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

by Jackson Galaxy

Cats’ source of Mojo is unquestioned ownership of their territory and having an important job to do within that territory. That job is a biological imperative that cats inherited from their wildcat ancestors, and I call it: Hunt, Catch, Kill, Eat, Groom, Sleep.

Carnivores evolved from smaller mammals around 42 million years ago. Members of this order (which includes cats, dogs, bears, raccoons, and many other species) are defined by the structure of their teeth—which are designed to shear meat—and not by their diet. (Some members of the order Carnivora are omnivorous or even vegetarians.)

All big cats roar (except for snow leopards), but they don’t typically purr (except for cheetahs). Small cats purr, but can’t roar. This is due, in part, to a small bone in the neck called the hyoid. In big cats, this bone is flexible, but in small cats, it is rigid. The big cats also have flat, square vocal cords, and a longer vocal tract that allows them to make a louder, lower sound with less effort. In small cats, the hardened hyoid combined with vocal folds are believed to create the purring sound.

all existing cat species (currently estimated at forty-one) share a common ancestor. That means that all felines are obligate carnivores, with large eyes and ears, powerful jaws, and a body built to kill. All cats walk quietly on their toes, with protractible claws, which supports their silent stalk-and-rush hunting style. And, last but not least, perhaps the most unifying (and definitely the most Mojo-rific) force connecting all felines, from lions to tabbies, is the drive to claim and own territory.

the word “domestic,” when applied to cats, has always struck me as fundamentally . . . well, just wrong. I don’t believe cats have ever been fully domesticated. This speaks to my insistence at seeing the rawness in your cat at all times.

the Egyptians revered cats, perhaps like no other culture. Cats were depicted throughout Egyptian artwork, lived in religious temples, and were kept as pets. The intentional harming of a cat brought serious penalties, and if a cat passed of natural causes, the human family would shave their eyebrows to mourn.

things got really bad for our cat friends during the Middle Ages, when they were associated with cults and declared unholy. It is believed that millions of cats were sentenced to death and burned in witch trials or thrown into bonfires. And if cat owners tried to protect their pets, they would face inquisition themselves. The sad irony is that during this time, the Black Death spread and killed thousands of people. Rats (or rather the fleas they carried) were known carriers of the plague, and killing massive numbers of cats would have certainly contributed to the proliferation of rats. Granted, archaeologists have more recently called the relationship between rats and the spread of the plague into question, suggesting that the plague spread so quickly due to close contact between humans, not between rats and humans. Regardless, killing thousands of cats could not have helped matters.

A 2009 genetic study of 979 cats (domestic, feral, and wild) demonstrated that all domestic cats are descendants of Felis sylvestris lybica, the Near Eastern wildcat, and that the Near East was the origin of domestication.

Today, cats live on every continent except Antarctica. They are perhaps the most successful species on the planet in their ability to adapt—second only to humans.

think about this: in the less-than-150 years since Queen Victoria—which is an evolutionary blink of an eye—we now ask cats to pee in a box, sleep all night, sit on the couch, not traipse across our counters or our computer keyboards . . . and last but not least, to shrink their territory from a few hundred acres to a studio apartment.

1930s—Spaying and neutering of cats and dogs introduced

1940s—Meat shortage Limited meat rations in the 1940s leads to the development of dry food, which made use of livestock scraps and fish. Dry food eventually becomes the majority of cat food produced and purchased.

1947—Invention of kitty litter by Ed Lowe. Before that, people used ashes, dirt, or sand, but most people let their cats “go” outside.

1969—First low-cost spay/neuter clinic opens in Los Angeles. Before that, euthanasia numbers were off the charts.

1970s—Change to primarily indoor-only lifestyle (especially in United States) Recommended by many veterinary and humane organizations to protect cats from danger, to protect wildlife from their hunting, and because cats are increasingly accepted as family members.

Hunt, Catch, Kill, Eat, Groom, Sleep (HCKEGS).

