Why Keeping a Cat Journal is a Cattastic Idea

Soooo … in honor of National Dog Day (August 26), I wrote a blog about how to keep a journal for your doggo. (Bear with me, sparkly unicorns. I promise this is about cats.)

I’m a pretty committed dog mom. I have two rescued beagles who have changed my life in various ways. I support rescue; I’ve fostered; I buy cruelty-free products. I’ve also had a couple of dog-oriented businesses over the years. One was the Super Duper Pooper Scooper yard maintenance gig. The other was making limited-ingredient dog food and treats, which I sold at our local farmers’ market. While I was the owner-operator, CEO, and all-around dogsbody at Aggie’s Doggie Diner (see what I did there?), I frequently heard from cat parents. “Where are all the cat products?” They asked. “Dogs get all kinds of special, fun things, but there’s nothing out there for cats.”

I felt badly that cats were being left out but my area of expertise is dogs. I didn’t know enough about cats to create a business that catered to them. I assumed other people would step up to the litter box.

Now, this was a few years back. I figured things had changed. I thought that cats are now being lavished with special toys and treats and Halloween costumes and visits from Santa Paws. Just. Like. Dogs. (My dogs anyway.)

Well, sparkly unicorns, I was saddened when I went looking for blogs or articles about keeping a cat journal and came up with zip.

Really? NO ONE out there keeps a personal journal about their precious kitty cat?

Heart = broken.

Here’s the thing: I admit that I don’t know enough about feline nutrition to start a cat food business. Nor do I think there’s a particularly strong market for a business concept such as the Super Duper Litterbox Scooper. BUT! I know personal journals and I know enough about kitties to figure out the concept of a cat journal on the fly.

So, here we go! Read on for tips and inspo on how to use a writing journal or Bujo to track all the important and cutesy things about your best kitty friend.

Four Cattastic Reasons to Keep a Cat Journal

1. A cat journal will provide a quick way to reference your cat’s health information. Tracking things like vet visits, vaccinations, medications, diet, and litter box habits can help you and your vet better address your kitty’s health needs.
2. If you ever have to leave your kitty in care of a pet sitter, you could just leave the journal out for the sitter’s fyi. That would be especially handy if you have trackers for things like supplements or meds. Or, if you don’t want to share your entire journal with the sitter, at least you have a handy reference from which to pull notes.
3. If there are a number of people in your household who pitch in to take care of Tiger, trackers can help ensure that things like grooming and litter box picking are done regularly. (I trust your kitcat will let you know once his food bowl has been fractionally depleted so that a tracker is NOT required for meals.)
4. Especially if you add in photos, sketches, or notes about cute things your cat has done, this journal will end up as a beautiful memory book.

Kittirific Journaling Prompts

It’s totally cute when your kitty indulges in too much catnip or plays with her turbo cat toy for hours on end. Still, after noting this in your cat journal a few dozen times, you may start to feel like there’s nothing really new to say. This is where journaling prompts provide inspiration. As a bonus, prompts often trigger deeper thought than random notes about daily activities. As you spend time reflecting on your kitty and her personality, your appreciation for her will grow.

Now, like I said, there aren’t a lot of pieces out there about keeping a cat journal. So, go ahead and borrow ideas from the doggos. We all know cats are dog overlords anyway.

Christie at Dog and Dojo has a terrific list of journaling prompts for our canine friends. Most can be applied to Tiger too. Some prompts she suggests are:

• Describe your cat’s physical characteristics, like coat color, eye color, tail length, and paw size. How does she move? How does she use her tail? How does she groom herself? What kinds of noises does she make and why does she make them?
• Describe your cat’s personality. Some kitties are stereotypical disinterested cats while others adore their humans. Is he playful? Is he demanding? How does he react to visitors?
• If your cat were a person, what kind of job would she have?
• What are your kitties favorite things? What does your kitty dislike?
• If I could get your kitty to understand one thing, it would be ________.
• What name do you think your cat calls you by and why?

Kitty Cat Trackers in Your Bujo

Let’s face it. As much as you would love to create a beautiful kitty memory book, you probably didn’t even start a baby book for your second two-legged child. Amirite? There are just not enough hours in the day for everything we would like to do.

If you already keep aBullet Journal® (aka Bujo), why not incorporate some trackers for your kitty in there? You may find the records helpful for various reasons, and you will still be recording some precious memories.

You could track things like:

• Grooming, including brushing, nail trims, and ear cleans.
• Medications, including vaccinations, supplements, and flea and tick control.
• Weigh-ins, to ensure lifelong maintenance of a healthy weight.
• Favorite things, like food, treats, toys, people, and activities.
• How you and your kitty celebrate special days, like Gotcha Day, Christmas, and Halloween.

I wrote this piece in celebration of National Cat Day, which happens annually on October 29. In recognition of the day, if you’re not already keeping a personal diary for your cat, why not start one? And if you are already keeping one (or tracking kitty activities in your regular Bujo) please let me know. I’d love to know that there are kitty cats out there with their own special journals.

Photo by Tucker Good on Unsplash