Total Cat Mojo

co-authored by Mikel Delgado, phD

By the guy who does the My Cat From Hell show. Which I’ve only seen a few episodes of. It’s all about his theories on what makes cats satisfied, confident and happy, which leads to good behavior. It boils down to three basic concepts: cats retain the same instincts to stalk, hunt and eat prey as their wild ancestors, they need high places to feel safe from predators, and they are very territorial. So lack of hunting opportunities (play, for indoor cats) leads to boredom and frustration, lack of elevated perches leads to all kinds of insecurity issues, and feeling their space is threatened – whether by other cats in the household, cats seen outside through windows, new baby, new dog, new cat introduced etc- leads to other problems.

He starts with a basic and quick history on domestic cats, which clues you in to their innate wild nature. Then talks about how cats communicate, three broad cat “personality” types (shy, confident and friendly, or defensive and aggressive), the influence of food, the need for cats to feel secure, how to make you household layout more friendly to cats (this includes things like litterbox placement, and making “cat highways” out of shelves and things) how to teach your cat what behaviors are acceptable (not by using punishment) and finally, there’s several detailed chapters about solving certain problems. First, very specific steps laid out for introducing a new cat to the household. Then how to modify those steps if it’s a dog or a new baby joining the family. Why outbursts of aggression or wild energy occur (cats ambushing ankles, attacking your hand and so on) and how to dissipate them. How to draw out the shy cat so it isn’t living under the bed all the time, encourage your cat to use appropriate scratching surfaces, what to do if your cat is just being a pest (mine likes to knock things off the counter, or meow repeatedly and loudly late and night / early in the morning) and the biggie: cats that eliminate outside of the litterbox. In all things he sounds pretty sensible. Seems like many issues arise from misunderstanding the nature of cats, or expecting unrealistic behaviors from them. Some things in the book don’t really relate to me, or at least not anymore. For example, we have a one-cat household. In the past we tried to introduce a second cat, kind of using the guidelines Galaxy lays out, but not precisely. I wonder now if I’d done it his way -had never heard of the guy back then- would it have worked. Other things I’m not sure I’m on board with: I can see adding a few perches, shelves and cat tunnels to my house- but I don’t really want to fully “catify” it as he urges, with walkways all around the rooms up by the ceiling.

And there was one point that sorely disappointed me. He mentioned that you can use training to get your cat to do unpleasant things. He describes steps to getting your cat used to his carrier so every trip to the vet isn’t a battle of wills. And then states you can get your cat trained to take his pills so that you’re able to just casually walk by, “bend down as if you’re petting her to say ‘hi’ and give her a pill“. I admit my interest ticked up when page 144 mentioned using clicker training for your cat to take medication without struggling. Because mine does. I have to wrap him in a towel and gently force his mouth open. I was ready to take notes on a better method! But he never says how. Just tells you to do your own research and find a step-by-step method that works. (We’ve gotten better. My cat doesn’t run away and hide after getting his pill anymore- he now knows that I give him special treats right after, so after escaping the towel, he’ll pause and wait for that. But his pills have a very bitter taste, so I have a hard time imagining he’d ever just open his mouth and swallow them willingly).

There’s lots more to this book I will leave for the reader to discover. On the whole I found it informative. There were a few parts that lacked clear explanation- especially the section about “catifying” the house to help your pets feel more secure and at ease. The author makes up a bunch of words to refer to his ideas like catify, and he constantly calls the cat’s sense of security and confidence his “mojo” but takes this even further with phrases like “mojo-fy”, “mojo-fication” and “mojo-rific”. Sometimes the phrases he uses sound a bit New-Agey too, which started to get old.Parts of the book are a bit repetitive, probably because the author thinks people will just turn to the section they want immediate help with. But overall- a solidly helpful book.

Borrowed from a family member.