Speaker 1: Oh hey, it's the pumpkin on your porch that is
Speaker 1: happy to coexist with your twinkly holiday lights. Ali ward
Speaker 1: back with a perfect episode of smologies. Oh man, cat
Speaker 1: puns already started. Good luck with this, so smologies what
Speaker 1: is that? So we just launched these Smologies episodes that
Speaker 1: boil down some of our favorite ologies classics, condensing them
Speaker 1: to around twenty minutes, and of course we nerf some
Speaker 1: of the edges to make them g rated and classroom friendly,
Speaker 1: perfect for schools and car rides or walks with your
Speaker 1: grandpa or dog or cat. Apparently we don't judge here,
Speaker 1: but if you're looking for the full length and full
Speaker 1: strength with deeper info and more swear words, there's a
Speaker 1: link to the original Pilinology episode. It is not safe
Speaker 1: for kids, but it is linked in the show nuts below. Okay,
Speaker 1: but smologies, yes, this one is kid safe. Felinology here
Speaker 1: we go. It comes from the Latin for cat felis,
Speaker 1: and I started to go down this whole rabbit hole.
Speaker 1: I guess catacom really whether or not felicity like felis
Speaker 1: and happiness and feline if they shared an etymology? And
Speaker 1: guess what from what? I found they don't at all,
Speaker 1: but now you don't have to google it. So anyway,
Speaker 1: felis for cat different background than felix for happy. So
Speaker 1: today's ologist is a cat behavior expert who received her
Speaker 1: PhD and psychology with an emphasis in animal behavior and
Speaker 1: cognition from the University of California at Berkeley. Then after
Speaker 1: her post doc work in animal behavior at UC Davis,
Speaker 1: she went on to become a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist
Speaker 1: from the Animal Behavior Society and a Certified Cat Behavior
Speaker 1: Consultant from the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and
Speaker 1: an affiliate member of the American Veterinary Society of Animal
Speaker 1: Behavior and if that's not enough, If that's not enough,
Speaker 1: cat cred. She's also the resident feline behavior expert for
Speaker 1: both the apps Rover and Smalls. She even wrote the
Speaker 1: book on cats. She co authored Total Cat Mojo, The
Speaker 1: Ultimate Guide to Live With Your Cat with your other
Speaker 1: favorite cat expert, Jackson Galaxy. So in this episode we
Speaker 1: cover a lot of ground including why cats love boxes,
Speaker 1: why they make biscuits, why they grace us with the
Speaker 1: hum of their happy purring, also proper litter hygiene, how
Speaker 1: to tell if your cat is felis or not so
Speaker 1: felis and bummed out?
Speaker 2: And how much.
Speaker 1: Eye contact you should make with your kiddie, also pray
Speaker 1: versus predator instincts and how to up your game when
Speaker 1: playing with your cats, and so much more. Oh and
Speaker 1: something else I learned during this episode. A group of
Speaker 1: cats can be referred to as a clouder or better yet,
Speaker 1: a glaring who knew fur real though I just assumed
Speaker 1: that they ran impacts either way, more information to win
Speaker 1: friends and influence people. So please give a pawesome welcome
Speaker 1: and listen up right now to cat. You're a specialist
Speaker 1: and philinologist doctor Michael delgadology.
Speaker 3: Sology.
Speaker 1: To start off our discussion, I wanted to know about
Speaker 1: the reputation of cats being solo creatures. Are they too
Speaker 1: cool for friends? Is this true for cats in the wild?
Speaker 1: Where does it come from?
Speaker 3: So?
Speaker 1: Are cats more of a lone wolf than wolves? So?
Speaker 2: I think cats kind of have this reputation for being solitary,
Speaker 2: And what they are is they're solitary hunters, so they
Speaker 2: don't need other animals to survive, right. They hunt very
Speaker 2: small prey that they can catch on their own, and
Speaker 2: they don't share it. Which is different from larger animals
Speaker 2: that hunt and capture large animals. And so I think
Speaker 2: because of that, cat's got this reputation for being asocial
Speaker 2: where they don't need anybody, and we know that their
Speaker 2: social lives are definitely more complicated than that. Cats will
Speaker 2: form what we call preferred associates where they have certain
Speaker 2: cats that they like to hang out with, and some
Speaker 2: signs of them being friends would be they groom each other,
Speaker 2: they sleep together, like touching, or what we call pillowing
Speaker 2: where they're actually using another cat as a pillow. You
Speaker 2: might see playful behavior, and in general, you know that
Speaker 2: you don't see a lot of science of antagonism, although
Speaker 2: I'd say, just like you know, we don't get along
Speaker 2: with our siblings one hundred percent of the time, you
Speaker 2: might see the occasional tip. So they have clicks they do,
Speaker 2: and you'll see if you have a group of cats
Speaker 2: that you you know, say, if you live with five cats,
Speaker 2: you might have two cats that get along with each
Speaker 2: other and not with anyone else, and the other three
Speaker 2: cats could be composed of, you know, one cat who
Speaker 2: doesn't get along with anybody and another pair who get along,
Speaker 2: or maybe there's one cat who gets along with everybody,
Speaker 2: But the rest of the cats don't really like each other,
Speaker 2: so it can be very complicated. What we do see
Speaker 2: is that cat groups are most successful when they have
Speaker 2: enough resources. So you'll see colonies that exist because there's
Speaker 2: either plenty of prey around or there's human supplied food,
Speaker 2: So there has to be enough to go around basically
Speaker 2: for them to tolerate each other and then have the
Speaker 2: opportunity to become friends. But yeah, if you don't have
Speaker 2: enough resources, either in your home or outside, or there's
Speaker 2: too much competition they have to do too much sharing
Speaker 2: of those resources, then they tend to either have antagonistic
Speaker 2: interactions or they'll just avoid each other.
Speaker 1: Well, that makes sense. We all have friends that we
Speaker 1: like to hang out with more than others, but are
Speaker 1: we friends with our cats? Do our cats love us
Speaker 1: as much as we love them or do they just
Speaker 1: like the shelter and the chopped up fish pudding that
Speaker 1: we provide.
Speaker 2: So we know that cats are really territorial and so
Speaker 2: what's more important to them than anything is the familiarity
Speaker 2: of where they live. So even before they'll form attachments
Speaker 2: with people, they need to feel comfortable in their space
Speaker 2: and it's almost like we're part of the territory, especially
Speaker 2: because most cats live inside and so this is where
Speaker 2: they live, right, and we're just part of their space.
Speaker 2: So it's not like we're separate from it. We're part
Speaker 2: of it. And that's what their primary attachment is as
Speaker 2: to their territory.
Speaker 1: And I do have a question about how they are
Speaker 1: able to land so well, did you ever have to
Speaker 1: study their landing capabilities?
Speaker 2: No, but you know they do. You have this amazing well,
Speaker 2: an amazingly flexible body. Basically they have no collarbone.
Speaker 1: Well they have collarbones or clavicles, but they aren't attached
Speaker 1: to other bones like other animals or ours. Okay, well, why.
Speaker 2: That allows them to like if their head can get through,
Speaker 2: if their faces through, like under a door, they can
Speaker 2: just squeeze right through, which is why you shouldn't leave
Speaker 2: your window open just an inch thinking your cat won't
Speaker 2: get out. Wow, So they have, you know, this amazing
Speaker 2: sense of balance. I mean, you know they have to
Speaker 2: catch trees, they have to be able to calculate distance
Speaker 2: when they hunt, and be able to pounce right where
Speaker 2: they think they are. They have that amazing tail that
Speaker 2: helps them right themselves. So a tail is a good
Speaker 2: way to orient your body like. It's kind of a
Speaker 2: control to allow you to write yourself. What's interesting is
Speaker 2: that there's something called high rise syndrome where cats who
Speaker 2: fall from a higher distance often experience fewer injuries than
Speaker 2: cats that fall from a shorter distance.
Speaker 1: So they have time in the air to go who yeah, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: this is what's happening.
Speaker 2: Yeah, probably not a lot of time, but enough.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and now you have a cat. Let's say someone
Speaker 1: has a cat, right, how do they know if their
Speaker 1: cat is happy, is sad, is bummed out? Needs something?
