Arden Moore has a vision of pets and people living more harmoniously together.

“I really want to help people with frustrations, so cats and dogs will have better lives,” says Moore, a former newspaper journalist who has written 17 books on cats and dogs.

Moore shares her Oceanside, Calif., home with two cats and two dogs, and jokingly refers to herself as a “petrosexual” because of her ability to live well with animals.

Her new book, “The Cat Behavior Answer Book,” (Storey Publishing, $14.95) was preceded by “The Dog Behavior Answer Book (Storey, 2006, $14.95). She has written books on pampering your dog and your cat as well as “The Kitten’s Owner’s Manual,” a dog party guide and a dog food cookbook.

Moore has discussed ways to improve people-pet relationships for numerous newspaper and magazine articles and has been a guest on national TV and radio shows for segments on cooking for or partying with pets.

Q. What is the most common cat problem?

It’s really about cats and bathroom habits. There are people who think that their only solution is to get rid of their cats. Sometimes, people think that the cat is (avoiding the litter box) to spite them. Cats will have behavioral changes when they don’t feel well. Cats will hide or they’ll be very quiet, because in the wild, they don’t want their predators to know that they’ve become sick or weakened. So when it comes to litter boxes, the reason a cat may suddenly stop using it might not always be behavioral, it could be a medical reason. So, it is important to have your cat thoroughly checked out by your vet to rule out any medical problems like a bladder infection, or something wrong like that, before thinking it’s a behavior problem.

Q. Is it ever a behavior problem?

Yes. Sometimes it’s them reacting to a behavior problem of ours. Sometimes, the cat is responding to some kind of stress in the environment. There may be an outside cat taunting the inside cat. You may have too many pets in the house. (And the cat needs to mark its territory).

Sometimes, we’re the ones to blame – because we don’t clean the litter box every day or we put the litter box in a location that cats don’t like, such as in a dark basement next to a noisy washing machine. Or we try to use scented litter, or we put an air freshener plug-in next to the litter box. Cats do not like that scent and they will want to go elsewhere.

Q. You wrote a book on cooking for dogs. Can you also cook for cats?

In some of my other books, we did have some cat recipes. Before you do any kind of cooking for your pet, it’s always important to work with your vet.

Cats have a much more sensitive digestive system than dogs. I make sure when I read a cat-food label that it has real meat. The first ingredient must be a real meat – chicken or salmon or lamb or beef. I like organic foods. You may say, “Wow, that’s expensive,” but the cat will have fewer health issues, you’re going to have fewer vet bills.

Q. Do cats need a sitter?

If you’re gone more than a day, please don’t assume that putting out a big bowl of food and some water and the litter box is all your cat needs. Just like dogs, cats are social creatures and they shouldn’t be left home alone (for extended periods). If you do that, you’re at risk for creating separation anxiety and a host of other behavior problems. A cat can be bored and become destructive. A cat may not want to eat if it misses its person. They may become sick and no one’s there to take them to a vet.

Q. You say you have taken your cat Callie with you when traveling. How do you get a cat ready for that?

Get your cat acclimated to a carrier and to car rides. That takes little baby steps. First, leave the carrier out in your house. Open it. Just let it be out there and let the cat check it out. Then put a treat in there, or put one of your cat’s favorite toys in there. Leave the carrier open. Then a few days later, have your cat go in there. Be very calm, have a treat in there. Zip it up for just a minute or so with the cat inside. Then open it and walk away.

Ideally, put it next to the food and water bowls, a high-cat-traffic area. The bottom line is you want your cat to have a pleasant experience inside the carrier. So you gradually increase your cat’s exposure to being inside the carrier in your home.

In addition, to take away some of the stress of traveling, talk with your vet. There is a product called Feliway. It is a spray that mimics feline facial pheromones. You spritz inside the carrier with the Feliway and it makes that place feel safe and familiar to a cat and helps to reduce some of the stress. Don’t ever give your cat a tranquilizer; it can actually worsen the stress of traveling.