Keep up with important news about feline health, nutrition, and behavior, and other topics of interest to pet parents.

The free Little Big Cat newsletter is published every month on Substack. (Subscribe here!) The first week of every month, as a perk for paid subscribers, I answer your burning question about nutrition, supplements, holistic therapies, behavior, or anything related to feline health. The Basic Framework I can’t diagnose, prescribe, or give individualized medical advice for specific cats. My role here is to share my knowledge and experience as general educational information—principles, ideas, and research about feline health, nutrition, and behavior. Anything we discuss here should be considered educational, not a ...

For years, conversations about weight issues and feline diabetes have centered on carbohydrates. This is not wrong; cats are obligate carnivores that are poorly equipped to manage large glucose loads. High‑starch diets (kibble, some canned diets, and even many raw diets that are too high in carbs) absolutely stress the pancreas and disrupt insulin metabolism. This alone can cause weight gain, insulin resistance, and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. But it turns out that carbs are not the whole story. There is another factor that receives far less ...

Thanks to our good friend Dr. Karen Becker over at Mercola.com for this excellent article! Story at-a-glance Big Pet Food wants you to believe your dog is no longer a carnivore and can “thrive” on a diet high in starch A 2013 study is often used by processed pet food advocates as “proof” dogs are no longer meat-eaters. All the study actually proves is that a dog’s body has some capacity to adapt to the food it eats Just because a minority of dogs do fine on starch-rich diets doesn’t ...

We are very proud  that Little Big Cat won the coveted 2011 Muse Medallion Award for best website, from the Cat Writers' Association. You may remember a few weeks back that, along with our good friends Ingrid King of the Conscious Cat and Mary Ann Love-Miller of Feline Express, we won a Certificate of Excellence. Then those 3 sites competed for the Big One -- the Muse Medallion -- and we are so honored that Little Big Cat was chosen the winner among all the amazing competition! Little Big Cat ...

The Time online headline reads: "Glow-in-the-Dark Cats May Help Shed Light on AIDS." Maia Szalavitz reports: "These glowing animals have been genetically engineered to make blood cells that are resistant to feline immunodeficiency virus, or FIV, the virus that causes feline AIDS. The study could give researchers insight into fighting AIDS in both humans and cats. While humans cannot get infected with FIV — and cats don't get sick from HIV — understanding how the viruses work in different species could lead to better treatments and methods of prevention. HIV, ...

An interesting article at Southampton.patch.com cites animal communicator Patty Payne and the top five "shocking" things she's heard from pets. I have no doubt about #3; two of my cats had a running feud and I'm sure they've said some pretty rude things to each other! According to Ms. Payne: 1. Animals are holistic. Payne says our pets would rather not deal with the nausea associated with some medications. Instead, she says pets prefer natural remedies. 2. Animals don’t need to say ‘I Love You.’ According to Payne, animals say ...

Our good friend, Mary Ellen at AngelScribe.com, is featured in a video interview about her 5 swimming cats! She had been worried that they might get loose and fall in the pool, but no worries...the feline's amazing instincts include dog-paddling! However, it is very important to show your cat how to get out of the pool, either by swimming to the steps, or climbing out on the side (probably impossible for declawed cats). Otherwise they could swim until they become exhausted, and ultimately drown. Click on the photo to watch ...