If you’re going away for a while, Dr. Michael Fox suggests you send your cat a "smell letter" to comfort him when he doesn’t have you and your familiar scent around. To make it, take a piece of paper you’ve rubbed on your forehead, hands, arms, and lightly under your armpits, and mail it to where he’s staying.

What should this "smell letter" say? It depends on whether your cat can read.

We’ve heard of people who call their cat during the day and leave a message on the answering machine, so the cat hears their voice while they’re gone.

We think this would confuse as many cats as it would comfort ("I hear Mommy but I don’t see her"), but we don’t know, because so far we can’t find anyone who admits to doing it.