Archive forSeptember, 2009

Kitten Training Tips



In this article, we hope to share with you the many aspects that this important subject has to offer. Deciding to get a pet and keeping it indoors will take a lot of responsibility. Chores such as feeding the animal or giving it a bath are just one of the few things the owner will have to do but there is more. Since these pets are not yet trained how to behave, the person will have to devote a lot of time and effort to make this happen.

The best time to train animals especially if one decides to keep it indoors is when it is still young and having kittens in the house is no exception. The good news about raising a cat is that it is easier to teach and maintain, unlike dogs that may require some assistance in a school.

The first thing that a person needs to know before getting a cat is learning about its behaviors. In general, these animals are very affectionate and are well behaved. When one notices certain changes in the mood of the cat, there is usually something wrong that can be corrected once the cause has been determined.

Here are some tips that can help a person train a kitten at home;

1. Kittens need exercise. If this is not done in the form of toys for the animal to play with, it will become restless and could do damage to your home.

2. Since kittens are not yet toilet trained, it is best to start by teaching it what to do with a litter box. The litter box should be big enough for the pet to enter and move around in. By adding newspaper and perhaps carpet, the animal will soon learn where to release waste when it is time.

3. The claws of kittens are not that sharp yet compared to older cats. So that these creatures will not damage the furniture in the future, it is best to get a scratching pad and teaching it that this is the proper place to scratch.

Praising the kitten for doing a good job and feeding it as a reward will help in teaching the kitten how to behave inside the house. The owner should not shout or hit the kitten since this will make the animal fear the person and no amount of effort in teaching it will work after that experience.

Kittens are lovable animals and by spending some time daily with them and with a little patience, this will all pay off as one can finally see that the animal has been finally house trained. Having this information handy will help you a great deal the next time you find yourself in need of it.


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What Cat Care Reveals About You



Cat care and the way you treat your pets can say a lot about your personality. Many of us have heard the superstition that over time pets and owners begin to look like each other, but it turns out that your pet can reflect a lot more about you than just your appearance. Cat care and your attitude towards it can provide a lot of insight into your attitudes and your temperament. If you want your cat to reflect the best in your personality, consider learning a bit more about how to offer the very best cat care to your feline friend.

When people come to your home and encounter a healthy, affectionate cat who is friendly and sociable, and lives in a clean, well tended environment, they are much more likely to have a positive opinion of you than if your cat is scruffy, overweight or underweight, and lives in an area that smells and looks dirty. At best, substandard cat care tells your pet and the world that you are not conscientious. At worst, failing to take good care of your cat can make you look cruel and irresponsible as your cat suffers and whines in the background of your daily life. Because your cat care habits say so much about you, it is well worth the time and effort to educate yourself about great cat care.

The good news is that great cat care is not difficult to practice. Once you learn how to care for your pet, providing top shelf cat care is a snap and take just a few minutes per day. By making cat care a part of your daily routine, you can make sure that you get to tasks like cleaning the litter box and grooming your pet before they become difficult or arduous. Cat care can be a snap as long as you are willing to take a little bit of time and effort in order to learn what your cat needs and how you can provide it.

Your cat care habits may say a lot, but they are also very easy to alter in as little as five or ten minutes of attention every day. If you aren’t taking the best possible care of your feline companion, there is no reason not to make a change for the better. Once you master how to provide great cat care, you will see your cat’s blossoming health and warm affection for you as a reflection of your best qualities. A happy cat in the pink of vigor tells the world that you are a caring and sympathetic person with a great capacity for being responsible and trustworthy. Improving your cat care skills can help you make a wonderful impression on anyone who is lucky enough to encounter your pleasant, healthy pet.


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What is the Best Kitten Care for Lasting Health?



Most people look to their vet for the best advice on kitten care, or any animal care come to that.

But can you be sure that they are giving you good, sound, unbiased advice based on solid research?

