9 Myths About Domestic Cats

Over the years, cats and how they view the world revolving around them has been a subject to numerous of myths, and misbeliefs. Some of those myths are gone, but some unfortunately, live on. In this article, you’ll learn 9 myths about your cat and the truth about that topic.

Cat Myth #1 Dry food cleans the teeth of your cat

For a long time it was, and still is often believed that dry food scrubs tartar off your cat’s teeth. However, vets specialized in dentistry do not quite agree. They say dry food also makes the cat dehydrated. That makes their saliva to become too dense to perform its natural teeth cleaning function properly.

Veterinarian Doctor Jean Hofve in her article “Does Dry Food Clean the Teeth?” states she has examined thousands of cat mouths, and “there was no real pattern to the dental and periodontal disease” – both dry and wet food eaters were observed with good and bad mouths. She believes it is more genetic than food dependent.

What we suggest – don’t rely on products like dry food or chews to clean your cat’s teeth. There is no better way to remove plaque than regularly brushing your cat’s teeth and regularly visiting a cat dentist for checkups. You don’t entrust your dental health to chewing corn flakes do you?

Our prediction is – this myth will continue to live and huge cat food manufacturers will help make it live on unfortunately.

Cat myth #2 Cats see in the dark/cat’s don’t see in the dark

That accounts for two myths. And they both, while being contradictory, are incorrect.

The thing is, cats can’t see in total darkness. They are better in using available light. However, it means they still require some amount of it. Total darkness will not work.

The other part is that cat’s can still see in conditions most people would describe as total darkness. Still, their vision will not be as good as in dusk or dawn conditions.

Bright light, however, again accounts for decreased vision in cats.

In addition, it’s necessary to mention that cats don’t have very good vision in general. When they hunt, the most important skills are hearing, touch, and their sense of smell. Vision becomes important only in the short moment when their prey is within a jumping distance from them.

Cat myth #3 Spaying will make your cat fat

Many owners report their cats gained weight after spay/neuter surgery. We won’t challenge those observations because it indeed happens; but there is one simple reason for this – it’s activity.

Spaying or neutering itself does not cause cats to get fat. It’s the low activity and overfeeding which is the root cause.

Quite often, people spay or neuter their pets because they are highly energetic or even aggressive. Magically (or we could say – hormonally) it helps. Altering a cat reduces its activity. However, it also means some changes in the cat’s diet and playing schedule must be done. You can find more information about obesity in cats here.

If a cat who is free fed, runs through the house, claws carpets and then bites everyone they see gets neutered, he may lose interest in all the behavior before. That’s good because we want our cats to be calm. But this also means if no playing is introduced, his only remaining activity will be eating. If he is left on free feeding, he may indulge endlessly. Play with your cat regularly. It has many benefits. Also, we don’t recommend leaving a food bowl out all the time. It makes it difficult to determine your cat is eating the correct amount.

Cat myth #4 Home prepared food is expensive and time consuming

This myth is likely made up as an excuse to feed dry kibble food. We agree, it’s easier. What can actually beat pouring some kibble in the bowl a few times or even once per day?

However, preparing food at home, isn’t that hard or time consuming.

For example, we make food for our six cats. Approximately twice a month we prepare it and pack daily amounts separately. We put the rest in the freezer. The whole process including packaging takes about an hour. Two hours per month to feed six cats? Sounds like a vacation, not really. But the point is that it doesn’t take as long as you may think.

How much does this all cost? Our recipe includes chicken thighs, chicken hearts, chicken liver, as well as several vitamins and the essential amino acid taurine. It costs about the same as a medium quality dry food. But most dry foods are full of grain. The price is the same, but the quality and digestibility are higher for the home made meal.  This is why we choose to do all this work.

Please remember that you should use cat food recipes from a reliable source. This will ensure they are balanced and nutritiously complete for your cat. Consult your veterinarian before doing this to address any specific health conditions of your cat.

Cat myth #5 Cats eliminates outside the box because of a revenge

Many believe this is true. And not only that, they assume cats do many thing because of revenge, like knocking objects over, scratching their sofa or even vomiting on their clothes.

The last one does not ask for any proofs, cats do not know how to vomit intentionally. But claw marks and urine or poop is not viewed as something bad or wrong by the cat, therefore, there’s no reason why would he use it as a tool for revenge.