Speaker 1: What body language markers are so important to know if
Speaker 1: you have a cat.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so first of all, is your cat doing the basics?
Speaker 2: Are they eating, using the litter box? And are they,
Speaker 2: you know, using their space. So a cat who's spending
Speaker 2: all their time under your bed probably not happy. A
Speaker 2: cat who is freely walking through the space probably more relaxed.
Speaker 2: Specific body language we're interested in. So for cats, when
Speaker 2: they're feeling friendly, they'll do what we call the tail
Speaker 2: up gesture. So this is a friendly greeting and the
Speaker 2: tail is completely up. Maybe less like question mark, but
Speaker 2: that is something you'll see cats when they approach either
Speaker 2: a friendly human or a friendly other cat, they will
Speaker 2: be exhibiting that body language. You can also see when
Speaker 2: they're laying down, they should be either on their side
Speaker 2: sometimes like or pause tucked, which tells you they're not
Speaker 2: kind of gearing to run away. Cat who is feeling
Speaker 2: defensive or unsure is going to be kind of crouched
Speaker 2: in a tense position where they could easily just take
Speaker 2: off if they needed to, as opposed to I'm laying
Speaker 2: down and just kind of melting in the sun over here. Therefore,
Speaker 2: I'm not feeling any threat. And there are more subtle things,
Speaker 2: like you know, are the pupils relaxed and somewhat dilated?
Speaker 2: I mean, of course according to the lightning in the room,
Speaker 2: are the ears up? Ears up? Is more relaxed, can
Speaker 2: be alert as well, but you know, certainly flattened ears
Speaker 2: are a sign of a cat who's making themselves smaller.
Speaker 2: So yeah, you'll see things that cats when they're fearful,
Speaker 2: aside from hiding, would be like tucking their tail, putting
Speaker 2: their ears back, hunching, so they're trying to again make
Speaker 2: themselves seem smaller. A cat who is on the offensive
Speaker 2: might be trying to make themselves look bigger. So that's
Speaker 2: kind of the classic Halloween pose. They're kind of puffed up,
Speaker 2: and you'll see that more reserved for fighting with other animals,
Speaker 2: where they're trying to bluff like I'm big and scary.
Speaker 2: You shouldn't fight with me. Because for cats in a home,
Speaker 2: it's really more about, like I said, using the space
Speaker 2: doing their normal kitty things. I mean, purring's great. Eye
Speaker 2: blinking is a sign of relaxation and a sign of trust.
Speaker 2: So we know that staring is threatening to most animals,
Speaker 2: So you shouldn't stare at your cat.
Speaker 1: Oh really, don't make loving eye contact with your cat
Speaker 1: for too long.
Speaker 2: Eye contacts fine, but make it soft and blink your
Speaker 2: eyes a lot as opposed to hard stare. Like a
Speaker 2: hard stare is what is threatening for them, and you'll
Speaker 2: see cats that don't get along. We'll avoid direct eye
Speaker 2: contact or the one cat will be staring you down
Speaker 2: or staring the other cat down like I've got my
Speaker 2: eyes on you.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so eye contact is very important. Cats may be
Speaker 2: fearful of particular people in the house, so like toddlers,
Speaker 2: can be difficult for cats, to cope with. But it
Speaker 2: really depends on the context and the cat's ability to
Speaker 2: escape and deal with the stressor in their environment. So
Speaker 2: a cat who has a cat tree or a shelving
Speaker 2: and can get up high away from a dog or
Speaker 2: a toddler is going to be able to cope with
Speaker 2: that situation much better than a cat who doesn't have
Speaker 2: those escape routes.
Speaker 1: So, if you're listening to this in a traffic jam
Speaker 1: in a parking lot doing some last minute holiday shopping,
Speaker 1: just know, cats, just like us, could get stressed out,
Speaker 1: and they also want to beam themselves somewhere pretty to
Speaker 1: chill out for a bit, Like a cat tree or
Speaker 1: a shelf is their version of Tahiti or a spa day. Now,
Speaker 1: let's say you want to get close to a kiddy.
