Top 10 Most Popular Cat Myths Debunked (By a Vet)

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0:00 Introduction
0:16 Myth 1: Cats Only Purr When They’re Happy
1:15 Myth 2: Pregnant Women Can’t Live With Cats
2:39 Myth 3: Cow’s Milk Is Good For Cats
3:54 Myth 4: Cats Are Most Active At Night
4:40 Myth 5: Cats Always Land On Their Feet
5:46 Myth 6: One Cat Year Equals Seven Human Years
6:34 Myth 7: Declawing Cats Doesn’t Hurt
8:42 Myth 8: Cats Can Be Vegan
9:56 Myth 9: Cats Should Have A Litter Of Kittens Before They’re Spayed
11:09 Myth 10: Cats Don’t Need Exercise
12:30 Conclusion

[Pythonaria]

Cats also use their healing purr on us. I slipped a disc in my back last year quite badly and still get problems with it. It was playing up last night. One of my cats gently walked onto my back, started purring and kneading with her paws exactly where the discomfort was. She kept this up for about 5 minutes before settling down beside me. My back felt a lot better after her feline massage.

[MyShalora]

I love this. I especially loved that you addressed declawing. As a former licensed tech, I HATED assisting at those surgeries, and I loved it when my last clinic got an associate vet who flat out refused to do them. I respected him so much. I'm a veterinary receptionist now that I am no longer able-bodied enough to tech. I work at clinic now with 15 doctors, and NONE of them will do declaws. They are flat out banned in our clinic. The owner won't have anyone doing it; though none of them want to anyway. It makes me so happy. We won't crop ears or dock tails, either. (all 3 of which I wish were illegal here, like in so many other countries, but that's another story)
On having a litter, I wish you had also addressed things like that the health benefits of spaying, such as reduced risk of mammary cancer, are so much better if you spay before the first heat! That's a huge piece of education that pet owners need. It helps motivate people.
I used to explain about purrs a *lot* when I was teching. I would discuss a "stress purr" with owners when they were like "oh, she's purring, she's happy to be here!" or "she's purring, she likes you!". And yeah, maybe, I am a cat whisperer. But also, no, she's stressed out and trying to keep herself calm. Plus, odds are they're here because she's hurt or sick, so of course she's purring to try to heal herself. Purring is a magical skill!

[cosmeticsandpurseswithevelyn]

Declawing is the most cruelest thing anyone can do to a poor Cat....people are mindless! STOP doing it period! Hope it becomes illigal all over the states.

[lfate]

Myth number 7 that declawing doesn’t hurt should be 1, 2, and 3. People really need to know that declawing is so bad for cats. Also I can think of another myth, that cats are not social creatures or that they like to be alone. Well for sure that is not true for my cats. Thank you for posting these myths.

[DoriGaga]

the tossing the kibble one... I had heard that years ago, so when I got my first cat, I used to do that with her treats. I just tossed them in the air and she would hunt for them and it was the funniest thing ever. She'd see you get the bag and she'd get so excited lol. Also on the declawing... I got my first cats in 2004, and I had never had cats before and I thought declawing was a requirement, like spaying, but I was putting off making an appointment, because they liked to climb up the arms of the coats in the hall closet, and I was like, "I'm going to take this game away from them." I started Googling, hoping to find a way to justify not doing it, and discovered that it's not recommended and is actually cruel. I'm so glad I didn't do it (and I've had 4 cats since 2004, and never declawed a single one). Most vets in my area won't even do it anymore, and I'm so glad for that!

[Error-trke]

Thanks for explaining that part with declawing a cat. My friend and I were chatting about our cats and the convo about declawing came into the topic. She was seriously planning to declaw her cat because they were clawing her and her clothes. I was able to send her some info about declawing and how it is like amputation in human terms. Hopefully she reconsiders it.

[frank-gavinmoratalla]

It absolutely AMAZES me when I hear someone wants to or is actively feeding their cat a vegan diet! I’m a new cat parent, I grew up with dogs and know how you can put almost anything in front of a dog and they’ll suck it up, but cats need meat, they HAVE TO HAVE IT! I’m offended by people’s need to impose their diets on animals! I know all bout it. I’m fully plant-based but would never make my cat vegan, it’s an insane idea!