If you read our article about top reasons why cats eliminate outside the box, you will know, cats may exhibit this behavior due to stress or insecurity for his territory and resources. Did you get the connection?

Scolding a cat – it’s stress. And stress leads to inappropriate elimination. Of course, the scolding alone, isn’t likely to cause stress which is large enough, it’s just that your cat may be already under significant amount of stress constantly, and the scolding is when it peaks and causes your cat exhibit inappropriate eliminations.

If the latter appears to be your case, read our article about most common causes of stress in cats.

Cat myth # 6 Cats are solitary and self dependent animals

This myth has been considered as truth even in a world of animal professionals for a very long time. That is one of the reasons why it’s hard to change and bust this myth.

Cats indeed are the most independent of all animals. We read about a research study which suggested that cats are the only domesticated animal (including pets and farm animals) that would survive if humans were gone one fine day. However, that doesn’t mean cats do not require attention from their owners.

But did you know which is the most common reason for cats misbehaving? It’s the lack of attention from their owners. If your cat has a behavior problem, we can guarantee that part of the solution will be increased playtime. Clawing, aggression, inappropriate elimination. All will be reduced with more play time with your four legged fur baby.

Cat myth #7 Cats show signs of guilt when scolded

This myth is still very popular. However, there is not bit of a truth in it. We believe people when they say their cat appears to look guilty. That’s because this is how their cat appeared to their owner.

This is not what the cat actually felt. As study on if cats feel guilt states they do not feel guilt and many other human emotions.  Cats live in the present and don’t worry about irrelevant stuff like the past or the future, the guilt or remorse. They just live. This means they can’t connect the bad thing they did a few minutes ago (or hours ago) with you yelling at them. All they know is you walked over to them and started yelling. This can be confusing to your cat and may cause them to fear you.

If you scold your cat for eliminating outside the box, rest assured your cat’s expression will be the same – it’s called confusion. They can only connect what they just did and your reaction. So let’s say they pooped in your favorite shoes during the day. You come home from work and find it. Your cat comes up to you to say hi and you yell at them. What your cat knows is that they came up to you to say hi and you yelled at them. This may teach your cat to avoid approaching you. This is exactly what you don’t want to happen. So remember that your cat has a very “cause and effect” view of the world. This also means that positive reinforcement works much better. For example, praising your furry feline friend when they use the litter box properly. They go poop in the litter box, they get praised and given a treat. They’ll definitely do that again.

Cat myth #8 Indoor cats cannot get worms and diseases

When we took two cats from an owner that was about to move away, we took a look at their vaccination record. We found out that those two cats weren’t vaccinated since the first shots after their birth.

When we asked why, the previous owner was surprised and asked, why would it’d be necessary if their cats never go outside.

However, the truth is that viruses, parasites, ticks, and fleas can easily travel indoors with your clothes, shoes or other items. This means that like outdoor cats, indoor ones should be wormed and vaccinated. Your indoor cat should also be given tick and flea medications regularly to prevent the diseases and parasites they can infect your cat with.

Cat myth #9 Pregnant women must give up their cats

This is an old myth. Unfortunately, it’s still pretty popular. We know there are gynecologists who still suggest women get rid of their cats upon becoming pregnant.

This is backed up by the fear of parasite called toxoplasmosis which is commonly found in cat feces. The dangerous part is this infection may be extremely dangerous the a human fetus.

However, that should not be a reason for giving your cat away upon becoming pregnant. Toxoplasmosis bacteria can transfer to humans in several ways. For example, transmission can occur by eating raw or semi-cooked meat or ingesting contaminated fecal matter. That’s right, ingesting infected poop. How can one ingest contaminated feces? By cleaning litter box and not washing your hands afterwards.

Of course if you are pregnant, it’s best and much safer if someone else from your family can take care of the cat litter box duties. If that’s not possible, it’d be wiser to use gloves and wash them and your hands with soap after the scooping.

But rest assured, it’s not even close being the reason why should you ditch your cat. Luckily, this cat myth is beginning to fade.

Many of the the above myths are still very alive and appear are not going away. We hope this article will help shed some light over the 9 most common myths and misconceptions about cats. This will help keep your pet cat and you happy. And keeping your Pet happy is what we all want.