Cats The “Purrfect” Companion?
Fancy having a cat at home?
It will depend on you throughout its life around 15 years with proper care so properly budget for visits to the vets and other costs before making a decision to get a cat. You have to budget for cat food, cat litter and scoops and other accessories to make the cat’s life comfortable at your home.
However, if you miss taking care of your kids who left home to university or their adult’s homes, cats are the perfect option for you not feeling lonely anymore. It is so much fun observing kittens and cats; how they play, sleep in different awkward forms and funny places or cuddle up on your lap and purr while you stroke them and that is the most rewarding feeling of having a cat as your companion.
Kitten or adult?
A difficult choice since the kitten of today is going to be a member of your household for a long time. Perhaps it is better to get an adult cat since it has already developed a personality and you will know what you are getting. Adult cats easily adapt to a new home and get attached to the new owner as easily as a kitten. It does not matter whether you get a male or female because their behaviour is not dependent on their gender. Neutered and spayed cats make pleasant companions.
Name
Any good animal shelter will have healthy cats available. Remember a cat you picked up from the shelter is actually saved from death by you. To convey a proper image, choose a name for the cat from Abby, Achilles to Zummo. There are lots and lots of fancy names to choose from.
Cats Care & Accessories
OK, you got your cat so now what? Open up your purse so that your cat can feel pampered. You can get elegant and lavishly designed dining bowls. To promote their health and well being encourage your cat to drink more water. Drinking fountains for cats that re-circulate water and provide fresh-tasting filtered water are a great idea. Like humans, pets require water as a vital element for survival. Water constitutes approximately 70% of a cat’s body.
Apart from feeding the cat, we have to provide mental and physical stimulation and keep them active and happy. A ball dispensing catnip or any other small treat once in 2 to 4 hours (preset depending upon the need of your cat) is one of the accessories which are fun to watch when the cat plays and eat.
Colourful placemats for the cat with some hilarious or funny drawings make a great gift and liven up the cat pen.
To make your cat enjoy the outdoors along you buy a pet stroller or a cat harness. Vaccinations, also known as kitten shots will help protect the cat from various diseases. Remember to keep your cat healthy by changing the litter box frequently.
Behaviour Training for your stubborn Cats
Learning cat behaviours before you start training them would be a good idea for anyone that is going to train a cat’s behaviour.
A cat can jump and land on its feet as this is a natural instinct for a cat. When a kitten is born the cushion in its paws are not developed with the cushion to land on its feet. It takes about 7 weeks to develop the cushion in a kittens paw for landing. A cats bone structure is unique to other animals as the bones are flexible, cats have no collar bone, which enables them to twist and bend their bones. A cat can jump a great distance without sustaining any injuries.
With this behaviour, you will want to teach the cat to jump hoops, sticks, or scratching trees. Letting a cat jump from extreme heights will cause injury to the cat.
Cats have a unique hearing ability; they are able to hear high tones and pitches, like opening a door or a can of food. Cats also have unique smelling abilities. The reason a cat will scratch or urinate on the floor, rub itself up against a door or furniture is that the cat is leaving their scent in those areas so they will be able to come back and know they were there, in other words marking its territory.
In addition, if another cat or animal comes along in the area a cat will know this. Cats can also smell with their mouths. There is a gland called Jacobson’s organ, it is a sac in the cat’s upper mouth filled with blood, as the cat smells the scent and slightly opens its mouth and upper lip, this allows the scent to be carried in and to the sac, which it will carry the scent goes to the cat brain. This mostly happens to male cats when a female has urinated.
Knowing these natural instincts and behaviours can give you some insight into training your cat. With behaviour training, you will want to make sure that you allow your cat the ability in some way to play out its natural instincts and behaviours.
When training a cat for behaviours there are some things you need to take into consideration. Aggression, especially in older cats, can be caused by illness or other cats in the home. You may want to contact your vet to have your cat checked out to see if it’s alright at this time to train a cat.
Depression and anxiety can play another part in trying to train your cat. If a cat is separated by a recent owner the cat can become depressed. Stress is not uncommon for a cat. If you think that your cat has depression or high anxiety, this would be a good time to take him to the vet. Vets can talk to you about some of the things that may be causing this. There are also medications that a vet can prescribe for the cat to help with depression and anxiety.
Never hit a cat for punishment, he will learn to fear you, and fear will be a behaviour you will not be able to control or retrain. When they do something that is not right, ignore the problem unless you catch them in the act, you can associate the noise with that behaviour you don’t like, or in a stern voice tell them NO.
If the behaviour is becoming impossible, you may have to resort to the baby proof home, all containers that have food in them have a lid on them. Make sure that the counters are clean and have nothing that a cat would want to play with.
You will want to start training your cat or kitten almost immediately after you get them. This will stop any unwanted behaviours and hopefully not let any new bad behaviours start. If help is needed, click here to find more about online cats training.
If you are fine and confident by training your cat to the perfect behaviour without any help but to keep under control cat spraying is the last step to have the “purrfect” cat at home, check this link.
Cat Training Techniques & Information
The most popular form of cat training is that of learning how to use the litterbox. This is especially important for indoor cats but is also ideal for indoor/outdoor pets. Many people are surprised to know that cat training can also involve an actual toilet, which will eliminate the expense and odour associated with a litterbox.
This type of cat training will consist of several weeks during which time the litterbox is elevated and moved until it is near the toilet. The move should be gradual so as to not cause the cat a great deal of confusion or, even worse, cause him/her to misplace the litterbox. During this type of cat training, the litter can be suspended above the toilet using either a small bowl or box. At the conclusion of cat training involving the toilet, the cat will be able to use the toilet by perching over the bowl.
Cat training for indoor cats may also involve the implementation of a scratching post, which will prevent them from ruining furniture or carpet with their nails. While it is very possible to trim the nails, great care must be taken so as to avoid cutting a vein if the nails are cut too short.
It is best to begin cat training as early as possible. If you have a kitten, start early and teach him/her the basic behaviour that is expected from an indoor pet, such as not clawing the furniture and how to use the litterbox.
Experts believe that cats can and often do bond with their owners. In fact, cats are thought to be able to initiate eye contact in an effort to convey a message or may even mimic the actions of their owner. The bonding process is especially important while you attempt cat training. As with any pet, training can be very daunting and often stressful to the owner. It is much easier to instil cat training techniques on a kitten as opposed to a cat, which is something that every pet owner should consider prior to selecting a new addition to their family.
Cat training is the best way for indoor pets to live a happy and healthy life with their owner. A cat that is not properly trained will not understand what is acceptable and what is not, which is why cat training is so important to both the cat and his/her owner. Click this link if you need help with training your playful kitten or cat.
Healthy cats need healthy relationships with their owners. Good Luck with your purr-companion!
Having a bunch of cats around is good. If you’re feeling bad, you just look at the cats, you’ll feel better because they know that everything is just as it is. There’s nothing to get excited about. They just know. They’re saviours.
Charles Bukowski
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