We are dedicated to offering advice, tips and help to all cat lovers to help their kitties be their best companions ever. These resources can provide excellent help, like products that we use and recommend, pet sitters and pet friendly rentals in the Pikes Peak region, and advice on cat behavior, catios for outdoor time and caring for our community cats.
Products
All of the following items are available in our Happy Cats Shop, except for those from Hauspanther. Drop by and see us or please call at 719-362-4600 if you’d like to order over the phone.
Feline Furnishings We offer a line of cat-tested and approved scratchers and cat trees made right here in our region by Happy Cats friend Michael. His designs use both sisal rope and carpet to offer cats a choice of surfaces and are sturdy enough that they won’t tip over, a very important component to making sure your cat isn’t punished for using the scratcher. They are well made from repurposed new carpet remnants, making them a very sustainable choice over Big Box scratchers not made in the USA. We offer everything from kitten scratchers to large 3-stepper cat trees, all reasonably priced. Michael also takes custom orders. Even better: he will recover your old tree when it starts to wear out! Call us at 719-362-4600 for more info.
T-Shirts & Hoodies
Show your Happy Cats pride with our line of catwear, including our Veni-Vedi-Nappi shirts and our Cat Commando hoodies and shirts.
Go Cat: Go Cat carries quality cat toys that are handcrafted in the USA and sold in pet stores across the country and around the world. Often imitated, never duplicated! Our Happy Cats tell us they love their Da Birds and Cat Catchers.
Feliway: Feliway is a synthetic copy of the feline facial pheromone used by cats to mark their territory as safe and secure. By mimicking the cat’s natural facial pheromone, Feliway creates a state of familiarity and security in the cat’s local environment. As a result, Feliway can be used to help comfort and reassure cats while they cope with a challenging situation such as moving or traveling. Feliway helps reduce or prevent unwanted behaviors caused by stress. We use it for stressed kitties as well as when we take our kitties to the vet, spraying it on their bedding 10 minutes before they go in the carrier.
Hauspanther: Hauspanther features the latest design finds, tailored specifically for those who share our love of cats. Hauspanther designs are meant to enhance the way we live with cats, improving our lives and the lives of our beloved feline companions. By paying attention to the design of objects and environments, Hauspanther works to create living spaces that accommodate the natural instincts of cats – keeping them happy, healthy and well behaved – without compromising our own sense of style and comfort.
Website: Hauspanther
Pet sitting:
Play and Treat Pet Service: Pet Sitting & Behavior Consulting, (719) 686-8778
Playtime Pet sitting and Dog walking: (719) 475-7297 or Playtime Pet Sitters
Little Paws: 2913 Escapardo Pl, Colorado Springs, CO 80917
(719) 232-6757 or Little Paws
Judi Baillie
970-208-7025
Jeanne Rice (specializes in Westside and Manitou)
ricejeanne2@gmail.com
Tranquility Pet sitting and Dog walking Service: (719) 352-1467 or Tranquility Pet Sitting
Pet2Vet Connection: Petsitting & mobile Veterinary Technician services
(480) 577-4774
Cat Boarding:
Colorado Cats Cat Boarding
8620 Shoup Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80908
(719) 495-1858
Catagonia Cat Hotel
4703 Centennial Blvd
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
(719) 602-6081
Northwest Animal Hospital
4575 North Chestnut Street
Colorado Springs CO 80907
(719) 593-8582
Resources for Low-Income pet families:
Harley’s Hope is a local nonprofit organization who’s mission is to ensure that low income pet parents and their companion or service animals remain together when issues arise. The goal in doing so is to prevent at-risk animals from being surrendered or falling victim to euthanasia for treatable conditions and behaviors.
While Happy Cats Haven can offer any assistance necessary to cat owners in need, we are run almost entirely on donations and may not have the means to assist with high cost veterinary care.
