A cat has appeared in your home, which means that you have new responsibilities for caring for it.
In our articles on how to buy a kitten and take care of a kitten, we introduce our readers to the many secrets of proper pet care, what to pay attention to when choosing a pet and how to keep it at home.
At what age is it better to take a kitten?
Of course, the decision about the age at which you should buy a home fluffy kitten has its pros and cons.
If you want to have a kitten from a young age, be prepared to spend a lot of time with your kitten. The quality of care, conditions, nutrition and education will affect your pet’s entire life.
A kitten should be bought at least 12 weeks of age, as too young kittens still need maternal care and are not ready to live independently, either psychologically or physiologically, away from their mother.
Pet education
The main advantage of taking care of a kitten from a young age is the possibility of bringing up her in the rules and procedures you strictly define.
About the need to bring up a kitten from a young age, we talked about in the article “Raising a kitten” Be sure to read the information contained in this article!
The main conclusion of necessity of education of an animal from small years is that the animal is not adapted to a life in apartment conditions, it is guided by the instincts.
To create favorable conditions for a person to live together with a pet, it is necessary to educate him in certain rules of conduct. It is necessary to accustom an animal to a mode and a daily routine, to wean an animal to spoil things, to accustom it to eat and to sleep in the places strictly allocated for this purpose, to accustom to a tray and hygienic procedures from the childhood.
Therefore, it is desirable to take a kitten into the house from a young age and to pay a lot of time and your attention to the education and care of the animal, then your efforts will bring their positive results. You will establish a very close and trusting relationship with your pet, you will become his best friend and he will give you all his love and devotion.
If you do decide to take an adult cat into your home, try to find out more about the pet from the former owner. Look at the conditions in which the cat was kept, assess the physical condition of the cat, it should look healthy.
Look at the cat’s behaviour, her reaction to you, she should be calm, not aggressive and not intimidated. Pick up the pet, pet it, do not scratch or bite the cat.
Ask your cat’s owner if she is accustomed to the litter tray, if she has a veterinary certificate, if she has been vaccinated, and if she has any health problems. It is advisable to take the cat under 6 years of age, as after 6 years of age she is in a very old age period when cats can get sick with a lot of illnesses.
If your cat is well-bred and well-bred, it’s the best solution for people who don’t have time to raise a small kitten. An adult cat will get used to you and love you, without as much care as a small kitten. However, an adult cat also needs care.
So, what is the proper cat care at home?
Proper cat care consists of several conditions: proper nutrition, proper upbringing at a young age, veterinary care, hygienic grooming procedures and comfortable living conditions.
Let’s focus on a very important issue for cats, care and feeding.
What better way to feed a cat or cat?
When it comes to cat nutrition, you should pay attention to the fact that you will have to pay a lot of attention to your cat’s nutrition.
In addition to rabbit and poultry, you can also feed your cat lamb, beef and pork. It is better to boil fish and give it no more than once a week. Lean fermented milk products are also useful, sour cream and cheese are harmful. Milk can only be given to kittens. Adult cats may have digestive problems.
It’s also important to eat, as kittens have much more meals than adult cats who are a year old. An adult cat needs two meals a day, while a small kitten needs five meals a day for up to six months and four meals a day from six months.
Both the caloric value of the cat and the amount of food it eats are important.
In this question it all depends on the age of the cat and its way of life. The more energy a cat spends on active play, the more energy she needs to replenish. Conversely, with age, the cat’s activity drops and she lapses most of the time in a relaxed state.
It should be remembered that cats with certain illnesses or during pregnancy, as well as cats that have undergone sterilization or castration, need a special diet.
Take care of neutering your cat or neutering your cat if you don’t want your cat to breed. In the article “Sterilizing cats” you will learn how important this procedure is for prolonging your cat’s life and health.
There are specially designed premium professional cat foods that are designed for pets with different nutritional needs depending on age, activity and disease. Pay attention to the quality and composition of the food and the reputation of the producer.
German cat food super premium “Sanabelle” is developed with the help of numerous scientific researches in the field of optimization of pet nutrition, taking into account their daily needs for a balanced combination of proteins, fats, vitamins and trace elements.
You can find the ideal food for your pet in the “Feed Selection” section
Feed selection will take into account age, lifestyle and the need for a particular diet in the presence of health problems with the pet.
Use three types of bowls to feed cats, one for water, one for dry food and one for wet food. Be sure to wash your bowls thoroughly and change the water regularly. Do not store open canned food with wet food for more than one day in the fridge, this will avoid poisoning your pet.
Cat care
Create all the necessary living conditions for your pet, he should have a place to sleep, a tray, a place for his bowls, a scratching post and a place for mobile games. Equip your pet with a special town with different houses, shelves and minks, where the cat will gladly climb, jump, throw and hide.
Good care also requires hygienic procedures.
It is necessary to bathe your cat at least once every two months. Use special shampoos, taking into account the peculiarities of wool. Bathe should be bathed at a comfortable water temperature of 38-38.5°C for the cat’s body. Dry your cat quietly so as not to scare or burn her.
It’s very important to comb the cat. If the cat is short-haired, it is sufficient to scratch the cat every day and remove the tangles once a week. The coat hardness should be the same as the softer the coat, the softer the brush.
It is also necessary to cut the claws approximately once every two weeks with special scissors. Be careful not to damage the blood vessel in the claw cavity!
You need to wipe your cat’s eyes and nose with a damp tampon every day to get rid of dark plaque. There should be no purulent secretions in front of your cat’s eyes if they need to be seen by a doctor.
Once a week you should clean your ears with a special solution for cleaning your ears. A healthy cat’s sulfur is light and odorless if the sulfur has darkened and has a bad smell – this is also a reason to come to the vet for an inspection.
Cats also need to brush their teeth if there is no solid food in their diet. Just brushing once a week is enough, and there are special cat toothpastes for cats.
Your cat should be shown to the vet regularly every three months. The fact is that in addition to the mandatory vaccination, it is also necessary to carry out a preventive check-up, as many diseases have no symptoms.
Regular inspection by a specialist will prevent many serious illnesses, and in time the identified diseases at an early stage will be effectively treated without negative consequences for the pet.
Even if your cat isn’t on the street, she’s still at risk of infection because you can bring various bacteria, viruses or helminth eggs into the house with your shoes.
Be attentive to your pet, any deviation from normal behavior in the form of refusal to eat, disorders with stools, coughing, vomiting, discharge from the nose and eyes, as well as passivity, apathy, unnatural postures, etc. are strong reasons for contacting a specialist.
Give your cat your attention and tenderness. She, like any other living thing, needs to communicate. She has no one else in your flat to talk to but you and your family. Don’t ignore her, communicate, play, pet the cat. She needs tactile contact so she can form and keep in touch.
There are special glands on the cat’s body that make up the secret with which the cat marks its space, including you. There are cases when the cat is stressed from the lack of communication, which leads to negative health consequences.
Animal psychology is closely related to its physical condition, so it is not allowed to be rough and aggressive towards the animal. Do not scold him and never hit him! Only love, attention, care and affection are necessary for the health of the cat, care and maintenance guarantee of its longevity. We’ve given you a couple of tips for taking care of cats, now everything is in your hands!