Oh Behave!

 

I dropped out of college in 1992 to move to the California Bay Area. I spent much of the 1990s working in a health food cooperative, playing bass guitar in punk bands, and volunteering in collectively run punk spaces (Maximum RocknRoll and Epicenter Records).

In 2000, I started volunteering — and soon after working as a full time employee — in the Cat Behavior Department of the San Francisco SPCA. I left the animal shelter and the music scene in 2008 to return to school. At the same time, I co-founded Feline Minds, a cat consulting business based in Northern California. We offer training and consulting services for cat guardians, animal shelters, rescue groups, and corporations.

I completed my Ph.D. in Psychology, with an emphasis on animal behavior and cognition, at UC Berkeley in 2017. To support my graduate work, I received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, The UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship, and the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant.

I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis for 3.5 years, where I researched the social behavior of domestic cats and the development of orphaned neonatal kittens. My research has been published in Psychological Bulletin, the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, Royal Society Open Science, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare, the Journal of Comparative Psychology, Anthrozoos, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

I am co-author with Jackson Galaxy of “Total Cat Mojo” and the author of the forthcoming book “Play with Your Cat!” (2024 – Tarcher/Perigee).

I am a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (Animal Behavior Society), a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant (International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants), and an Affiliate Member of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. I offer cat behavior consulting through my business Feline Minds, and I’m the resident cat behavior expert for Rover.

I live in Sacramento, CA with my boyfriend and our three rescue cats: Coriander, Ruby, and Professor Scribbles.

Transcript:

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Announcer: Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Announcer: It's Oh Behave with Arden Moore.

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Announcer: This show that teaches you how to have harmony in the household with your pets.

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Announcer: Join Arden as she travels coast to coast to help millions better understand why cats and dogs do what they do.

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Announcer: Get the latest scoop on famous faces.

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Announcer: They're perfectly pampered pets in Who's Walking Who in Rin Tin Tinseltown.

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Announcer: From famous pet experts and best selling authors to television and movie stars, you'll get the latest buzz from wagging tongues and tails, garner great pet tips and have a doggone fur flying fun time.

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Announcer: So get ready for the pause and applause as we unleash your Oh Behave host, America's pet edutainer, Arden Moore.

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Arden Moore: Welcome to the Oh Behave Show on Pet Life Radio.

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Arden Moore: I'm your host, Arden Moore.

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Arden Moore: Now raise a paw if you enjoy a good time.

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Arden Moore: Well guess what?

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Arden Moore: So does your cat.

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Arden Moore: It's not all about napping and grooming for our fine felines.

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Arden Moore: They need play with a purpose.

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Arden Moore: And here to share why play can be a major key to your cat's happiness is one of the world's top cat experts.

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Arden Moore: Please welcome to our show certified cat behavior consultant Dr.

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Arden Moore: Mikel Delgado.

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Arden Moore: Hey, it's about time you got on my show Dr.

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Arden Moore: Delgado.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Thanks for having me.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah, it's been too long, but here we are.

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Arden Moore: And concats as they say in the world of cats, you have unleashed a new book.

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Arden Moore: It is called Play with Your Cat, The Essential Guide to Interactive Play for a Happier, Healthier Feline Play.

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Arden Moore: I think that's one of the cat's favorite four-letter words.

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Arden Moore: Don't you agree?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Absolutely.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yes.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: It was really a call to action.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: The title of the book really just says everything you need to know.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: You need to do it.

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Arden Moore: But you get right to the point.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: That's what I like.

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Arden Moore: Kind of tuning in for the folks on YouTube is my cat Casey.

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Arden Moore: He's kind of monitoring this interview too because it's important to him to play.

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Arden Moore: Cats need to play.

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Arden Moore: Kittens, primetimeers, seniors.

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Arden Moore: Definitely pioneering a better world for cats.

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Arden Moore: Hey you guys, we're going to find out just how after we take this break.

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Arden Moore: So you all know the drill.

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Arden Moore: Sit, her, we'll be right back.

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Announcer: Time for a pause.

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Announcer: For furry ones actually, sit and stay.

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Announcer: Oh Behave will be right back.

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Arden Moore: Paws up, Pet Pals.

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Arden Moore: Arden Moore here, your host of the Oh Behave show.

