Finds for feline friends

Last week we offered some of the best "must know" information from our just-released book "The Ultimate Dog Lover." This week, the cats have their turn, with tips from "The Ultimate Cat Lover."

Each "must know" piece in the book has been developed with the help of one of the top experts in each area of expertise, and these experts are noted at the end of each tip.

. Litter-box avoidance: Cats don't urinate outside the litter box to spite their owners. Some cats who don't go to the bathroom where we'd like them to have a medical or metabolic problem. Others are terrified of bully cats. And some don't like to do their business in a box that smells like a standing-line-only carnival porta-potty on a hot summer day. Many homes have too few litter boxes, located in the wrong places, or filled with litter that cats don't really like. — Dr. Gary Landsberg, veterinarian and behaviorist, noted speaker and instructor on pet behavior issues

. Pain management: It's particularly challenging for veterinarians and cat owners to recognize when a cat is in pain. Cats are descended from small predators who instinctively know that if they show signs of illness, the hunter becomes the hunted. Subtle changes in a cat's interactions with the family may be a clue that pain is present. Be on the lookout for unexpected hiding, irritability, lack of appetite or just plain weird(er) behavior. While you should never give human pain meds (even the overthe counter variety) to your cat (they can be lethal), your veterinarian can help you to ease your pet's pain with traditional and alternative medicine and with strategies to help manage the cat's environment to ease the hurt. — Dr. Robin Downing, veterinarian and internationally recognized expert on pain management in companion animals

. Keeping indoor cats busy: Today's cats are born retired — they've gone from mouser to moocher. Bored cats may develop medical problems and may suffer both physically and emotionally from the stress of living entirely in a man-made world. The key to stress reduction is to identify activities that make us feel better and then to do them. The easiest way to learn what an individual cat prefers (whether with treats, toys or litter box type, filler or location) is to offer alternatives and watch what she chooses. Dr. Tony Buffington, professor of veterinary clinical sciences at The Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital, which runs the Indoor Cat Initiative (IndoorCat.org)

. Speaking "felinese": You don't have to go through a language immersion course to learn what your cat is trying to tell you. The language of cats has a lot to do with non-verbal cues — body language, in other words. A cat's tail is one of the most reliable ways to tell his emotional state. A friendly cat will carry his tail upright, with the tip tilted slightly forward. Tail-wagging is a danger sign in cats, and you'd better back off when you see it. — Dusty Rainbolt, author of award-winning books on cat care, most recently "Cat Wrangling Made Easy: Maintaining Peace and Sanity in Your Multicat Home." She has fostered and placed more than 300 hard-luck cats and has bottle raised countless orphaned kittens.

That's just the tiniest of tastes of all the information that we've put into these new "Ultimate" pet books. The cat book also contains information on safer anesthesia, reducing both shedding and allergies to cats, and how to take great pictures of your cats.