After a wonderfully busy Christmas at the Hervey Foundation for Cats, Gary and Morris were looking forward to taking it easy for the next few days. They had spent the last 72 hours with full bellies, squinty eyes, and tails swishing around like seaweed in the current.

Cats are mysterious little creatures. In a matter of seconds, their mood can switch from happy and loving to angry and aggressive. On the plus side, they don’t seem to hold grudges, because at the rate they dole out those rapid-action slaps, they’d have a long list.

Ho, ho, ho, cat lovers! It's that time of year again, when the halls are decked with boughs of holly and your cat is eyeing the Christmas tree like it's a climbing wall at a local crossfit centre.

Cats have mastered many arts: the art of the purr, the stealthy prowl, and the ability to hone in on any document or laptop you might be using to flop their bodies down onto. More seriously, cats have their own ways of communicating and interacting with their worlds. Whether they are dealing with other cars or people, they tend to march to the beat of their own drum.

A blanket of white snow gently covered the property at the Hervey Foundation for Cats. It was two weeks until Christmas and you could feel it. The air was crisp, the neighbourhood quiet, and the sky was as bright a blue as you could possibly imagine. As smoke gently wove itself out and around the chimneys of the houses along the road, two cats sat inside The Foundation with their wet little noses pressed against a cold window. The two cats, Gary and Morris, were pondering over the idea of going outside. 

Cats are such a joy to be around. They provide us with mental stimulation, love and adoration, as well as… hairballs, a smelly litter box, and the odd tumbleweed of cat hair. Let’s focus a bit more on the tumbleweeds.

Gary and Morris meet a spectral friend inside a local haunted house on Halloween!

Whiskers are not just an adorable feature of your cat’s face; they play a vital role in helping them navigate the world. Did you know there’s a condition called “whisker fatigue” that affects many cats and can make their lives pretty difficult?

As cat owners, we are intimately familiar with how awful a litter box can smell, but that’s really on us.

Have you ever walked into your bedroom only to find your cat sitting on top of a stack of folded clothes, like one giant pancake on top of a stack of smaller pancakes? Why do they do this?

After a long night of batting toys around the floor of The Hervey Foundation for Cats, Gary and Morris were enjoying an early morning meal with the intention of heading off to sleep as soon as they finished.

Fall is around the corner and that means a number of things. The leaves change colour and gently fall to the ground, temperatures start to head south, and woodland creatures start their autumn routines. Humans tend to change their behaviour this time of year as well. They cook large birds, dress up like ghosts, and start to wear heavier clothing.

Cat personalities come in all shapes and sizes. Some have big personalities and love interacting with people, while some have very shy, timid personalities, preferring to spend time alone. While genetics plays a major role in the personality of your cat and how they behave, there are some other factors as well.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease affecting more than 4 million Canadians, which in its worst form, can make it very difficult for people to breathe, presenting a wide range of symptoms across those who are afflicted.

Dandruff isn’t exactly flattering, but it is natural. Plenty of people deal with dandruff every year, and so do our feline friends. For some, it can be a recurring issue, but most of the time it can be treated. For our cats, there are a handful of approaches available to deal with dandruff, but it all starts with a trip to the vet.

Cat tear stains are seemingly strange things. We know cats to be extraordinarily clean animals, but sometimes we see them with dark, hard goop under their eyes. Don’t they notice? Do they not feel it? Why does it accrue and just sit there? Let’s take a look at this concept, professionally known as Epiphora.

It might sound odd to hear a person claim that a cat keeps their brain healthy, but truth is often stranger than fiction. If you’ve owned a pet before, you already know how enriching the experience can be, but owning a cat, specifically, comes with its own set of rewards that don’t just keep the mind happy, they keep the soul fulfilled.

If you’ve cared for a cat from kittenhood to their senior years, you know just how much variety in behaviour there can be over the years. Kittens are generally more interested in exploring their world than sitting on laps for long naps. Middle-aged cats can be both inquisitive and affectionate, and in their later years, cats tend to slow down and spend more time with their owners/sleep more often.

Gary and Morris were in the middle of a deep conversation.

“So long story short, when I am trying to clean my armpits, I find it helps if I lay on my back. That way I can get my face under there no problem,” said Morris.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” said Gary. “I’ve always been a seated armpit cleaner myself.”

Gary and Morris were down by the riverbed helping Terrance the Beaver haul some logs back to his dam. The warm weather had been heating up his home and he was looking to further insulate his already quite well-insulated walls to keep the heat out.

“These logs sure are heavy, Terrance. You normally carry these all by yourself?” said a tired and sweaty Morris.

“I sure do fellas,” said Terrance. “But the thought of keeping a little extra heat out of my dam is well worth the work.”