Cats | Pet Lover Blog

You can maintain your cat’s overall health in two important ways. Firstly schedule an annual preventative visit (including shots and an examination) with your vet as well as other visits as needed and secondly perform home cat care examinations yourself.

Do a nose to tail checkup weekly. It can be done at the same time as petting your cat on the couch. Start with the head. Are your cat’s ears clean and pink? Do they give off an unpleasant odor? Have mites appeared as a black, waxy mess inside the ears? Are the eyes bright, clear, focused, and free of discharge? Are the gums pink and the teeth clean? Has tartar appeared along the gum line? Is your cat’s breath offensive? Don’t check a cat’s nose to see if it’s cold and damp, this is not a sign of health. Continue with a neck to tail inspection. Feel your cat’s body for lumps, bumps, puffiness, sores, and any irregularities. Also look for flea dirt (which resembles black pepper and turns red when wet), scratches, and parasites. Be sure to check between the toes, and down the entire length of the tail. If you find anything to cause concern to you or discomfort to your cat then pay a visit to you vet.

Next, treat your feline friend to a good brushing. Rubber curry brushes are excellent at removing dead skin cells and loose hair. Fine-toothed metal combs are specifically designed to lift fleas out of the coat. It’s important to brush your cat daily to remove as much loose hair as possible. When cats groom themselves, they ingest a great deal of hair, which is often vomited out as hairballs. This is normal and regular brushing will stop it becoming excessive.

Keeping your cat’s claws clipped is an important part of grooming. If not kept at the proper length, a cat’s claws can actually grow into the paw pads, so attend to the claws monthly. If you have never trimmed a cat’s claws, have your veterinarian show you how. Briefly, you should snip off just the sharp tip of each claw. Do not clip into the pink section of the nail, where a blood vessel and nerve endings reside as this will be painful. Cats that wander outside or have a scratching post do not suffer so much with this.

All cat owners should have at least one book on cat care, ask your vet for a reccomendation, that includes a section on emergency first aid. Home cat care alone is not appropriate in most cases of serious illness or injury, there are also some emergency procedures that could keep your pet relatively comfortable on the way to the vet. Familiarize yourself with emergency procedures before an emergency happens. Never give your cat any medications, including aspirin, without the advice of your vet. Many common human drugs (like acetaminophen [Tylenol]) are poisonous to cats.

A little effort to look after your cat’s health will pay dividends to its health and happiness as well as yours!

Bruce Walls is an author and webmaster at http://www.catcarefacts.com

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A leash can help you keep control of your cat when you don’t want her to stray too far away, but still get some exercise.

Even if you never plan to take your cat for regular walks like you would a dog, you still need to insure that your cat can tolerate the collar and leash. You will need to take her to the vet and getting her used to it now can help considerably. There are specific collars, harnesses and leashes designed for the cat that you can use.

Cat Leashes

Leashes are designed in several ways from a standard form to a retractable one. No matter which you choose, make sure that it is lightweight enough to allow the cat the ability to move under its weight. Retractable will allow the cat to explore their surroundings in a park or other traffic safe areas. You’ll want to keep the cats close when walking to and from their homes.

Getting used to the leash takes training. Cats don’t do well with negative correction so by tugging on the leash you will not get them to stay at your side. Instead of negative feedback, cats do better with praise and positive reinforcement. Ignore her when she does something wrong. You can teach the cat to tolerate the leash but more than likely she will not be consistently healing or obeying commands.

Collars

Cat collars are not commonly made for leashes. Because the cat’s head is shaped so, it can easily slide any collar off. Collars are used for other reasons such as accessories. For example, a jeweled collar offers a cute look for the cat. Others use cat collars to hold identification tags in case the animal gets lost. Also, you can use the collar to warn birds that he’s in the area and approaching by using bells or a low tech alarm system.

The Harness

The harness is another option that the owner has. These stay on your cat securely so that the cat leash can be used. A simple nylon harness for your cat is a good choice or you can go with the deluxe models that look like padded vests. The only thing that is important is that they are completely adjustable.

If possible start training the cat when she is a kitten of eight to ten weeks old. Put the harness on her and allow her to walk around in it unrestrained. Then, add the leash a few times later. Don’t apply any pressure to the leash though. Once she’s used to the leash, you can pick it up and teach her that you can be on the other end of it. Use a little pressure on the leash and call your cat to you. When she does what you want him to, praise her and reward him. Eventually, she’ll be okay with it.

The leash allows you to take your cat outside for a walk to just to explore the yard. You don’t have to worry, then, that she’ll escape or get into trouble.

Cat leashes and harnesses are just some of the fun and practical products available from Best Pet Health Information. http://www.Best-Pet-Health.info

Copyright Best-Pet-Health.info All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and live links remain intact.

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This means that you have to think about the cats’ living conditions, feeding, grooming, and clean-up.

Regarding your cat’s living conditions, this will be largely influenced by your own lifestyle. If you live in an apartment in a city, then your cat should live solely indoors. If you live in a farm, then your cat may live solely outdoors or live both indoors and outdoors. When your cat lives solely outdoors, it must be provided with some form of shelter, such as a barn. What you should not do is to keep a cat inside a cage. This will drive your cat crazy. Cats treasure the freedom to move freely.

When it comes to the food of your cat, you may give free-choice feedings or scheduled feedings. If the cat is given free choice, it will feed every few hours. This is usually for cats who lead active lives. But if the cat is facing an obesity problem, then scheduled feedings should be best. You must also remember that cats are genuine carnivores. They are natural hunters.

They will not survive on a diet of grains and vegetables. In fact, they don’t need these types of food. They only need meat. Their bodies require a great amount of protein than any other mammal. You may opt to give your cat the canned cat food or the dry food. The canned food tastes a lot better but the dry food is advisable for the cat’s teeth. You may alternate the use of both types. What you should avoid is giving your cat cow’s milk. Cow’s milk has proteins that are too large for the cat to digest. This milk will make your cat suffer from diarrhea, vomiting and intestinal upset. At all times, there should be fresh clean water available to your cat.

Cats usually take care of their own grooming so the owner need not worry about this aspect. Cats like to clean themselves using their rough tongue. Although, the owner can help comb his cat when the breed has long hair. When the cat stops grooming itself, then that is the time that the owner should worry. The cat may not be feeling well.

Cats like to eliminate in relatively clean places. In fact, you will find outdoor cats digging the ground before releasing their waste. Afterwards, the cover the waste. For indoor cats, the owner should provide a litter box. This box should be changed and cleaned every week because when the cat finds that the box is not clean enough, it will find other places to take care of its waste. This is certainly bad and smelly news for the owner.

Peter Garant’s pet medicine site has an extensive collection of cat medicine articles.

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