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Arden Moore: Me-

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Arden Moore: Wow!

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Arden Moore: Did you know there's up to 100 million free roaming cats in the United States?

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Arden Moore: And without spay or neuter, that number is only gonna keep growing.

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Arden Moore: Not only does spay neuter humanely reduce the community cat population, it keeps cats healthy.

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Arden Moore: Scooter, the neuter cat, is on a mission to give cats an extra life by making it hip to be snipped.

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Arden Moore: Hey, check them out.

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Arden Moore: Go to givethemten.org, that's givethemten.org, and help us make this a better world for cats.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com Oh Behave is back with more tail wagging ways to achieve harmony in the household with your pets.

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Announcer: Now, back to your fetching host, America's Pet Edutainer, Arden Moore.

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Arden Moore: Welcome back to the Oh Behave Show on PetLife Radio.

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Arden Moore: I'm your host, Arden Moore, with Dr.

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Arden Moore: Mikel Delgado.

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Arden Moore: So, let's just get right into it.

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Arden Moore: We've focused a lot on cats and the weird behaviors they do and the foods we need to feed them.

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Arden Moore: I'm sorry, we forgot the other element, play.

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Arden Moore: Why is play so important to any feline at any age?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah, it's a great question.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And, you know, I really, I guess, revived on this topic from working with so many cat owners who were not playing with their cats.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And, you know, often when I'm helping a client, their cat is having behavior problems.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And play is often part of my treatment plan.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And that's because play is not only a feel-good behavior, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: It's like brings your cat exercise, it helps reduce stress, takes their mind off things that might be bothering them in their environment.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: But it also reflects what we would call a species typical behavior, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So these are behaviors that we want to see our pets exhibit that are normal and healthy for them to express.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And for cats, predation and play are very similar.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: There's a lot of overlap.

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Arden Moore: You just threw out a big word for some folks.

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Arden Moore: And I know it'll never be on a Jeopardy question, but maybe tell us about the two P's.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah, so predation, hunting.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So that's really, so our cats are naturally predators, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And that's something that has stayed true to them as a species throughout the process of domestication, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So the cats of, you know, ancient Egypt that people brought into their homes, the cats that we live with now, all still have this very strong instinct to hunt.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Regardless of, you know, if we keep them indoors, they may not get a lot of opportunities to hunt, except maybe if you've ever had a fly come into your house, you've really seen your cats, you know, light up, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: They know, they're very aware that there's a little bug in your house and they would like to chase it around and hopefully catch it.

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Arden Moore: They are a furry fly swatter.

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Arden Moore: Yes.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yes.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And so really play is about tapping into that hunting instinct in a way that doesn't hurt any birds, your cat doesn't have to go outside.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: But, you know, and I'm not here to like lecture people on whether or not they should let their cats outside.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: But, you know, it is regardless of whether your cats go outside, and it is an opportunity for them to engage in a fun behavior that helps maintain their health, helps you have a bond with them too, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So it's not just about the cat, it's about the relationship you have with your cat.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And hopefully first, you know, some cats can actually reduce behavior problems because you're giving them again, an outlet for this natural behavior that if they don't have an outlet for it, you might have a cat or kitten chasing your ankles, biting your hands.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So we're really using it as a way to make our cats happier and healthier, but also, you know, reduce some of those maybe annoying behaviors and again, help you have a better bond with your cat.

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Arden Moore: There's been a number of cat books out there, and I've humbly written some and you have two and Jackson Galaxy and others.

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Arden Moore: Do you think we're finally getting to cover the topic that's long overdue?

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Arden Moore: And so I wanted to ask, how is your book set up so people best understand?

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Arden Moore: Because it sounds goofy.

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Arden Moore: Just wiggle a wand toy or toss a paper wad.

