{"id":1742,"date":"2014-06-16T18:55:15","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T01:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/?p=1742"},"modified":"2020-10-21T13:23:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T20:23:33","slug":"pet-editor-toy-mouse-can-ease-feline-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/16\/pet-editor-toy-mouse-can-ease-feline-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Editor: Toy mouse can ease feline depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.desmoinesregister.com\/story\/life\/2014\/06\/24\/toy-mouse-can-go-long-way-ease-feline-depression\/11318939\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Originally posted on AZCentral &#8211; June 2014<\/em><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\r\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-az-phoenix-C1531-native-article_link-news-3\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-google-query-id=\"CNLdtOq6uuwCFaaDfwQd2eICSg\">\r\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\r\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-az-phoenix-C1531-native-article_link-news-2\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-google-query-id=\"CPac9c68uuwCFQMhYgodo8UJSw\">\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Question: A few weeks ago my 13-year-old Siamese Dusty passed away. His litter-mate, Marie, has been lethargic ever since. She cries often and doesn&#8217;t eat. How can I help her through the grieving process?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Answer:<\/strong>\u00a0Several days after Main Dog passed away a year ago, Accessory Dog was still running to her food dish as soon as she heard the kibble hit. But pretty soon she took a leisurely stroll, realizing her competition wasn&#8217;t coming back. She also relieved herself on Main Dog&#8217;s bed, but we weren&#8217;t sure if that was an expression of grief or more like a victory lap.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">We are sympathetic to your loss, and we know how it changes the household dynamic. <strong>Your surviving feline likely is stressed by the change, which may well be causing the change in behavior, said Valley cat behaviorist Jane Ehrlich (cattitudebehavior.com).<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">And although you&#8217;d never say, &#8220;Hey, your loved one just died, it&#8217;s time to go to Disneyland,&#8221; your feline may well benefit from entertainment.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Ehrlich<\/strong> said studies have shown a large dose of play can decrease feline depression. A few games of &#8220;bat the feather&#8221; can be more beneficial than a weekly appointment with the cat psychologist.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Your prescription includes several daily sessions of &#8220;chase the wind-up mouse,&#8221; &#8220;snatch the catnip,&#8221; and &#8220;attack whatever that thing is moving under the blanket.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Cats love activities they would do in the wild, if the wild were not such a dangerous place (after all, the feline &#8220;call of the wild&#8221; is the whirr of an electric can opener).<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Provide your cat the opportunity to stalk and pounce, <strong>Ehrlich<\/strong> said. Dangling toys are particularly effective. She suggested such pole toys as Da Bird feather toys and Neko Flies (rod with interchangeable toys). They are available online and in pet-supply stores.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">We&#8217;ve thought about adopting another dog, promoting Accessory Dog to Main Dog. But we&#8217;re not sure Accessory Dog is interested, especially since the new title does not come with a raise in kibble.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/aside>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/aside>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally posted on AZCentral &#8211; June 2014 Question: A few weeks ago my 13-year-old Siamese Dusty passed away. His litter-mate, Marie, has been lethargic ever since. She cries often and doesn&#8217;t eat. How can I help her through the grieving <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/16\/pet-editor-toy-mouse-can-ease-feline-depression\/\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,41,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-azcentral","category-behavior","category-greiving"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1742"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1746,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions\/1746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}