Sometimes, cats will rack up the bills for you. Vet bills, toys, food, and cat litter costs can make anyone reconsider owning cats. Check out the tips provided below to gain a little insight on being a responsible cat owner.
Shop at your local pet shelter for your next cat. There are tons of loving cats there, and the fees often cover the needed vet care. When you adopt a cat from a shelter, you save a life and help keep the cat population under control.
If your cat is a female, it needs to be spayed when it reaches the appropriate age. If an indoor cat gets out, you may soon have kittens. Spaying a cat can prevent this.
A lot of cat owners have a hard time keeping their cats off the counter. Cats enjoy heights, as they can monitor events from their perch. It helps to provide your cat with certain high spaces where it is allowed. Having a cat tower near your kitchen will keep them off your counters.
Create a tablecloth for the feline. Often, a cat will remove food from his bowl to eat on the side. This makes quite a mess. Use a placemat under your cat’s bowl or cut some fabric to create a small tablecloth. Shake the placemat or cloth over the garbage regularly.
Try not to let your cat go outside. This can compromise your cat’s safety. Your cat may pick up some fleas, or worse. Your cat may be targeted by another animal, or get injured by a vehicle or another person. If the cat must go outside, set aside a small part of the backyard or front lawn as a place where they can go.
Regularly brush your cat’s hair. Brushing spreads natural oils through the fur and also stimulates circulation. It is also a good way to reduce shedding. 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.
Litter Box
Do not punish your cat if they make a mess in the area outside of the litter box. When this occurs, it is probably just a sign that the litter box wasn’t properly taken care of. If your pet is punished, you won’t do anything but make it afraid of you.
Let your cat get comfortable using a carrier. Cats do not respond in the same way dogs do to punishment. Encouragement is a much better strategy. You should place a toy or a blanket inside the carrier and place it in an area where it will be noticed by your cat. Soon that cat will walk into the carrier on its own. This makes transporting much easier.
Purchase good quality food for your cat. Scrutinize the ingredients closely, and make sure that quality protein sources like chicken, fish and beef are first on the list. Try to avoid foods that consist of corn, or other non-protein elements. Your cat is a carnivore, and for proper nutrition, he should have a food high in animal protein in order to keep him at his best.
Any pet can be a constant price tag, and cats are certainly no different. Being a cat parent can be labor and time intensive. As you have learned here, there are ways you can make caring for your cat easier and more fun.