Harley’s Hope is a great resource, please visit their webpage here: http://www.harleys-hopefoundation.org/index.html
Pet Friendly Rentals:
Whispering Pines
3003 Mallard Dr
Colorado Springs, CO 80910
Encore at Woodmen Ridge
5520 Woodmen Ridge View
Colorado Springs, CO 80923
(719) 354-4962
Lodge at Blackforest
7761 Bear Point Run
Colorado Springs, CO 80924
(719) 633-2677
Creekside at Palmer Park
1350 Cascade Creek View
Colorado Springs, CO 80915
(719) 622-8300
Bonterra Lakeside Apartments
890 Quail Lake Circle
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
(719) 576-5940
Glenpond Apartments
1714 Lorraine Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
(719) 475-0538
Behavioral Help:
Melissa Shandley: Melissa is a local cat behavior consultant and pet sitter. She focuses on cat behavior and caters to the special needs of felines. She offers play therapy, clicker training, behavior modification and problem solving to help create harmonious households.
Website: Play and Treat Pet Service
Carole Galloway Carole runs Colorado Cats, the boarding facility. She has 20 years experience working with all the cats she’s seen over the years and can help you solve your cat problems. Call if you live on the East side of Colorado Springs: (719) 495-1858
Many times, Happy Cats receives from calls from owners whose cat(s) have behavioral problems. We recommend the following products to correct behavior issues:
Essential Oils from AnimalEO:
Dr. Melissa Shelton is an internationally recognized holistic veterinarian, who specializes in using medical grade essential oils for complete and natural care of all animals. By using essential oils along with nutrition, whole food supplements, and other holistic modalities – Dr. Shelton has helped many animals for which traditional medicine has no answer.
The Kitty Boost is a fundamental item for all cats. Cats are unique to the essential oil world, and they are certainly opinionated as well. All good cat owners know, that we should definitely cater to them. They are in charge. And, if we go against what their desires are, we are certain to be shunned, not allowed to pet them, and we might not see them materialize from under the bed for weeks! The essential oils contained within the Kitty Boost are specially selected for a wide variety of feline needs. Expertly blended, and properly diluted, we have had thousands of cats using similar formulas for years. In our veterinary clinic – we document safety, results, and multiple samples of blood work and urine samples.
Recommendations: Kitty Boost, Aroma Boost, Calm-a-Mile, Happy Cat, Litteroma
Bach Flower Remedies: Bach Flower Remedies uses natural ingredients to calm and soothe your animal and is sold at the Happy Cats retail store.
NurtureCALM 24/7 Feline Calming Pheromone Collar (Upto 15″ Neck)
- Collar can be difficult to fit especially if cat hasn’t worn collars
- Proven to modify behavior
- Helps Cats in Fearful and stressful situations
- Helps with traveling and vet visits
Pet Naturals
- Calming formula is recommended for pets exposed to environmental stressors.
- Supports stress reduction
- Helps animals relax and quiet down
- Reduces irritability
- Reduces anxiety
Jackson Galaxy: Starting out as a volunteer at Boulder Valley Animal Shelter, Galaxy is now a cat behaviorist with more than twenty years of experience – and the host of Animal Planet’s hit show My Cat From Hell. He specializes in helping individuals whose “out of control” cats are turning their lives and homes upside down. He has authored numerous books and posted videos on cat behavior and positive reinforcement. Even if you have the perfect cat, his show will almost always teach you something you didn’t know before.
Books:
Online:
Jackson Galaxy’s Website
Jackson Galaxy’s Facebook page
Jackson Galaxy’s YouTube videos
Pam Johnson-Bennett: Pam Johnson-Bennett is the best-selling author of 7 books on cat behavior, host of the Animal Planet UK series Psycho Kitty, and one of the most popular and sought-after cat behavior experts in the world. She is considered a pioneer in the field of cat behavior consulting and has influenced many practicing in the field today. Pam began making house calls to work with clients on cat behavior problems in 1982 and her first book came out in 1990. She was vice president of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and founded the IAABC Cat Division where she served as its longtime chair for 8 years. Pam served on the American Humane Association’s Advisory Board on Animal Behavior and Training and was also a member of the American Humane Association’s Cat health and Welfare Forum.
Books:
Online:
Pam Johnson-Bennett’s Website
Pam Johnson-Bennett’s Facebook page
Pam Johnson-Bennett on The Cat Channel
Pam Johnson-Bennett YouTube videos
Marilyn Krieger: Marilyn Krieger, noted Certified Cat Behavior Consultant known as The Cat Coach, is an internationally recognized cat behavior specialist and award winning author. She offers on-site, Skype and telephone consultation sessions throughout the world. Marilyn works directly with clients as well as through veterinarian referrals. Her intelligent, capable advice solves diverse behavior problems for all breeds of cats. Thousands of cat lovers are familiar with Marilyn from the twice-monthly articles she writes for Catster as well as her previous 8 year association with Cat Fancy Magazine when she wrote their monthly cat behavior columns. She also contributes articles to such popular publications as Cats USA and Kittens USA.
