DEAR JOAN: We've two 3-year-old cats that we adopted from a rescue group. They're very shut, and the one in query, Pepper, should have been the runt as she likes to fake-nurse her sister, Ginger, and relies upon closely upon her for help.
Recently, Pepper has been waking me up and “making dough” up and down my physique at evening. It’s maintaining me up. The room is stuffy, if we shut the door. She’s very persistent.
We misplaced her huge brother canine eight weeks in the past, and her huge brother cat three weeks in the past, however Pepper has been doing this for a number of weeks now.
What offers? And what can we do about this?
Jane Parks-McKay, Santa Cruz
DEAR JANE: Cats, regardless of an unjust popularity for cool, impassive disregard, are extremely delicate animals. We by no means know for sure what our rescue cats may need gone via earlier than arriving in our embrace, however we all know it should not have been simple. Even cats which have had completely beautiful lives can harbor some insecurities.
Pepper probably is lonely and feeling a bit afraid. She probably misses her companions and so, to consolation herself, she accesses recollections from her kitten days, turning to the issues that made her really feel secure.
A type of issues is nursing and kneading. When kittens suckle their moms, they softly knead their mum’s tummy, which helps the availability of milk to launch. That closeness and bond Pepper had together with her mother is being rekindled with you.
Sadly, getting a therapeutic massage all evening by tiny paws with sharp claws doesn’t make for peaceable slumber. There are some issues you are able to do to assist each you and Pepper.
The primary is to spend as a lot time with Pepper as you possibly can, enjoying and cuddling, if that’s her factor. Reassure her she’s secure and beloved.
If she has a favourite stuffed toy or a tender blanket that she’s keen on, take it to mattress with you. When she begins making dough on you, gently redirect her to the toy or blanket and let her knead that as an alternative.
It'd take a number of instances over a number of nights for her to get the message, however she is going to. Till then, you possibly can console your self with the information that she loves you.
DEAR JOAN: I noticed a squirrel leap up on my deck a number of weeks in the past. He regarded very uncommon.
His coat may be very quick with white spots, and he has loads of white down his entrance. He regarded larger than a child. Do you assume he's sick?
I've not seen him once more.
Peggy, Alamo
DEAR PEGGY: What you noticed was a floor squirrel. Go searching your yard for open holes main down into tunnels. That’s the place the bottom squirrel disappeared.
DEAR JOAN: Why do chickens get up so early within the morning? It appears they by no means sleep in.
John C., San Jose
DEAR JOHN: Properly, it’s to not beat the visitors crossing the street. It’s as a result of hens want at the very least eight hours of daylight a day to put eggs, which is why egg manufacturing slows within the winter months when the times are shorter.
To assist with that, their eyes have extra rods and cones than ours, making them higher in a position to detect gentle, and that means they’ll spot the approaching dawn an hour or so earlier than our bleary eyes can. The rooster is their backup alarm.
Contact Joan Morris at jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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