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We love our cats — so much so that we set aside an entire day, Oct. 29, to celebrate National Cat Day, a full 24 hours devoted to those amazing creatures.
National Cat Day was founded in 2005 by Colleen Paige, an animal welfare advocate, with the goal of focusing on animals that don’t have permanent, loving homes, to encourage adoptions and to share the things that we love most about our cats. A few dollars to help animal shelters wouldn’t go amiss, either.
For those who love cats, there is no end to that affection and sometimes obsession, even though cats can be the most perplexing of creatures, displaying behaviors that defy explanation.
Here are some of the cat issues that have some humans puzzled — and tips on what to do:
1 Early to bed, (very) early to rise
Does this sound familiar? You’re sound asleep when Fluffy decides she needs to be fed. Right now. Here’s how to sleep past 4 a.m. and keep Fluffy happy at the same time.
2 Gag, cough, wretch. The dreaded hairball.
Every person who shares a home with a cat has heard that bone-chilling sound of your cat trying to toss up a hairball. But why do they always do it on the carpet? (Psst, there’s a reason for it.)
3 He loves it, he loves it, he hates it
Cats can be sweet and loving, and showing plenty of gratitude at being loved and petted. And then the next minute, they’re sinking their teeth in your hand or ripping your arm with their claws. Why? Dear lord, why? (Actually, we know why.)
4 The purr-fect purr
Is there anything better than having a purring cat on your lap? We can’t think of many, but still, we wonder: Why — and how — does a cat purr?
5 Litter box woes
Nothing frustrates cat people more than when kitty stops using the litter box, for no apparent reason. Actually, they do have reasons, but they aren’t always easy to understand.
6 A little poo-phoria
Then when your cat does use the litter box, she gets a case of the zoomies, racing around the house like something is chasing her.