Speaker 1: Doctor Delgado has some advice. What do you do when
Speaker 1: you walk into someone's house house cat? How can you
Speaker 1: make the cat dig you? It's better to get low,
Speaker 1: not look at it. What should you do?
Speaker 2: You should ghost them? Really?
Speaker 1: You should just ignore them a.
Speaker 2: Little should ignore them a little bit? Really? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Wow? So the opposite of a dog, because a dog
Speaker 1: would be crushed if you walked in and you're like,
Speaker 1: what dog? Yeah, I don't see a dog.
Speaker 2: For cats? Yeah you. So research has shown that they
Speaker 2: prefer interactions with humans where they control the interaction, so
Speaker 2: they actually when they initiate, and not the human. So
Speaker 2: if a person approaches a cat and pets them versus
Speaker 2: sitting back and letting the cat come to you. The
Speaker 2: cats who come to you, you're going to have a
Speaker 2: longer interaction. It's going to be more positive. Oh my god. Yeah,
Speaker 2: which is pretty funny. So what I would recommend if
Speaker 2: you do want to greet a cat is get down
Speaker 2: on the level, offer a finger or your hand to them,
Speaker 2: let them sniff it, and then let them decide if
Speaker 2: they want to rub against your hand or you know,
Speaker 2: come closer, or if they're going to just you know, okay,
Speaker 2: like keep your distance.
Speaker 1: Wow, okay. So being friends with a cat means letting
Speaker 1: them take the wheel. It's all on their terms, which
Speaker 1: is fine because they have sharper teeth in us. That's okay.
Speaker 1: But let's say that we have a cat and we're
Speaker 1: bonded and we love them and we want to give
Speaker 1: them their dream home. Michael has some decor tips that
Speaker 1: will have your feline feline fine when you're thinking about
Speaker 1: making your environment more comfortable to them, I what kind
Speaker 1: of tips do you have?
Speaker 2: You know, the first thing is embrace that your house
Speaker 2: is going to look like you live with a cat.
Speaker 2: You know, it really drives me crazy when people say, well,
Speaker 2: I don't want my house to look like I live
Speaker 2: with a cat. Well, why do you have forecats? Like,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, but you need to have a litter box,
Speaker 2: the successible and not in the garage, you know, with
Speaker 2: some like ten mile trail and walking through a billion
Speaker 2: cat flaps to get to Yeah, and you need vertical space.
Speaker 2: You need to create space for your cat. And a
Speaker 2: lot of people like, oh, he just sits on the
Speaker 2: couch with me. What if he doesn't want to share
Speaker 2: the couch with you. He wants his own space, and
Speaker 2: so you're not going to sit on his cat tree,
Speaker 2: So give him a cat tree. And so, you know,
Speaker 2: I think it's it's definitely critical for a few reasons.
Speaker 2: You know. One is that we're increasingly living in urban
Speaker 2: spaces that are small, and we want to have multiple cats,
Speaker 2: and we're trying to get them to share smaller and
Speaker 2: smaller spaces. So going vertical is a great way to
Speaker 2: add to your square footage as far as the cats
Speaker 2: are concerned. You can have two cats literally on top
Speaker 2: of each other on a cat tree. They're sharing the
Speaker 2: same square footage, but they're not like bothering each other.
Speaker 2: So I think, you know, making it useful as well,
Speaker 2: like don't stick the cat tree in the back corner
Speaker 2: where they can't look at anything, like put it by
Speaker 2: a window where they can watch birds. Put it in
Speaker 2: a sunny spot, like, make it something that's appealing to them.
Speaker 2: The other thing that I definitely recommend for making your
Speaker 2: cats comfortable is a heated cat bed. Oh. So cats
Speaker 2: have a thermonutral zone that's higher than ours WOL and
Speaker 2: a thermoneutral zone is basically the temperatures at which you're
Speaker 2: not working to either warm up or cool off. So
Speaker 2: we're not sweating, we're not shivering, we're just relaxed. And
Speaker 2: for humans, you know, because we wear clothes, our thermoneutral
Speaker 2: zone is pretty low. It's you know, high sixties, low
Speaker 2: seventies is where we're comfortable. Cats it's like starting in
Speaker 2: the mid eighties.
