Some cats play rough sometimes...

If your cat is playful, that's great! Most cats are, but some cats like to play a little rough at times, usually as they get more and more riled up when you're playing using your hand or arm. Sometimes cats will be wrestling with their toys on their own and try to nip as soon as you go in to give them a pet or two. They're riled up, excited, probably still in wrestlemania mode.
My foster kitty, Mickey, can get bitey, and that's not good when I'm trying to help find him a forever home. In fact, our first prospect lost interest when she saw him play bite. Yikes!
After noticing this was a habit, I turned to Tracey Toole, Co-Founder and Director of A Tail at a Time, for advice. She gave some sound advice that worked for me and my little Mickster:
If kitty is playing with your hand, get a plush toy he can use as substitute for your hand. Try to do this before he nibbles.
If kitty starts to bite and grab the hand/arm, tell him "NO" firmly and get the hand away. Kitty will likely pause and wonder what he/she did. Then you give kitty the toy and encourage them to grab it and play with it.

Make sure the toy is not so small that the cat can't rather hug it and really go at it. So a little mouse toy won't work. And it must be plush, so a plastic bell ball won't really do the job either.

Some tried and true ones are the Kitty Hoots from Fat Cat  found here: http://www.fatcats.com/html_site/cats.shtml My childhood cats' fave was the Newt Hoot!

So in summary, stop the action with a firm but not too loud or angry "No", and give kitty the toy to play with, and play with it a little to show him it's the play alternative.

Lastly, don't use your hand as a cat toy. Cats that develop a connection between hands and playtime may nip and bite anyone that goes in to pet them, such as guests or, if he/she is a foster, prospective adopters.
Mickey loves the feather stick http://youtu.be/pdj0oyt_w_c



Mickey is still up for adoption, so spread the word!
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18698965

by Courtney Kistler, foster and Rational Animal Rep. www.rational-animal.org

A New Year 2011

With the New Year here we all make resolutions or goals of some sort. Or maybe you do it for your birthday. Either way it is a good way to start fresh. At A Tail at a Time our constant ultimate goal is to save as many kitty  lives as possible. But there are so many smaller goals to achieve in order to achieve the ultimate goal.

Many pet owners dump their pets before the holidays because they don't want to pay for a cat or dog sitter. Shelters and rescues are overwhelmed. Most rescuers only can take in so many because of space.  Thank you to the many holiday fosters that stepped up and opened up their home for the holidays. It made a world of a difference.
Already with the new year we welcomed 2 new fosters. That means we were able to rescue 2 kittens and another adult cat.

Every month we do a kitty of the month. I chose Mika this month. She is such a sweet,  affectionate kitty and she is declawed. We don't approve of declawing but if someone wants a declaw we recommend they adopt one rather then remove the claws. She is 4 years old, likes to play, likes to be petted and is quite social. Not to mention she is beautiful.

 This is Mika, let's hope she finds a home for the new year.  She deserves it!

If you are interested in meeting her contact us at adopt@atailatatime.org