Fur, Jaws, and Claws

posted by fmoore on May 7

If you need to travel with your cat it will be necessary to do a bit of preparation work beforehand to ensure that their trip is comfortable. A cat can become quite excited the first time it travels in a vehicle. You need to do all that is possible to help it remain calm.

If your cat is a kitten, or a younger cat, it might be necessary to put it inside a cage to stop it from running about the vehicle while it is traveling. It might be wise to take a litter box with you. When cats get excited, sometimes they need to go to the toilet. If there is nothing available for it to use, it is likely to hold on and feel sick or go to the toilet somewhere you don’t want it to.

If your cat seems calm, it is possible to let it out of the cage provided it sits quietly on a seat. Your cat might make an attempt to get out, particularly when you stop the vehicle. Make sure it doesn’t jump out of the door into potential danger.

Preferably, windows should be open just enough for circulation in the vehicle. If you do have windows down, make sure there are no drafts that could be adversely affecting your cat. More importantly, do not let your cat sit up in the back window of vehicles in direct sunlight where it might get overheated and become ill.

Cats can find comfort in having a favorite blanket or bed in the vehicle with them. A comforting hand from the owner beside them doesn’t hurt either. Consider your cat’s feelings. Treat them as you would a young child and you shouldn’t run into too many problems while traveling.

Always carry water with you. Stop regularly to see if your cat needs a drink, particularly in hot weather. It is preferable the first few times your cat goes for a trip in a vehicle to have eaten nothing beforehand. Recent feeding has the ability to make cats feel sick.

Generally, if you introduce your cat to traveling in a vehicle as a kitten it won’t mind it all that much as it becomes older. It will generally only become frightened if an unpleasant event takes place while traveling. Be sure to try these tips on your next trip. It will strengthen the bond between you and your pet.

posted by fmoore on Dec 13

Kittens love to play and they appear to have boundless energy.
They are very inquisitive creatures and love to explore and giving them things to play with and look at will help to keep them occupied and out of trouble as much as possible.Kittens will go through various stages in the first weeks of their life, and they will learn about their surroundings and how to interact with other pets and people in the house, and more importantly how to interact with you.

Playing with your kitten will teach it a lot as it develops all the natural instincts from playing around to hunting.

You will find that after about six weeks the cat will begin stalking and hunting and often jump out from behind things to attack your leg as you walk by.
This is a natural instinct that needs to be developed for you to have a healthy happy cat.

If you find your kitten is jumping out and attacking you or others in the house it should not be reprimanded otherwise it will get confused about something that is only natural.

It won’t do you a lot of harm but it will do your kitten a lot of good to develop these instincts.

Naturally you will have to stop it from misbehaving, and that is something that it needs to learn as well as all its other natural instincts, but common sense will let you know what it should and shouldn’t be doing.

There are lots of different excellent toys available to keep young kittens happy for hours on end, but there is nothing better than the time that you spend to interact with your kitten and develop a relationship that will ensure you have a lot of fun for its entire lifetime.

Just like children, kittens will test the boundaries and if left unchecked you can have a cat that is very difficult to manage as it gets older.

posted by fmoore on Dec 10

Cats, like kids, can be a lot of trouble. That is part of the reason why we will them so much. However, there will be times when you will need to reprimand your cat to prevent bad habits.Expect it to take considerably longer than if you were teaching a dog but don’t believe for one minute that you can’t teach your cat to do what you ask it to do just as well.

The best way to train a cat is by letting it imitate you as though you were its mother. The first thing you need to do is get your cat to trust you. This is best done when your cat is a kitten as it may become more difficult to teach once it become older.

Shouting and growling at it, as I am sure you are aware, is not an effective approach in building this. Now, a way this can be done is by flicking a bit of water at your cat or by giving your cat a small fright by making a bit of noise when it does something wrong. Do not use your cat’s name when taking the above corrective measures. You do not want your cat to associate its name with something that might make it upset.