Speaker 1: So this is why cats are such heat bongers. Cats
Speaker 1: prefer warmth, and if you want to get them to
Speaker 1: stop trying to sit on your laptop as you finish
Speaker 1: your homework. Ask if you can get your kitty a
Speaker 1: heating pad. They will be on Cloud nine lives. Okay,
Speaker 1: so what about you, though, I asked her advice for
Speaker 1: dealing with feline fragrances aka the smell of the litter box.
Speaker 1: How do you cultivate the best litter box scenario and
Speaker 1: also have your house not smell like a litter box.
Speaker 1: Your house does not smell like a litter box.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that I clean the box daily. And just
Speaker 2: for the record, there's a litter box around the corn.
Speaker 1: Oh see, so you can smell it.
Speaker 2: I have a litter box in my living room. I
Speaker 2: practice what I preach. I have three litter boxes in
Speaker 2: my relatively small house for my one cat. So you know,
Speaker 2: there's kind of some basic rules for litter boxes, like
Speaker 2: have at least one box per cat.
Speaker 1: You get a letter box, you get a litter box,
Speaker 1: you get a letter box.
Speaker 2: More is even better. So if you have two cats,
Speaker 2: three boxes would be ideal. Keep them clean and so
Speaker 2: one of the reasons I don't recommend covered litter boxes is,
Speaker 2: I mean, it's up for debate whether or not cats
Speaker 2: don't like the cover or not. I mean, the cover
Speaker 2: definitely limits their ability to move around and find a
Speaker 2: clean corner and feel comfortable. But it also means that
Speaker 2: the owner is not cleaning the box as often. And
Speaker 2: there's actually research that showed that cats with litterbox problems
Speaker 2: with covered boxes the owners were cleaning the box around
Speaker 2: every five days.
Speaker 1: Yikes. So the scoop is scoop. It make it part
Speaker 1: of your daily routine, like getting the mail or doing
Speaker 1: the dishes if you and your cat want to be happy.
Speaker 1: That is the poopy truth. So what is not true? Though?
Speaker 1: What do you think the biggest myth about cats is?
Speaker 1: What's the biggest whim flam you'd debunk?
Speaker 2: Let's see, Well, I think you know. One of the
Speaker 2: things I always encourage people to recognize is that cats
Speaker 2: are not small humans and they're not small dogs. And
Speaker 2: I also think probably the biggest myth is that cats
Speaker 2: can't be trained. So a lot of people don't realize
Speaker 2: that you can change their behavior. One of the more
Speaker 2: common reasons that we get called to help people is
Speaker 2: that their cat is, for example, waking them up at
Speaker 2: three in the morning for food or to be let out.
Speaker 2: It's actually a relatively easy behavior to fix compared to
Speaker 2: things like cats fighting. And some of it is training
Speaker 2: and training your cat when to expect attention, when to
Speaker 2: expect food, and a lot of people inadvertently train their
Speaker 2: cats to wake them up. So's it's actually that they're
Speaker 2: reinforcing the behavior, because typically when a cat is walking
Speaker 2: on someone's head at four in the morning or mewing
Speaker 2: for food, the person gets up and puts food down,
Speaker 2: and so in the short term that's the quickest way
Speaker 2: to fix the problem, but in the long term that's
Speaker 2: actually training the cat that well, if you just persist
Speaker 2: long enough, your human will get up and give you
Speaker 2: what you want, whether it's food or petting, attention. Same
Speaker 2: thing with cats that like get up on counters. Typically
Speaker 2: people like go and chase the cat down, or pick
Speaker 2: them up and put them on the floor. A cat
Speaker 2: jumps right back up, person picks them up, puts them
Speaker 2: on the floor again. Well, guess who's having the time
Speaker 2: of his life? The cat? He loves it. It's a game.
Speaker 1: Oh, is that why they knock things off shelves?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, a good clue is whether
Speaker 2: or not it happens when you're home or not. So
Speaker 2: if you're at work and your cat does not knock
Speaker 2: things off your shelves, they only do it when you're home.