Website:The Cat Coach
Books: (We have this in our Happy Cats Shop)
Online:
Marilyn Krieger’s website, The Cat Coach
Marilyn Krieger’s Cat Coach Facebook page
Marilyn Krieger on Catster
Good Kitty Behavior Consulting & Training: If you’re in the Denver area, Billie Reynolds is your local Cat Behavior Specialist and Certified Trainer. She has educated hundreds of cat lovers and provided practical solutions that effectively change unwanted cat behavior. Her wealth of knowledge and experience, both personally and professionally, can help you answer your simplest questions to solving your most frustrating cat issues. And, she has a way of making it fun for everyone.
Best Cat Books:
When you’re ready to dive a little deeper into the subject of cats, these books will help. They’re our paws-down favorite sources for reliable cat information. Click here.
Cat Toys
Bergan Turbo Scratcher
Designed to provide hours of fun for your furry companion
The Turbo Scratcher has a channel for a small ball your cat can nudge with its nose or shove with its paw
In the center of the Turbo Scratcher, the textured scratch pad is both durable and replaceable
Includes 1 base (16″ diameter), 1 scratch pad and 1 ball; place ball in track for hours of fun – entertain your cat and protect your furniture from scratching!
Cat Dancer
Wire with rolls of kraft paper. Bounces around erratically like a bug.
Cats love this simple inexpensive toy.
Outdoor Resources
It’s a no-brainer to keep your cats inside in an area full of predators like coyotes, raccoons and free-roaming dogs. However, we do support outside time for your cat if it’s safe and supervised. Here are some resources for that.
How to walk your cat on a leash: Cats are not born knowing how to do this! It’s a behavior that needs to be taught. From our feline behavior consultant, Melissa Shandley, great instructions for how to make this a happy experience.
Catio Help: We highly recommend giving your cat fresh air and sunshine by building your cat a safe outdoor enclosure.
Outdoor Enclosure Examples from Jackson Galaxy
Spoil Your Cat Rotten with a Catio from the Animal Rescue Site
Feral Friends
How to help care for our community cats.
Groomers
As a rule, we support gentle grooming techniques at home where your cat is most comfortable. Yes, you can teach your kitty to not only tolerate but enjoy simple grooming such as brushing and claw clipping. Our Click with Your Cat class can give you great pointers for this.
Conventional grooming must be one of the most terrifying experiences a cat can have: first the car ride, then barking dogs, noisy clippers and blow dryers (never forget a cat’s hearing is 60% higher than ours and 30% higher than our dog friends) and of course, water. Then when it’s all done, the cat is usually left with unwanted smells in their fur that prolong their stress.
However, if your cat is longhaired and is past the point where you can deal with the mats effectively, we recommend a mobile groomer, where at least the car ride and dogs can be avoided. We have yet to hear of a good mobile cat groomer in Colorado Springs, but this one in the Denver area comes highly recommended:
Colorado Cat Grooming Sally’s Colorado Cat Grooming offers custom cat grooming services in the privacy of your own home. She serves the Denver area but will travel for an additional trip charge. Wait time can be 2-6 weeks, so plan ahead.
Nutrition
Dr. Karen Becker: Dr. Becker wrote her first pet cookbook in 1999 after recognizing that people committed to nourishing their pets healthfully were short on “how to” resources. Her second cookbook, a collaboration with pet wellness coach Beth Taylor, was released in 2003. Dr. Becker works with the third largest medical website and largest wellness website, Mercola.com, to provide a free pet wellness newsletter to pet lovers around the world.
Books:
Real Food for Healthy Pets, volume 2
Feline Nutrition:
Feline Nutrition is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to educating cat owners about the importance of feline nutrition. Their website focuses on providing information free to the general public on feline nutrition and health, providing information on feeding raw meat diets for people new to the idea, and creating awareness of feline nutrition and raw feeding through traditional and new media outreach: website, social media, video, blogs, mobile, email, viral marketing, print.
Online: http://feline-nutrition.org/