Pets that are delicate and vulnerable to many ailments require different ways of special care. This is because these animals need “customized” care so that they will remain healthy and live long lives. Cats are examples of such animals because they have “special” needs that need “special” attention. Cats need to have a place to scratch as they grow because it is part of their development to “practice” their claws. Unfortunately, most house cats use home furniture as scratching post and therefore destroy valuable pieces of furniture. In response to this, scratching posts designed and built for cats to provide them with a fixed and permanent place to scratch instead of your home furniture have been developed.

Training Your Cat to Use Scratching Posts

In training your cat to use a scratching post, the first thing you should do is to place it near your cat’s favorite sleeping space or play area because it will help familiarize your cat with the scratching post. To make your cat use it, you should not put its paws on the post and force it to scratch because doing so may be unpleasant for the cat and will make it avoid the post. Instead, you can use your own fingers to scratch the post, which will give your cat a good idea of what it is supposed to do with the post. In addition to this, you can also dangle toys on the post to encourage scratching. When your cat gets in contact with the post, it will discover the texture of the post and begin to scratch it at that point. It would also be a good idea to train your cat to use the post after their nap. Most cats scratch after waking up and stretching. To encourage your cat to use the post regularly, you should praise or reward it every time it uses the post. On the other hand, reprimanding it when it scratches your furniture is also a good way of discouraging the cat from doing so.

Scratching posts can be considered customized cat furniture as they are designed to cater to the need of cats to scratch. However, buying the right scratching post and training your cat to use it are two different things. Pet owners need to know how to effectively train their cats to use scratching posts so that their home furniture will be spared from the claws of their cats.

e-CatFurniture.com Cat Furniture provides detailed information on Cat Furniture, Discount Cat Furniture, Build Your Own Cat Furniture, Custom Cat Furniture and more. Cat Furniture is affiliated with i-CatHealth.com Cat Health Insurance.

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For many years I have heard people talk about being able to connect mentally with their animals. They say that it is possible to communicate with your cat or dog just by thinking thoughts and sending them out to the animal. I never dispelled that thought, just never gave it much credence on my part.

Then came a cat named Boots. Boots came into my life about 11 years ago as a 9-week-old feral kitten.

My brother lived in an apartment complex that had many feral cats and he took it upon himself to feed as many as he could and take those he could catch to get spayed or neutered. There was a female that he was fond of, that was very pregnant, so he made certain to feed her every day and she became friendly.

As her time for birthing approached he faced a dilemma, he had two house cats and did not want them around her as he did not know her medical history. In desperation he moved the cat into a hall closet and kept his cats segregated in other rooms of his apartment. She had three kittens, Boots being one of them.

Due to the circumstances that surrounded their birth, my brother did not have much time to spend socializing them and as a result Boots became a rare find when it comes to understanding cat behavior.

This cat is afraid of just about everything including his own shadow, but that is getting away from my topic of mentally communicating with a pet.

I adopted this bundle of nerves and he came to live with my husband and our other two male cats.

To begin with he was totally frightened of my husband and I slowly introduced the other cats to him. Our grandpa cat readily adopted him, but our other male saw someone that he could really torment; however grandpa Whisker’s kept Isaac in line.

As Boots evolved into the household and began to find his favorite hiding places I began to notice something.

I had developed an overwhelming affection for him and his strange ways.

There was something about this cat you just had to love, my husband began to feel the same way (not because Boots ever came near him) it was just an aura about him that drew you to him.

Most of the time he was out of sight, but yet if I really wanted him in the house to feed him and I began to think about where to look to find him, he suddenly would appear before me.

As this began to happen many times I began to wonder, “why is this happening?”

Is he reading my mind or am I reading his?

Or it because he is hungry and knows it is feeding time/?

Sometimes I would try and do it just to see if it really was a thought process. On those times it did not work, so I chalked it off to coincidence the times it did work.

As the years went by (he is now 11) more and more of these coincidences happened and of course, I chalked them off as such.

Recently, we had a mouse problem (actually a fruit rat problem, but mouse sounds better) and this cat, that in all his years has caught one bluejay’ began bringing in live mice.

He had suddenly taken up residence in our family room, which is an addition added to the back of our house (which is 82 years old.) There is a crawl space opening in that room that allows a person to get under the main house to repair pipes and things. We had the space boarded up (we thought.) It was situated behind the couch. The board somehow came loose and the outside critters were moving in. Mr. Boots had appointed himself as keeper of the room and in an effort to inform me of the problem, brought the critters to me in the dark of night to see.

When we had two live ones running loose in the house, I figured out we must have a problem somewhere and thought of the crawl space.
Now did I think of it all on my own or was Mr. Boots trying to tell me what was going on?

A quick move of the couch showed us the problem; we screwed the board shut and suddenly Boots quit staying in the family room.

We caught the two loose critters and thought life would be back to normal.

Wrong!

The cat that never hunted suddenly, began bringing me a new critter every night, thankfully these were deceased.

Why I wondered? Was it because I whooped and hollered every time he brought one in before and he thought I loved them? Or was it because he suddenly discovered a new vocation?

I did not enjoy these nighttime surprises as each gift was presented with a very strange howling meow that scared the wits out of us.

I became seriously concerned, as I did not want any more mice dead or alive in my bedroom.

As a result I resorted to deep thought as to how can I stop this behavior. In what I considered a total “lost in thought” moment I mentally asked Boots to stop bringing in any more mice.

A week has gone by and we have not had any more gifts of mice.

Is it a coincidence or what!