Cats are extremely sensitive to touch. This is, in part, because they have skin receptors that fire continuously as long as they are being touched—meaning these cells don’t adapt to physical contact because the brain keeps getting a signal saying, “I am being touched.” This is in contrast to humans, whose sensory receptors, for example, do adapt to touch, as evidenced by the fact that we don’t consciously notice, moment by moment, that we are wearing clothes.

their vision is not used so much for the up-close handling of prey, as their short-range vision is rather fuzzy and less detailed than ours. Instead, their optimal focal distance is between two and six meters—perfect for stalking a bird or mouse. If the prey is closer than a foot away, the cat’s eyes don’t even focus; at that point, the whiskers take over by pointing forward to pick up the details. That said, indoor cats are slightly nearsighted because the objects they focus on tend to be closer, while cats who go outside are usually farsighted, just like their Raw Cat ancestors.

cats have three times the number of rods as the human eye, but they have fewer cones than we do. So, although they can detect some color in daylight, colors aren’t nearly as prominent—or, apparently, important—to them. In dim light, they see only in black and white, but they can see much more clearly than we can.

Behind the retina, cats have reflective cells called tapetum lucidum. These cells are like a built-in flashlight, providing cats with a signal boost under low light conditions. Incidentally, they are also what make your cat’s eyes “glow” when you take a picture of them with flash.

Cats have the broadest hearing range of the carnivores—10.5 octaves. Cats and humans have a similar range at the low end of the scale, but cats can hear much higher pitched sounds (like mouse squeaks) than we can—about 1.6 octaves above the sounds we hear.

They may also appear to be “playing with their food,” as they bat at it or toss it about in a torturous fashion. But this isn’t because the cat is being cruel; it is actually a strategy used to tire out a dangerous victim, making that final killing bite easier to deliver.

cats are obligate carnivores: their digestive system is designed, specifically and exclusively, to process meat.

One mouse provides about thirty calories, and a typical cat might hunt ten to thirty times a day in order to obtain around eight mice.

People assume cats sleep all day, but a 2009 study that placed cameras on cats’ collars showed that when cats were home alone, they slept only around 6 percent of the time. In contrast, they spent over 20 percent of their time looking out the window. (If this doesn’t impress upon you the importance of “Cat TV,” I don’t know what will!

Cats are more active at night than we are, but they are not truly nocturnal. Rather, they are crepuscular. Their natural rhythm, devoid of other influences, is to be active at dawn and dusk, just like rodents, their primary prey animal.

A quivering tail (sometimes referred to as “mock spraying” since that’s exactly what it looks like) is usually a sign of positive excitement.

The more dilated the pupils are, the more defensive the cat is probably feeling. On the other hand, a cat with constricted pupils is likely confident and relaxed.

When a cat goes belly up for you, we call this the Cat Hug, because often it’s the closest you will get to a cat actually hugging you.

How cats rub to mark can tell you a little bit about their emotional state. Cheek rubbing is generally a sign of confidence, and “head bonking” against you is a sign of “cat love.”

Cats often hide in what we call the Unders. This could be the furthest corner under the bed, in the box spring of a mattress, deep in the back of a closet, or even in a hole in a wall (I’ve seen it all). The Unders represent the ultimate in caves. Eventually, all of the Unders need to be removed or made inaccessible to your cat by blocking them off. But we’re not going to just rip away your cat’s sense of safety.

There’s actually little evidence that cat groups form a strict hierarchy, where one cat is always on top. Instead, I believe that cats who live together settle into various “occupations” rather than certain rankings on some hierarchal totem pole.

As enlightened as we may fancy ourselves, as long as there is even a splinter of treating our animal family members as things we own as opposed to those we love, that splinter will infect the body of our family. That splinter has a name: ownership. The way forward also has a name: relationship.

If you took the species part out from the equation and just saw your cat as another member of your family, you’d be left with relationship. At the core of this relationship are fundamental elements that dictate your ability to successfully navigate that relationship, like: Knowing—Likes and dislikes, fears, aversions, how their history dictates their present behavior. Listening—When they are soliciting something from you, whether it is affection, protection, or just your time, you bring your attention to them, even if there is nothing you can offer in that moment. Compromising—In any relationship you come to the realization that it isn’t all about you and your needs. You bend to others when in reality it’s the last thing you want to do. Vulnerability—The nature of the relational two-way street is remaining present with the other being, admitting you don’t know everything, admitting that you don’t control the outcome of each and every moment of that relationship. You don’t have ownership over others’ reactions, the way they handle the world around them. You can learn from others just as readily as they can learn from you. In other words, you dare to make yourself available to another, without relying on a safety net of your design and under your control. And of course, the magic ingredient in all of this is loving—a deep knowledge that your life together is better than your life apart, which makes you embrace all of the above conditions (even if you don’t always joyfully do...

