped in and said exactly what I was about to suggest: Halo Liv-a-Little freeze dried chicken, beef or salmon! “I love those Halo Liv-a-Littles,” Jackson said. ” I use them with all my cat behavior clients — on television and in real life.” He even went so far as to call out the brands he especially does not like (and we’re on the same page about that, too)!

I was so excited that of all the cat treat products available out there, someone whose life is all about cats like Jackson Galaxy would pick Halo Liv-a-Littles over all the others.

I was so delighted about the good nutrition advice he is giving his cat consulting clients, I offered to send him enough copies of THE CAT BIBLE to give to all the folks who were on the show in the first season (and maybe the folks at HALO will send him a few Liv-a-Littles to thank him for his good taste in cat treats!

Jackson Galaxy, who owns Spirit Essences ( the Bach flower remedies that work wonders for dogs and cats) shared this lovely letter from one of his now devoted customers – who learned of Spirit Essences on my radio show. He reminded her to keep using the Tracie code so she could continue getting her discount for listening to me!

Hi Jackson,

Just put in my second order for the spirit essences — my cats, especially, just aren’t the same if I even skip one day! They get Feral Cat Rehab and Stress Reducer. Do you have one named “Fraidy Cat,’ because one of these little babies could use it!

One of my dogs gets the skin trio, and the other one gets the Bully Remedy.

First heard about your products through Tracie Hotchner on her Sirius program “Cat Chat®.” Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to become a cat lover, or have cats in my household, but these two little wild cats found me and found a way into my heart. They were truly innocents, abandoned as kittens near our home and starving. I just could not turn my back on them. After two years of living indoors with my household we are all adapting, and I give a big shout-out to Spirit Essences for easing the transition for everybody. Thanks so much for what you do for the animals of the world

A Loyal Customer,
Jayne

This was one of the worst cat behavior problems I had ever encountered, from Sharon in Canada:

My cat Tom is eating our clothes and shoes.

He came to us as a kitty, we had a 13 year old Jack Russell and they were good friends, well the Tom thought so, good ole Chip the Jack Russell tolerated getting his ears washed on a regular basis. He started almost immediately eating shoe laces and then elastic bands for the new paper in the morning went missing. Then he started getting into the laundry and eat anything that had some elastic to it, bra strap tank top straps and so on.

Now he just eats anything from the dish cloth in the kitchen sink to the tea towels, terry towels in the bathroom and face cloths he loves, he has also eaten huge holes in sweat shirts, tee shirts and last week he got into my closet and demolish over $400 of sweaters. He has chewed I don’t know how many pairs of shoes, he eats the whole straps and chews the backs and heals, well he will chew and eat just about anything.

We have had him at the vet and they put him on Prozac which just made him spacey and a little scary and he still chewed.

We got him a cat friend when Chip died and he didn’t care too much for her so our son took her to live with him.

He eats a can of wet food a day, also has some crunchies to chomp on. He like to also crunch on dog milk bones when he get into the cupboard and helps himself to the dog treats that I have for my sons dog when he comes to visit.

He doesn’t chew the curtains in the house or the furniture, or the cushions on the couch. He did once chew a throw that I had on the back of the couch though. And he did once chew through a pillow case on the bed but has never chewed the bed linen or duvet.

I just don’t know what to do with him. He is a very loving cat and he adores me, follows me everywhere. He is a large ginger tom — fixed — he has a very long tail. After he has chewed some thing he acts quite weird and almost has a bit of an evil look about him, but it doesn’t last long.

If you have any suggestions, I would be most grateful

So I turned to Dear Sally (Bahner) the Official Cat Behavior Consultant on CAT CHAT® and here were her suggestions:

First, are they locking up all the “chewables”? Might be hard to get into that habit, but it sounds as if they haven’t been doing that.

Of course his behavior sounds like OCD (and Spirit Essence has an OCD remedy, but Tom might be beyond that…), but I’m wondering if there isn’t some kind of nutritional deficiency. Having blood work done might reveal something.

What kind of canned food are they feeding — maybe upgrade to a higher quality, lower carbohydrate brand?

How about trying some raw chicken/cornish game hen necks to chew on, maybe some wings. (Remember that cooked bones splinter.) Or some chunks of raw meat? Might redirect Tom’s need to chew.

