Carrie Ann Inaba of Dancing With the Stars does Housecat Housecall

 
(Carrie Ann Inaba, boyfriend Jesse Sloan and one of their five cats.)

When Carrie Ann Inaba isn't judging Dancing With the Stars she's hanging with the cats.

She has three and her boyfriend, accountant Jesse Sloan, has two, so "now we have a whole bevy of happy cats," Carrie Ann says in an interview.

"I’m an animal lover, period. I've had cats since I was very young. I've always had two cats," says the dancer, choreographer, actress, singer, TV Guide network host and producer with her own video production company.

Despite leading a very busy life, Carrie Ann is devoted to her felines. Taz, for instance, who's 8, has only one kidney and needs to be fed water through a tube three times a day, a task only Carrie Ann or Jesse is  allowed to carry out.

"I just make the time. When you love somebody or something as I love my cats, you just find a way to do it."

She's glad there's a show out there just about cats.

"Cats have their own set of issues," she says.

What brought Dr. Katrina Warren, the veterinarian host of Cat Chow's Housecat Housecall, to Carrie Ann's door was the need to peacefully blend two sets of cats when Jesse moved in: in particular, Shadow, Carrie Ann's oldest kitty, and Zeus, Jesse's cat.

"Zeus (who's 8) is very rambunctious and 19 pounds," says Carrie Ann. "Shadow is 19 and werighs 6 pounds. We thought Zeus was going to pounce all over Shadow."

(The menagerie is rounded out by Squeaker, 15, and Mia, 5.)

Dr. Warren helped the couple get the cats on a feeding and playing schedule that keeps Zeus entertained so "we wouldn’t have to wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning with Zeus jumping all over Shadow or Shadow running away from Zeus," Carrie Ann says.

The show's third season begins this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on Animal Planet (with encores Sundays at 8 a.m.).

Carrie Ann's episode airs June 19.

She would also like people to know that June is "Adopt a Shelter Cat Month" and about the website www.housecathousecall.com where people can get tips on caring for their cats.

On the show, Dr. Katrina "comes to your home, comes in and gives you real tools and a real amazing resource," says Carrie Ann.

This season's conundrums range from inappropriate scratching to a cat that "acts out" when its teenage caretaker goes to college to a kitty trying to adjust to a house full of dogs.

"You can learn from other people’s situations how to make your cat more comfortable and how to make your relationship with your cat better," Carrie Ann says.