Cats seem to naturally know exactly what they want from us, and it basically boils down to a place to sleep, free food and a nice atmosphere. New cat owners on the other hand are sometimes quite surprised to find that the list of things they need to do to make a home truly cat friendly, is an awful lot longer than that. Because cats have the capacity to make our house into a home, but they can also cause a whole host of problems if that home isn’t set up in the right way and you don’t have access to some services outside of the home that you might not have thought of.
A Cat Friendly Home
Thousands of homes around the world happily welcome a cat into the fold without needing to change much at all. But as the days turn into weeks, there are tweaks and adjustments that we all make to have a smoother, neater and cleaner kitty experience.
I used to happily leave dishes to the next day to wash up, but now they need scraping and soaking immediately if I don’t want my cat to have a taste of something that might well disagree with him.
I found that if I wanted my sofas to be left scratch free, that adding scratching posts and puzzle toys to occupy my cat’s natural instincts and keep his brain busy, were essential.
You’ll also notice if you visit my house, that I don’t keep any ornaments near to the edges of wide shelves, and in fact most of the decorations in my home are rather heavy and immovable by cheeky little paws.
Safety Considerations
My cat will literally try to eat anything. In the past he’s stolen meat from a bbq, eaten a mushroom from the floor, munched on various garden flowers and on one memorable occasion even arrived home with a Subway sandwich proudly hanging from his jaws… (I never did find out whose lunch had gone missing, and can only imagine the accusatory conversations that must have been had in that home).
Needless to say, I’m more cautious than most when it comes to keeping things out of his reach, but regardless of your cat’s food curiosity levels it’s important they never have access to:
- Alcohol
- Raisins or grapes
- Onions
- Human medicines
- Flea treatments designed for dogs
- Some flowers including lilies, tulips, mistletoe and poinsettia
- Chewing gum
- Peanut butter
- Or anything else sweetened with xylitol
Medical Care
Even the healthiest cat needs to be registered with a local veterinarian. It’s a good idea to get them booked in for a checkup shortly after they arrive with you, and some surgeries even have special waiting areas to keep cats away from dogs. Even if you want to leash train your cat and the vet is well set up, I still recommend using a cat box for these visits just in case.
Your cat will need annual vaccinations and regularly preventatively to be treated for parasites. These routine medical care tasks will need to be carried out even if you have an indoor cat.
Sensible Diets
My cat is an old man now, but he’s still got an appetite and in the wrong hands he’d be really easy to over feed. Don’t give in to those cute kitty eyes if you know your cat’s already had two meals today, he honestly doesn’t need more and it could be detrimental in the long run.
Most commercial foods are fine on balance, but I’d recommend going for one that is as high in protein and fats and low in fillers as possible, as cats are obligate carnivores and really only designed to eat animal products.
Entertainment
We’ve touched on this a little already, but even if you have a cat with outdoor access the difference toys and entertainment make to your cat is huge. Cats are packed full of natural instincts to hunt and these can easily come out as destructive or even aggressive behavior if they aren’t kept busy.
Oscar loves toys that move, food puzzles and the traditional fishing rods the most, but he’s also partial to a mouse toy too. The best situation is having several different toys that you can rotate in and out so that your cat doesn’t get bored of them, and always has something to keep his brain occupied and his claws out of trouble!
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