Re: giving him medication, the pharmaceutical that the AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners, the cats-only vets) recommends Clomicalm (Clomipramine) for OCD-type/ritualistic behaviors. It takes 5 to 7 days for the initial effect and 3 to 5 weeks for long-term effects. I think some vets prescribe a one size fits all recommendation for drug use.

Check this out, too.

Then, just to cover all bases with my experts, I turned to Jackson Galaxy, who is a cat behavior consultant and the owner of Spirit Essences, which I call “emotion potions” and are based on Bach flower remedies to deal with cat, dog and horse emotional issues. And Jackson wrote:

This sounds to me like a Pica variation — when cats will chew on or eat certain items. This one with Tom is pretty serious.

Quickie solutions?

1) Keep all elastics, etc out of reach. It calls for creativity, consistency and patience, but it’s better than surgically fishing a bra strap out from around the intestinal tract.

2) They have stumbled on one solution that has helped many a Pica cat — crunchies. Put SMALL bowls around, in places like in front of the closet, etc where the cat has gotten into the most trouble. It satisfies his chewing need. Also try something like the small sized Buster Cube, which will occupy the mind and satisfy the crunching need at the same time.

3) Other than that, we get into the land of a more personalized consultation, which of course I’d be happy to help with. I can make a Spirit Essence tailored just to him. Oh, and of course there is always the Spirit Essence called Obsession Remedy!

Jackson Galaxy | Cat Behavior Consultant
Phone | (310) 376-6616
Fax | (310) 318-0711
E-mail | jackson[at]jacksongalaxy[dot]com

I got this quite intriguing question from Susan in New Hampshire:

I don’t have Sirius radio, but my friend Kirsten Clark in New Fairfield, CT told me about your show. I have a question about cat nutrition. My (almost) two year old cat Juno steals Kalamata olives. Not only does he steal them, he will scream and beg for them if he sees me eating them or smells them in the room. He’ll gnaw on my fingers if he knows I’ve held one. This is a normally very composed furry gentleman. Once Juno secures an olive he literally goes wild — he shakes with excitement and devours the olive in an ecstatic frenzy. I’ve never witnessed such behavior. Days after consuming an olive and with a wistful look on his face, Juno will even lick the floor where it once was. Is my kitty missing an essential nutrient in his diet? Juno receives three of the smaller-sized cans of Wellness brand wet food or portions of their larger canned Core wet food per day, supplemented with a tiny bit of Wellness dry food overnight (less than a quarter cup — and even this will take him a month to finish because he prefers wet). He has a Drinkwell brand fountain which is always on and clean, as well as fresh tap water placed in a still dish daily. We keep a steady crop of cat grass available, and he gets Wellness brand jerky treats about once a month, for fun. I’d welcome your thoughts, Tracie. Should I give him olives, or refrain? What could be driving this obsession of his?

Susan

Clearly, Juno is the MOST well provided-for kitty I have heard about in a long time (except the pointless addition of “kitty crack” which sits out overnight(s) and luckily he is way too well-fed with proper food and is way smart enough to ignore entirely.). But this olive mania got me to thinking… remembering that other listeners had asked it before. So I turned to Dear Sally, CAT CHAT’s® behavior consultant, who hadn’t ever heard of i. But being a good researcher and reporter, here’s what she came up with:

I did a Google search and the reaction is not unusual — sort of like catnip. Here’s a somewhat scientific explanation that I found:

“Both green olives (Olea europaea) and Pimentos (Capsicum annuum) contain isoprenoids that are structurally similar to the methylcyclopentane monoterpene nepetalactone, which is responsible for binding to receptors in the cat’s vomeronasal organ and consequently the mind-altering effect a cat experiences. These compounds are not unusual, although the configuration varies widely between plant species. These compounds resemble pheromones, and as such some of them function as a natural mock-pheromone pest repellents for the plant, which is likely how such high levels of these constituents within a plants’ essential oils evolved. The vomeronasal organ is what cats (and most other animals with the exception of humans, although there is a small indented area and partial nerve channel where it would be, left over from our evolution) uses to sense pheromones, and is where the nepetalactone in catnip stimulates pheromone receptors resulting in space-kitty. Summary: it is likely that either the green olives or pimentos have a chemical in their essential oil that is similar enough to the active chemical in catnip to have a similar effect on the same receptors in the part of kitty’s nose that are responsible for catnip getting her high. There appears to be no toxicity (someone mentioned diarrhea, but I would go easy on the olives, simply for the addiction factor. Pitted, of course.