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Arden Moore: No, guys, it's much more than that.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah, really, you know, I've been wanting to write a book about cats, but I did not necessarily want to write just another book on how to take care of your cat, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: There's lots of fantastic books and those books are very important.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: But I did want to highlight this one topic.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And obviously, I have a lot to say about it.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: As I dove into it, I was like, this is, you know, there's a lot here.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And so my approach to the book was really to first look at the science, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: I'm a scientist, so I wanted to look at the research on both predatory behavior in cats and play behavior in cats.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And luckily, there's like a nice wealth of research on this topic.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Back in the 80s, a lot of people studied kittens and play.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And unfortunately, that's really where the play research was focused, is on kittens.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Any of us who has had an adult cat knows that cats play throughout their lifetime.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: They can.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: But a lot of people, if they don't play with their cat throughout their lifetime, maybe their cat becomes kind of a couch potato or, you know, loses interest.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And so I really wanted to encourage people to maintain that practice throughout their cat's entire life.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So my approach to the book was kind of half scientific, like here's what the science says, here's what cats do when they hunt, here's what they do when they play.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And the other half is more a practical how to write, like what toys, how do you find out what toys your cat needs or likes?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Right.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: How do you move the toy?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Because I see a lot of people with some bad technique, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: They don't know, they don't, maybe they don't recognize what they're doing when they're playing with their cat, again, thinking you're allowing your cat to hunt the toy.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So you want to move the toy like a bird or a mouse would move.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: You don't want to just wave it around, whipping it and scaring your cat or anything like that.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So a lot of the book is a how to.

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Arden Moore: Give us a thing.

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Arden Moore: It just turned into a fake bird.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yes.

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Arden Moore: And I find myself in the living room with Casey, my cat.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yes.

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Arden Moore: No bird is being harmed in the making of this comment.

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Arden Moore: So what's the right bird move for me?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yes.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: One thing I always recommend to people is like learn about animals.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Like I like to watch videos of birds.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: I have a bird feeder.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So birds do things like they hop around, they peck at food, they might take off very suddenly and fly away or maybe they would land on an elevated surface so you can fly your bird toy over to the platform of a cat tree and then have it fall.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Maybe your bird is suddenly wounded and that's an exciting opportunity for your cat to kill them.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So really thinking about incorporating things in the environment like your cat furniture, your human furniture, cardboard boxes.

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Arden Moore: Oh yeah, Chewy and Amazon, we've been doing a lot of ordering, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Exactly.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So also thinking about how you can utilize your environment to encourage your cat to use more of the space, get more exercise, climb things, jump down from things.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And again, kind of tune into what would a bird do?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: What would a bird do if they were scared of a cat?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: They might try to hide or fly away.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: But you don't want to make it so hard that your cat can never catch the bird.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So maybe we're, you know, we're slightly less active bird at times, but also depends on your cat, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: If you have an older cat, then you're probably going to have a weaker prey toy.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: You're going to make it easier for your cat to catch the toy.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: You might move the toy much slower.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Your cat might be doing more watching and padding with their paws than doing backflips like a younger cat will do, right?

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So I think sometimes people just think play is your cats running around the house and doing these amazing backflips.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And no, for cats, even when they're hunting, so much of the time they're spending hunting is on watching and calculating like when's the right time to make the move.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And that's when we see the staring, the butt wiggle.

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Arden Moore: I had an ex like that, but that's another conversation.

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Arden Moore: Yes, okay.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yes.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: So, so yeah, I really want people to, I guess part of it is pay attention to your, how your cat is responding to the toy and also being present because I think in this day and age, so many of us are have our phones nearby.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: We're playing with one hand, we're texting with the other.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And with clay, I really encourage people to take that, you know, three minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever your cat needs to really be present with your cat and be the bird and act like a bug.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: And hopefully you will see positive results because of that.

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Arden Moore: I like that.

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Arden Moore: Hey, everyone, we're speaking with Dr.

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Arden Moore: Mikel Delgado.

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Arden Moore: She has a cat behavior.

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Arden Moore: She's got a PhD after her name.

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Arden Moore: And we're going to find out a little bit about her background.

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Arden Moore: And for those on YouTube, you actually see some guitars.

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Arden Moore: So we'll get into that.

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Arden Moore: But we're going to take a break.

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Arden Moore: So you all know the drill.

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Arden Moore: We're just going to sit and purr and be right back.

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Announcer: Time for a walk on the red carpet, of course.

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Announcer: Oh Behave will be back in a flash right after these messages.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets.

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Announcer: On Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: petliferadio.com.

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Charlie Batch: This is Charlie Batch, quarterback at Pittsburgh Steelers, and I'm with Arden Moore on Oh Behave on Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: We're back from the lot.

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Announcer: Just check the paper and we had a record showing at the box.