[ryanarttmo]

The tip for tossing their food/treats was a game changer - all of mine love it, and for one of them, hunting treats is her favorite thing now.

[brookelayne]

Great advice. I’m always eager to hear tips like these so I can make my cats super happy and healthy- especially from a Doctor. Thank you for the video! 😊

[nikkis]

Such a great video. I’ll share this with anyone looking to get a cat. I watched hundreds of hours of cat education before I got my kitties so I knew all of these and it’s so so so important. Also I hope that one day it will be illegal to declaw cats or that almost no one will provide that service because it just heartbreaking.

[lavinanolan]

Thank you so much hearing from you with all your knowledge

[benicetoanimals]

You are a precious gift to humanity! Thank you for all you for the loving, angelic animals who are just as important as humans. Much love, blessings and tons of LIGHT.

[christabedwin]

Thank you, fantastic video, I agree with all of them! Another myth I'd like to bust is the ridiculous idea that cats hate going out of their familiar house. That might be true for some cats, but other cats love going in the car with you for groceries, out for walks, over to a friend's house, etc., the same as dogs. So many cats get left alone and totally unstimulated because people think they're "fine." It's like leaving them in jail, especially if you only have one cat. At least get them a fish to hang out with if you leave them at home alone all day please. My cat hitch-hiked to the Arctic, travelled all over Canada, the US, and Europe with me. My son's cat is a champion co-pilot driving in the car.

[rjs]

Great video, thank you!

Future topic suggestions: raw food diet and/or dental care (unless these have already been posted. I'm new to this channel, so I'll research the playlist).

I have two cats, 15 year old brothers. Since they were kittens, part of their feeding program has been wet food, as well as typical dry food. For the past month or so. I've been transitioning them over to dehydrated raw food (package labeled as complete and balanced). Soon they will not have the dry food (no refined carbs for the past few years but it seems to be too hard for them to bite or chew). But the damage to their teeth has been done, if the cause is the dry food refined carbs from earlier years. They both now have cavities but the vet said they are not healthy enough yet to handle the anesthesia for the necessary dental cleaning & extraction. They are both on methimazole for hyperthyroidism. I'm hoping that improving their diet will help their overall health.

Thank you again for the great videos!

[candace]

Thank you for addressing declawing and spaying 🙏🏼

[craftyfox]

I declawed one cat and regretted it. Never ever did it again. I just wish they would eliminate the practice. It's done because humans are just to lazy to teach their cats how to use scratch polls. I have several throughout my house and on every floor. Just like a litter pan. My cat uses the scratch polls. If she forgets I just pick her up and bring her to it as a reminder. O and I do clip her nails just like I have done to all the other cats I have had. Including brushing teeth.

[lindyjay]

I became a 1st time cat parent about a year ago and just didn't know about trimming an indoor kitty's nails. Especially the front ones! I know I sound stupid, but I only knew about dogs and outside cats up to then. My vet doesn't remove claws (which I wouldn't do) so she gives free nail trims and paw checks so the babies can stay healthier.

[nikkis]

It’s wild how fast cats can get pregnant after giving birth. And it’s such a short time that we have SOO many feral cats in my area. We live in the middle of nowhere and have not a single resource for help with these cats, even the closest humane society closed on us. There are no animal control or whatever people call it lol. It’s so sad. My family and I help catch these feral adults and get them fixed and find homes for the kittens before they are old enough to start having babies themselves.

[jasonmc]

I just found your channel and subscribing.

Love to learn, thanks

[AcornHillHomestead]

I have mostly adopted cats so I got them as they were BUT one time I had a lovely sweet ginger tabby declawed. He grew to be a big boy. As he aged it was clear being declawed was a handicap for him. It killed me to watch him walk as he got older. That experience educated me on the harm declawing does. We now have a Maine Coon we got at two years old. His previous mom was a vet tech who had him declawed and she regretted it. He too is a big boy. Jumping from the bed is much harder now he is older largely because of declawing. We recently rescued a tiny feral kitten and no way will he be declawed. We have had cats that very successfully used cardboard scratching boxes and never clawed furniture once they started using them.