Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat

by Jackson Galaxy

There is no such thing as one cat’s box. You want to have n+1 litterboxes, but each litterbox is a communal signpost and should have every cat’s scent in it. In

This is a big deal because most dogs are attracted to litterboxes as if they were a buffet. Cat waste is protein heavy and a great snack, as far as dogs are concerned.

Make sure that any litterbox is uncovered, so that your cat has escape routes. They get in, they have a 360-degree view, and they can get out. Avoid dead ends.

Keep litterboxes in rooms that dogs can’t access. Ordinarily, I’m all about litterboxes being available in socially significant spaces. But in the world of dog and cat, you might have to make some concessions. One of my go-to moves is putting up a baby gate in a room where the litterbox is. Then you can raise up that baby gate around eight inches off the ground—maybe a little less, if you have a small dog. That way, the cat has the ability to go either under the gate or over the gate, and we can rest assured that the litterbox is safe from prying snouts (or toddlers, who think that any sandbox is an invitation).

When you first bring a dog into a home with cats . . . repeat after me: The leash. Stays. On.

Getting your dog under complete voice command is a process; the right to wander the house freely is definitely one that is earned.

We proceed at a very measured pace when it comes to cats meeting cats because it is all about convincing two animals who depend on the sanctity of their territory that the new being in the space presents no threat, and can actually be a positive thing. In the case of cat meets dog, the two species have very different needs, and the name of the game really is getting the dog to be less frantically curious (or less fearful) and the cat more trusting (or less fearful). Among other things, this means that the steps are a bit more fluid, and can be performed at whatever pace you observe is necessary for your individual situation.

By watching a dog play, solicit love, respond to that love, get excited, and eat and pursue food, the cat can learn a foreign language at a physically safe distance.

Yes, dogs and cats are Yin and Yang—they bring very different, but at the same time very complementary, energy to one’s home and life. Hopefully, this section has given you not only the tools but insights into a bipetual life that, once implemented, can lead to lifelong friendships . . . and not a world dominated by cartoon frying pans.

Toxoplasmosis is so easy to prevent that the Centers for Disease Control does not even consider being a cat guardian a risk factor for contracting it. The biggest risks? Eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables.

It takes one to five days for the eggs to become infectious after being shed in the cat’s poop. If you scoop the litterbox every day, you don’t have to worry about exposure. Cats shed toxoplasmosis eggs for only a few days in their entire life; it’s one and done, further reducing your risks. To be extra safe, pregnant women should either not scoop the litterbox, or scoop daily while wearing disposable gloves. Indoor-only cats are rarely exposed to toxoplasmosis because they aren’t likely to eat those infected rodents. This is yet another good reason to keep your cats indoors!

Another way of saying this is that for the most part, the best way to approach a cat is just to ignore them. This is especially true with fearful cats. Back off, get low (meaning off your feet, not hovering over the top of them), and let them come to you.

Have you ever thought about the fact that in a room full of people that cats have never met, it’s not the ones who identify themselves as “cat people” that the cats are attracted to? It’s the ones who are either allergic or who identify as “cat haters” or “dog people.” Because, in not wanting anything to do with the cats, those humans have opened themselves up to being scoped out and explored by the cats, who, at the same time, are avoiding and dodging the hands and forward-leaning bodies of those who are busy trying to convince you that “ALL cats LOVE me!”

One study looked at over 6,000 interactions between humans and their cats in 158 households. The interactions were categorized by whether the human approached the cat or the cat approached the human. When humans initiated contact with their cat, interactions were shorter. When cats were allowed to initiate the contact with their human, interactions lasted longer and were more positive.

Back Lightning is a type of twitching that happens through their back that is, at least partially, a spasm, but also a way of getting that energy out. You may notice your cat walking across the room, then suddenly stopping as if a fly just landed on him, and then very deliberately grooming himself. This self-soother is also a self-regulator. It’s also a reliable indicator to you that your cat’s energy tank is just about topped off.

Remember . . . if you say he viciously attacks, then that’s what he does. If you say he’s a bastard, that’s what he is. Labels can hurt, and tone can crush. Cats may not understand English, but they certainly understand tone. The words we use reflect and influence the way we feel about something, but they also convey feeling and nuance—often hurtful—to our loved ones, even when we are not aware of it. This applies ten times as much to your cat. So, if you want to keep your home environment Mojo-fied at all times, you must remain mindful of the words you use around your cat—both spoken and unspoken.

If you are talking about urine issues, your best friend is a UV flashlight, otherwise known as a black light.

For instance, little drops can signify a urinary tract infection, while marks that start vertically on furniture or the wall and pool down at the floor tell you most likely it is territorial marking (more on this in section 4).

That said, no doctor, no friend, no family member can know your animal’s inner emotional and physical life better than you can. It is often a solitary decision. You are their protector from fear and from suffering. That’s the deal you made with that animal the day you became his guardian, and in return he gave you his unconditional love. That love comes with a price, and this is it.

While rubbing catnip on the post is a common “trick,” I think it is a bit hit or miss. But rubbing anything with your scent on it—i.e., a worn shirt or used towel—has worked much more often for me since it helps to accomplish the desired result for your cat, which is a mingling of scents.

There’s usually a good reason why cats who used to get along don’t anymore. Two of the most common ones are nonrecognition aggression and redirected aggression. Nonrecognition aggression often breaks out when a cat comes home from the vet or a boarding situation—or after spending a day or two lost in the neighborhood—and smells distinctly different. Cats use scent to identify friend or foe. The confusion of seeing friend but smelling foe can easily lead to a Raw Cat false alarm of epic proportions. Redirected aggression typically happens when a sudden stimulus either surprises a cat into action, or that sudden stimulus happens in the midst of a simmering, stressful situation.

When you’re annoyed by a behavior, you give it weight by showing your dissatisfaction in some way (usually by yelling), or by appeasing your cat by rewarding the behavior. Either way, to your cat, all attention is reward.

The No/Yes: If you’re going to say “no” to your cat, there’s got to be a “yes” nearby.

Make sure that you are giving your cat praise or treats when he’s being quiet and calm, and behaving in a way that makes you think, “More of this please!”

If you are asking “How can I sleep through the night without strangling my cat?” you need to be aware that the idea that cats are nocturnal animals is a fallacy. People just think this is the price you pay for having a cat. But your cat being up all night is a symptom of your failure to provide Routine, Ritual, and Rhythm.

Cats don’t recognize walls as boundaries in the same way that humans do. As long as they can smell the neighborhood cats, and as long as they can see them, they’re just as much a present threat.