Cat Info Center

Fencing Your Cat In

Cats get up to a lot of mischief so it is a good idea to check their surroundings to see that they will be safe at all times. It’s a lot easier to do if the cat lives inside most of the time, but it will be necessary for it to get out in the fresh air and sunshine to remain healthy. If you’re living in an apartment then a balcony can be sufficient but you need to make sure that it won’t be able to fall off the balcony as sometimes when cats go into a deep sleep, lying in the sun, they can move without thinking and fall off the things they are resting on.

Having a yard fenced with a cat proof fence will give you peace of mind knowing that your cat can’t get out and other animals such as dogs won’t be able to get in an attack your pet.

You need to consider the fact that cats are very good climbers and will find it relatively easy to get over most fences so some form of barrier might need to be placed on top of the fence to stop this from happening.

If you do have a fenced property, then a cat door will give your cat the freedom to go in and out of the house and not feel like it is trapped inside all the time.

To keep your cat occupied, whether it is living inside or out, always have things that will give it an opportunity to climb and have secure lookouts over the property or house.

The happier your cat is with its environment the less likely it is to stray. Having said that, a happy cat will wander off to other properties, as cats are very inquisitive and like to go searching for adventure.

Getting a collar, or tattoo might be necessary if your cat tends to wander as this will help people to return it to its rightful home if it goes missing.

Cat Behavior Problems

Cat behavior problems are a lot more common than many people believe.

There is always a solution, but this can quite often take quite a lot of work, and the longer these behavioral problems are left the harder they are to correct.

It will take consistent effort and the use of the right techniques to get your cat to behave as expected. These behavioral problems can be anything from urinating inside the house to aggressive action towards you and other people.

Knowing what to do will eliminate a lot of the frustration that is involved in trying to train or retrain a cat, and will ensure that you get the desired results as fast as possible.

Not only will you be happier and have a happier household, but your cat will also have a happier life if it doesn’t have these behavioral problems because often they stem from problems that need to be addressed for your cat’s happiness.

Urinating and aggressive behavior can often be associated with your cat feeling insecure about itself and its surroundings. Consider whether there are other cats or threats to your pet and try to eliminate these first to see if they help to curb or cure the problem.

Often the elimination of any threats towards your cat will result in your pet being comfortable with its surroundings and not feel that it is necessary to mark its territory or to be aggressive towards other pets and people. Sometimes it can be a jealousy problem if there is more than one pet in the family and the cat with the problem feels like it is not getting enough attention.

Even as a change of location can affect stress levels for people, the same can happen to cats, so any changes in their environment can have a marked effect on the way that they act and time will need to be spent on them to ensure that they feel secure.

Domestic Cat Breeds

Have you always wanted a cat, but heard some breeds make better pets than others? Maybe you have always wanted a cat, but do not know anything about them? There are plenty of ways to learn about cats and what breeds fit your personality. The choice can come from having an indoor, outdoor or indoor and outdoor cat. The tough and smart survive in the out of doors. Small cats are often pray for birds and other wildlife and should be kept indoors. Tomcats, a mixed breed, are great at surviving outdoors and mousers. So let us look at a few breeds of cats and then you will be able to choose which one may be right for your lifestyle.

Siamese: The Siamese cat can be a fickle creature. They often require a lot of attention when they determine it is necessary. They tend to meow quite a bit and can tear up a home if left alone for too long. These are the downsides.  Siamese can be great pets, especially when raised from infancy. They are often white with brown ears and blue eyes.  You may recognize them from Lady and the Tramp? Those two were a little mean and not the typical portrayal of a Siamese. Siamese are generally very affectionate. They are also one of the most intelligent of the cat species. They tend to be very social, which is why they meow or “talk” a lot. A sign for attention is usually a very vocal meow much like a babies cry. Siamese typically bond to one person very strongly and are territorial of that person.

Persian:  The Persian cat breed is one of the oldest cats around. They are longhaired cats with beautiful shinny coats. They are very soft and friendly; however, they are prone to health problems such as allergies. The Persian does not always play as much as other breeds, but they do enjoy a bit of fun for exercise especially in a social situation. They love to have other cats around to play with as well as have a lap available when they are in need of a lap. Persians are a variety of colors from solid black, white or a mix of white and browns around the face. A popular Persian is the Himalayan.

Manx:  The Manx is known for its stubby tail or having no tail. The downside to Manx cats is the lack of tail. Often a Manx can suffer from worms and other parasites due to improper cleaning and not having the protection of a tail. This does not mean you should discount the Manx as a breed. The Manx breed is extremely intelligent and playful. They are a lot like dogs in the play area because they can fetch when you through toys and bring them back to you. They are very social animals and depend on human care. They don’t like to be left alone for too long, so it is wise to have other cats to play with when you are gone during the day. The best home for a Manx is one filled with children.

These are just three of the more popular breeds of cats. There are over a dozen cat breeds to choose from and finding the one to fit your lifestyle is important. Cats are very social and intelligent, but some breeds can be loners. Most often, a cat chooses when the time is right and what type of attention they want at the time. The phrase “you do not own a cat it owns you” is very true.

Care for Aging Cats

Aging cats are going to take a little more maintenance as they get older and visits to the vet should become more regular to ensure that any problems are dealt with before they become a bigger worry.

