Everyone who owns a cat may relate to the special link that develops between their furry companion and themselves. One of your primary goals as a caring cat owner should be to ensure your feline friend has a long and healthy life.
When you look at your cat, do you occasionally wish it had nine lives instead of just one? Even though your furry pet lacks those abilities, there are many things you can do to ensure she lives a healthy and lengthy life.
Keep Your Cats Indoors
Cats kept indoors typically live a decade or longer than their outdoor counterparts. It’s tempting to think that an outside cat has a more interesting and meaningful existence, but like with anything else, the context matters.
Consider that the number of habitable planets in the galaxy is orders of magnitude more than the number of planets in our solar system. As the overbearing helicopter parent that she is, your mother has kept this shocking revelation from you. Life in this isolated world is perfect, yet you never learn anything. A “lost” experience is something that indoor-only cats will never have. All the world exists in your house. Because of this, we must ensure that their environments remain interesting and instructive.
Your Cat Should Be Spayed or Neutered
Although the main motivation for spaying or neutering a cat is avoiding unwanted offspring, altering your cat has quite a few benefits. Having your pet spayed or neutered prevents several cancers, including those of the cervix, breast, and prostate. It helps stop your cat from getting pyometra, an infection of the uterus that can be deadly, and it decreases your cat’s propensity to battle other cats for mating rights, which can lead to bites that spread illnesses like feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus.
Provide a Healthy Diet
Cats thrive on lifeforms, and high-moisture diets, so are sure to provide one for yours. Kibble alone won’t sustain her, so make sure you give her wet and dry cat food. Since they evolved to consume meat, cats require a diet high in protein.
When feeding many cats, it’s important to do it in individual bowls so you can keep tabs on how much food they’re eating. You should see your dentist if you’ve been avoiding food because it could be related to oral discomfort or another health issue. Refrain from allowing unrestrained meals because doing so causes weight gain and delays the diagnosis
Maintain a Clean Supply of Water
Most of a cat’s hydration demands may be met by their food, as they have a low thirst drive. To top it all off, they are quite particular. Water should be readily available from numerous sources, which should be refilled daily. For this use, “refreshed” implies cleaning with water and a cloth.
Do you know what the thin layer of scum is that forms on the top of your cat’s water dish? They are just as hesitant to consume it as you are. And it’s served from a bowl that still needs to be cleaned. Make careful to keep the dishes for their food and drink separately. If a cat comes across the water near its source of nourishment, it automatically assumes that the water is tainted and will not drink it.
Improving the Natural Setting
You can help keep your cat’s brain active by giving it plenty of opportunities to play, investigate, and socialize. Truly content felines can play with their favorite person, utilize their cat trees or scratching posts, explore the home in search of hidden toys, roll around in their catnip, and more.
Many cats develop a sense of trust and security while interacting with humans, which benefits both parties. Your cat will be much happier if you provide a stress-free and caring environment where it may feel safe. Cats’ neurologic function can decline with age, so keeping their minds active for as long as possible is one method to ensure their pleasure.
Wellness Checks for Pets
If you’re a responsible cat owner, you should take preventative measures by taking your pet in for regular checkups. If you see any of these symptoms in your cat, don’t wait to get her checked out; early detection is key to finding the best course of therapy for her.
If you’ve had cats for a while and unfortunately had some of them pass away, you know that regular visits to the vet are an important part of keeping your remaining cats healthy. Connected to that, you may mourn your old companion, but you can always remember them by just looking at a portrait of them. Check out Memorialize Art if you want to memorialize your late pet but can’t bear to forget them. View samples of their work and read feedback from satisfied clients on their website. Kittens should visit the veterinarian often as they age; their immune systems must be primed with various vaccinations before their mothers’ antibodies no longer protect them.