It might be getting pretty obvious at this point that my aim for you is to bring a new outlook to your relationship with your cat, by seeing it as a relationship.

the Three Rs: Routines, Rituals, and Rhythm.

The reason so many people say to me, “Jackson, my cat doesn’t play,” is because they expect playtime to look like your cat is just running laps around the house for an hour. But remember, play (i.e., “the hunt”) is not all about action; the preparation, or the “stalking,” is just as big a part (if not a bigger one) of the process as the “pounce and kill” action part. The exhaustion that comes from hunting happens even when the cat isn’t continually moving; watching the moth on the ceiling exhausts, the stalk exhausts, those short bursts of energy exhaust. It’s the mind-body focus that exhausts your cat. This is a directed action that your cat is 100 percent engrossed in. Expecting success to look like a track-and-field event will result in both you and your cat being frustrated. Don’t set yourself up for failure: know what success looks like.

Interactive toys: You’re attached to one end; your cat is attached to the other end. You provide the Three Rs (Routines, Rituals, Rhythm) of what the hunt looks like. These are toys that stimulate the prey drive—like the wand with feathers, or small prey at the end of a cord. Without question, THE most crucial tool in the shed.

A note on laser pointers: A laser pointer can help you start the engine for play. But I firmly believe that it is limited as a tool. It simply can’t be the through line for ending the game. Why? Because it can’t be “killed.” It is a predatory tease—no biting, no all-four-paw wraparound—just an endless chase. Get that motor going with a laser, for sure; just make sure, at some point, that you switch to something physical that can be “caught and killed.”

First, I want you to pretend you’re a bird. If you’re the bird, you’re going to do that subtle, moth-on-the-ceiling movement for a minute, simply hovering, and then you do that thing that gets you caught: you swoop down and suddenly hit the ground. And now your cat is going to pounce. But what makes this a game? Just yanking the toy away and having the bird fly away again? No, you’re going to play dead, and make it so your cat will then bat at the bird to test if you are really dead. Next, he will likely walk away to try to trick you into moving again. From there, you might slowly begin to inch along, playing not-quite-dead, as you take faint little steps away and try to get to refuge around the side of the couch. You’re heading in the right direction when you see wide-eyed, rapt attention, tensing muscles, and maybe a twitch at the end of the tail. And then the dilated pupils, the “head bob” as he sizes up the exact dimensions of the kill, and the famous “butt wiggle” right before he pounces tell you that your cat has stepped into that alternate universe. This is when your cat will run at you . . . but then you take off again! Now it’s time for you to decide: do you want him to catch you, or is it not time to be caught yet? And off you go again, repeating this sequence—moth-on-the-ceiling movement, wiggle butt, pounce . . . all the while thinking, What are your best methods to elicit that confidence, a.k.a. Mojo, from your cat? Personally, one of the things that makes me ...

the most important thing you can do is to find out who your cat is. Does she like ground prey or air prey? Is she a lizard hunter or a bird hunter? Can she go fluidly from one place to another? Some cats get fearful of bird motion—they may prefer ground prey.

Speaking of different styles, consider these two general types of players: You’ve got your sports car, which is where you simply present a toy, and varoom . . . they’re off! There is no gap. It’s just turn the key, press the gas, and zero to sixty. And then you’ve got your Model Ts. You have to crank that engine—sometimes for five minutes—before they actually respond to the toy. But when they do, they really do. And once their hunting mechanism has been cranked to the point of the key turning over, they’re in the game. That’s why we use toys like laser pointers. They’re like those old-time engine cranks on the Model T.

approach playtime on the Raw Cat’s terms: shorter bursts of vigorous play, followed by a brief rest period.