Cats love praise. Speak softly, encourage, and reward your cat when it does the right thing. By teaching your cat that it will get more from doing something that you want it to do, will ensure that it will be more inclined to obey you for its reward. This is the fastest way to get your cat to do what you want.

When you are training your cat, you must remain consistent at all times. Diligence and persistence are the only way to get the desired results from your cat. If there are other members in your family, they can help by always ensuring that the same commands that you give your cat are given by them as well. With the help of other people doing this you will have a better of training your cat that much faster.

We all know how cats have a mind of their own and are very independent animals. This only becomes more so as they age. Believe me, a trained cat is a much more fun to have over the years and is well worth the time and effort for you and your family to enjoy.

posted by fmoore on Dec 5

Cats are generally more attuned to movement and can find their prey a lot easier in the dark than when there is too much sunlight.Your cat is particularly good at seeing in the dark. This trait alone is what makes them such excellent hunters. Their eyes are considerably larger and more spherical than those of a human in proportion to the rest of their body. This increase in size and shape allows them to see things in conditions where there is very little to no light.

Your cat can easily wander around at night and capture its prey. If you’re lucky, it just might just bring it back to show you in the form of bugs, birds, mice and various vermin that you definitely don’t want to share your bed with in the middle of the night.

Your cat will bring its capture in to show you when it is looking for some form of positive recognition. Even though you might not want to see what your cat has caught, it should be congratulated for what it has done whenever possible.

Your cat’s eyesight only allows it to see clearly for a few feet. Fortunately, they have a keen sense of smell that can help them become aware of approaching danger. In addition, your cat is very sensitive to vibration and can ‘feel’ someone’s presence before they can see them.

As your cat gets older, it will tend to become less aware and will need additional care so that it does not get in trouble with dogs or animals that they haven’t noticed approaching them.

Cats are unable to rotate their eyes as much as humans and many other animals. However, they are much more flexible and can rotate their head further than most animals, which more than makes up for any lack of eye of movement.

posted by fmoore on Dec 3

FACT: Cats have a considerably larger vocabulary than dogs. This leads cat experts to believe that cats actually communicate with one another, and humans, better than dogs. In fact, the majority of cats are able to make over 100 different sounds. These sounds can range from purring, to hissing and growling, spitting and wailing, and many different combinations in between.Cats certainly do have the ability to get most of what they want from their owners. That is why it is often said that the cat rules the house and the humans are the servants. It’s no secret, we certainly do seem to do all the running about, yet when we call the cat it is just as likely to turn around with its tail in the air and wander off.

However, it is this independent nature that appeals so much to so many people and that’s why cats are one of the most loved pets in the world.

If you are tuned in to your cat’s behavior, especially via sound or body language, it can communicate to you what it wants extremely well. In return, it becomes easier for you to train your cat to do the things you wish for it to do concerning its behavior.

Cats are extremely resilient and even the process of purring can help to stimulate healing properties within the cat. If your cat is making a sound and it is directed towards you, begin to pay attention to what sounds accompany what type of behavior.

This allows you the opportunity to become more aware of when your cat is not feeling well and when a possible trip to a holistic vet may be necessary. Fortunately, this won’t be often. By coming in here everyday, you know that you have the ability to have your cat well cared for, given the greatest nutrition options around and a guide that can help you help them live the life that they want.

posted by fmoore on Nov 29

Cats love it when you pat and stroke them, more than you could ever imagine. There are particular areas on your cat that are very sensitive to touch and your cat gains great pleasure from you stroking these areas.

Have you ever noticed that your cat will lift its chin to encourage you to pat it under there or allow you stroke the side of their face or scratch the base of their tail?

The reason for this is that these areas have sebaceous glands which produce body odors.
So every time you pat or scratch your cat in this area you are effectively letting it mark you with its scent.

The skin of your cat is also very sensitive, including the hairless pads on their feet. These areas of skin and pads are particularly sensitive in that they help the cat to investigate and be aware of things that are happening around it in the wild and at home.

