Your Connecting With Your Cat's Inner Tiger Allows Your Cat to:

* Accept and love you unconditionally whether you
are a tri-athlete or couch potato. 

* Provide you with an ever-ready, friendly "Welcome home!" 
greeting. (Smoochie always has a "meow" for me.)

* Alleviate your sense of aloneness and isolation. When I'm
stuck at home, Smoochie knows when to rub me with her head, purring.

* Listen to you attentively and sympathetically. (Unlike some people
I know, Smoochie actually listens and responds to me.)

* Encourage you to share your sadness and disappointment as well 
as your silliness and joy. (Smoochie will roll over in my lap until I tell her.)

* Touch you and savor your touch in return. (Smoochie is an unrepentant touch-aholic.)

* Distract you with its humorous antics when you are feeling low. (Smoochie
will start to roll over to have me pet her tummy even when she's on the arm 
of a chair. Oops!)

* Give you protection, security, warmth, and strength when you are 
ill or in pain. (When I don't feel well, Smoochie will cuddle up next to 
me on the sofa or bed.)

* Remain your loyal friend, enthusiastic playmate, and greatest admirer.

* Impact you physically, emotionally, and spiritually with a warming inner glow
that can make things more "okay." 

* Meet so many of your everyday psychological and physical needs that your fellow humans may not (and often cannot) meet. 

* Make you an even more caring, compassionate, thoughtful, and empathetic person. (Smoochie keeps me checking my expectations and assumptions, giving people—and cats—the benefit of the doubt.) Because cats are sensitive and observant, they are particularly good at human psychology.

Human-cat companionship exists because 
"A meow massages the heart." 
— Stuart McMilan

Connecting With Your Cat's Inner Tiger Provides Health Benefits 

Your having a cat companion has long been hailed as therapeutic for those who are alone, lonely, socially disengaged, anxious, depressed, under stress, or in recovery from illness. Research has suggested that the cat bond positively influences your emotional state and health. 

The stronger the bond, the greater the benefits. 

For example, interacting with Smoochie lowers my blood pressure, while conversing with another human being will likely raise it.   

Your interacting with your cat, such as giving Smoochie an ear scritch, interrupts your stressful thoughts in part because your cat offers you the opportunity for the most basic, necessary, and nurturing form of communication: touch. Smoochie always gratefully returns the favor with an embracing purr. 

Your having a cat is having "someone" to care for and about—a special someone 
who cares about you back. This gives meaning to your life and spurs you to keep going on. 

In fact, your having a cat, or other companion animal, is the strongest indicator 
for recovery of individuals following cardiac surgery. 

Cat companionship influences you positively and directly in personal and social situations as well. Personally, your cat can help you alleviate negativity of any kind to get you back on an emotional even keel. I can never feel angry for long when Smoochie flops over on her back and shows me her tawny tummy begging to be stroked.

Socially, your cat makes you seem friendlier, happier, more caring, more hardworking, intellectually curious, and intelligent to others. People look at Smoochie and think, "If Smoochie has her as her human companion, she must be okay." 

Moreover, as Smoochie reminded me, people are attracted to other people's cats. Your cat can also supply a ready topic of conversation, interest and hobby possibilities: from cat still photography and videos to showing your cat at cat shows to training your cat for videos, competitions to sharing your cat at homes of seniors or disabled, or just plain mutual fun. Smoochie, however, prefers lying on my keyboard, waiting for me to do her next ezine issue.

"Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul is unawakened."
— Anatole France, French poet and novelist

So What is Your Cat's "Inner Tiger"?

Your cat's inner tiger is that mysterious essence—some might think of as a "cosmic intelligence"—that seems to reflect something secret and special. It is something undiscovered by most people, but it resonates with the core of your being as a cat companion. 

It is so magnetic that it subtly draws you to your cat. It nurtures your desire that you and your cat cement a spiritual connection. It offers you the potential—the opportunity—to communicate with your cat to achieve that rewarding soul-to-soul commitment.

Knowing Your Cat's Inner Tiger Heightens Your Relationship Rewards  

You and your cat are different species. You look at life differently. You have different needs, wants, and goals. You have different "values." You have different motivations and ways of doing things. You communicate and behave differently.

