How To Best Incorporate Cats Into Your Home

how to best incorporate cats into your home

It is important to take good care of your cat. When it comes to grooming, feeding, and care, cats are a world apart from other household pets. You must provide extra attention and take care to avoid certain things in order to groom them properly. You should keep reading to learn more about properly caring for your cat.

To safely help an old cat feel comfortable, place a heated tile under its bed. You can do this simply with a terra cotta tile measuring a square foot. Heated in your oven around 200 degrees, it can be ready in as little as 15 minutes. Cover with a small blanket or towel, then place it beneath your pet’s bed. If necessary, repeat this every few hours.

Groom your cat. Cats must be brushed and groomed frequently. If you do this frequently you’ll be able to help the cat have clean fur. Having a clean fur coat helps reduce the amount of hairballs that get spit up around the house. Keeping a cat well groomed basically helps keep them looking their best, along with your home.

Make sure your cat sees a vet regularly to maintain their good health. A routine check-up should happen annually, and more often if necessary shots are due. Cats need to be seen by a vet right away if there are injuries or health problems that don’t go away.

Check-ups are an absolute must for any pet cat. Your cat requires a variety of vaccines and shots to prevent illness, and it is also important to identify health problems before they become too severe. Always use the same veterinarian if possible. This person will be more knowledgeable on your cat’s history.

A cat can do a lot of damage to your furniture with its claws. If you find your cat shredding your furniture, consider purchasing a scratching post or cat tower. When your cat scratches inappropriately, redirect him to the scratching post. This approach takes time, but it usually works.

You can make your old cat feel better thanks to a hot tile placed under its bed. Place a tile made of terra cotta or a similar material in an oven heated to 200 degrees for around 15 to 20 minutes. Wrap it tightly in a towel and place it under the cat bed. If necessary, change this out every few hours.

Don’t allow your cat to get bored too often. Cats need play and exercise like other pets. Sometimes, cat owners don’t realize this. A bored cat may fall victim to depression, compulsive disorders or issued that can be harmful to their health. Give them plenty of room to exercise and a wide selections of toys. If your cats are kept inside, set up a carpet lined scratching pad or post. There are many climbing structures that can be purchased or made for cats who enjoy heights.

Most cats are nocturnal. The result is that cats prefer to be more active during the night. If your cats keep you up at night, kick them out of the bedroom. This will prevent them from entering your sleeping space and awakening you.

Cats can have nocturnal tendencies. Thus, the bulk of their activity will occur at night. If your cat is keeping you up at night, you should close the door to your bedroom. Your cat will not bother you in the middle of the night if this area is off limit.

Keep your cat’s litter box in the right location. It shouldn’t be put in an area with high traffic and should be far from their food. Make sure it’s properly ventilated to keep smell down. You and your cat will greatly appreciate this.

Cats are usually great for kids, but smaller kids may be too rough with them. It is important that you teach children how to properly interact with a new cat. Children need to know how to hold a cat and what sorts of play a cat likes. Keep in mind that a cat’s bones are much more fragile than a dog’s.

Your cat needs attention and a lot of affection. Cats are by nature companion animals, but that companionship goes two ways. Like humans, cats want to feel wanted and needed. Cats want to feel loved and needed.

A tablecloth should be made for your cats. Often, a cat will remove food from his bowl to eat on the side. This leaves food on the floor outside their bowl that must be cleaned. To simplify your clean up duties, place a ready made placemat under the dish or purchase some inexpensive fabric and use it like a tablecloth.

Crystals in the urine, an issue many male cats have, can be avoided with the proper food. These are very painful and expensive to treat. Let your cat have food that doesn’t have a lot of magnesium in it. Always read labels. Cat food with lots of fish tends to have more magnesium, while products with lots of poultry tend to have less.

Reconsider having an outdoor cat. This could be harmful and unsafe. Your cat could get parasites, or worse. Other animals and vehicles could also injure your cat. Cage in an area for a cat in your backyard if they must go outside.

Keep smaller children away from pets as they are typically too aggressive. Make sure that you teach your children the proper way to handle a kitten or cat. Help them learn how to pick up a cat and care for it. A cat’s bones are not as strong as a dogs, and they should be treated more gently.

Brush your cat on a regular basis. This keeps the fur well oiled and the skin healthy. It’ll also remove all that loose hair. Loose hair causes hairballs, a common problem for cats. The hair enters the pet’s stomach and they later cough it up.

Try as hard as you can to understand the reason your cat meows at you. The more time you spend with your cat, the better you’ll understand what its meows mean. Your cat might need food or might want to go out. Watch their cues to learn more about them.

Acclimate your cat to a cat carrier. You cannot punish a cat the same way you would a dog. Cats are much more responsive to positive interaction rather than negative. Leave the door to a carrier open at all times, and make the interior enticing with a beloved toy and blanket. Cats are natural explorers and sooner or later he will check it out. A cat who is used to a carrier will not mind traveling, meaning it will be a much less stressful experience for them.

Brush your pet often. This keeps the fur well oiled and the skin healthy. You will also decrease the amount of fur throughout your home. Doing so reduces the occurrence of hairballs, which are a choking risk. It also benefits the cat’s stomach by reducing the animal’s need to clean itself.

Ensure your cat is collared and wears an identification tag. This is necessary even for an indoors pet. A naturally curious cat will readily wander out an open door or window. They should wear a tag with your vet’s info as well as your telephone number. This is also important if your cat has special medical needs.

Litter Box

If you are thinking about adding another cat to your home, you need to set aside a couple of weeks where you let the animals get used to being around each other. They will probably hide from each other, hiss or even attack each other. However, cats should eventually learn to co-habitate properly.

If your cat relieves itself somewhere other than its litter box, it shouldn’t be punished. Many times, this is caused by failure to properly clean or place the litter box. If you punish the cat, it may shy away from you at future times.

Does it seem like your cat’s hairs are everywhere you look? Cats shed frequently; therefore, you need to brush them on a regular basis. The more a cat sheds, the moor they should be properly brushed. Brushing can help prevent their fur from matting or tangling.

Whenever your cat has been properly groomed, it will look incredible. Remember that grooming is essential in order to keep your cat healthy – and happy, too! Any grooming efforts you take will be appreciated by your cat. Use the tips shared here for grooming and making your cat happy.

Do your best to keep your cat as healthy as possible and take it to the vet regularly. Just like with having kids, young cats need to be checked on to see if they’re doing okay from time to time. It also needs its shots so that you can avoid problems later on down the road. Your cat is a member of your family, so treat them like any valued member of your home.