Cat Info Center

Natural and Herbal Treatments for Cats

There are natural and herbal treatments that can be administered to your cat and while some of these are effective, and in particular some of the anti-stress formulas, it is essential that you look at the ingredients as some of these have ingredients that can affect your cat’s blood glucose levels.

Never use herbal treatments that are designed for humans on your cat, as they can do a lot more harm than good, and while your intentions might be to improve the health of your cat, the opposite could be the result.

Any treatment that your veterinarian gives you for your cat should be administered exactly according to the instructions, however always consider the condition of your cat and if you see signs that the treatment is not working or causing other problems or distress, then contact your vet again immediately as some treatments can have an adverse effect.

Neither hesitate to question your veterinarian’s opinion, as quite often one treatment that is suitable for one cat might be of no benefit whatsoever to another. Even antibiotics that are effective in most instances might not work for your cat when required, and often there is an alternative that might just be what is needed to help your cat get back to complete health.

This is a lesson that many people have learned over the years, as the suppliers of feline medical products often change their formulations, or the veterinarians use different products that are meant to be better, when the final results aren’t as expected.

By questioning your veterinarian they will usually take a more active role in your pet’s health and you are likely to get better service in doing so.

It can be quite difficult for a veterinarian to determine exactly what is wrong with your pet, and often the best answers come from you and your observations, as you are the best person to know what your cat’s behavioral patterns are.

Grooming Your Cat

Grooming your cat on a regular basis will remove any loose fur that could end up in the cat’s digestive system, causing constipation, fur balls, and discomfort that can also result in your cat throwing up on a regular basis.

As a cat grooms itself by licking its fur, quite a large amount of that fur ends up being swallowed and when this is combined with the food in its stomach fur balls develop that need to be eliminated one way or another.

Longer haired cats obviously have a bigger problem than those with short hair, and they will need a lot more grooming to remove loose hair.

In addition to removing the loose fur, grooming can also get rid of any fleas that might be on your cat.
While there are good flea formulations on the market, this regular grooming helps keep your cat in better condition and it also allows you to check if there are any other problems that might need attending to, particularly with tomcats as they get into fights with other cats that can lead to sores and infection.

If cats are living near farmland and they venture out into the fields they can get ticks in vast numbers in a very short time and grooming helps to remove a lot of these before they can cause too much trouble for your cat.

Grooming with a good cat comb also stops the fur from knotting. If left unattended for too long, and particularly with cats that have long hair, this knotting can get so matted that they need to have the fur cut to remove it. Knotted fur can form into hard lumps that can cause distress for the cat.

Regular grooming and good nutrition will ensure that your cat has a nice shiny coat, few problems with constipation and fur balls, and less chance of getting any other skin related problems.

Cat Communities

In cat communities there is always a pecking order and at the top of the pecking order there is the breeding female. The breeding female is the most dominant figure in the cat community and provided the other cats know their place in that community it can be quite harmonious. It is only when a cat tries to move up in the order of dominance that a fight ensues and this generally happens when toms are trying to win the favor of the female.

Cats are often more vocal when greeting one another than dogs and even when you hear cat fights in the night, they are never quite as violent as they sound. Most of the interaction in these ‘cat fights’ involves who can make the most noise, and often no contact is made at all. In circumstances where a fight does eventuate, a cat can sustain injuries that might result in a visit to the vet as these injuries can cause abscesses, cuts and tears to the ears and face, and scratches to the eyes. The risk of infection increases if your cat has been fighting with stray cats.

Cats that are brought up in the same household together will generally get along well without any trouble and will greet one another by rubbing themselves against each other, and sometimes they will lie down and let the other cat groom them.

Occasionally they might take a swipe at each other, but this will generally not cause any harm as they aren’t attacking one another.

They can use the same behavior with their owners, and this is particularly more common with the long-haired varieties as they can get a little overexcited when playing and end up scratching and biting.

This is not actually a cat behavioral problem as such, as it is just like children getting a little overexcited and can easily be stopped by not playing with them when they appear to be getting agitated.

Cat Boarding

There will be times when you might need to consider putting your cat in a cattery. If you are going on an overseas holiday or even a local holiday for a period of time and you are unable to find somebody to care for your cat at your own home, then the safest solution would be to take your cat to a cat boarding home.

If you know that this is something that will be required in the future then you should take the time to do some research and find out how well these cat boarding homes are run. You should talk to people who you know and trust who have already put their cat in a boarding home, and ask them how they felt their cat handled the stay and how it behaved when they brought it back home.

Also, you should ask them if they saw any change in the condition of their cat after coming home from the cattery.

Once you have done a bit of research and found recommendations from other people it is worthwhile taking the time to visit these boarding homes to see how they are run, and to look at the conditions that your cat will be living in for the period that it will be staying there.

Try to get a boarding home that is close to your house so there is less travel to and from the boarding home for your cat, which will relieve some of its stress.

Also, make sure that your cat will not come into contact with other animals that could result in health problems.

If your cat is on any special diet or medication, talk to the staff at the boarding home to make sure that they are happy to give your cat the specific diet that it requires, or the medication that it needs to remain healthy.

If you do your research well, your cat will enjoy its holiday as much as you enjoy yours.

Happy New Year to you all!