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Announcer: The litter box that is.

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Announcer: Now back to Oh Behave.

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Announcer: Here's Arden.

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Arden Moore: Welcome back to the Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio.

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Arden Moore: I'm your host, Arden Moore.

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Arden Moore: We're getting catified with a great person who knows all things about cats and animals.

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Arden Moore: She is Dr.

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Arden Moore: Mikel Delgado, a PhD after her name.

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Arden Moore: We are delving into her new book and it is something you need to get your paws on.

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Arden Moore: Play with your cat.

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Arden Moore: This lady is a scientist, but she's got a pretty interesting background and we got to dive in.

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Arden Moore: Bring on your guitar.

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Arden Moore: Tell us because you've made some life changes.

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Arden Moore: You thought, OK, I'm going to go to school and do this.

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Arden Moore: Then you saw a guitar.

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Arden Moore: Tell us what happened.

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Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:14:00.900 --> 00:14:04.480
Dr. Mikel Delgado: It was not the kind of person who knew what I wanted to do when I grew up.

00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:07.980
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I really was just taking things as they come.

00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:08.680
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:14:08.680 --> 00:14:12.420
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I went to college and realized that I didn't know what I was doing.

00:14:12.420 --> 00:14:14.260
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I didn't know what I wanted to study.

00:14:14.260 --> 00:14:19.640
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I was early 20s and what I really wanted to do was start a band.

00:14:19.640 --> 00:14:23.240
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I dropped out of college, moved to California and started a band.

00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:24.780
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I started a few bands.

00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:26.620
Arden Moore: Give me a couple names.

00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:34.200
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Well, they're punk bands that probably most of you have not heard of, but my first band was called the Cinnamon Imperials.

00:14:35.660 --> 00:14:40.340
Dr. Mikel Delgado: That was a band where I basically just walked up to some women I knew and said, do you want to start a band with me?

00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:43.480
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Then we found a teenage boy drummer and it was really fun.

00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:54.320
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I've recorded a few albums with some of my bands and toured, got to travel around the country and play in these empty bars and people's backyards and living rooms.

00:14:56.280 --> 00:14:57.500
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Bass guitar is my main instrument.

00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:06.260
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I like to dabble at other things, but basically there was probably a 13, 15-year period where music was my passion.

00:15:06.760 --> 00:15:14.640
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Then the animal sheltering world opened itself up to me in 2000 when I started volunteering at an animal shelter.

00:15:14.640 --> 00:15:17.900
Arden Moore: Well, you went to a pretty prestigious animal shelter.

00:15:17.900 --> 00:15:18.860
Arden Moore: Tell us about that.

00:15:18.860 --> 00:15:19.180
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:15:19.180 --> 00:15:34.500
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I was very lucky to be living in San Francisco and the San Francisco SPCA certainly at the time was very unique in its approach to sheltering animals because it was a cage-free environment for adopters to meet cats and dogs.

00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:38.060
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They also had very prestigious behavior programs.

00:15:38.060 --> 00:15:42.080
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Jean Donaldson was working there at the time running the dog behavior program.

00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.020
Dr. Mikel Delgado: There happened to be a cat behavior program too.

00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:50.980
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Basically, as soon as I found out there was a cat behavior program at the shelter that volunteers could participate in, I was like, I want to do that.

00:15:51.220 --> 00:15:55.220
Arden Moore: So what is about the attraction to you with cats?

00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:57.080
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah, it's interesting.

00:15:57.640 --> 00:16:05.620
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I had a few family cats growing up and I lived in a pretty rural area, so they went outdoors and didn't have long, healthy lives.

00:16:05.660 --> 00:16:10.300
Dr. Mikel Delgado: That was the thing back then, the cats get hit by a car and you get a new one.

00:16:10.300 --> 00:16:17.140
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But when I was a teenager, I begged and begged and begged my mother to let me adopt a cat and we got a cat.

00:16:17.620 --> 00:16:18.660
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Named Kiddums.

00:16:20.680 --> 00:16:23.120
Dr. Mikel Delgado: He moved with me to California, he and my other cat.

00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.180
Arden Moore: I thought it was going to be named Joan Jett, really.

00:16:25.180 --> 00:16:25.920
Arden Moore: I mean, it's my cat.

