MSI Press Blog

  Some cats choose their humans. Some cats create them. Intrepid did both. He entered our lives in late 2005, a tiny tabby-mau kitten rescued from the grass outside a professor’s home in Jordan, where we were living and working at the time. Fearless from the start—hence his name—Intrepid ate like a creature possessed, sleeping curled beside the food bowl as if it might vanish. Once he realized food was a permanent fixture, he turned his attention to the rest of the house… and the laws of physics. Kamikaze leaps across the living room, potted plants as landing pads, chaos as his calling card. He was our smallest cat, but the bravest. He bonded instantly with Murjan , our alpha male, who mothered him with nightly snuggles. Murjan’s paws wrapped protectively around Intrepid in a feline embrace of pure love. I left Jordan to return to the States six months before Carl did. Murjan came with me. Intrepid stayed behind with Carl. And that’s when the real magic happened. Carl and Intr...

  When a Cat Bites Hard: Helping Tissou Learn Another Way Tissou is a beautiful tortoiseshell cat with a complicated past. Once a loved housecat, she was abandoned to a horse stall for two years after her owner died. She wasn’t properly fed, she wasn’t shown kindness, and she was occasionally mistreated. She survived by shutting down, protecting herself, and fighting when she needed to. Now, at ten years old, she has a home again. She’s warm, safe, and fed. But she bites. And not just warning nips. She bites hard—hard enough to break skin. It’s not constant. She can be affectionate and calm. But if she’s touched in a way she doesn’t expect, or feels cornered, startled, or overstimulated, she reacts with teeth. There’s no time to stop her once she’s decided—it’s lightning-fast and deeply ingrained. We love her. But we also need to be safe. So how do you help a cat like Tissou learn not to bite? Step One: Take It Seriously Many people excuse biting with phrases like “She’s jus...

  Moo, personality plus, cleaning his paws, without a worry in the world All cats are unique. No two are alike even if they are the same breed or from the same litter, Like people, But Moo is particularly unique. MOO was trapped as a feral kitten on the streets, TNR'd, and delivered to a shelter for adoption, but nobody wanted him. Not even the shelter, where he was so frightened that he did not move from one spot in two days, urinating and defecating on himself, not eating, and trembling non-stop. They called the TNR liaison and asked her to take him back and put him on the street, that he was not adoptable. Instead, she called me. He was just a scared kitten, about 12 weeks. He had no happy space of his own, no toys, no chance not to be on display. We put him by himself in our cat room, with toys, trees, food, water, and litter. All his own. We intruded only to refill and clean dishes. He began to explore and to play with the toys. Then, we invited super friendly, giant cat (but ...