The House Cat Diary

There is a very interesting research paper published in Tel Aviv University. The research finding is first of its kind and is a boon to pet lovers. The research finding can be seen d in the journal for applied animal behaviour. There are hardly any research papers on different pets living together without any fuss.

According to Prof Joseph terkel, nearly one third of the Americans want to have pets of two different species but are worried about the trouble that is likely to follow if they do not live in harmony. As per the study, the cats and dogs can live peacefully in a house if there are introduced in right way. Let us discuss about it here. The cats should be adopted first.

The Tel Aviv university researchers have worked on this subject comprehensively. They had conducted interviews with more that 200 pet owners who have both dog and cat in the same house. They had videotaped the pets and had observed the behaviour of those dogs and cats very closely. After so many deliberations they had concluded that the dogs and cats can live in the same house without any trouble if certain conditions are met with.

As per the research finding nearly two third of the owners who had both dog and cat expressed that there is positive relationship between the pets. Nearly 25 % of the pet owners reported that their pets do not fight but at the same time were not close to each other and there was total indifference.

Nearly 10 % of the pet owners reported that there was active fight and enmity between the dog and cat housed together. There are many reasons for the fighting. There inter species signals are different. The dog wags the tail when happy, where as the cat purrs. The averted head signal in cat is aggression and the same signal in dog means submission.

It was observed that in houses where the dogs and cats stay together without any fuss, the cats learn to talk like the dog vice versa. If the following suggestions are followed the cats and dogs can live happily. The cats should be adopted first. The dog should be adopted next. The cats should not be aged more than 6 months and the dog should be below 1 year of age at the time of introduction, which is the key to the success. As they grow together, they get close to each other and one pet can understand the other better and can live in harmony for years.

The kids just love the Halloween as it is a great fun for them. Not only kids, few adult too enjoy that. Halloween is a big danger for the cats. For the sake of our enjoyment, the poor cat should not be subjected to any kind of hardship. Let us discuss about making the holiday delightful without harming the cat in anyway.

Why is Halloween scary for the cats?

If one travel backs to history, he will find that there is always love-hate relationship between the cat and the human beings. The black cats are worst affected as they are hated by many. The ancient Egyptians respected and loved the cats very much. But many other ancient civilizations hated the cats and related them with bad omen.

In the middle ages, people considered that the cats are evil souls. People associated the cats with witchcraft and few people thought that a person can be transformed in to cat by magicians. Because of the hate the cats and the people who cared these lovely animals were persecuted in large numbers. Nearly ten thousand cats and humans who were construed as witches were killed brutally in 16 th and 17 th centuries. Read more…

One may notice the cat peeing in inappropriate places. The reason for this is most cases are stress, depression and anxiety. Let us discuss about the pee problem at length here.

Causes

Stress and the depression are not only seen in human beings but also noticed in cats. The animal in captivity are also very much under stress. The reasons are plenty for the stress and depression.

The cats are depressed more if there is expansion in the family of the pet owner. So many happenings such as the spouse moving in, spouse moving out, new baby coming in, parents common in, parents going out, any new pet arrival etc affect the cat’s mind set. The owners are likely to pay less attention to these lovely animals, which will hurt them very much. The cat slowly slips in to depression.

The stress and depression affect the physical health of the urinary tract, the reason for this still under research stage. This urinary tract disorder in cat is called as feline idiopathic cystitis or feline lower urinary tract disease.

Symptoms

The symptom of the feline idiopathic cystitis are crying while urinating, peeing out side the litter box, blood in urine, excessive licking of private parts, straining while urinating, frequent urination, prolonged urination etc. one can see one symptom or more than one symptom at a time.

Treatment

The affected cat should be treated both medically and socially. The medical treatment includes anti depressant and other supportive therapies. The social treatment includes environmental change, life style change etc.

The short time medical treatment is very common but the environmental enrichment or change is a must. The affected cat should be taken to the vet at the earliest. The vet will rule out the medical and other pathological reasons before attempting the treatment. If the cats are not able to pass urine in total, the vet may conduct a surgery as it is a medical emergency.

The cats are really perfect clean animals. You can see the cat constantly cleaning their body parts using their tongue; this is a clear indication that the cats are hygiene conscious animals. If your cat breed is having long hair then you should use a comb for brushing. One can use power to keep the hair coat dry and clean. Proper grooming will help the cat to remain clean and most importantly the hair ball ingestion can be prevented.

The cats are in fact not picky animals. The cat will sleep in a place which she or he feels suitable and do not require any special bed. The cat beds should be preferable placed in a dark and silent place. If the cat is permitted to have comfortable sleep, the stress related health issues can be minimized. Few cats love to sleep in the lap of the pet owners like many other pets.

In case, If you have to travel with a cat away from home, better to have separate cat carrier which will prevent the cat from getting injured. There are three basic types of cat carriers. They are soft carrier, card board carrier and hard carrier.

The cats require regular exercise in order to remain healthy. The toys are the best way to make the cat active. As the cats are very much attracted towards the moving object, the battery operated rat toy is the best to engage the cat.