00:16:25.920 --> 00:16:26.920
Dr. Mikel Delgado: No.

00:16:27.260 --> 00:16:27.540
Arden Moore: Yeah.

00:16:27.540 --> 00:16:28.680
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Where did Kiddums come from?

00:16:28.680 --> 00:16:29.020
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Not sure.

00:16:29.020 --> 00:16:33.760
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But then my next cat was named Jesus, which I found very humorous.

00:16:33.760 --> 00:16:35.240
Dr. Mikel Delgado: It was kind of a-

00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:36.720
Arden Moore: Amen.

00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:38.300
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I was being an obnoxious teenager.

00:16:38.300 --> 00:16:51.480
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But yeah, I've always liked cats, but I can't say that again, I wasn't the kind of person who was going to grow up to be a veterinarian and it wasn't until I worked in or volunteered at the shelter that I even knew you could have a different job working with animals.

00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.980
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I was like, oh yeah, people here get paid to do this work.

00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:57.200
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Okay, this is interesting.

00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.140
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I volunteered there a lot.

00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:01.360
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Then when a job opened up, they offered it to me.

00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:05.780
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I think they knew I was there all the time anyway, so they might as well hire me.

00:17:05.780 --> 00:17:08.840
Dr. Mikel Delgado: That was the moment that I was like, I want to be a cat behaviorist.

00:17:08.840 --> 00:17:10.420
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I want to understand this.

00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:11.600
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I want to help cats.

00:17:11.600 --> 00:17:13.560
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I want to help owners understand their cats.

00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:23.500
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I worked in the shelter for about eight years and then realized that I wanted to go back to school and get, well, first I had to finish my bachelor's degree because I was a dropout.

00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:26.380
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But I wanted to study behavior in a more formal way.

00:17:26.380 --> 00:17:27.220
Arden Moore: Well, you did.

00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:31.120
Arden Moore: You have a doctorate degree.

00:17:31.120 --> 00:17:33.880
Arden Moore: Is that from UC Davis?

00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:34.720
Dr. Mikel Delgado: UC Berkeley.

00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:35.720
Arden Moore: UC Berkeley.

00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:39.620
Arden Moore: Then you went and did a post-doctorate fellowship at UC Davis.

00:17:40.120 --> 00:17:45.420
Arden Moore: So, listeners, she's got brains and she's got cat compassion.

00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:49.660
Arden Moore: You've written a book before with Jackson Galaxy, the guy from My Cat from Hell.

00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:50.520
Arden Moore: Love the guy.

00:17:51.360 --> 00:17:54.280
Arden Moore: This one, your new book, Play with Your Cat.

00:17:54.280 --> 00:17:59.540
Arden Moore: I'm so glad that you're talking about play with a purpose because it's really important.

00:17:59.540 --> 00:18:03.660
Arden Moore: But one thing in your book you said, affecting play, there's different factors.

00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:10.200
Arden Moore: I was surprised you said the gender of the cat and the body health type can influence.

00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:11.880
Arden Moore: Can you explain those two?

00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:12.540
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:18:12.540 --> 00:18:20.480
Dr. Mikel Delgado: When I was looking at all the possible things that could influence your cat's play behavior, of course, we always look to biological differences.

00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:32.600
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Sex differences, personality differences, and the literature actually suggests that there's not a ton of differences based on sex.

00:18:32.600 --> 00:18:39.300
Dr. Mikel Delgado: If you think about hunting and play, have a lot of overlap in why cats do them, then it would make sense.

00:18:39.300 --> 00:18:42.580
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Every cat needs to be able to hunt to survive, in theory.

00:18:42.580 --> 00:18:50.280
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Of course, nowadays, we chuck a bowl of food down for them, so they don't need those skills to the extent they would if they were out on the streets.

00:18:50.280 --> 00:18:51.880
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But that instinct is there.

00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:58.580
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So we will then see that all cats should play because all cats need to be able to hunt.

00:18:58.840 --> 00:19:00.180
Dr. Mikel Delgado: That is in them.

00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:07.620
Dr. Mikel Delgado: When I'm looking at things like body type, what I really want people to do is think about their cat as an individual.

00:19:07.620 --> 00:19:10.060
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Is your cat physically fit?

00:19:10.060 --> 00:19:11.800
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Are they a little bit on the chunky side?

