MSI Press Blog

  Wooper by herself in the hallway The Would-Be-Only Cat in a Multi-Cat Household Some cats clearly—or subtly—present as preferring to be the one and only. Sometimes it's fear. Sometimes it's jealousy. Sometimes it’s both. These cats may coexist with others, but their emotional well-being and overall health often show the cost of that compromise. It can be difficult to differentiate between cats who are genuinely frightened of others and those who simply don’t want to share the attention of their beloved human. Either way, their needs are different from those of cats who seek feline company. Wooper is a classic example. We adopted her from our veterinarian’s office, where she had lived for a while after being rescued by the vet’s neighbor—found as a tiny, abandoned kitten in the grass. She was sassy with the clinic staff, which we took as a promising sign that she might handle the dynamics of a multi-cat household. At the time, we had two boys and one girl, and we hoped she mi...

  Jack and Sophia playing on the cat tree. Is It Play or a Fight? How to Tell When Cats Are Just Roughhousing It’s not always easy to tell whether cats are playing rough or heading toward a real fight. The line can be thin, especially when the action is fast, noisy, or dramatic. I’ve seen this firsthand with Bobolink, who used to sprint the entire length of the hallway and launch himself onto Happy Cat—his chosen role model and best friend. They’d tumble together in a flurry of paws, tails, and mock bites, purring all the while. To the untrained eye, it might have looked violent. But to those of us who know cat dynamics, it was clearly joyful play. So how do you know whether cats are fighting or just having fun? Here are some guidelines to help you read the situation accurately. 1. Watch for Reciprocity In play, both cats take turns being the “chaser” and the “chased,” the “pouncer” and the “pounced upon.” If one cat is always on the bottom or trying to escape while the other conti...

Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from My 20th Language by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver --  First Language Literacy: The Lifelong Launchpad A foundational truth in my lifelong language journey is this: literacy in one’s native language shapes the success of all language learning that follows. Literacy builds the internal architecture of language awareness—structure, logic, rhythm, and flexibility. Those who develop high literacy in their first language possess a powerful springboard for mastering others. This difference becomes strikingly clear when comparing institutional outcomes. I served as a leader in both the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and the Defense Language Institute (DLI), where language instruction is intensive and time-bound. While students at both schools receive nearly the same number of classroom hours, the proficiency expectations differ significantly: FSI graduates are trained to reach professional fluency, while DLI students typically aim for working profi...