When cats have problems, who can better help them but another cat? I know there are other cat advice
columns on the web, but frankly, they sound like some human was writing them! This is real cat-to-cat
advice. Are you a cat in trouble? You don't want to get a lecture from some human. I'll tell you what's up.
If you're a cat with a problem, write me at sparkle@sparklecat.com. I can't answer every email, but I'll
try to pick a good one every month. Oh yeah, and no humans with cat problems - you guys should be grateful
we tolerate you.
Dear Sparkle, When my human first brought me home from the rescue place, I was the only cat, and that was just
fine by me. For a year or so, it was just the two of us, but for the past six months there has been
some really crazy stuff going on! My human keeps bringing home strange cats, but they never stick
around. It always starts the same way - she shows up with a cat carrier and sticks the latest cat in
a room all by itself for a few days. Then after a while, the cat is usually let out to wander around
the rest of the house. Sometimes they are okay and sometimes I don't particularly like them. If
there's a cat I particularly dislike (that really annoying tortie who was briefly here, for example),
my human sticks it back in the room by itself - I'll give her that much. But then, just as I'm
getting used to having the cat around, she takes it away again! I am not thrilled with this at all -
my human has turned my happy home into a roadhouse! What is going on with her?
Signed,
Extremely Annoyed
Dear Annoyed, At first I was puzzled by your situation, but now I think I know what your human's curious
behavior is about. I bet she's bringing home cats from that rescue place where she found you and is
"fostering" them! Basically that means that she's keeping them at your home temporarily because
either 1) they've run out of room at the rescue or 2) they have "issues" and need to adapt to being
around humans or 3) they have the kind of personalities that do better in a home than at a rescue
with a bunch of other cats. I wouldn't be surprised if you started off as a foster cat yourself. (I
bet that never occurred to you!) While it's very nice and generous of your human to do this for these
kitties, I do have to agree that it's really annoying to have all these cats passing through and
disrupting your peaceful routine. I can only conclude that it can't annoy you all that much,
otherwise you would have made your displeasure clear by either rejecting your litterbox or beating up
the other cats. And if you had done that, your human probably wouldn't keep bringing all those
strange cats home. So I'm not really sure what your problem is. Maybe you're just one of those cats
who likes to complain. If you are, then I suggest you complain to your human. She is the one who can
do something about the situation, not me.
Although Sparkle is a real, live kitty, everything on her site is for informational or entertainment
purposes only. Your cat may not be interested in imitating her activities - in fact it probably couldn't
care less. So we aren't responsible for the results if you try anything silly because you saw it here!