00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:17.200
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So I have a whole section in the book about how to deal with cats with disabilities, and cats who are overweight or older.

00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:17.900
Arden Moore: That's good though.

00:19:17.900 --> 00:19:19.140
Arden Moore: You're inclusive.

00:19:19.300 --> 00:19:19.840
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:19:19.840 --> 00:19:24.380
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I want people to not just dismiss like, oh, my cat's fat, so he can't play.

00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:25.800
Dr. Mikel Delgado: He's just not that into it.

00:19:25.800 --> 00:19:28.340
Dr. Mikel Delgado: You just have to tailor the play to what he can do.

00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:34.780
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So maybe that means he's doing more laying on the ground and rolling around with the toy than again, Yes, get him going.

00:19:34.780 --> 00:19:35.080
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:19:35.080 --> 00:19:36.180
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:40.240
Dr. Mikel Delgado: You know, a shy cat may need different things than an outgoing cat.

00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:48.140
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So I do want people to just really understand their cat and how they can learn more about what that particular cat needs.

00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:49.720
Dr. Mikel Delgado: There's no one size fits all.

00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:53.060
Dr. Mikel Delgado: People really want like a here's how you play with every cat in the world.

00:19:53.060 --> 00:19:53.880
Dr. Mikel Delgado: And it's not that simple.

00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:54.680
Arden Moore: I'm glad.

00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:57.740
Arden Moore: But you're blazing a new trail, if you would.

00:19:58.100 --> 00:20:03.980
Arden Moore: It's kind of scary, I bet, to be getting into new research because there's not a lot out there.

00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:07.480
Arden Moore: You're actually setting some basics and some standards, wouldn't you say?

00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:07.800
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:20:08.080 --> 00:20:13.060
Dr. Mikel Delgado: And the nice thing is that there is new research being done on cat play behavior.

00:20:13.060 --> 00:20:17.940
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So things will probably need to update the book in 10 years, but that's okay.

00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:19.520
Arden Moore: Darn.

00:20:19.520 --> 00:20:30.200
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But I think the nice thing about cats is that they've, certainly since I started working with cats in 2000, I think we've seen a lot of improvements for cats.

00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:36.520
Dr. Mikel Delgado: As far as people's interest in taking good care of them, certainly interest on the internet has escalated.

00:20:36.520 --> 00:20:39.540
Dr. Mikel Delgado: We know of course that has downsides in addition to the benefits.

00:20:39.540 --> 00:20:45.000
Dr. Mikel Delgado: It's just that sometimes we see people doing things that go viral that maybe are not the best for the cat's welfare.

00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:52.680
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But on the other hand, we do see a lot of people who have adopted a cat, really want to take good care of them.

00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.720
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They don't hold back in spoiling their cats and giving them what they need.

00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:59.980
Dr. Mikel Delgado: That's certainly the audience that I'm hoping to tap into.

00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:04.480
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But really, I think everybody will hopefully learn something from this book.

00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.840
Arden Moore: Well, what about your cats?

00:21:05.840 --> 00:21:10.300
Arden Moore: You have three, Coriander, Ruby, Professor Scribbles.

00:21:10.360 --> 00:21:11.120
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yes.

00:21:11.120 --> 00:21:13.400
Arden Moore: I don't know what you call them as a nickname.

00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:14.580
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:21:14.580 --> 00:21:15.580
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I have three cats.

00:21:15.580 --> 00:21:16.500
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They're sisters.

00:21:16.500 --> 00:21:21.260
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They're all females and they're all tortie tabbies.

00:21:21.260 --> 00:21:23.860
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I went for the tortitude factor.

00:21:23.860 --> 00:21:33.960
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But really, I tell so many of my clients too, if they want to get a kitten to adopt at least two kittens, so they can play with each other and grow up together.

00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:42.240
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Knowing that naturally occurring cat groups, like feral colonies tend to be matrilineal, they tend to be comprised of related females.

00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:46.920
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I was interested in adopting a litter or members of a litter.

00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:56.520
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So when we lost our last cat during the beginning of the pandemic, that was my cat, Clarabelle, and she had large cell lymphoma, and she was a fantastic cat.

00:21:56.520 --> 00:21:59.520
Dr. Mikel Delgado: She was definitely my heart cat.

