Keeping your cat healthy is the key to extending your cats life. Although cats are independent by nature they really do need a good caretaker. As an owner of a cat you take on the responsibility of caring for your cat and making sure its needs are met.

Your cat needs access to fresh water daily. The water bowl should be cleaned out regularly. Feed your cat good quality cat food. Ask your veterinarian whether the brand you feed meets your cats requirements for his lifestyle and age. Obesity in cats is common in indoor cats. If you have an indoor cat and he has free access to food all day, you may try a light variety to slim him down. If you have a senior indoor cat he may need more nutrients than the light food offers, so once again it is a good idea to ask your veterinarian.

Exercise is very important for your cat. An indoor cat will often eat out of pure boredom. Provide a selection of cat toys and cat furniture such as a cat tree, to entertain your cat. Even an outdoor cat can benefit from this. Taking time at the end of the day to play with your cat will help keep it active.

When we have been away from home and our cat has been indoors the entire day, we help him unwind his excess energy with a bouncing ball. As a kitten he learned to jump in the air and catch a bouncing ball and we keep him entertained for half an hour with his attempts. Our other cat prefers to play ‘fetch’, where we throw a toy mouse for her to run and find. She does not always bring it back, but as soon as I say “are you ready?” She jumps behind our bedroom door and gets prepared to stalk her prey.

Providing a good scratching post is a wise investment. It may well limit the damage to your furniture and it satisfies your cats need to scratch. Keeping your indoor cats nails trimmed is important to keep them in good condition and so that they do not get too long. If you notice your outdoor cat getting his claws stuck in carpet or fabric he may be in need of a trim too. Most outdoor cats are able to keep their claws worn to a reasonable length.

Grooming your cat regularly helps reduce shedding and prevents matted hair. Both long and short haired cats will benefit from a groom. A brush is often a better suited grooming tool than a comb as it does not pull the hair. Keep your cat free of fleas and ticks.

A healthy cat is a happy cat. Taking time to meet your cats needs will keep your cat comfortable and content. You are rewarded with a purring companion cuddled up in your lap.

Tags: cat healthy, groom, kitten

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Tags: cat healthy, groom, kitten

The domesticated cat has spread to nearly every continent and is one of the most popular pets worldwide. However, there are many people who do not like cats and would never consider letting a cat share their home for several different reasons.

Although some people simply don’t enjoy animals, many prefer dogs over cats because of few liabilities that cats have, such as shedding, clawing furniture and carpet. The following questions and answers provide some information that can make cats easier to live with, explain some of their bothersome behaviors and how to remedy them, as well as how they purr and land on their feet, and the typical lifespan of a cat.

Do cats always land on their feet?

Well, that is actually a generalization. While housecats are very adept at falling gracefully, bigger cats that are not used to climbing or falling, like lions, have a lot of trouble landing on their feet. It isn’t entirely rare for a lion to have a painful descent on the rare occasion it climbs a tree. In some cases, large housecats that are less than athletic have similar issues.

Research compiled on cats that have fallen or jumped from windows have found that many of the cats who fell from a lower level or a higher level were able to land on their feet.

This phenomenon is called Highrise Syndrome and basically shows that cats that fall from six stories or higher are more likely to survive than cats falling from lower levels. Falling from higher up gives cats longer to get their feet underneath them and brace before they hit the ground.

Why does my cat shed all the time?

Cats shed their fur as a way of adjusting to their living conditions. Outdoor cats tend to put on a thick coat in the fall as winter sets in, and then shed the extra fur in the spring when it begins to get warmer. Outdoor cats shed in this manner because their brain can sense how much sunlight they are exposed to and use this to gauge how much fur they need to stay warm or cool for the season.

Indoor cats, on the other hand, have very little exposure to natural lighting and the artificial lighting inside home does not register the same to the part of their brain that controls shedding. Because the cat’s brain senses an imbalance, they grow and shed hair continually, unlike an outdoor cat.

Should I have my cat declawed?

Although tens of thousand cats are declawed each year, many vets and cat owners are against this procedure because of what declawing actually entails. A cat’s claws are not like ours. Our finger nails are simply dead cells while a cat’s claws are very similar to the last joint on your finger.

Cats use their claws for balance and movement, so the lack of them can be painful and removing them makes walking much different for the cat. If you plan on letting your cat live in the house, there are other measures you can take to ensure they don’t shred your furniture like getting them a scratching post covered in abrasive material instead of soft material that resembles carpet or upholstery.

Is there anything I can do to stop or slow down my indoor cat’s shedding?

There are a few things you can do to keep cat hair off of everything you own and make your cat more comfortable as well. Since cats shed constantly in response to being kept indoors, which is not exactly their natural environment, cats that shed excessively are, in effect, slightly out of balance.

