Dr. Ellen Friedman, DVM
Some of us are lucky, and we do. Some of us think we do, and mostly everyone’s cat wishes you could.
Mostly it’s good to speak Cat when there’s a problem. We’re people, after all, and as much as we love cats, it’s difficult to understand what they’re getting at sometimes.
Lessons on litter
Take the litter box. When it comes to bathroom behaviors, we absolutely don’t speak enough Cat.
For example: Two litter boxes next to each other count as one litter box in Cat. If the vet tells you that your cats need another box, that means in another location, very far away from the first. Otherwise, you are saying “one single box” in Cat.
Litter has a fresh, pleasant floral scent? To you, so nice. In Cat, it causes a rotten headache and makes the cat want to urinate somewhere inappropriate, such as the laundry basket.
Hairballs 101
Coughing up a hairball? To you, it’s just that. In Cat? There’s always hair in my stomach from grooming. I’m not coughing up anything. I’m vomiting. Take me to the vet.
Just spend some time thinking about it. I bet you’ll come up with a dozen other phrases … in Cat.
Dr. Ellen Friedman is in general practice, with an interest in geriatric feline medicine, at Newburgh Veterinary Hospital and All Creatures Veterinary Hospital in New Paltz
