In basic, cats choose ingesting water from a slender cup or glass, somewhat than a bowl. The purpose? Whisker fatigue. (Getty Images)
DEAR JOAN: I’ve a pet cat, Chong, who for some unusual purpose solely drinks water from cups.
I’ve a bowl subsequent to his meals, however when he sees me ingesting water from a cup, he thinks it’s higher than his water within the bowl.
A pal advised me it’s only a cat factor.
— Phil Wilson, Oakland
DEAR PHIL: Oh, it’s undoubtedly a cat factor, however on this case, it’s an explainable cat factor.
Cats are inclined to choose consuming from extensive bowls that don’t press on their whiskers, which may result in an precise factor referred to as “whisker fatigue.”
And many cats choose a slender container, akin to a cup or glass, for ingesting. That’s as a result of, usually talking, cats don’t wish to get their whiskers moist. A slender vessel retains the whiskers pushed up and away from any unintentional dipping, and since cats are inclined to drink water with out elevating their heads a number of instances, as they do after they eat, their whiskers don’t get fatigued.
I do know, it’s a delicate distinction, however cats might be explicit, and I actually don’t blame them.
If Chong prefers his water served in a cup, I say you must give him a cup. I’d draw the road, nonetheless, at any insistence the water be served in nice grandma’s treasured bone china cups with the hand-painted periwinkles.
DEAR JOAN: I had carrots rising in a metal trough about 2 toes off the bottom. Over the interval of every week or so, one thing ate all of the carrots from under and left the stems untouched on high. Now one other critter, I assume, is consuming lemons in a tree that’s about 3 toes tall.
I’ve put out mouse/rat traps to no avail. I’ve additionally put out sticky traps, which I hate to make use of, and a few of them get moved, however nothing is ever caught.
Any concept what could be consuming the lemons and the right way to eliminate the critter?
— Tom, Brentwood
DEAR TOM: Vegetables attacked from under is the work of gophers, that are uncommon however not unparalleled in a raised mattress. However, it won’t be an animal in any respect.
Sometimes, in case you’ve obtained carrot tops however no carrots, there’s an excessive amount of nitrogen in your soil, which feeds the inexperienced tops however doesn’t produce the precise carrot. In addition to on the lookout for indicators of a gopher, do a soil take a look at and examine your fertilizer.
The lemon thief is more than likely a rat, though we will’t rule out squirrels of each the tree and the bottom selection.
Please eliminate the glue traps. They catch lots of harmless animals, and creatures attempting to free themselves can rip off their pores and skin and even chew off a limb in a determined bid for freedom.
