3 Ways to Save Your Cats and Your Sanity

I sit on the recliner with a black cat in my lap. We call her vampire kitty from the way her fangs hang over her lips. She sits on my lap, forcing me to pet her, while she waits for the attack.

Vala is vicious.

Shiloh wears a brindle coat. She walks over to the couch, releasing five claws to tear into the rope tower leaning against the furniture. Before attacking the tower, Shiloh bites her claws with ferocity, digging between the bone. Years ago, she ate the flesh of her toes after a horrible veterinary battle gone wrong. She no longer feels pain.

Shiloh is shameless.

Crush sits on top of the couch, waiting. She watches Vala with disdain. Hearing Shiloh below, she sits up and innocently walks to the edge of the armrest. The blanket covering the white couch quiets her approach.

Crush is conquest.

Shiloh pulls at her claws. The sound feels painful, like she is tearing the claws straight out of her paws. She is the cleanest of the cats.

Crush yawns, trying to hide her plans for domination. She licks her black fur covered in dander, spider webs, and food crumbs. Cats are supposed to be clean, but Crush walks to her own beat.

Vala watches. Her fangs stick over her lips, ready to suck the blood from any living being.

She scares me. So I pet her, hoping she doesn’t strike me.

Shiloh jumps to the rope tower and attacks. Her shrieking meow puts Crush into action.

Crush raises her behind, shakes it from side to side, and leaps to the ground. She lands on top of Shiloh. The rope tower is for Crush, not the others. Crush protects her dominion with ferocity.

Shiloh responds, releasing a flurry of clawed attacks. She bites into Crush’s neck and beats her belly.

Crush does the same.

Vala looks at me with contempt. My petting failed her. She jumps from my lap. Her teeth shine in the light, and her eyes sparkle with excitement.

The vampire cat leaps into the ball on the floor. She sinks her teeth into the backside of a blur. Who knows which one she is holding onto? She doesn’t care. Vala only wants blood.

The cats scream. Their meows become sound effects for a horror movie. A horror movie that is my life.

The tornado of claws, teeth, and shiny eyeballs, rolls around the room. They bang into furniture, topple tv trays, and spill drinks.

The first to tap out loses. Crush always wins. She conquers.

We love them dearly. They are our cats. Crush and Vala are sisters. Shiloh is a rescue, found on the side of the road at only a few weeks old.

This tornado of chaos is their pastime, like football (American or soccer) is to most people.

The problem is that these vicious beasts become even more so when they are hungry. Imagine laying in bed, sleeping peaceful, when suddenly, three cats are screaming in your face, promising battle if you don’t feed them.

We needed a solution. A powerful weapon to calm the beasts.

A while back, I looked online for automatic pet feeders. I found several. Some had good reviews, some so-so. In doing the research, I discovered the WOpet Automatic Pet Feeder on Amazon.

This pet feeder is a thing of beauty. We bought one to test, and it changed our lives.

The cats no longer shout war cries in my face while I sleep.

If you have cats (or even dogs), check out this feeder. It has portion control, programmable settings, and a voice recorder. The speaker is on the bottom of the tower, so it’s muffled, but overall we didn’t find any issues with this feeder.

It has been spectacular and eliminated cat frenzies at meal time. We bought one for each of them.

A few years back, Vala had a persistent problem. We took her to several vets. The first few were extremely rude, inconsiderate to the cat and ourselves, brushing Vala‘s health off as a random issue. They continued to ignore the keyword, recurring, when I discussed her health issues.

We found an independent veterinarian who treated patients like patients, not dollar signs. Within five minutes of being in his office, the vet said, “She needs to drink more.”

We bought a Drinkwell Water Fountain and haven’t had a problem since. In the first week of using the drinkwell, the cats drank two full containers of water. We were lucky to get them drinking through their small, standard water bowl each day.

We also found out that cats prefer moving water. They view it as a clean source vs a stagnant bowl.

Our vampire cat has been healthy and happy ever since.

Let’s face it. If you have cats, you always have catnip on hand. If not, you should. It will save you some sanity.

Shiloh uses catnip to burn energy, calming her down later in the day.

Crush eats it like candy. We’re not positive, but believe it helps with her pain. Before I adopted her, the kids from her first family accidentally crushed her back legs in a recliner. They took her to the vet, and incidentally named her Crush, which does fit her personality.

She’s healthy and happy, but she has glandular issues that can cause pain. Eating the catnip seems to ease that pain.

Vala rolls in the catnip like a dog in the grass. She covers herself in catnip pieces and stares at the ceiling. Sometimes I wonder if she sees pink elephants zip lining across the ceiling.

Catnip also stops the ferocious battles. When the tornado of chaos is rolling on the ground, I can sprinkle in some catnip and everything becomes peace and love.

I hope they help you and your feline friends, too!

- Willow