If you enjoyed this article and want to learn more about caring for your cat or dog, please visit my web site at cats-and-dogs-on-the-web.com cats-and-dogs-on-the-web.com

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Tags: house cats, kitten

Many new cat owners may struggle with trying to figure out what is best for their cats. A decision like letting them roam the outdoors freely or confining them to the indoor can make a difference of 5-10 years in your cat’s life span. It has been half a century now that cat litter has been around which has made indoor cats possible & affordable, and many studies since then all showing indoor cats live longer and healthier lives.

The outdoors in many cities or on the country side are full of unpredictable and dangerous situations where even the most cautious cat may be lured to. The heat of a warm engine during a cold winter day, the taste of anti freeze, pesticides, the neighbor’s dog, hawks and owls, or cruel people wanting to hurt or steal your cat, cat fights, and feline diseases and fleas, are just some of the dangers that await an outdoor cat.

Protecting your cat is not the only reason why it’s important they are kept inside but also to protect the wildlife. Cats are responsible for killing hundreds of millions of birds in the US last year alone.

A relationship with an indoor cat can and should be more rewarding. A closer bond is made and they become more dependent to you and your family members for attention and for casual play. They will depend on you for stimulation, exercise and a clean litter box. Depending the cat breed, house cats are usually better in pairs, keeping each other company and practicing their hunting skills on each other instead of your ankles.

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The recent christmas period has, it seems, witnessed a rise in the number of stray or abandoned cats. The staff at the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Cats Protection league have witnessed a growing crisis as they have been called in to look after more cats than they can easily cope with.

They predict a crisis as foster homes are full and there are less people able or willing to offer a cat a home. Unfortunately the volunteers look to house 12 cats per month in a small town in Suffolk, England.

Margaret Spratt, a volunteer, says “Our pens are always full, and we can’t even take any more animals in at the moment.”

The main source of cats needing help are those that are abandoned, those that are stray and those that have been the victim of a death of an elderly lone owner. Mrs Spratt reports that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to rehouse cats.

The recent christmas has seen more cats than ever being brought into the center. They report having to turn cats away, which is clearly not an ideal situation. “We do the very best that we can for the animals in our care, and we just hope that eventually we can find the right homes for them,” said Mrs Spratt.

There appears no clear reason why the supply of unwanted cats has increased. The hope is that there will be a settling of the problem so that current cats can be rehomed. If the situation continues in the same pattern then new methods of cat care and cat care funding will need to be devised.

Eric Hartwell oversees theworldsbesthomepage.com the worlds best home page a user-led resource - do you wish to contribute your opinions?

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Cat litter has definitely provided a lot of pet and homeowners with so much convenience. Before cat lovers had to put up with the unbearable stench of cat urine and feces but thanks to cat litter, Pussy’s excrements are easy to eliminate and no longer as bad smelling. There are many different kinds and brands of cat litter in the market and one of the best of them all is pine cat litter.

Cat litter is used as a filling material for cat litter boxes where house cats defecate or urinate. The cat litter is supposed to absorb the moisture and reduce the bad smell coming from urine and feces, making the litter box more bearable at home. Pine cat litter fulfills these roles remarkably well, making it one of the best choices as a litter box filler.

There are different kinds of cat litter available in the market, allowing cat owners to choose from the wide variety according to their tastes and purposes. Some cat lovers choose cat litter for their odor control and absorbing power. Others choose cat litter that cannot easily be scattered all over the house. Some buy cat litter because they are biodegradable and environment friendly. Pine cat litter apparently can fulfill these considerations as it quite absorbent, track-resistant, and easy to dispose of.

Pine cat litter is a very much recommended type of cat litter for all cat lovers everywhere. A lot of people who have tried other kinds of cat litter such as clay, silica, sand, have ended up using pine cat litter because of its many advantages. There were people who first doubted using pine cat litter, but eventually they realized that it probably is the best kind of cat litter available commercially.

What Makes Pine Cat Litter So Good

Pine cat litter is a very good choice among other kinds of cat litter. First of all, it is organic – a gift of Mother Nature. It comes from recycled materials and it is in itself recyclable. Pine cat litter comes from biodegradable pine sawdust, it can easily be flushed down your toilet in small amounts. It can also be mixed into your garden soil to be used as compost fertilizer, saving you the need to buy synthetic or commercial plant food.

Pine cat litter also does not contain silica dust, unlike other types of cat litter like clay. Silica dust can be hazardous to health, and it would not be advisable to have them in products like cat litter. The dust particles can go airborne and be inhaled not only by your cat but other members of the family as well and this can cause a lot of problems in the lungs. When inhaled, silica dust can induce bronchitis or even lung cancer. It is not worth the risk to get these diseases just for a cheaper brand of cat litter. Pine cat litter would probably be a better choice for you and your cat in terms of health concerns.

Some cat owners get worried that their cats would not welcome the switch from their old cat litter to pine cat litter. Pine cat litter may have a very different texture from other kinds of cat litter. It usually comes in pellet form unlike the softer texture of other types, which seems to be more comfortable for cats. However, cats are actually tougher than most people think and they can definitely withstand the rougher texture of pine cat litter. Some cats may even like the tough consistency better than the sandy and smooth grain of other cat litter types.

Pine cat litter can be the best choice for you and your cat. It does most, if not everything that you would expect from an excellent cat litter. It is a good absorbent and deodorizer. It is easy to clean up and can even have other uses after consumption. It is safe for your health and that of your cat’s. Most of all, it is environment friendly, so you do not have to worry about contributing to the deterioration of the planet.

The next time you buy cat litter for your feline friend, consider getting pine cat litter. It is good for you cat, good for you, and good for the planet. What more can you ask for?

Lee Dobbins writes for catlitter.topicgiant.com catlitter.topicgiant.com where you can learn more about cat litter, litter boxes and catlitter.topicgiant.com/Articles/Pine_Cat_Litter.php pine cat litter.

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