Speaker 2: They're doing it for attention.
Speaker 1: Oh, never forget your cat is a furry little poulter
Speaker 1: geist who loves you and wants your attention. Now, speaking
Speaker 1: of attention, remember I mentioned that Michael has written papers
Speaker 1: on what kind of playtime is the best for cats?
Speaker 1: So what is it?
Speaker 3: Is?
Speaker 1: Its doku? Is it having them jog behind you outside
Speaker 1: chasing a feather OneD attached to your fanny pack? Probably
Speaker 1: not so for.
Speaker 2: Cats, A lot of play should be really more about
Speaker 2: the calculating their their final pounds and not just like
Speaker 2: running around chasing the feather wand but stalking it and
Speaker 2: watching it while you move it very slowly. Maybe you're
Speaker 2: acting like a wounded bird or like you know, hiding
Speaker 2: behind a piece of furniture and shaking like you're terrified,
Speaker 2: and then whooh, you swoop out, and that's your cat's
Speaker 2: moment to pounce and kill.
Speaker 1: And so that is what stimulates their brains and their muscles.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and their body is really tuned into hunting, so
Speaker 2: their eyes are you know, designed for hunting in for example,
Speaker 2: lower light conditions and to detect horizontal movement that's about
Speaker 2: three meters away from them, so up close their vision
Speaker 2: is really terrible. So when you're holding your cat and
Speaker 2: like all levy eyes with them, you are just a blur. Oh,
Speaker 2: but they can probably smell you very well, and so
Speaker 2: that's probably what they're most in tune with when they're
Speaker 2: that close to you. And are they nocturnal? No? No, okay,
Speaker 2: they're crepuscular. Crepuscular. Oh, so they're active at down and dusk,
Speaker 2: which is when their prey is most active. Now, cats
Speaker 2: that are not given enough to do during the day,
Speaker 2: I would say are going to be what people would
Speaker 2: consider nocturnal because you haven't really taken advantage of their
Speaker 2: natural activity cycle. And so this gets back to that
Speaker 2: idea your cat's keeping you up all night, it's because
Speaker 2: they're sleeping all day. And so a great time to
Speaker 2: engage your cat and play would be at down and
Speaker 2: dusk because that's kind of their natural rhythm to be
Speaker 2: active and certainly throughout the day. It's good to keep
Speaker 2: them moving, stimulated, not just snoozing all day, and then
Speaker 2: play with them at nighttime before you go to bed,
Speaker 2: maybe give them a snack before bedtime and that will
Speaker 2: help them sleep more soundly through the night.
Speaker 1: Onto our Lightning round and your Patreon questions. But first,
Speaker 1: every week we donate to a cause of theologists choosing,
Speaker 1: and this week it's to the Kitten Connection of Plaster County.
Speaker 1: You can learn more about how they save baby kitties
Speaker 1: lives at Kitten Central off plaster County dot org and
Speaker 1: we will link that in the show notes. Thank you
Speaker 1: to the sponsors of the show for making the donation possible. Okay,
Speaker 1: your cat questions and let me tell you you folks
Speaker 1: were not kitten around. I can't stop, I won't stop.
Speaker 1: I had several people ask this question, Kelly Windsor, Andrea Motyka,
Speaker 1: I believe, Juan Pedro Martinez, christopherper and Sarah Walker all
Speaker 1: wanted to know essentially about biscuits. Why do cats need
Speaker 1: their lap or their bed? What are they doing when
Speaker 1: they're making biscuits?
Speaker 2: They're trying to get milk out of you?
Speaker 1: What are they But if they are adults, are they
Speaker 1: just hungry or are they Yeah?
Speaker 2: So you know one thing that has possibly happened through domestication,
Speaker 2: which is typical that we select for juvenile traits, right,
Speaker 2: so we keep our animals somewhat stuck did like emotionally,
Speaker 2: developmentally through domestication. And honestly, I don't know if like
Speaker 2: lions and tigers make biscuits.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: That's a great question. Actually I need to find out.