I had also put the question out to JACKSON GALAXY, who is a cat behavior consultant in Los Angeles and the owner of the magical Spirit Essences. Funnily enough, he came back with the same information with les high-falutin’ words:

Believe it or not, this story is very commonplace. Reason being, both in varieties of green olives, like Kalamatas, and in pimentos, there are high levels of certain compounds that actually resemble pheromones. There’s a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo that I’m sure nobody (read me) is interested in reading, but the bottom line is that these olives have components in their essential oils that cause a reaction very similar to catnip. Yes, her cat is olive-high. And no, there is nothing “bad” in kalamatas, although they are pretty well empty in terms of the nutrition they offer her. It sounds as if she’s trying to make a connection between what she may be lacking in her diet and the olive-eating (like when animals eat dirt, for example), when in reality she’s just looking for a cheap thrill

When Sally mused, “I wonder how my cats would react?” I suggested she do a CAT CHAT® experiment and toss out a few olives out to her kitties. Ands so she did. But the experiment was a dud, as she explains: “I bought both green olives (which my hubby likes) and black (which I like) to test on our three felines. All I got as a reaction was three “What the f— ?” looks in return. And they all do like catnip. Go figure… ”

The Cat Bible

It’s so nice when people appreciate my time – and that of my wonderful experts like Dear Sally. It makes it worth every minute.

Dear Tracie – I am really excited and touched to have received a personal response from you. It is enormously generous of you to have used your precious time, not just to read my letter, but to discuss it with Sally Bahner. Per your suggestion, I visited Jackson Galaxy’s website and I will order the essences. I had heard you talk about them, but felt skeptical. Reading in your letter that they are effective 50% of the time and that you personally have had success with them, gives he hope. Now that I know that Jackson Galaxy is only about 40 miles from my house in Newport Beach, CA, his help as a behaviorist will be next on the list. In the meantime, Tendy is happy and content, smiling and purring, sitting on Bob’s lap looking up at him adoringly and ignoring me. Thankfully, unlike Tendy, Bob does not ignore me, but then that would be another radio talk show. And you are right about Bob, he is wonderful. Tendy and I are both lucky girls.

Thank you so much. Hearing from you made my day. Your kindness and advice is invaluable.

Gratefully,
Gale

I was so happy to get this email because it gives me a chance to tell everyone who missed that episode of Dog Talk® that they should have a listen! I am so excited by the emotional shifts I have found in my two dogs with intense issues around arrivals at the house – and just noises in general, to which they react intensely. Since using two Spirit Essences – “Safe Space for Dogs” and “Stress Stopper”. Scooby Doo calmed down so dramatically that I have been treating Jazzy, my very butch and protective Border Collie/sled dog mix with the same essences. We all seem to be taking a deep breath and saying “Om”!

Hi Tracie:

I am the mommy of a 3 1/2 year old Havanese (see picture) named Mojito who has terrible separation anxiety and an occasional territory-based leash aggression issue (especially when we take his 20 month human sister, Hannah, on walks). I caught the beginning of your broadcast yesterday, 11/19, wherein you mentioned Spirit Essences that helped Scooby-Doo’s territorial-ness and jumpiness. Do you mind sharing which essences you started with?

I have used Bach Flower in Mo’s water, but it does not seem to have much of an effect.

Thanks,
Shayne – Calabasas, California

What I told Shayne is that I personally never saw any effect in using Bach Flower Rescue Remedy in the past, but I now think it is because it is so generalized and not aimed at specific emotional conditions. In addition, putting it in water has always seemed a big waste to me since it disperses and the dog takes in so very little with a few sips. Instead, I have been putting it on top of the food and then rubbing it into the inside of their earlobes for fast absorption into their system. I don’t think Mojito’s problem is the same as my nutty dogs, but there are Spirit Essences that would be great for him. Check with Jackson Galaxy who owns the company in an email and see whether he agrees with my recommendation of “Separation Anxiety Remedy” along with “Peacemaker.” And I really, really want to know how it works for your little beauty – the only way to know if I am just imaging the benefits is to hear how it works for each listener. And don’t forget the 5% discount for CatChat® or DogTalk®!

Tracie