The best thing you can do to reduce unwanted shedding is to make sure that they have a healthy and balanced diet and to brush them often. A good diet will ensure that they have a healthy coat that will shed a normal amount. Keeping your cat healthy and brushing excess hair will prevent cat hair from getting all over the place.

What are the benefits to having my cat spayed or neutered?

Other than preventing them from having unwanted kittens, having your cat spayed or neutered will preventing them from developing several activities that pet owners may consider undesirable, especially in indoor cats. In addition to making it impossible for your cat to mate, it also takes away their desire to mate and all the related activities.

This means that male cats will not mark their territory with urine spray or roam for miles trying to find a mate. Once female cats become mature, they will stay in heat nearly all the time until they become pregnant, which means that they will likely keep you awake at night by howling to attract a mate.

However, many cat owners have their pet spayed or neutered because the energy they would have spent on finding a mate is dedicated to their human companions instead and they become a much more devoted pet.

Mike Selvon owns a number of niche portal. Please visit our cats.trustprofitableniche.com/ cats portal for more great tips on your common cats.trustprofitableniche.com/cats-questions-answers.php cats questions answered, and leave a comment at our mynicheportal.com/pets-animals/your-cats-questions-answered cats blog.

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Tags: cat healthy, kitten

Spaying your female pet has many benefits, both for you, as a pet owner, and for your pet. Besides preventing unwanted litters of puppies or kittens, spaying can also help make make it possible for your female pet to lead a longer and healthier life.

Let’s start at the beginning. Spaying your pet means removing the female reproductive organs, specifically the uterus and ovaries, so that your pet can no longer become pregnant. The more technical name for a spay is an ovariohysterectomy (or OHE, for short).

Obviously, if breeding your pet is a priority for you, spaying is not an option. However, any female pet which is not a breeding animal can benefit tremendously by being spayed.

What are the benefits of spaying your female pet? Well, of course, one of the most obvious benefits is that you will no longer need to worry about your pet becoming pregnant. You also will not have to worry about your female pet coming into “heat”. This means, for a dog, no bleeding or mess associated with your dog being “in heat”.

For a cat, it means not having to tolerate the unpleasant behaviors that your cat experiences while being “in heat”. For those of you who have never been around a cat “in heat”, these behaviors include loud and frequent vocalization, which can disrupt your entire household, pacing, and urine marking in your home. Unspayed female cats can come into “heat” every few days. This behavior is often a deciding factor for cat owners when considering whether or not to spay their female cat.

There are a number health benefits for your spayed female pet also. If left unspayed, female pets often develop a condition known as pyometra. Pyometra is a severe, life-threatening infection of the female uterus. It is frequently a fatal condition if left untreated. Even with treatment, some female pets do not survive a pyometra infection. Because your female pet’s uterus is removed when she is spayed, the possibility of developing a pyometra is completely removed. Spayed female pets cannot develop this disease.

In addition, because your female pet cannot become pregnant, you don’t have to worry about complications which can occur during or after the birth process of pregnant female pets. There is no need to worry about puppies or kittens being to large to pass through the birth canal, or in the wrong position to be born normally. Conditions such as metritis (an infection of the uterus which occurs after pregnancy) and mastitis (infection of the mammary glands, or breasts) cannot occur in spayed female pets either.

Another benefit to spaying your female pet is a lower chance of developing breast tumors later in life. This primarily applies to pets which are spayed at a young age. If spayed before the first “heat” cycle, the chance of your pet developing breast cancer later in life is very low.

It is a proven fact that pets which are spayed lead longer, healthier lives. Some estimates indicate that spayed females can live as long as twice as long as unspayed females.

Spaying also tends to make your pet calmer and more affectionate, without the mood swings that can accompany the “heat” cycle.

As you can see, there are many strong reasons for spaying your female pet.

Copyright 2006 The Pet Med Site

Lorie Huston has been a veterinarian for over 20 years, working with both dogs and cats. She emphasizes the use of routine preventive pet health care to keep your pets healthy and safe. Lorie is the owner, editor, and webmaster of The Pet Med Site where you will find a library of information pertaining to pet health care, including free audio recordings describing the secrets to keeping your dog or cat healthy. For more information, visit thepetmedsite.com/ thepetmedsite.com/

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Tags: cat healthy, kitten

Incredible advances in veterinary medicine are making it possible for cats to live longer, healthier lives than ever before. The quality of your cat’s health is the result of a partnership between you and your veterinarian. You must be confident that the vet you have chosen will take good care of your cats.

