First Ever Published Honey Badger Advice

So even though any of the Honey Badgers have advised against this I feel I might as well try my hands at it... Welcome to the first ever advice column from the First Montana Orthodox Church of the Honey Badger...

Pinkie writes :"I have two cats, Stanley and Donny. Donny is a "people person", so to speak. Stanley is not. My boyfriend and his kids recently moved in with us and Stanley is stressed out, hissing and stuff. He seems to have lost a little weight. So this is a two part advice thing. One, how can I make Stanley feel better? Two, my boyfriend's daughter wants a third cat. Should I let her? Also I agree, I should not be taking advice from the Honey Badgers, but here I am."

So this advice is not professional in any sense of the word but here it goes. First off I would say hold off on getting a new cat until the originals are more comfortable with the situation, cats are notoriously territorial and hate change in their environment. The give a strong front but are decidedly human in their weakness, and unwillingness to share it with the beings around them... While they will show displeasure they will not give too many signs that they are hurting. I like to think of cats as tiny people that can get away with pooping in your shoes. So I would sit down with the child and explain now is not the time to get a new cat and that you intend to think it over with in the near future as soon as life resettles. I would assume that the child is reasonable enough that if you speak with them like they are an adult that you will have better results.

As for making the cat feel more comfortable be sure that you continue to seek him out and make him aware that you still care about him. Expose him to the rest of the new family as much as possible but never dig him out of his safe space, also make sure he has a safe space where he is likely to be undisturbed by anyone. As long as the boyfriend and children respect his space he will come to terms in time. If it gets too much worse seek out professional help, as an actual vet will have "better" advice (all of mine comes from experience not training) Just remember that as long as you keep calm your pets will pick up on the energy and will in time reflect it.

The best way to get a cat to love you is to ignore it, keep it fed and watered and the litter box clean, but treat the cat as they treat you and in time they will come around cats are finicky but worth the time. As I am sure you, Pinkie, already know.

As far as honey badger advice goes: Well if you are a true honey badger you will do as you please and deal with the consequences, let the kids do what they will as long as it makes you happy and play favorites so that everyone in the house knows the pecking order... Put the cats at the top, and the children at the bottom... Animal = Awesome Children = NOT Awesome.

But I truly hope that some of what I said helps to an extent or an other, be it useful advice or simply worth a chuckle.

"And if you rap like me you don't get paid, and if you roll like me you don't get laid." Flight of the Concords

The wisest of the Kings
King Badger