Speaker 1: Quick aside, do tigers make biscuits? So I found an
Speaker 1: article on mental floss with Susan Bass of the Big
Speaker 1: Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida, and she says, yep, but
Speaker 1: they don't purr. According to an article by the Library
Speaker 1: of Congress, lions, leopards, jaguars, tigers, snow leopards do not
Speaker 1: exhibit true purring. They can make a peer like sound.
Speaker 1: But wildcats like bobcats and cheetahs, Eurasian links, pumas and
Speaker 1: wildcats they purr. But let's get back to biscuits.
Speaker 2: But you know, the kneading or you know biscuits, muffins,
Speaker 2: whatever you like to call it, is how kittens get
Speaker 2: milk from mom. It's adorable when you see them doing it,
Speaker 2: but they're needing the mammary glands to get milk out,
Speaker 2: and so for some animals they stop engaging in juvenile
Speaker 2: behaviors and others continue throughout their life, and it tends
Speaker 2: to be at times where they're happy, right, and so
Speaker 2: time with mom is a very happy time. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of oxytocin flowing, there's a lot of purring going on,
Speaker 2: which we believe stimulates oxytocin, and so, you know, we
Speaker 2: always just say they're kind of in the mommy zone
Speaker 2: when they're nursing, and so they might be trying to
Speaker 2: comfort themselves, or they might just be very very happy.
Speaker 1: They might just like you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and if it bothers I know a lot of
Speaker 2: people it bothers them because mostly because it hurts if
Speaker 2: their kitty's nails are sharp. And so either you know,
Speaker 2: trim your cat's nails or get a nice like fuzzy
Speaker 2: blanket to put on your lap when your cat does it,
Speaker 2: and then it won't make its way to your legs.
Speaker 1: Finally, answers on the old biscuit making process. It all
Speaker 1: makes sense now. But along with many of you, I
Speaker 1: had to know about the connection between cats and sitting
Speaker 1: in boxes. I mean, there is a reason why it's
Speaker 1: not called Schrodinger's Hamster. Cats love boxes. Katie Cobb and
Speaker 1: Bob Ogden both want to know why do cats love
Speaker 1: sitting in boxes? What is it with their boxes?
Speaker 2: Okay, so it gets back to the predator and prey
Speaker 2: like they need like a safe blind where basically they
Speaker 2: can like spy on the world without being detected. So
Speaker 2: it gives them a sense of security as far as
Speaker 2: we can tell. Cats typically you know, for example, hunt
Speaker 2: behind you know they're going to be hiding in a
Speaker 2: shrub or like behind some grasses, and so it gives
Speaker 2: them some protection, offers heat, which is always a bonus.
Speaker 2: Smaller than boxes, more heat, it's gonna conduct right Yeah,
Speaker 2: So and we also know that actually there was a
Speaker 2: study that showed that cats that gut boxes in animal
Speaker 2: shelters were less stressed out than cats who did not.
Speaker 2: So so boxes can be a real place of security
Speaker 2: for cats.
Speaker 1: So it all comes down to hunting instincts and just
Speaker 1: feeling secure. And I get that also. Yes, tigers and
Speaker 1: lions and other giant cats at sanctuaries they hang out
Speaker 1: in boxes. It's true, just real big ones. How many
Speaker 1: videos did I watch to prove this one? I got
Speaker 1: my answer for this aside, and I should have closed
Speaker 1: the tab, but then I continued watching at least eight
Speaker 1: more large cats playing in large boxes, just wasting some
Speaker 1: quality American time on the internet. Oh inside note, having
Speaker 1: kitty spade and newtered super important if you want to
Speaker 1: control the populations. Also, if you have an outside cat.
Speaker 1: I hate to be the bearer of bad bird news,
Speaker 1: but most ecologists and wildlife scientists really need you to
Speaker 1: make that an indoor kitty to save the lives of
Speaker 1: so many bird species and lizards and mammals and frogs
Speaker 1: and more. But doctor Delgado says, you can take your
Speaker 1: feline friends to the park or outside on the lawn
Speaker 1: with a leash. And that is great news and a
Speaker 1: wonderful idea from an expert who does that. Now, as
Speaker 1: we round at the corner on the final lap of
Speaker 1: our interview with doctor Delgatto, I wanted to know her
Speaker 1: favorite part about working with cats.
