Hi everyone,
Today’s guest post comes from Roxana Oliver.
Raising a cat is in a way similar to raising a child. Unfortunately, people tend to think that their only mission was to acquire a cat and everything else will turn out ok, without them interfering. It’s not all about taking care that your kitty isn’t hungry and that it’s clean, there are many other tasks you’ll have to accomplish daily in order to keep your cat satisfied and make yourself happy and proud cat owner. To achieve those results, first it’s necessary that you accept that your kitty has similar basic needs as you. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it might look. Just follow the advices below, and it will be a piece of cake.
Health care: A healthy cat is a happy cat
As a proud cat owner, you want to provide your pet all the love and care that she or he deserves. One of the important steps in doing so is brushing your cat’s hair daily, which can help in removing loose hair. As with humans, with cats also, what may influence their health, for good or for bad, is diet. The main meal of the day for your fluffy pet should be meat, as it is the very foundation of cats’ diet. Avoid feeding your cat with dry food which contains big amounts of carbs, because it can cause diabetes and obesity.
If you have a dog in your household, don’t try to make your job easier by giving them the same food. As tempting and time-saving that might appear, you should know that dog food isn’t good for cats, because a cat’s system can’t tolerate carbs the same way a dog’s can. But don’t be confused with brands that you usually associate with dog food because there’s a lot of those brands, for example, Royal Canin that has great cat food. Cats don’t feel the thirst strive as much as dogs, but just in case, make sure your kitty has access to fresh water so that she helps herself when she feels the need. Spaying or neutering your cat is a general practice to improve its behavior, and it has positive effect on cat’s health. Cats are real sleeping beauties considering they spend up to 16 hours a day in a dreamland. Place where your kitty sleeps is very important, so you should make it warm and comfortable. It’s your duty as a responsible cat owner to provide your pet with a comfortable and clean habitat.
Behavior: A well raised cat means a proud owner
Your cat’s manners are your responsibility, so if they are bad, you should do your best to correct them. As with a child, you shouldn’t let your kitty do whatever she wants. Though it might seem adorable when a little kitty is trying to climb up to the bed, it will not be as cute when the big cat succeeds in that intention. Cats understand voice intonations, so a firmly said “No” will go a long way. You can also “punish” your kitty by ignoring her (as hard as that might be), when she does something that she knows it’s forbidden. Cat will notice that lack of the attention. It’s important that you influence your cat’s behavior in early age, because later on it’s difficult to change it. Don’t let your kitten bite you hard, what can start with scratching and biting during play time, it can end as a bad habit that your cat will demonstrate even in front of guests.
Never use physical force when trying to teach your kitty her manners. A simple ignoring or raising your voice should be enough. Intimidating or physically attacking your cat may result only with a fearful, neurotic and even aggressive pet. Remember that cats have no idea of value and cost of the things they might break or scratch. Try to be less annoyed, when something like that happens, after all that comes in the package of having a pet. Don’t focus only on bad behavior, but also reward the good one. If your kitten is growing surrounded with love, care, and patience it will most likely grow up into a healthy and well-behaved cat.
This article was brought to you by Roxana Oliver, we hope you are looking forward to more of her guest posts in the future! 🙂
P.S: Don’t forget you can now sign up to the Katzenworld Newsletter here.
Thanks,
Marc
Really good pictures! Should send you some from Muppet. She’s a clown 😀
As you can see here:
http://frenchie4myself.com/2015/03/31/le-muppets-show/
and here:
http://frenchie4myself.com/2015/04/28/une-boule-de-poils-qui-roule/
🙂
Awwww if you fancy doing a guest post. Always welcome. 🙂 just drop me an email to marc@katzenworld.co.uk and I can get you started 😀
Ok, I’ll email you ASAP 😉
Looking forward to it. 🙂 by just to warn you I’ll be on holiday for two weeks soon so will have to set you up when I’m back. 😀
Had big issues with internet last night so couldn’t email you. I’ll do it soon. No big rush! 🙂
No problem. 🙂
Good tips! The behavior part is especially important to instill in a kitten. I adopted my cat when she was already an adult, and some of her bad behavior is hard to deal with and even harder to correct. She’s better now, but even after four years she still can be aggressive towards humans.
Thank you 🙂 and glad to hear you managed to correct some of those behaviours.
Reblogged this on Fonte da arte.
Thank you so much ^^
Excellent post. Having a cat is like having a toddler, they need lots of care even if they can walk around themselves.
Indeed but people often forget that :/
Just like (human) children, some are easy, other require more work.
Oh yes. (/Thinks of his little sister…)
I can vouch for Royal Canin! I wanted to buy only the best for my spoiled Luna when I got her, opting for Wellness. But she had some miserable times in the litterbox, with crystals that were supposed to be much more common for male cats. Anyway, after trying some other brands, we switched to Royal Canin Urinary SO. I don’t think Royal Canin’s reputation is as lofty, but, Luna’s been ultra-healthy since, and aside from the occasionally stolen slice of turkey, that’s all she eats! Wet food only. Yay for speaking out against cat obesity! It’s so unnecessary!
Yeah! And we had a whole post on this dreaded crystals the other week 😡 it’s shocking how often it seems to happen to cats 🙁
Really like the pictures. Good advice
Thank you ^^
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Thank you ^^
Good tips and great photos!
Have a super Wednesday…
Noodle and crew
Thank you 🙂
Thank you all for the kind words! I’m glad you like my post!