My Family Cat

10/13/2026

Cat behavior concerns? We bring veterinary behavior consultations right to your home!Cat behavior concerns? We bring veterinary behavior consultations right to your home!

From litter box issues to anxiety to fighting between cats, we help you better understand your feline family member and make a plan tailored to your household.

Cat Friendly and Fear Free vet

Learn more and get help for your cat at myfamilycat.com

09/09/2026

Scratching is a natural behavior that helps your cat feel safe in their home, condition their claws, stretch, and communicate.
Whether it's a sisal couch scratcher cover, an L-shaped cardboard scratcher strategically placed in front of your couch, or a giant sisal rope scratcher in the living room, offering scratching resources lets your cat be a cat while protecting your furniture.
Don't forget to have scratchers throughout the home and not clustered in one location to prevent competition in a multicat home. Giving your cat the choice of scratchers supports wellbeing regardless of how many cats you have.
You can also offer praise and attention for desirable scratching.

For more tips on scratching behavior in cats, check out this ISFM resource: https://icatcare.org/articles/scratching-on-furniture-and-carpets

And for personalized, in-home behavioral help with your cat in Greater Austin, visit myfamilycat.com!

08/26/2026

As a cat behavior vet, each one of my behavioral consultations includes an evaluation of the cat's physical health. Not only can this uncover medical contributors to the behavior of concern, but helps me identify ways that I can work to improve the cat's overall quality of life.

By far the most common physical ailment I see with my feline patients is chronic intermittent vomiting. Hairballs can lead to vomiting, but if your cat is having "hairballs" or vomiting fluid or food several times a mo or even once every other mo, this raises concerns.

There are multiple conditions in cats that can lead to vomiting such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and chronic kidney disease. Even if your cat vomits up hair, there may be another cause that is making your cat vomit and they just happen to be bringing up the hair in their stomach at the same time. Cats who have excessive grooming may be ingesting more hair than normal, and that raises concerns. Between bouts of vomiting, your cat may also be experiencing nausea or decreased appetite that impact their wellbeing.

As with all behavioral concerns, the first step to make an appointment with your vet. It's also really helpful to start a phone log of vomiting episodes to track frequency and whether things are worsening or improving, which you can share with your vet.

For personalized help and a mobile vet visit with your cat in the Greater Austin area, visit myfamilycat.com and book an initial consultation!

08/11/2026

Behavior change takes real commitment and partnership, and huge thanks to Kippi for trusting me with her cats' care.

For in-home behavioral help with your family cat in Greater Austin, check out myfamilycat.com where you can learn about services, pricing, and my background as a Cat Friendly and Fear Free vet. Hope to see you soon!

07/29/2026

Cat behavior challenges are so much easier to work through with the right support — and that's exactly what My Family Cat is all about. Come find us at POP Cats 2026, August 8–9 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin!

Meet our Cat Friendly mobile vet and cat behavior consultant Dr. Liu, pick up some swag, and ask about a special convention offer for new clients for booking a consult within our housecall area of Greater Austin. We can't wait to meet fellow Austin cat lovers there!

https://www.myfamilycat.com/cat-behavior-services

06/24/2026

As a cat behavior mobile vet, I love finding easy ways to improve the emotional wellbeing of my feline patients.
Cats love looking out at birds and squirrels, sunbathing, and being up high, and adding several window perches around your home are an easy way to add vertical space without taking up valuable floor space.
If your cat has a fear of people (including those crawling human babies) or tension with another pet in the home, being up high also helps them avoid what's scaring them and allow them to feel safe in their home.
To reduce stress from competition with another cat, look for perches that are only big enough for one cat. and spread out your perches.