The early months of 2009 have seen media reports about Harvard (US) medical students protesting that their professors have strong and lucrative ties to pharmaceutical companies. This compromises the professors integrity and can’t exclude them from biased teaching.

If the most famous and most prestigious medical school in the largest democracy of the world has this problem, image what it must be like in less well known medical and veterinary schools.

Add into the mix the lucrative commercial pet food industry and you may want to consider if your vet, who may be the nicest person in the world, has had the best training. Or perhaps s/he has received very biased and limited training: limited to ensuring the burgeoning profits of already highly profitable companies.

You can’t blame the universities who are always short of money. You can’t blame the governments as they are always under pressure to deliver cheaper courses. It’s probably best not to blame anyone.

But it does pay you to know what is going on.

Perhaps now you can appreciate why so many vets strongly promote commercial pet food. Their reception rooms are packed solid from floor to ceiling.

But stop and ask yourself if this is really the way to optimum kitten care. Or is it more for optimum profits in the commercial pet food industry? Or optimum vet care, with all the ensuing unhealthy cats?

I want to introduce you to Dr Francis Pottenger. He was a research scientist and conducted nutritional tests on cats between 1932 and 1942. He discovered that cats who were fed only a cooked diet, even though ‘perfected balanced’, showed a marked reduction in their immune responses. This lowered immune response was passed on to the next generation.

Further feeding of cooked food, further lowered the immune response. And so the cycle went on.

By the third generation illnesses such as heart lesions, hepatitis, feline urological syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, leukaemia, tumours, arthritis and a host of other immune deficient maladies were occurring.

Dr Pottenger went on to discover that the immune response could be improved simply by giving them a raw food diet. But it took another three generations for the immune system to be back up to a really optimum level of efficiency, that you commonly find in wild cats.

If you are still confused, and I can’t blame you if you are, here’s a suggestion to use when you search for the best kitten care.

Fads come and go. What ‘science’ discovers this year, is out moded next year as fashion changes, as inaccuracies are discovered, as more information comes to light.

On the other hand, nature has perfected herself over millennia. Cats have evolved on their raw diet and thrived. Man and his puny ideas, have not, and will never, alter a cats digestive system. How can it when you look at all the time nature has had to fine tune it?

Translating good kitten care feeding into practice is not without its problems. There are some do’s and don’ts that you must adhere to. Such as:

what meat can be overfed with disastrous results what ingredient, often left out, MUST be present is a healthy kitten’s diet what additional supplements should you add to the diet

Once you get your head around the concept and get into the routine, natural kitten care comes easily. It will also deter most cats from hunting as an adult. Hunting domestic cats are normally trying to redress the lack of nutrients in their diet, rather than doing what comes naturally.

Feed your cat as nature intended, and the rewards will be endless.


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What Cat Care Can Mean To You



Although the phrase cat care may bring to mind thoughts of drudgery or obligation, with the right attitude and a little bit of information, cat care can become an enjoyable part of your day. If you do it right, cat care can be something that you actually look forward to. Helping your cat stay happy and healthy is only as much fun as you let it be, but by learning how to provide the optimum cat care for your beloved pet, you can make cat care routines a treat for both of you.

One important part of making cat care fun is taking enough time to enjoy it. If you whip through your cat care routine with one eye on the clock at all times, you won’t be able to fully appreciate the experience of being with your pet. Try thinking of cat care as a chance to relax and escape the hassles of daily life. Put on your favorite album and relax as your complete cat care tasks like grooming your pet and playing with him or her to help you both gain trimness and agility. The process of caring for a pet is an inherently satisfying and enjoyable one so long as you allow yourself to have fun while doing it instead of trying to rush through and minimize the time you take for cat care. After all, the time you spend on cat care is quality time indeed.

Another crucial part of making cat care a pleasurable activity is education. Teaching yourself a bit more about cat care technique can help you be certain that you are offering your cat the most excellent possible care. The more you know about cat care, the better equipped you will be to keep your cat healthy and happy, and there are few things as satisfying as seeing your cat’s health improve because of your attention. If you want cat care to be a treat for yourself as well as for your pet, it is important to make sure that you are doing a good job of it. The better you are at cat care, the more fun you will have when caring for your cat.

There are few experiences more rewarding than reveling in the knowledge that you have done a job well, and cat care is no exception. When you improve your cat care skills or brush up on your cat care basics, you are taking steps to transform your cat care from a run of the mill experience to something that you can be proud of. When you provide your cat with the optimum cat care for his or her personality, age, and type of cat, you will be able to feel a sense of accomplishment in your abilities that is invaluable, and very enjoyable. In fact, it may feel almost like a treat. When you improve your cat care skills, you can look forward to a happier cat, and to a happier you as well.


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Good Cat Care Means A Happy Cat



Cat care is the most important part of keeping your cat healthy and happy. The more you know about cat care, the better you will be able to meet your feline’s physical and emotional needs. The stronger your cat’s health and the better your cat’s attitude are, the more you will be able to enjoy your cat’s unique personality. Good cat care will make your cat more affectionate, and can dramatically reduce any behavior problems that your cat may be displaying. If you want a richer and fuller relationship with your cat, try improving your cat care.

Having a cat is a two way street. The better the level of cat care that you can provide for your pet, the more energetic, affectionate, and well behaved it will be. By giving your pet with optimum cat care, you will make it more agreeable to the training and gentle behavior modification techniques that can take the headaches out of pet ownership. Good cat care often translates into a good cat that will take commands more willingly than a cat who does not receive enough attention, affection, and care. The more you learn about how to care for your cat, the better the level of health you will be able to bring your feline friend to. The healthier your cat is, the stronger the emotional bond between you and your pet will be, and that bond often serves as the core of obedience training.

By educating yourself about cat care and practicing the best, scientifically tested cat care techniques to provide your cat with optimum attention, you can make sure that your cat is as happy as possible. The happier your cat is, the happier it will be able to make you. A cat that is well cared for is a cat that will be interested in active playtime and in calm relaxation. The better your cat care abilities are, the more fully you will be able to sharing time with your cat doing all of you pet’s, and your, favorite activities together. Great cat care provides a strong foundation for your bond with your cat. Good cat care can help you grow closer with your beloved pet by making sure that he or she is always up for spending time with you. This is why cat care is an important part of your emotional relationship with your cat.

If your cat isn’t getting the right kind of care, from the best kind of diet to the ideal grooming schedule, your cat may develop behavior issues that can make your pet feel like a problem child. However, the positive side of this equation is that conscientious and responsible cat care can help your cat overcome issues ranging from constant mewling to weight issues to destructive tendencies. Good cat care means a happier pet, and even a problematic cat who receives enough of the right kind of care can become a pleasant companion.


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Cat Training



Many people believe that cat training is too difficult, and often let their cat’s behavior problems continue based solely on this fact. The idea that cats are too hard or too stubborn to train, is just simply not true. They may not be as easy or as willing to comply as dogs might be, but training your cat is not an impossible task, in fact, it isn’t even very difficult if you go about it in the right ways.

Now, when referring to cat training, I don’t mean teaching your kitty to do tricks. There is nothing wrong with teaching your cat tricks, but the focus of this article is on training your cat to behave properly in your home.

The best cat training technique is to use positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior. You will see much better results using positive techniques, rather than punishing, scolding, or yelling at your cat for bad behaviors. Keeping that in mind, you should NEVER hit or smack your cat. When you have a misbehaving cat, frustration is inevitable, but physically punishing or yelling at your cat will only worsen the situation.

Positive reinforcement will give you the best results while training your cat. This just means to reward your cat for a good behavior. Giving them a treat or giving them extra affection after they have done something right will encourage them to continue this good behavior.

Another technique is incremental training. In addition to positive reinforcement, this technique can be very successful. A possible situation where these techniques could be utilized together is when attempting to train your cat to use the human toilet or training them to go to the bathroom outdoors. Slowly moving the cat’s litter box to where you eventually want them to use as their bathroom, whether it’s the toilet or outdoors, is an example of incremental training. In addition to using this incremental training technique, positively reinforcing your cat each time they use their litter box after you move it will encourage them to continue to do this until they are using the toilet or the outdoors.

Cat training can be a very important aspect of your relationship with your cat and won’t always be easy. When you use positive techniques and reward your cat for good behaviors, rather than punish them for bad ones, you will start to see the results that you want. Show your cat that you appreciate their good behavior and you will find that training them is fairly simple.


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Cat Care Basics



When my kids came home begging me to get them a cat, I had no idea what to expect or how to care for a cat. Before I relented, I did some research and found out that there are some cat care basics with which I needed to be familiar before we would bring a cat into the home. We had to make decisions about food, litter, cat furniture, toys, fleas, grooming, and vet care. It was not a decision to be taken lightly, but it was one we decided to take on.

Here is some of the information I uncovered doing my research before we brought our new cat, Tommy, into our home.

Cats need a specific diet. Not all cat foods are good at meeting the natural dietary needs of cats. You would think that if a manufacturer says a food is good for cats, it has to be good for cats. But determining whether or not a food fits the dietary needs of your cat is up to you. The manufacturer is trying to sell his product, so do your homework.

Dry foods have different health benefits and drawbacks than canned foods. I didn’t know that! Cats don’t need a lot of vegetable fillers in their diet. I didn’t know that either! Cats need a high-protein, high-animal fat diet. That sounded a bit off until I thought about it. Cats are carnivores in the truest sense of the word. They eat only other animals when they are in their natural habitat. Now I understand why I need to read labels and choose the diet that is best suited to Tommy’s natural needs.

Another area I looked into was what toys are best for a cat. I saw a lot of really cool, colorful, texture-rich toys in the pet store. They would be great! Any cat would have so much fun with such a toy. Not so. Cats are not completely color blind, but they do not make much distinction in colors. A colorful toy has little influence on its attractiveness to a cat.

I also thought a big ball of yarn would be fun until I found out that cats can ingest yarn and it embeds in the lining of their stomachs. That is not a scenario I wanted to know about personally! The cool crinkly toys I saw have had problems with the crinkly part coming out when the cat plays with it. Again, ingestion of the material can cause serious health risks. I had a lot of things to consider if I was going to have a cat and provide safe, fun toys for him to play with.

Do you know how many kinds of cat litter are on the market? Did you know some cats won’t use certain types of litter? Some of them are very expensive, and others have a more reasonable price tag, but while some cats enjoy the more expensive, others will only use the cheapest kind of litter. I was getting quite tired just thinking about how many experiments we might have to do if we brought a cat home. How much clean up was I willing to do if the cat didn’t like the litter I bought?

Cat furniture is another issue I researched. I know cats scratch, and I had heard that declawing is an unpleasant and unnecessary procedure. I wanted to know what my options were and how effective I could be in preserving my furniture and carpets. There is a large variety of options for furniture. There are textures cats prefer, along with structures that they enjoy. I learned that most important was to provide variety in any furniture I chose. I also learned that it is significantly cheaper (though requires an investment of time) to build my own.

Finally, I turned my thoughts to the physical health of a cat. I know worms can be a problem for a lot of cats. What I didn’t know was how easy they are to treat if you are diligent about keeping up with the general health of the cat. I also learned that there are things you can do to make your cat’s habitat less conducive to picking up worms. Cleanliness is important in the house as well as the yard!

And what about fleas? While fleas can be a problem, and they can cause some other health issues if they get out of control in a cat, they are also a minor problem if you are taking charge of your cat’s overall health. There are many monthly-use products that keep fleas at bay just by being faithful to giving them to your cat.

Ultimately, I learned a lot about taking care of a cat. My kids were asking me almost daily until I gave in and we brought Tommy home. I have been diligent about providing for his needs. He sees the vet on schedule. He has a healthy, protein-rich diet, he has toys that cannot hurt him, and we did finally find a litter he will use! He has quit scratching the furniture, and we are all enjoying having him in our home.

Be diligent in your research about cat care basics. If you will pay attention to your cat’s needs, you will be able to avoid illness, injury, and outrageous vet bills!


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Kitten Care



Here are several tricks, tips, facts and advice perhaps you can apply for the betterment of your kitty care. Kitten care is significantly fundamental through out the life of the cat but more in it’s earlier months as the kitten. The coaching along with the care of raising kittens you display, will be the foundation as an adult. 

You can not, at any cost, substitute a cat’s milk for the cow’s milk to be given to newly-born. And by expressing that, you also need not take the kitties away from their mother cat for at least a month and a half if at all feasible. After vaccination, kittens should stay indoors no less than a week. And never jerk kittens, likewise as grown cats, at the back of their neck. The accurate time for weaning a bottle fed kitten is approximately three to four weeks after birthing. From milk, you would step by step change your kitties’ dieting by adding solid foods on something liquid to dampen them up. A month after birth you may begin establishing canned nutrients to your kitten. It’s better to chop up the kitten food thinly at first. And on their sixth week, you can render solid nutrients to your kitty. 

Another way of kitten care is to play and interact with your pet. Kittens enjoy the play a lot. And because they do, as a trusted and caring pet owner you should be aware of the correct toys for your kitten. Inquire from your veterinarian which are the safe toys for you to buy. Most veterinarians will feature a guide for kitten care. Generally, the most effective toys to buy are the ones which are average sizings; large-scale enough to avoid swallowing as well small enough to avoid flapping around. And once you purchased these playthings, make a conscious effort to play with the toy with your kitty. 

Extra kitty maintenance is the dental supervision. A majority of cats might have dental troubles. To shun away from that miserable position, you may begin choosing care of the teeth of your kitty when they’re still small kitties. Just like a human toothache, cat’s dental problems can be so painful and quite pricey. What you may to do to avoid this is to give your kitten dry solid food. Dry solid food cleanses kitten’s teeth and makes their gums a great deal healthier. Different way to help to avoid this dilemma is to brush the teeth of the kitten. Amazingly, this is a undertaking that cat owners verify to be an easy task and is just a part of their kitten care.


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Cat Training And You



Cats by their very nature, are quite independent animals, making the prospect of cat training seem quite difficult, if not impossible. Although your cat may seem stubborn and much too independent, changing your cat’s behavior can be successfully achieved through training.

It just requires following the right strategies, and your commitment to follow through on the requisite rewards and punishments.

Cats are extremely clever animals, yet they do not comprehend the standard of cause and effect like people do. When you scrutinize a cat’s behavior it is crucial to take action without delay or your response will not be very effective because the cat cannot make the connection between its unacceptable behavior and your reaction.

One of the finest ways to improve your cat or kitten training is to support an entirely dissimilar behavior instead. This technique works because cats are much more amenable to affirmative reinforcements.

For example, if you become aware of your cat playing and clawing at your favorite piece of furniture, persuade your cat to draw their attention to a toy instead.

Cats can be trained, though “cat training” is often jokingly considered self-contradictory. The best way to train your cat is with rewards after a good performance; favorite cat treats are good. Remember to reward your cat whenever it exhibits the behavior you want.

Rewards need not be material; an occasional hug or simply sitting down for a session of petting and grooming is also good.

Never be violent to your pet even if it appears as if it is being disobedient. You will never achieve the goals of cat training with harsh punishment and the addition of fear will only result in a strain on the relationship. This form of cruelty is totally unnecessary. You can achieve more with positive reaction.

It could be very hard to train a cat, but you can change your cats behavior with the appropriate approach. You should never be violent to your cat and should always respond friendly. Using the right methods, your loving pet could be well behaved.


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