Happiness Hacks For Surviving Winter With Cats

This post is divided into two sections by our feline editors Clyde and Odin. They agreed to repost our Answer Your Cat’s Question Day post.

Odin:

May I remind you that January is Take Your Pet For A Walk Month. This is me yesterday trotting along happily but only very short walks when it’s cold. I don’t like sweaters or anything that impedes my ability to climb trees. My mom, Layla monitors my outdoor time closely and recommends warm sweater or coats for cats and most dogs. Indoor-only cats can get bored a and if you’ve never seen me in my best, check out How To Avoid Kitty Cabin Fever or more fab pics of me in updated The Cure For Cats With Cabin Fever. Layla was the first cat behaviorist to address the need for cat enrichment in the winter and every year we add more info 10 Ways To Beat The Winter Blues.

Love, Odin

Clyde:

Happy Monday dear friends. It’s your friendly feline editor Clyde and thank the cat gods I’m too old to get cabin fever. I know, I know it’s still January and we haven’t even reached mid-winter. If you and your cats are feeling squirrely and FED UP with winter this part of the post is for you.

Love you to the moon and back,

Clyde

1.Reach out and share good news online or in person. There is always something worth sharing. Today we’re sharing news of our giveaway winner. Thanks so much for all your birthday wishes here and on Instagram. By a random twitch of my whiskers, my furry paw picks ANDREA DORN as our winner. Congratulations. Layla will email you. I feel Andrea was already a winner by adopting a senior cat last year. She mentioned in her comment that Meadow will be 18 this year!

2. Help someone win. One of our favorite writers is David Michie and not because he wrote a lovely blurb for our book but because of his magical books. His first cat book, The Dalai Lama’s Cat remains one of our all time favorites. It’s been short-listed for the 101 Best Books Of All Time and you can help him win by voting. And it’s the only cat book listed! Scroll down 17 rows, first on the left side and click the vote button.

3. Give someone a compliment. Everyone loves one and it’s free. And yes, cats love compliments too. At our house we get a lot of “who is the most handsome sugar bear?” That of course is me. I’m always pleased by the creativity, kindness and intelligence of our readers. I’d like to share a few of my favorite comments from our giveaway post. The linked ones are cat bloggers. I’m surprised how many mentioned that I’m old enough to vote now. How I wish I could vote for sanity and equality in the White House.

Se says, “Black cats speak from an inherent place of creativity – Mine shared that she came from a place of chaos and offers wisdom from the universe!”

Teddy and mom says, “We think the book is absolutely AMAZING – we’ve read it forwards and backwards and every which way and it’s pure “black magic” indeed.”

Tabbies o Trout Town says, “Happee 18th two ewe N heerz ta 18 mor with yeerz oh happeez N healtheez. hope ya get 18 pork chopz, 18 perch pizza piez, 18 shrimpz N 18 hugz frum yur familee…each.”

Kelly Burma says, “You are a fantastic muse for cat awesomeness.”

Sue Bab, says, “Senior cats are the best. I adopted a senior cat (13.5 years old) 6 months ago and she’s just the best kitty.”

4. Humor. What can I say cats are funny. And if humans are less stressed, cats are less stressed. Go watch a funny cat video. This is an old pic of my snow loving fursibs Odin and Domino. I’m more like my predecessor Merlin watching the boys.

5. Feeling crafty? Here are four DIY Hacks For Cats From Ikea.

If you’re feeling lazy or don’t have power tools, this our suggestion for the world’s easiest to make and widest scratching post. 1) Buying a cheap coir door mat. Discount stores sell them under $10.00. 2) Find a wall you can bang two nails into and nail the mat vertically about a foot from the floor. This also works for a sturdy but old piece of furniture you don’t mind altering. An old wooden dresser is purrfect.