Older cats will need a little more comfort as they are not as limber as they once were and giving them a nice soft surface to sleep on, away from drafts and in the warmth, will ensure that they remain in good health for longer.

Quite often cats will find a favorite place to sleep and as they are very clean animals, this place will need to be cleaned on regular basis or they will tend to move to other sleeping areas after a while.

There are some excellent cat beds available on the market designed to be very comfortable. They are relatively cheap and most of them are designed to wrap around the cat as they lie in their natural curled up sleeping position.

This gives the cat support and also a sense of security and the good beds are made of materials that can be easily washed and dried to help maintain cleanliness and ensure that your cat stays in that same place most of the time.

One of the biggest problems that you need to consider as your cat ages is to have its teeth checked on a regular basis as teeth problems are one of the biggest causes of ill health in older cats. In fact it is often said that cats that live longest are those that don’t have any teeth left.

They can get a buildup of plaque on the teeth and this can cause gum problems. These gum problems can cause infections that lead to the deterioration of their internal organs and reduction in the quality of life and the length of their life so try to get your cat’s teeth checked at least once every six months as they get older. Some breeds of cats and more prone to teeth problems than others and a lot of this depends upon the type of food you are feeding them and also the way that they eat as some cats like to chew more than others, with the chewing helping to clean plague off the teeth.

Cat Travel in a Vehicle

If you need to travel with your cat it will be necessary to do a little bit of preparation work beforehand to ensure that the trip is comfortable for your pet.

A cat can become quite excited the first time it travels in a vehicle and you need to do all that is possible to help it remain calm time as they will react differently when they become excited.

If it is a kitten or a younger cat then it might be necessary to put it inside a cage to stop it from running about the vehicle while it is traveling. It might be wise to take a litter box with you as sometimes when cats get excited they need to go to the toilet and if there is nothing available for it to use it is likely to hold on and feel sick or go somewhere that you don’t want it to go to the toilet.

Always carry water with you and stop regularly to see if it needs a drink, particularly in hot weather.
It is preferable the first few times it goes for a trip in a vehicle to have eaten nothing beforehand as food can sometimes make cats feel sick.

If the cat seems calm then it is possible to let it out of the cage provided it sits quietly on a seat. Don’t leave any windows open where it might be able to get out and particularly when you stop the vehicle make sure it doesn’t jump out the door and go somewhere where it could be endangered.

If you do have windows down make sure there are no drafts that could be affecting your cat and don’t let it sit up in the back window of vehicles in direct sunlight where it might get overheated and become ill.

Generally if the cat has been in a vehicle as a kitten it won’t mind travel all that much and it will generally only become frightened if it associates travel with some unpleasant event.

They can find comfort in having a favorite blanket or bed in the vehicle with them and also a comforting hand from the owner beside them. Consider their feelings and treat them as you would a young child and you shouldn’t have too many problems.

Cats Sense of Smell

Cats have approximately 19 million nerve endings in their nose that makes them especially sensitive to smell. While not having nearly as many as some breeds of dogs these nerve endings in the membranes of the nose are considerably more than the 5 million or so nerves that humans have.

This sense of smell helps the cat to determine whether food is suitable for eating as the nitrogen given off by the chemicals of rancid food is picked up by their highly developed sense of smell, stopping them from eating the food.

This is also one of the reasons why it can be quite difficult sometimes to give your cat pills or tablets. Due to their highly developed sense of smell they are aware of anything that has been added to their food and if they think it is something that they shouldn’t be eating they will leave that food entirely and the tablets that you’ve attempted to hide in it.

This applies to various different medications, herbal or otherwise, and the fact that we can’t smell or taste anything doesn’t mean that the cat is unaware of a foreign substance.

Often it is a lot easier to give the cat an injection of meditation rather than trying to get it to swallow a pill or tablet. If there is no alternative but to give it a pill, then you will need to tip its head back and get the pill as far back in it’s throat as possible then stroke it under the chin to help it swallow the pill. If you don’t do this they will often hold it in the mouth until they have been released then spit it out.

If you do need to give your cat medication by pills then follow it around for a short while after you think they have had the pill, because they can hold it in their mouth for a while, until they believe you are not looking before spitting it out resulting in them not getting the required meditation.

Cats and Children

If you have small children in the house and in particular those under the age of three then a cat might not be the best pet to have around.

This is taking into consideration both the child and the cat’s well-being. Cats love to snuggle into people for company and warmth and this can be particularly dangerous where cats have been known to get into bed with babies and smother them unintentionally.

Another problem can occur when young kittens like to play with children. Kittens have particularly sharp teeth and claws and when they play they can get overly excited and do a lot of damage to the tender skin of children. There is also the chance for the child to get scratched in the eye when playing with a kitten.

On the other hand, cats can get a hard life from children.  Young children often tend to be a little bit heavy-handed when handling cats, and this can lead to anxiety for the cat.

If there are cats and children in the family, then it is a wise decision to teach the children how to handle a cat correctly. Children need to be told how to pick up the cat and handle it carefully and also to become aware of when the cat doesn’t want to be handled any longer and would like to be left alone in peace.

Many cats also get quite stressed with loud noise and sudden action which is something that is quite common with young children.

It is good for children to learn to be considerate towards animals at a young age.  They will not only treat animals better but will also be more considerate towards other people, so having a pet in the family that the children can learn to respect can be excellent for developing better people.

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.