While most cats don’t mind their body being patted, quite a few of them don’t like their paws to be touched. Ironically, a light massage between the paws is one thing that many cats enjoy even if they don’t normally like their paws touched.

If you have been patting your cat for some time and its tail begins to start flicking rather rapidly then this is a sign that it is starting to get somewhat agitated and it might be wise to stop patting it for a while.

Cats can get a little carried away when you pat them and particularly if you’re patting them on their underside and they are lying on their back. One moment they can be purring with pleasure and the next minute they can be biting and scratching your hand.

Often they are just playing and don’t realize that they can be causing minor harm to your hands or wrists. It is not uncommon for cats to give you a little nip when showing their affection towards you too. This is certainly not something that they should be reprimanded for. This is just how they show their love for us.

posted by fmoore on Nov 27

While cats can’t talk, they are extremely good at communicating. We are going to discuss three ways in which they communicate: purring, licking and marking.Purring is how cats communicate amongst us and amongst themselves. Cats purr to let us know that they are happy, they purr when they want adult cats to play with them, they purr when a superior cat is trying to approach another cat in a friendly manner, or most importantly, they purr to let a mother know that her kittens are in good health.

Licking is how cats communicate amongst themselves and how they keep themselves clean. By nature, cats are very clean animals. It is not uncommon to come across a stray cat, and find that is just as clean as the cat you keep in your home. Male cats will lick female cats while courting and a mother cat will lick its kittens to help stimulate excretion.

Marking is how cats communicate amongst other cats. They like to mark their territory so that other cats know whose property they are on. They will generally do this by backing up to an object, tree or plant, where they believe another cat has been, and spray urine that will leave a pungent scent that other cats will notice. Cats have another form of marking their territory by rubbing the corners of their mouths and their temples against objects as these areas have scent glands.

Sometimes cats might even do this when they feel threatened. They can in fact get quite jealous if they think another cat is getting their share of the attention. This can happen where there is more than one cat in the family and one of those cats is trying to assert itself.

In circumstances such as this one, one may run into a problem where a cat might spray inside the house. Unfortunately this can becomes a difficult situation, as you feel like reprimanding the cat, whereas in reality, assuring the cat has your support might be the fastest solution to stop this from happening.In conclusion, cats are quite happy to be on their own and prefer the company of humans and cats equally.

To you, your family and your cat I wish you all a very, very Happy Thanksgiving. In light of whatever it is you, your family, or your cat are going through there IS something to be thankful for. Take care.

posted by fmoore on Nov 25

Even cats that roam freely outside look for something when indoors that they can scratch. Here are 5 reasons why your cat may need to scratch:

They will scratch to sharpen their claws.
They will show their superiority over weaker cats.
They will be exercising the extension and retraction of their claws.
They will be marking their territory.
They might even be getting rid of anger or frustration.

You can see there are many reasons why your cat need to scratch, but you certainly don’t want them to use your furniture as the scratching pad therefore it is a good idea to supply the cat with a good scratching pad and let them know that that is what it is intended to be used for.

Put the scratching post in a place that is easily accessible to your cat particularly when it is finished eating or grooming itself and is likely to feel like having a scratch. Anytime your cat looks like it is going to scratch your furniture or anything else that you don’t want it to scratch, quickly pick it up and put it near the scratching post. This way it learns that the only place it should be scratching is the scratching post.

If your cat tends to scratch a particular piece of furniture or other item in the house on a regular basis, remove that item and replace it with a scratching post. Your cat will begin to learn that it is the scratching post that it should be scratching and nothing else. The more time you spend with your cat training it where it can scratch, when it is young, the less trouble you will have as it grows older.

At times your cat will scratch as a form of devotion or leave its scent over your own scent. If you rub your hands or a piece of your clothing over the scratching post, you will be leaving your scent. Oftentimes, this familiarity is all that is needed to encourage your cat to scratch at its post. This way you, your cat and your furniture will all be happy.

So, if you are looking to build the best relationship with your cat, be sure to download Fur, Jaws, and Claws. You will be glad you did.