Preventing Boredom While Playing A 2002 study by Dr. John Bradshaw and colleagues tested cats’ interest in playing with the same toy, as opposed to when the researchers presented them with a new toy. Unsurprisingly, offering the cats a new toy increased grabbing and biting behaviors. In other words, your cat might get tired of the toy before they get tired of playing. While almost any preylike toy can get your cat moving, try rotating toys to hold his interest in a HCKE session.

since the catnip response during a single encounter is short-lived (and multiple exposures provide diminishing returns in terms of its effect), keep your catnip toys packed away, marinating them in loose catnip for even more potency, and bring them out for special occasions. This will enhance your cat’s experience each time, and also provide a positive association when such a thing is needed.

My preferred and recommended food of choice for cats is a raw, meat-based diet, which includes all of the aspects of prey: bones, muscle, tissue, fat, organs, and even a small percentage of plant matter, the amount proportional to what would be found in the stomach of the prey they would hunt and eat. Since any commercially prepared diet is not an animal killed and consumed on the spot, there will be some nutrients lacking (for example, those found in the blood of the prey). That said, we live in a time where complete nutrition via raw feeding can be achieved through several commercially prepared choices. I get that you might be grossed out by “going raw”; also, not all cats will vibe with the raw diet. Sometimes it’s really hard to get cats into it. In that case, I recommend that you feed your cat a grain-free wet diet. Why is there rice, gluten, or other fillers in your cat’s food? Because it’s all cheaper than meat! Nonetheless, I would rather you feed your cat the worst wet food on the market than the best dry; if you want to use dry, use it for treats. For older cats, however, sometimes anything goes. You just need to keep weight on them. At that point, philosophies about food go out the window, so if they insist on dry, let ’em have it. But my bottom line is: wet food is what is most natural for your cat.

Why am I not a big fan of dry food? First of all, dry food is often full of carbohydrates. Research has associated high-carbohydrate diets for cats with urinary crystals, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Sound like something you want to take a risk on? Disease risks aside, let’s go back to the Raw Cat diet: prey. Prey animals are high in protein and water. The process of making dry food, or extrusion, breaks down some nutrients in the food. By the time it’s done being extruded, dry food has a moisture content of less than 10 percent. Wet food is about 60 percent moisture, which is much closer to that of a mouse (around 75 percent). You do the math. Cats fed dry food might drink more water to “compensate,” but research shows they still don’t make up that deficit.

Transitioning to the Raw Cat Diet For some cats, the raw diet is like coming home. I recommend you try introducing it as a treat at first, and see if your cat goes for it. If your cat is already on a wet food diet, you can also transition her to raw by mixing in a little bit of the new raw food with what she currently eats. In general, you don’t want to switch her food too fast or you could have explosive diarrhea all over the house. (Fun for the entire family!) Some cats do best if you start with browning the raw food for under a minute to strengthen the smell, which will increase your cat’s interest (and bring the food up to its prey’s average body temperature). Some cats like it if you add a small amount of water to their food to give it a little “gravy.” You can even sprinkle some dehydrated meat on the top to get your cat started. Once she gets the hang of it, you may not need to incorporate these “tricks” to get her to go for it.

We have to make the distinction between scavenging versus opportunistic hunting. One lifestyle suggests grazing; the other suggests HCKE. Free feeding is leaving food out for your cat 24/7 and is basically analogous to scavenging. It’s food for the taking, with no effort involved. It’s unearned and, therefore, unrewarding. No Mojo. My experience is that free feeding undermines the work we try to do, not to mention the cat’s own physiology. Cats are built to eat several small meals a day, optimally around five to six hours apart. I advocate somewhere between two and four meals a day, matching the rhythm of your home. The difference between a wild cat who is hunting all the time and your cat is that your cat’s circadian rhythm is hooked into yours. When your family wakes up in the morning, energy in the house skyrockets, and so does your cat’s. So, ideally, that’s when it’s HCKE time. You come home from work, and the same thing happens: your cat’s energy rises. And then once again before bed. Every time there’s a ritualistic rising of energy in the home, you should be ritualizing play and food (HCKE) around that.

How Much to Feed Your Cat One-size-fits-all feeding guidelines are unrealistic. Don’t take any one source’s word as gospel on how much your cat should be eating. Do your research, but also get to know what your cat likes and dislikes and how much he likes to eat, and monitor his weight and activity level. Cats require somewhere around twenty-five to thirty-five calories per pound a day for maintenance.