Sunday Purrs: Why Conscious Living is Good for Your Cats

The tag line of this site is “Conscious Living, Health and Happiness for Cats and their Humans.” I choose this motto, along with the name for the site, because I believe that living consciously is the key to happiness for all of us.

What is conscious living?

The definition of the word conscious “to be aware of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts and surroundings”.  It also means “being fully aware or sensitive to something”, “aware of oneself”, and “deliberate and intentional”.  All these terms take us right to the heart of what conscious living means.

Conscious living means making choices that are in alignment with who we really are at our core. We make choices about everything we do all day long, from the food we eat and feed our cats, to the products we use on ourselves and in our environment. The more we make these conscious choices, the more whole our lives will become, and the happier we will be – and so will our cats.

There are three components of conscious living: health and nutrition, environment, and mental, emotional and spiritual health. We have to attend to all three of them, for ourselves, and for our cats, to ensure that we live a balanced and happy life.

Health and Nutrition

Nutrition is the foundation of good health for ourselves and our cats. We can’t change genetics, but we can control what we put into our bodies, and what we feed our cats. You’ll find lots of information on species appropriate feline nutrition as well as a wealth of feline health topics right here on The Conscious Cat.

Environment

There are two parts to the component of environment: the space we live in, and the products we use in that space. At their core, cats are still wild animals, and while we’ve invited them into our homes to share our lives, we can’t expect them to completely give up all their instincts. We have to look at our living space from the cat’s point of view and provide an environment that keeps them stimulated.

Make your home cat-friendly by creating a kitty paradise of cat trees, shelves, scratching posts and cat cubes and tunnels. By providing plenty of options, you’ll avoid behavior issues and keep your cats happy.

Don’t use commercial cleaning products that contain harmful chemicals. Many of these products can be extremely toxic, and even deadly. Cats are especially susceptible since they groom themselves by licking and as a result ingest anything that comes in contact with their feet or fur. Use cat-friendly cleaning products instead – they’re better for your cats, for you, and the planet.

Mental, emotional and spiritual health

I don’t think it comes as a surprise to any of you who are reading this that cats are good for our health. Studies have shown that simply petting a cat (or dog, for that matter) lowers our blood pressure. A 10-year study at the University of Minnesota Stroke Center found that cat owners were 40% less likely to have a heart attack than non-cat owners.

Cats are not just good for our physical health, they’re good for our mental, emotional and spiritual health. All of my books are about learning from our cats. Cats teach us to live in the moment, to slow down, and to not take life quite so seriously. And they open our hearts; sometimes, in a very big way.

The argument for conscious living is compelling. And it’s not just good for us, it’s good for our cats.

Photo: since Amber was the inspiration for The Conscious Cat, I thought it was only fitting that I used a photo of her with this post.