Top Cat Care Information
The most important ingredient for successful cat ownership is to love your cat.
Loving your cat means that you should make some effort to get to know and understand your cat.
If it is a kitten, then your job is so much the easier. You will be able to watch her grow, and learn as you go. Of course, it is infinitely better if you and your children have a good knowledge of cats – that way you can eliminate many of the mistakes you might otherwise have made - but it is also bound to improve the bonding process between cat and human.
I was asked recently at a cat care clinic about homeopathic care for cats.
Now this might be a topical issue, and maybe a worthy one, but I quickly discovered that the young woman who raised the question had major gaps in her basic knowledge of cat care, and recommended that she do a little background reading first before tackling such issues.
Just to give you an idea of some of the issues relating to cat ownership, just click on this link - Cat Care and Training - to see a whole list of relevant topics relating to cat care.
I just want to deal with two practical issues right now, that I am always being asked about. The first of these concerns shedding and hairballs. Not the first things that the new cat owner wants to thinks about, but these are only two of the important bits of information that every cat owner needs to know in order to give the best of care. That, and your love, will help your kitten live a long and healthy life.
Cats DO shed – it’s a fact of life. And the shedding of a long-haired cat is more noticeable than that of a short haired feline. You may expect your cat only to shed at the change of the seasons, but because most pet cats live an indoor existence, where they are exposed to un–natural constant temperature and continual artificial light, most indoor cats shed year round.
But here's a good piece of important cat care information - cats manage a lot of their shedding on their own. They are by nature fastidiously clean animals, constantly cleaning themselves with their rough, sandpaper-like tongues. The downside is that this very practice, that helps them to control shedding , also contributes to one of their health problems, hairballs. Hairballs represent a very real threat to your cat’s digestion. These hairballs can block the food that’s already been digested from travelling through the intestines.
How can you tell that your cat is suffering from hairballs? You’ll be able to recognize them if he coughs them up – as cats are prone to do. If you find cigar-shaped masses of some indistinguishable matter on the floor or on your furniture, you’ve discovered a hairball. ety of forms, from granules you sprinkle inconspicuously on his food to gels.
Quite often, though, a cat will expel them along with his faeces in the litter box. If you find that your cat’s bowel movements have hair on them, that means he’s got hairballs. If your cat exhibits dry coughing or a hacking cough, especially after he’s eaten, or if your cat has a sudden, unexpected loss of appetite, you may suspect a hairball is the likely cause.
If you haven’t heard, declawing your cat so he doesn’t ruin your furniture or accidentally seriously scratch an individual is controversial. A generation ago, this operation was routine, many times performed at the same time the kitten got spayed or neutered.
Can you prevent your cat from hairballs? My best advice is simple - Brush! Brush! Brush! Groom you cat often. Most cats find it most enjoyable and it builds a marvellous bond between you.
If, despite all your efforts, you discover that your kitten may is still suffering, there are many effective hairball remedies on the market today. These come in a variety of forms, including gels and granules you sprinkle on his food.
The second issue today concerns the contentious matter of declawing?
Declawing your cat, so he doesn’t ruin your furniture or accidentally seriously scratch someone, was a popular and routine operation, until recent times. It was often performed at the same time that the kitten got spayed or neutered.
Today, however, thanks to better cat care information, we are far better aware of exactly what surgery for declawing entails. In order to remove the claws, a veterinarian must actually amputate the cat’s paws at the first joint. Imagine getting your own knuckles amputated right below your finger nails!
Before performing the surgery, your veterinarian will anaesthetized your cat as well as give him pain medication. He will literally cut the first section of your cat’s paw off, since the claws are intricately intertwined in the first “knuckle.”
Your cat – understandably – will be distinctly uncomfortable for several days following the surgery. In fact, she’ll probably be in great pain.
But cats heal quite quickly. At first you’ll notice she walks around the house rather gingerly, but after about a week she’ll back to her old self. You can help prevent the risk of infection by replacing her litter with some shredded paper, which avoids getting granules of litter in the already very tender paws.
So by declawing you might have prevented scratching damage to your furniture, but there is a serious downside for the cat. Her claws –and that portion of the toes that are removed - are valuable to her in another vital way,
in that they play a major role in the cat’s natural balance system. Removing her claws may throw her entire system of natural balance off.
Not only does a cat walk on her toes, but her entire balance and form are based on the length of her digits. Nature, it seems, designed the cat’s body – including her back, shoulders, paws, leg joints, ligaments, muscles, tendons and even her nerves! – around the premise of her walking on her toes. So her weight is distributed across its toes as it walks, runs and climbs.
The result is that a cat’s claws are absolutely essential for her balance as well as for her ability to exercise effectively. Her toes – and especially her claws - are vital aspects of her stretching. When your cat scratches at a post , we just assume she’s sharpening her claws. But she is really stretching her entire body. And when you declaw your kitten, it throws out her entire body alignment.
Of course, cats, like all animals, learn to adapt, but all cat owners should be aware of the importance of a cat’s claws, so that any judgement or decision is based on full knowledge.
My new book Cat Care and Training has tons of more information on cats, their care, training, and health. I'm sure you'll learn a lot, and become a much better, and better informed, cat owner.
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Yes! I Love My Cat - and Want to Become a Better Pet Owner!
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