Many cat owners either purchase or adopt a cat for some sort of companionship. Many people bring cats into their homes on a good premise, they truly want to give this animal a good life. But unfortunatly, for alot of cats, it stops there. Many people think that if they feed their cat on a regular basis, clean the litterbox from time to time and maybe play with a laser pointer every once in a while is giving a cat a good quality of life...think again. Throughout history cats have been given the stigma of being able to take care of themselves, they are aloof, independant, cold etc. Sure some cats do fit that persona, some are feral cats and do take care of themselves, but when they are a pet, they are your responsibility. This means, in order to have a healthy cat, it must be healthy both physically AND mentally.
Even though they may not show illness or even injury as outright as dogs, they still need routine physical exams and bloodwork to show any underlying disease. They also need daily grooming, mental and physical exercise, and not just with a laser pointer. Get up off the couch and play fetch. Cats are natural predatory animals, and usually hunt around 20 small meals a day, that essentially means playing 'fetch' at least 20 times. Catnip toys are great, for cats who respond to catnip, and no not all cats do (especially young ones). For those of you who don't necessarily want to get off the couch there are some great toys on the end of fishing poles for you to cast out and reel back in. Essentially, anything that can somewhat mimic a predatory instinct is a great toy for cats, but make sure that you routinely switch out toys so they don't get bored.
And because cats naturally eat several small meals per day, try to at least feed him twice daily, or more if you can...if you're not home, hide some kibble around the house for him to find later, or purchase a treat ball (as he rolls it around, kibble falls out). Several small meals and lots of exercise will help to prevent obesity and a multitude of associated problems.
We all love cats, that's why they are the world's most popular pet, they give so much to us, lets make sure that we can give them the best possible life that we can give.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
This is a great post about cats. Cats are really wonderful. And thanks so much for the comment on my blog. I knew about the thyroid medicine that you can get a pharmacist to make to put on the ear, but to be honest, it is expensive and I couldn't afford it. And she doesn't have any teeth so the pill pockets wouldn't work plus she is so smart I really think she would spit out the whole thing. She is really good about the pills now. Doesn't like it but does let me do it. Course the pills do come flying out every now and then.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the good advice.