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News for You and Your Pet
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July 15, 2013
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Dear ,  Summer is in full swing here. I hope you're taking time to enjoy the season - it will be over before you know it. If I've learned anything at all from my cats over the years, it's to live in the moment, and in the summer, for me that means to make time for some of my favorite summer activities, such as eating dinner at an outdoor restaurant on a beautiful summer evening. In this issue:Cats need to play. Keeping cats physically and mentally engaged and challenged is an important part of keeping them happy and healthy, and interactive cat toys are a great way to do this. I'm sharing some of the best toys below. We've all head of the Golden Rule: "Treat others the way you would want to be treated." And then there's the Platinum Rule. Find out below why it may be an even better rule to live by.
Wishing you purrs and wags,
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Best Interactive Cat Toys
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Interactive toys are a great way to keep your cats stimulated both mentally and physically, and a great way for both you and your cats to get in on the fun. Interactive toys fall into two categories: toys that your cats can play with on their own, and toys that are designed for joint play for cat and human. I introduced you to Interactive Puzzle Toys for Smart Cats a couple of months ago.
Interactive toys provide fun for cat and human
Toys such as feather teasers,wand toys or fishing pole type toys can provide hours of fun for you and for kitty. Playing with your cat is not only fun, it also increases the bond between the two of you. Here are some of my, and Allegra and Ruby's, favorites:
DaBird
Allegra and Ruby adore their DaBird toy. If you've been watching My Cat From Hell, you've probably noticed that are very few episodes when the Da Bird toy hasn't come out of Jackson's guitar case. The toy mimics a bird in flight so perfectly, it drives cats nuts, and it's a great way to get them really tired out!
Neko Flies
Neko Flies toys are a perennial favorite at our house. The attachments mimic critters cats might encounter in the wild. For someone like me, who is not fond of creepy crawlies, the likeness is almost a bit eerie at times!
Cat-a-Pole
This is no ordinary wand toy. For starters, the Cat-a-Pole is huge! The wand is about 4 feet long. It's made from sturdy plastic. And here's the best part: unlike other interactive toys, the Cat-A-Pole doesn't use string to attach the toy. The pom pom toy with feathers is attached with a short, sturdy chain to a 40lb fishing line that runs inside the plastic tube. This clever design creates a completely unpredictable motion, and, unlike most other interactive toys, there is no string to get tangled up during play.
Go Cat Long Wild Thing
We actually don't have this one yet, but it's on Allegra and Ruby's wish list. The Go Cat Long Wild Thing feather teaser toy from the makers of DaBird is hand crafted in the USA. It features a real pheasant tail feather and natural, undyed hackle feathers attached to a 35 inch PVC rod.
©Ingrid King 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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The Platinum Rule
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We've all heard of The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Many of us strive to live by this rule. It implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated in exactly the same way you would like to be treated.
Then there's The Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated."
Think about it for a moment. The Golden Rule is all about you: you simply assume that everyone should want what you want, and you're going to treat them accordingly. It's all about control. This was brought home to me the other day, when Allegra gave me one of her rare lap times. Allegra is a supersweet, affectionate cat, but she does not like to sit in my lap, nor does she like to be held. As a result, the times when she does make one of her rare lap appearances are extra special. As I found myself thinking once again "I wish she'd do this more often," I realized that there was a big lesson there for me to learn. I can't control how she gives back loving - you can't force a cat to sit in your lap when she doesn't want to be there - but I can appreciate how she expresses her love, on her own terms.
According to The Golden Rule, me loving on her should produce reciprocation - she should love on me, in the way I'd like to be loved on: by sitting in my lap endlessly. But that's just not her personality, and I don't love her any less for it.
The Platinum Rule allows me to honor her for the unique cat she is, and to give her loving in ways that she's comfortable with: by stroking her when she rubs up against me or rolls over on the floor for me, by quietly sitting next to her, by having her tucked against my back when we're sleeping at night.
This, of course, extends to people as well: The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others. The focus shifts from "this is what I would want, so I'm going to give exactly that to the other person" to "let me first understand what they want and then I'll give it to them."
Dale Carnegie once wrote "you can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." He then adds, "When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity."
Hmm. Was he really talking about cats?
Cats are uniquely suited to teach us to follow The Platinum Rule.
© Ingrid King, 2013. All Rights Reserved.  |
Highlights from The Conscious Cat
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August 5, 2013
One More Page Books
Arlington, VA
September 7 and 8, 2013
National Capital Cat Show
Chantilly, VA
August 24, 2013
Fancy Cats Rescue Team Tea Party (Fundraiser)
Annandale, VA
October 6, 2013
Purcellville Public Library
Purcellville, VA
Please visit the Events Page on my website
for more information and directions.
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