00:21:59.520 --> 00:22:06.540
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But after she passed away, we decided this was an opportunity to just get three cats at once.

00:22:08.520 --> 00:22:17.560
Dr. Mikel Delgado: One of the main reasons that I've called for cat behavior help is cat introductions gone wrong where people have a resident cat, they introduce another cat and now they're fighting.

00:22:17.560 --> 00:22:22.300
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So I was like, I think I'm just going to skip the introduction and just adopt litter mates and then they already know each other.

00:22:22.360 --> 00:22:23.340
Arden Moore: So that's what we do.

00:22:23.340 --> 00:22:23.640
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:25.720
Arden Moore: They had a wound with a view when they were.

00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:26.540
Arden Moore: Yeah.

00:22:26.560 --> 00:22:29.000
Arden Moore: So what's their favorite play style?

00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:30.380
Arden Moore: What's the game you play with them?

00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:30.940
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:31.700
Dr. Mikel Delgado: It's a great question.

00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:35.540
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They're all, as cats are, they're all individuals.

00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:42.160
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They like, they definitely like, well, Coriander is very food motivated.

00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:43.540
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So she likes.

00:22:43.540 --> 00:22:45.640
Arden Moore: Oh, she's got a kind of a kitchen name.

00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:46.600
Arden Moore: Go ahead.

00:22:46.600 --> 00:22:49.400
Dr. Mikel Delgado: She likes anything that involves training and working for food.

00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.020
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So she uses food puzzles.

00:22:51.020 --> 00:22:57.040
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But with play, they love, it's going to sound weird because again, it's food, but they love green beans.

00:22:57.040 --> 00:22:57.680
Arden Moore: Oh, I've heard that.

00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.700
Arden Moore: Yeah, some cats dig it.

00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:03.240
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So I tie a green bean to a string and I attach it to a wand and I drag it around.

00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:04.400
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They love that.

00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:09.580
Arden Moore: I hope some visitors come over and they see a green bean on a string in your living room.

00:23:09.580 --> 00:23:12.300
Arden Moore: Oh, is that what we're having for dinner, Dr.

00:23:12.300 --> 00:23:13.300
Arden Moore: Delgado?

00:23:13.300 --> 00:23:19.080
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I have gone to the grocery store and bought three green beans and the clerk is like, what's going on here?

00:23:19.080 --> 00:23:20.480
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I'm like, they're for my cats.

00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:21.080
Arden Moore: Okay, good.

00:23:21.080 --> 00:23:22.060
Arden Moore: You're funny.

00:23:22.060 --> 00:23:24.480
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But no, they like a lot of feather wands.

00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:28.840
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They really like the ripple rug, which is this really cool toy.

00:23:29.140 --> 00:23:35.300
Dr. Mikel Delgado: It's like a prop for play where it's got a rug that's a base, and then it has a rug that velcro is onto the top that has holes in it.

00:23:35.300 --> 00:23:37.280
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So you can make caves and tunnels.

00:23:37.280 --> 00:23:44.960
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They love that and they like anything with the stick end of the toy, like poking through a hole or underneath a piece of fabric or tissue paper.

00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:46.700
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They love tissue paper.

00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:47.720
Dr. Mikel Delgado: But they're pretty run of them.

00:23:48.600 --> 00:23:50.060
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They like feather wands.

00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:57.900
Dr. Mikel Delgado: They like anything small and bug like on the end of a stick and a string is good for them, but they do get bored of the same toy pretty quickly.

00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:01.280
Dr. Mikel Delgado: So I do a lot of homemade toys to keep them interested.

00:24:01.280 --> 00:24:04.220
Dr. Mikel Delgado: That's how the green bean came into being.

00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:11.920
Dr. Mikel Delgado: It was like, when it's fresh, it's nice and juicy and then it gets dry and weird and hard and they like that too.

00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:17.060
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Then we compost it and get a new green bean and they seem to be satisfied with that.

00:24:17.060 --> 00:24:18.880
Arden Moore: Hey everyone, we're speaking with Dr.

00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:20.120
Arden Moore: Mikel Delgado.

00:24:20.120 --> 00:24:21.980
Arden Moore: You got to get your paws on our book.

00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:23.980
Arden Moore: It's called Play With Your Cat.