For personalized help with your cats in the Austin area, book a cat behavior housecall today!

myfamilycat.com

06/15/2026

As an Austin-based, in-home cat behavior veterinarian, we're thrilled to be a part of the silent auction benefiting Shadow Cats and their decades-long work on behalf of unowned and community cats. We hope you'll show your support by attending their June 20 gala. Link below!

https://shadowcats.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/ShadowCatsGala2026DeepRootsNewBranches/TicketsSponsorships/tabid/1585399/Default.aspx

Thank you to all who donated items to our Silent Auction! All such wonderful items and all will be available for your bids. Join us and celebrate cats as sentient beings so deserving of our care and compassion. Tickets here! https://shadowcats.ejoinme.org/SCGala2026
We are NOT sold out. Let's make that happen! Two more days to get your tix.

06/09/2026

Looking for a quick, budget-friendly enrichment tip that also helps you support your cat's normal feeding behavior? Make a foraging box! Simply save a large, shallow cardboard box, add some folded or crumpled brown packing paper, throw in some treats or kibbles, and watch your cat go to town.
Puff loves to forage in his box, and uses his nose to locate the kibble. I love this activity as well because it can be adapted to suit your cat's abilities. If your cat is mobility challenged, they can still enjoy a foraging box if you custom cut the box height to the level that's comfortable for your cat. Puff is 19 years old and overall his mobility is pretty good, but I made his box about 3" high.
For multicat homes, you can set up different foraging areas for your cats to prevent competition for resources.
For all cats, we want to think about incorporating some type of food enrichment daily.

If you're in the Austin area and would like help with your cat's behavioral concerns or a customized environmental assessment plan, visit myfamilycat.com to set up a housecall today!

05/27/2026

I'm not sure what kicked off the trend, but about 5 years ago, I started hearing fellow vet professionals and cat parents refer to cats as "spicy" when they showed aggressive behavior: hissing, growling, swatting, trying to bite.

Imagine if you were going to your doctor and you were really scared and stressed, and your doctor told you that you were being spicy. How would you feel?

The word "spicy" is problematic because:
--It minimizes the emotional or physical states that impact the cat's welfare, and tries to make them funny
--It turns off human empathy
--It removes any impetus for us to seek reasons or solutions for the cat's behavior
--It means we've missed multiple, more subtle signs of stress before the cat had to escalate to aggression to get their point across

Words matter. Instead of dismissing cats as "spicy", think about whether they could be experiencing fear, anxiety, stress, pain, or frustration. Considering their motivations will help you identify potential triggers for their behavior.

Want to learn more about body language in cats? Check out this blog on body language 101:
https://www.myfamilycat.com/cat-behavior-blog/cat-body-language

If you live in the greater Austin area and need individualized help with human-directed aggression, intercat tension, or fear of the vet, visit My Family Cat's housecall service page below!

https://www.myfamilycat.com/cat-behavior-services

05/12/2026

Puff is turning 19! It’s hard to believe that the wild kitten I adopted from the clinic where I worked almost 2 decades ago has become a little great grandpa.

According to this ISFM chart comparing cat years to people years, Puff is the equivalent of 92 years old:
https://icatcare.org/resources/cat-friendly-clinic/how-old-is-your-cat-handout.pdf

Year 18 was a big one medically for Puff. His GI issues got worse, and last Oct he was diagnosed with diabetes. Luckily he’s been in diabetic remission for almost 6 mo and counting (meaning he’s no longer insulin dependent), and overall his quality of life is still pretty good. We’re both lucky that he has an awesome Fear Free clinic to support his medical and emotional needs.

Puff also developed a really cute new behavior of lightly touching my leg with his nose to let me know it’s almost time for food, and continues to love foraging for kibbles and snoozing in the cat cot I have set up a few feet away from my desk.

Happy Birthday to Puff and enjoy his metallic silver panther meows!

And if you’re looking for a behavior consult for your senior cat in the Austin, visit the links below.

https://www.myfamilycat.com/cat-behavior-services/p/senior-cat-consult
https://www.myfamilycat.com/cat-behavior-services/p/in-home-initial-consult-1-cat