Now that our wildlife pond in the back garden is established, it is truly a joy to see so many different birds, animals and insects using the pond daily – and living in it! Happy that our pond was safe for our cats (see out article ‘Are ponds safe for cats?’), we were now faced with the opposite dilemma – would the new pond inhabitants and daily pond visitors be safe from our cats? Hunting is a natural instinct in all cats. Before cats were domesticated about 10,000 years ago, hunting was a means of survival. Being carnivores, hunting meat for food was critical to their existence. To the domesticated…

The sheer joy and excitement we felt the other evening as we saw a hedgehog sniffing around our front door was fabulous. Our cat had left a couple of uneaten crunchy cat treats on the doorstep and it seemed Mr or Mrs hedgehog had sniffed out these tasty delights. As hedgehogs are nocturnal it is not common to see these fascinating creatures roaming around. But it did spark our curiosity about cats and hedgehogs? Our cats are indoors overnight but many cats are actively hunting outside from dusk onward. What would they make of these prickly mammals? Hopefully this article will answer many cat and hedgehog related questions that cat…

We have one indoor cat and one outdoor cat. Our indoor cat has supervised outdoor times but our eldest cat, Misty, goes outside every day for her routine stroll. Most of the time, this is all ok. She does not wander far and is lucky enough to have a very large garden with many nooks and crannies for exploring. However, there are a few cats in the neighborhood – some domestic and a few feral cats. There has been a couple of instances when one of these neighboring or feral cats have come into our garden and been quite aggressive towards our Misty. Thankfully, she has always come back home…

One of our cats is an indoor cat but our first cat, Misty, has outdoor access during the day and is kept in overnight. During the colder, darker days of the winter months, Misty will often return from her adventures early. She will be eager to return to her warm bed or prefer to watch the outside activities from the comfort of her cat tree. But sometimes we need to encourage Misty to come earlier or during the longer summer days she may be out later than usual and once again, we want to encourage her to come home. So here in this article we share our 7 top tips…

With our children approaching their teenage years, it felt the right time to realize a dream of mine – to have a wildlife pond in the garden. We were very aware of the dangers of a pond with young children, but now we had two additional little ones to think of – our two cats! Was having a pond a good idea? Are ponds safe for cats? Whilst this wasn’t an issue for our indoor cat, we wanted to make sure that it was safe for Misty, our outdoor cat. Are ponds safe for cats? Most cats do not like water but there are of course a few kitties who…

One of our cats, Misty, will climb trees every now and then. She’s never got stuck – as yet. She climbs the tree so nimble and sprightly but watching her navigate her way down is a little worrying. Cats are excellent climbers; their sharp, extendable claws are perfect for gripping onto the tree while their back legs push forwards. To prevent themselves from falling they hold their bodies, the centre of their weight, close to the tree. So why do cats climb trees? There are a few reasons why cats climb trees: Cats climb trees to keep safe When cats feel threatened, or feels their life is in danger their…