MSI Press Blog

  Bear (in litter robot) and Moo (following him in) Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from  Raising Happy Cat  families by Luna Norwood.  Welcoming a new cat into an already thriving feline community can feel like adding a wildcard to an otherwise predictable deck. And if there's one thing that can cause drama in the kitty kingdom, it's litter box politics. So, should the new cat get their own litter box? Yes! (At least at first.) Why a Separate Box Matters in the Beginning Territorial Security: Cats are big on personal space, and introducing a newcomer straight into the communal litter box can trigger territorial disputes. The new cat deserves their own spot to settle in, build confidence, and avoid unnecessary confrontations. Familiar Scent Integration: Instead of a brand-new litter box, consider using one that belongs to the existing cats. This helps the new cat absorb the household scent while still having th...

  Happy Cat, Bear, and Jack, well behaved and sharing a calm moment Let’s be honest. Cats don’t really do obedience . They weren’t bred to fetch your slippers or roll over on command. In fact, if you live with cats—as I do, with a feline family of eight—you’ve probably figured out by now that they expect you to do the fetching. That said, even in a cat-run kingdom, someone has to keep the peace. That someone is usually me. People sometimes ask, “Can you really control cats?” And my answer is: absolutely, yes —but not the way you’d control a dog. You can’t force cats, but you can teach them. You can set limits. You can build social expectations. And you can absolutely keep a lid on chaos without being a tyrant or turning into the Cat Nag. Start with Names: Yes, They Can Learn Them The first step is making sure every cat knows their name . Not just sort of knows it when treats are involved— really knows it. This means using the name consistently and always making it clear you're ta...

    Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from Raising Happy Cat families by Luna Norwood.  Here are some suggestions that tend to work in general with cats being integrated and that we have tried, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so (but alternatives worked): Control the Smells I put vanilla on each of the cats so that they would smell alike when we were trying to suggested to us when we were trying to integrate an independently oriented new cat (Wooper) and a demanding alpha cat (Murjan) long before Snyezhka joined the family. Well, it did not work all that well although some folks say it has for them. We had not asked Murjan permission to bring home another cat, and he let us know in no uncertain terms that we should have! Another way to control the smells, according to cat experts, is a pheromone oil dispenser that is plugged into an electrical socket. It was and is widely advertised as a great way to calm cats and help them get along. Well, Murjan wo...