Speaker 2: I mean, I like the mystery personally that you they're
Speaker 2: not as maybe blatant as to like, you know, like
Speaker 2: a dog who's like I love you. You know, kats
Speaker 2: got to work for it a little bit, and I
Speaker 2: definitely appreciate that. And and I like that they still
Speaker 2: have that little bit of wildness, you know, we're still
Speaker 2: asking are they domesticated or not? We can't even tell. Yeah, right,
Speaker 2: because they're a little bit wild, but they're also tame
Speaker 2: enough that they're like, you know, curled up in your
Speaker 2: lap and purring, which is like I think purring is magic.
Speaker 2: It's just a very soothing and like wonderful little trick
Speaker 2: they have.
Speaker 1: Do they do that in the wild? Same with meowing?
Speaker 1: Or do they just really do that to communicate with us?
Speaker 2: Well? Little per so, moms and kittens will purr when
Speaker 2: they're nursing, so you know, we we think typically positive
Speaker 2: situations where there's some love going on, and they'll also
Speaker 2: per of course when they're distressed.
Speaker 1: Perfect answer if you ask me, Oh wait, I almost forgot,
Speaker 1: what about MIAOI Do they do that in the wild? Right?
Speaker 1: Do they? No? Wrong?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So, meowing is something that they primarily do with humans.
Speaker 2: Communication they do with other cats is typically either more
Speaker 2: antagonistic like yowling, growling, hissing, shrieking, or smaller shorter like chirping.
Speaker 2: Would be like a positive sound that cats would do
Speaker 2: to each other.
Speaker 1: Hear that they do it just for you because they
Speaker 1: love you when they need you, boy, howdie, we learned
Speaker 1: a ton today and all kitnesside, let's pause and reflect
Speaker 1: before we forget those facts. I swear that is the
Speaker 1: last cap on, I promise. Okay. So we learned that
Speaker 1: cats are most active at dusk and dawn, meaning that
Speaker 1: they are crepuscular, which is an awesome word, and that
Speaker 1: cats appear to be more attached to places rather than people.
Speaker 1: And we learned that clean and multiple litter boxes are
Speaker 1: the key to keeping your cat happy, and that play
Speaker 1: should mimic their hunting instincts and tigers, just like many
Speaker 1: house cats, do in fact make biscuits. And most importantly,
Speaker 1: cats are trainable. Oh and they love heating pats. So
Speaker 1: to find out more about doctor Michael Delgatto, you can
Speaker 1: visit her website Michael Delgatto dot com that is linked
Speaker 1: in the show notes. You can follow her on Twitter
Speaker 1: that's also in the show notes, and for more info
Speaker 1: on her consulting business, check out Felineminds dot com. And
Speaker 1: thank you, doctor Michael Delgatto, and thank you to any
Speaker 1: new smologites who are listening. After our latest unplanned break,
Speaker 1: it feels great to be back with really fresh episodes
Speaker 1: dropping every other week and links again to the full
Speaker 1: Longer episodes for Maybe Adults are available on alliwar dot com,
Speaker 1: slash ologies, or in the show notes, and a full
Speaker 1: list of credits for this episode can be found there
Speaker 1: as well. Since we like to keep things small around here,
Speaker 1: and if you listen to the end of the show,
Speaker 1: I give a piece of advice this week. It's when
Speaker 1: someone gives you a gift, A great way to make
Speaker 1: them feel appreciated is to just write them a quick
Speaker 1: thank you note. Since it's the holidays, maybe before you
Speaker 1: even get any gifts, you can make some nice thank
Speaker 1: you notes. So if someone does give you something, you
Speaker 1: have cool stationary already lined up, all ready to go.
Speaker 1: You could have fun, you could draw something on it.
Speaker 1: A thank you note doesn't even have to be long.
Speaker 1: It just has to be heartfelt and it's a great
Speaker 1: way to make someone's day. Speaking of which, I have
Speaker 1: several dozen wedding thank you notes to write. So until
Speaker 1: next time, Smologites, Bye.
Speaker 3: Bye, Spology Polish Colge Sology three