00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:31.560
Arden Moore: We also need to have people know how to follow you because I do know you co-founded Feline Minds, so how do we track you down?

00:24:31.560 --> 00:24:44.220
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah, unfortunately I have too many websites, but felineminds.com is my cat consulting business, so that's where people should go if they want to hire me for a behavior consultation and they can learn more about that service there.

00:24:44.220 --> 00:24:53.040
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I also have a blog called whatyourcatwants.com and that's me really translating science for a lay audience.

00:24:53.040 --> 00:25:03.040
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Just trying to bring the studies about cats to your everyday cat person in a way they can understand what the science found, what it means, how should we think about it.

00:25:03.040 --> 00:25:07.540
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I also co-run a website called foodpuzzlesforcats.com.

00:25:07.540 --> 00:25:08.060
Arden Moore: I love that.

00:25:08.060 --> 00:25:08.340
Arden Moore: Yeah.

00:25:08.340 --> 00:25:08.800
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah.

00:25:08.800 --> 00:25:13.520
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Then I run that with Ingrid Johnson, who's a cat behavior consultant from Georgia.

00:25:13.520 --> 00:25:17.120
Dr. Mikel Delgado: The goal of that website is to encourage people to use food puzzles with their cats.

00:25:17.120 --> 00:25:23.060
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Not quite play, but definitely part of the predatory or acting behavior, is that working for food.

00:25:23.060 --> 00:25:23.860
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I'm on social media.

00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:25.720
Dr. Mikel Delgado: People Google me, they'll find me.

00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:30.380
Dr. Mikel Delgado: I'm mostly on Instagram and Twitter, or X.

00:25:31.780 --> 00:25:33.000
Dr. Mikel Delgado: Yeah, I'm around.

00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:33.760
Arden Moore: Okay.

00:25:33.760 --> 00:25:36.740
Arden Moore: Hey, I'm so happy we finally got to have you on the show.

00:25:36.740 --> 00:25:40.140
Arden Moore: We need to meet in person someday.

00:25:40.140 --> 00:25:47.580
Arden Moore: But thank you for telling us about your book, and thank you for being a trailblazer for fine felines everywhere.

00:25:47.580 --> 00:25:51.900
Arden Moore: I'm a better human because of the kitties in my house, including pet safety cat, Casey.

00:25:52.360 --> 00:25:57.340
Arden Moore: I also at this time everyone want to give a shout out to my producer, Mark Winter.

00:25:57.340 --> 00:26:01.060
Arden Moore: He is the executive producer of all the shows on Pet Life Radio.

00:26:01.060 --> 00:26:07.880
Arden Moore: By the way, Pet Life Radio is the largest, longest running pet podcast network on the planet.

00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:12.860
Arden Moore: We haven't got to the moon yet, and this show is the longest running pet podcast, weekly podcast.

00:26:12.860 --> 00:26:15.540
Arden Moore: We've been on the air since 07.

00:26:15.600 --> 00:26:19.680
Arden Moore: I was in diapers, and Beed Spot, I think that's right, Mark.

00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:26.140
Arden Moore: That's the one that voted Oh Behave as the number one pet podcast going into 2024, is that correct?

00:26:26.540 --> 00:26:30.580
Arden Moore: We did not get a free car, but we're happy with the honors.

00:26:30.580 --> 00:26:32.480
Arden Moore: We love having guests like Dr.

00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:33.660
Arden Moore: Delgado on.

00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:37.680
Arden Moore: Check me out on Four-Legged Life, my YouTube channel, Arden Moore.

00:26:37.740 --> 00:26:47.580
Arden Moore: Until next time, this is your free host, Arden Moore, delivering just two words to all you, two, three, and four-leggers out there, Oh Behave.

00:26:47.580 --> 00:26:51.920
Announcer: Coast to coast and around the world, it's Oh Behave with Arden Moore.

00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:59.640
Announcer: Find out why cats and dogs do the things they do, and get the latest buzz from Wagging Tongues and Tails in Rin Tin Tinsel Town.

00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:07.680
Announcer: From famous pet experts and bestselling authors to television and movie stars, you'll get great tail wagging pet tips and have a fur-flying fun time.

00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.060
Announcer: Oh Behave with America's Pet Edutainer, Arden Moore.

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Announcer: Every week on demand, only on petliferadio.com.