Loving your cat's inner tiger means accepting the "magic of differences."

And yet, when you discover how to communicate with your cat's inner tiger, you 
and your cat can understand and accept one another for who you are. Your personalities and attitudes click. You both can cherish the differences as well as the commonalities.  

You are equal and both worthy of respect in your relationship.
"You are my cat and I am your human."
- Hilaire Beloc, writer and historian
  

In the closest cat-human relationships if you are not yet cat smart and do not know how to communicate with and love your cat's inner tiger, there will be too many times when your cat drives you a little crazy ... or ... a lot crazy! We're talking about significant frustration, anger, and anxiety.  

Why?

* You may wonder what your cat is doing.

* You may not know why it is doing it.

* You may question if it is personally-directed.

Moreover, ...

* You may wonder if your cat's personality and attitudes really fit yours.

* You may not know how to deal with your feelings of anger and frustration.

* You may not know how to appropriately respond to your cat's behavior.

* You may feel something is blocking your communication and relationship.

What Can You Do About This?

No matter how much you love your cat, you can become frustrated with its actions until ... you can tap into this inner connection with your cat. While it may seem mystical, it is not magic. It is simply knowing cat psychology, your cat's personality and behavior and accepting them, and what techniques work to enhance your relationship.

YES, YOU CAN! When You Become Cat Smart 

When you discover how to connect and communicate with your cat's inner tiger and share your acceptance of it with your cat companion, you can significantly enhance your mutual love to meet your respective needs. 

How? By Discovering More Fully ...

What Does Your Cat Get Out of All This?

Your cat gets strong, comforting sense of your love, care, and support as well as a more empathetic understanding of who it is, what it does, and why. Furthermore, it completely trusts you not to do anything to betray your relationship bond with it. 

Smoochie, who used to live on the street, fearfully dodging cars and people, constantly searching for food, says TRUST is the most important benefit. However, she adds, your attention to giving lots of petting, cuddling, brushing, play activity, and yummy food "isn't chopped liver."

SOON I will be offering you: Teleseminars, videos, audio downloads, home-study programs, e-books, surveys and polls, and an Inner Tiger Membership Program to help you and your cat achieve your communication and commitment goals. 

I'm also working on setting up a contest to gather your humorous, touching, and inspiring personal cat stories for a book which will be made available in both digital and hard-copy formats. 

When you subscribe to Cat Smart Inner Tiger Tips ezine, you will also get all the announcements of what is new or upcoming first. So be sure to subscribe.

Who is Dr. Signe A. Dayhoff?

For over the last 28 years I have been a Social Psychologist, Cognitive-Behaviorist for Humans, and Applied Feline Behaviorist with emphasis on the emotional bond between humans and cats 

An applied cat behaviorist is one who uses cat psychology, observation, sensitivity, knowledge of cat vocalizations and their own body language to communicate with cats in order to enhance their rewarding relationship with humans and correct any unacceptable behaviors ... and then translate that behavior for you.

Being a life-long cat lover, I have adopted and fostered cats most of my life, like Smoochie. For the last 10 years, I have been working with CARMA (Companion Animal Rescue and Medical Assistance) in Corrales, New Mexico, socializing homeless cats for adoption to loving homes. 

Currently my own brood of adoptees and fosters numbers 24, consisting mostly of senior and special needs cats (e.g., blindness, deafness, missing limbs, brain damage, cancer, diabetes, thyroid disease, kidney failure). And, yes, they all live in the house with me, their "Kitty Mom," and Smoochie!

One of the many reasons I am crazy about my cats is that we know each others' imperfections ... and love each other anyway. Talk about unconditional positive regard! 

"When a man loves cats, I am his friend and 
comrade without further introduction."
— Mark Twain

When you Become Cat Smart, you can change it all for the better—more loving, respectful, and fun—for both of you.

In the Worldly-Wise Cat Wisdom of Smoochie:  

"When you truly communicate with your cat, you embrace your 
cat's inner tiger, and love your relationship and yourself even more."

Showing you how to "cat communicate" to create a rewarding cat relationship,

P.S. Cats are very democratic. They can make friends with and have fun with nearly
any other animal. Check out this odd couple: