Care Sheet Information: | A cat is a great animal to consider for a pet. I’d recommend looking in your local shelter or rescue organizations opposed to breeding your own as so many wonderful cats are put to sleep each year. Also be sure that your cat is spayed/neutered.
Age Expectancy: 18 to 21 years for indoor cats. Outdoor cats can live anywhere from 5 to 16 years.
Sexing: Like most mammals, male cats will have two bulges under their anal hole.
Cats Per Home & Territory: You should have 1 cat for every 500 square feet. However two cats can do wonderful together in 750 square feet of space. Females are fine together, as can a male and female. However some male cats will not get along. If two males are together, look out for fighting, mediating (not using the litter box), and marking territory.
Home Requirements:
Water - Always have a bowl of water out 24/7, changing water daily. Do not assume your cat will drink from the toilet indefinitely, as some cats cannot jump that well when older and some others cannot comprehend a toilet being a water source.
Food - Feed your cat twice daily, as much as directed on the package of cat food. If you leave a full bowl of food out the cat will become picky or gorge and become overweight. For older cats I recommend slowly changing from dry cat food to canned cat food or mixing both together. Do not give your cat an entire diet of fish or fish cat food, as only eating fish will make your cat ill and unhealthy. Instead, make the diet varied between beef, poultry, and fish. Do not give your cat milk, unless it is pet store-bought milk specifically made for cats. Avoid giving your cat people-food. Should you change cat food brands, do it gradually over a week. Do not be worried if the cat is to vomit once or twice during the change. If vomiting is to continue with the new cat food, change back to what you previously used.
Litter box and Litter - Have 1.5 litter boxes per cat. Avoid pellet litter as cats tend to hate the feeling under their feet. I recommend using a fine-grained cat litter (such as scoopible clay litter, sand, or unfertilized potting soil). Only fill the pan an inch high; for the reason that cats feel more comfortable touching the bottom of the litter box under their paws. Scoop once to twice daily, change the litter once to twice a week.
Bedding - You can get your cat a pet bed or cat condo. But you do not have to. A simple cardboard box with a blanket or shredded paper will do perfectly. Put the bed somewhere in your home where the sunlight will hit it. And do not put the bed in the same room as the litter boxes. Another good bedding solution is to buy a window-ledge attachment for cats, which only needs to be screwed into the windowsill (on the inside of the house). This way your cat will have a place to sleep and it will get to see outside/stay entertained in the process.
Brushes - All cats should be brushed at least once a week. The type of brush or brushes you will need depends on the fur length of the feline. Ask your local veterinarian for the types of brushes your cats will need. Do not neglect the responsibility of brushing as older cats, even short haired, will have matted fur.
Toys - There are three types of toys that cats prefer. Balls, String, and Catnip. Each cat will usually prefer one over the others, so buy one of all three to see which your cat enjoys playing with most. Instead of buying your cat toys, you may also be creative. Crumble aluminum foil into a ball, use a shoelace, throw a bottle cap and see if your cat will chase after it. However some toys are inappropriate and can hurt the cat if you aren’t careful. Rubber bands, hairbands, sewing needles, pins (including pushpins and thumbtacks), paperclips, twisties, and small children’s toys (such as Legos) can all be potentially dangerous; especially if swallowed or accidentally wrapped/stuck into a limb of the animal. Make sure such items are out of harms way.
Collar - If your cat is an outdoor cat or you take it outside for whichever reason, be sure your cat has a collar and tags. However be careful about putting a collar (even a flea collar) on your feline. Some cats refuse to wear them and will hook their lower jaw under the collar to the point of choking themselves.
Claw Care: Some people choose to have their cats declawed, some don’t. Cats with long claws can accidentally have them catch on furniture in the home or on the carpet, then pull or tear a ligament in their paw. So if you keep the claws in your cat, please try one of the following (besides declawing).
Declawing - If you declaw your cat, only declaw their front paws. Do not have your vet declaw all four paws at once as it can and will end up with permanent damage to the cat. Do not declaw older cats unless you absolutely have to.
Trimming Nails - You can, instead of declawing, have the nails clipped down every month. Have a vet or groomer show you how to do this properly so you wont cut the nerve in the claw and hurt your cat.
Capping Nails - You can put specially designed claw caps on your cat. This will prevent the claws catching on anything and will shed off naturally when the claws shed.
Scratching - All cats with claws will end up scratching or ripping up something. A couch, your bed, the carpet. They do this to keep their claws fine-tuned, and it will help them shed the claws more often. So if you don’t trim the claws or cap them, you can look into purchasing a scratching post and training the cat to use that. There are brands of catnip spray you can use to achieve this. You can also run the cat’s paws lightly over the scratching post to give them the general idea. Put the scratching post near a window (where the cat should be active most) so they can better claim it as their own and even sit on it to look out the window.
Vets and Medication: Please take your cat to the vet for a checkup every six months. Also make sure your feline friend has their shots up to date so you can prevent such diseases as Feline Leukemia. As well as keeping the possibility of parasites low.
Medication - Make sure you give your cat heart worm tablets every month. Honestly, I could never get my cat to eat the meds outright, so I recommend crumbling it up and adding it to a can of cat food.
Flea and Tick Preventatives - If your cat refuses to wear a flea collar (see Collars above), you can apply Biospot or some other flea/tick medication on the back of their neck. However watch for fur loss or infection. If infection occurs, contact your vet and stop using the medication.
Introducing a Cat to your Home: When you bring your new cat home, keep it in one closed room until it settles down. You should leave the cat-carrier in the room as well so the cat will have a place to retreat to should it become scared. Give the cat three days to a week before introducing it to the rest of your house. Should you have other pets in your house, keep the new cat in the carrier and have those other pets inspect the crate. If you see hostility, remove the other pet from the room and instead rub both pets with a towel (keeping them in separate rooms) until they can both become accustomed to each others’ scent. Keep in mind that not all animals will get along. So if both pets still wish to attack each other aggressively at the end of a week to two weeks, consider returning the cat from where you bought it and finding another.
Other: Please try to keep your cat indoors. While you can keep an outdoor cat, it will do more harm all around than good. The cat could get lost, get diseases (such as rabies), breed with other cats, get in fights with other cats and dogs, get hit by a car, die from exposure. Not to mention that outdoor domestic cats can and will kill the local wildlife, which will pose a threat to endangered species. Also do not keep a cat outdoors during the winter months. Even if an animal has fur, it will not protect from hypothermia.
Thank you for reading this care sheet. I hope you have a good future with your feline friend. |
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