When you first get your cat, be sure to have your veterinarian examine her within 10 days. In addition to getting baseline weights and measurements on her, your vet will want to check her blood and stools for illness and parasites. If you have never had a cat before, the first visit is a good time to get a demonstration in cleaning your pet’s ears and clipping her toenails properly.

A proper diet and sufficient exercise are key factors in keeping your cat healthy. You must make sure the food you give your cat is of good quality to provide her with the correct amounts of nutrients to keep her systems running. If you are confused by the variety of brands of cat food available, ask your veterinarian for some help. Don’t be embarrassed to tell him how much you are able/willing to spend for pet food. There are some excellent brands that are not very expensive, and some expensive brands that are not very good.

Exercise not only keeps your cat’s weight under control, it strengthens her muscles and enhances her immune system. Some cats are naturally active. Others need anywhere from a little to a lot of encouragement from you to get moving. Set aside some dedicated playtime each day with your cat, and she’ll be more inclined to get physical.

Yearly “well-cat” appointments with your veterinarian help track your cat’s health. A thorough going-over under the vet’s expert eye can catch early skin or eye conditions and other physical changes that you might not notice on a day-to-day basis. Blood and stool samples allows your vet to diagnose and treat disease and parasites before they reach a critical state.

The yearly vet visit is also a good time to mention any “strange habits” your cat may have developed over the last year. Often, these have simple explanations, but some behaviors, such as licking paint or eating strange substances can indicate a medical condition.

One of the most important aspects of the yearly vet visit is updating your cat’s vaccinations. Even if you keep your cat strictly indoors, it is important to have her vaccinated against diseases such as rabies, panleukopenia, calcivirus, Chlamydia and feline leukemia virus. If your cat were to get out of the house and wander, she has protection against some of the diseases that cost less fortunate cats their lives.

How Do You Find a Veterinarian?

* Get recommendations from other cat owners in your area.

* Ask cat groomers or emergency clinics for recommendations.

* Neighbors or your local pet supply store may be able to make suggestions.

* If you’ve just moved to the area, ask your former veterinarian if he/she could recommend a veterinarian in your new hometown

The process for selecting a veterinarian is very much like choosing your own personal physician. You want to find a doctor that you feel comfortable talking with, someone who encourages all of your questions and supports you in all the health care choices you make on your cat’s behalf.

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Tags: cat healthy, groom, parasites

Cats need only be provided with decent shelter, food and water and they will be quite healthy most of the time. Like any other living thing, however, they can get sick and can come down with anything from a minor cold to a major ailment.

As a responsible pet owner, you want to make sure you feed your cat premium cat food so he can be his healthiest and also watch your cat closely for signs of sickness so that you can get him to a vet right away. Hopefully most ailments will be minor, but in some cases getting your cat expedient veterinary help can be the difference between life and death.

Some things to look for include:

Your cats coat – is it full and shiny or dull and patchy? Is he shedding abnormally? If so get your cat scheduled for a vet visit.

Behavior – is your cat acting sluggish and not eating? Any change in behavior warrants a trip to the vet as it is better to be safe then sorry!

Diarrhea or vomiting – If your cat is doing either of these for more than a day, I would get him to the vet as soon as you can.
Coughing – Some cats routinely cough up hairballs, but if your cat is coughing for no reason then you should have this checked out.

Swelling or lumps – when you pet your cat, take the time to feel around for any unusual lumps or swelling.

To insure that your cat doesn’t fall victim to disease, you should make sure he has all of his vaccinations as recommended by your vetrenarian. The most devastating but easiest to prevent disease that affects cats is infectious enteritis, or feline distemper. This is a virus disease that strikes quickly and leaves little time to enact treatment.

Feline Leukemia or FeLV is another deadly disease that can be prevented through early vaccinations. This disease poses no threat to humans but can be spread between cats. These days, it is treatable and some cats can live a long life with Feline Leukemia although you would want to be very careful to keep them away from other cats so as not to spread the disease.

One health problem in cats, particulary those that go outdoors is worms. A cat with worms usually has a lackluster coat and can either have a large appetite or none at all. There are many kinds of worms, and cats are susceptible to all of them. Cats can get worms from lice or fleas or in the organs of the rodents that the cats eat. Typically the cat ingests the eggs which mature and attach to the intestinal walls. Feeding your cat a bit of garlic every once in a while can protect him against worms.

Keeping your cat happy and healthy is really a simple matter of caring for him properly and making sure he gets the appropriate veterinary care. Make sure your cat gets all the recommended vaccinations and you give him the proper treatments to repel fleas and other pesky pests. These simple steps will keep your cat happy and healthy for a lifetime!

Lee Dobbins writes for epet-center.com ePet Pet Center where you can find lots of epet-center.com/catarticles1.html articles on cats, dogs, fish, birds and ferrets.

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Tags: cat healthy