Welcome to issue #7 of Chumka’s Weekly!

Hello there furriend and happy Caturday! This week’s heat really beat me up lol. We barely did anything except doing all our work indoors or in coffee shops. Chumka wasn’t thrilled about staying home so much, so we would take him for car rides to give him some “adventure time” lol

How you can help your pet to beat the heat

I don’t know about you but I don’t do well in the summer heat. I can’t imagine being covered in fur on top of that. But here are some ideas on helping your furriends to stay cool and enjoy the sun with you:

• Switch to wet food to help your pet get extra water from their food

• Keep extra water bowls throughout the house - this one especially applies to cats who have a low thirst drive

• Get a water fountain - some cats might prefer drinking from a fountain as flowing water is instinctively more clean

• Purchase some cooling gear - or even a kiddie pool if your pet likes playing in the water. I am still testing the cooling gear I bought so I don’t want to recommend anything (yet) but some examples are: cooling mats, cooling bandanas, cooling vests

• Add some bone broth to your pet’s water dish. You can make it yourself or buy it from a local pet store

• Use goat milk instead of water! Some pets might enjoy that more than drinking plain water

• Make pupsicles! Chumka isn’t interested in those but maybe your pet will be?

• Squeeze some lickable treat on the plate or pet dish; then add a little bit of either water or goat milk. It’s Chumka’s favourite so he gets is after being outside for a “long” time

• Last but not least, just pour water on their fur and rub it into their coat. Some pets might not enjoy it though, so use discernment haha. Chumka doesn’t mind it and it helps with cooling him + he gets some water from “cleaning” himself

More reading material on the topic…

I updated the post on current saving deals for some of major US and CA retailers. Check it out!

Why cats have such low thirst drive…

Cats origin as desert-dwelling carnivores. That means they didn't have access to a steady supply of safe, clean water. Instead, their systems became accustomed to getting some water from the bodies of the prey they caught and ate. Of course, they also drank extra when they came across a good source.

But they mainly relied on getting their water intake from the prey they caught. That’s why our domesticated cats have such low thirst drive.

New from Chumka’s Instagram

I was asked to talk about my experiences with raising an (anxious) adventure cat - and here is our feature in Canadian Cat Clowder Magazine!

Click here to read the June 2023 Edition for free. You can click on the magazine picture and it should open it in a new tab 😊💛

Some cool finds from the internet…

Memes to brighten your day

That’s it for this week, see you all next week for another Chumka Weekly!

~Paulina & Chumka 🐈‍⬛