The cats are basically carnivores; one should always keep this in mind. Hence traditionally the cats are used to RAW diets. The cats know to prey on small animals. The little animals are rich in protein and energy and hence the cat’s digestive system is used to high protein and high energy diet. The protein requirement of an adult cat is not less that 20%. The cats should be provided fresh water as much as possible. The acidity level of the cat’s stomach is high when compared to the human beings. The RAW diet of the cat includes insects, small mammals, snakes, tiny birds, fishes, rodents and other small reptiles. The cats also like to consume chicken, heart, kidney, liver, muscle etc.

By all means the dogs are the cat’s best friend, there is no doubt about it. Here is an incidence to emphasis the fact. About three months ago, the kittens, just a week old were put in a plastic bag and were thrown on to the road in sealed condition. The bag was run over by cars one by one. But soon one yellow Labrador dog spotted the bag and dragged the bag with kittens to his home. The dog made big fuss until the owner paid attention to the dog. The dog then made the owner to open the bag. To the owner’s surprise, there were two kittens live and kicking.

But the kittens were completely soiled by the blood of the other kittens that were crushed by the cars that ran over them. This kind of animal cruelty is very bad but such incidences are not very common. The person must have done so, for want of money. The owner then rushed those two kittens to the animal sanctuary. It was really hard to find out how many kittens were there in the bag originally as they were completely smashed by the cars.

The person who did that cruel act must have thought all those kittens would have died as there was hardly any chance for their escape. The cover was sealed and the bags were thrown on to the road. But for this intelligent dog, all those lovely kittens would have died.

Those who do not have any money to take of a pet, can drop the pet near an animal shelter which is not going to be difficult for them. No one have the right to take the life out those lovely creatures. The cats gel with dogs very much. The cats are such a possessive animal; they do not want to have any other pet in the house. But dogs are ok with them. The cats play and enjoy the company of the dogs. Especially the small dog breeds are favourite companion to the cats.

The cat’s owners are breaking their head to know, how to remove the cat’s urine smell fast. The cat’s urine smell is really very unpleasant. The cats are on protein rich diet and the same is the reason for bad smell of the urine.

There are so many cat odour removal products available in the market and most of them are very effective but they are very costly. Let us discuss about few simpler ways of removing the cat’s urine smell.

Baking soda- one must have observed that many people have the habit of placing baking soda in freezers and refrigerators. The reason is simple. Baking soda is a natural odour neutralizer and is very effective in eliminating strong smell. The baking soda should be applied all over the place which needs to be covered [soiled]. Allow the place to dry for some time. Then the place should be washed completely with water. The baking soda needs to be rubbed as deeply as possible in order to get best results.

Vinegar – Most of the pet owners are using vinegar to eliminate the bad smell for many years. Undiluted vinegar is the best in eliminating the cat’s urine smell. The vinegar needs to be used liberally to soak the contaminated floor board or carpet. White or apple vinegar is the best in business. Vinegar is absolutely safe as it will not damage the spot on which it is used. Within an hour the strong smell of vinegar will dissipate taking along with it the cat’s urine smell.

Hydrogen peroxide-In general bleach is used to clean the stain. If you do not want the colour of the area to be lost, then hydrogen peroxide is the best choice. Hydrogen peroxide kills the bacteria there by eliminating the odour completely. One need to apply hydrogen peroxide on small area and wait for two hours to see whether there is any bleaching. If there is no bleaching, then one can proceed with the same to the entire area. As hydrogen peroxide is very good at killing the bacteria, the bad smell dissipates gradually.

Although these are the simple home remedies available to get rid of cat urine smell fast, you can get more ideas by visiting these Home remedies for cat urine smell.

The cats are lovely animals to have them as pet. They are highly playful and reciprocate the love and affection shown to them which is the reason why more and more people are opting for cat as their pet. There are few common cat health problems. Let us discuss about it here

Feline distemper- this disease is also called as feline panleukopenia. The causative agent is virus and the disease is transmitted to the other cat through infected humans, cats and even through infected objects such as water and food bowels. The infected cat will have diarrhoea, vomiting and there will be signs of loss of appetite. The affected feline may die at times and hence the cat should be protected against this disease through vaccination.

Cat hair balls- the cats are by and large very clean animals. When ever there is time the cats indulge in self grooming. Because of this habit there is every chance that the cat is likely to swallow hair which gets rolled in to a ball at get struck at the throat. As a natural defence mechanism comes in to play, the cat will vomit the hair balls out. If your cat is found to be vomiting the hair ball often, the cat should be rushed to the near by vet clinic for necessary treatment.

Cat urinary tract infection- the urinary tract infection is very common in cats. The dehydration and improper diet is the reason for urinary tract infection in cat. The cat with urinary tract infection will have discomfort while passing the urine. At times there can be blood in the urine and stool. The affected cat will avoid litter box and start urinating out side the litter box. Such cats should be taken to the vet for proper diagnosis and treatment. The cats should be provided plenty of water and proper diet.

The pet owner will love that his cat expresses that he or she is ill. That is not likely to happen. The cats by nature tend to hide the discomforts as much as possible. Hence it is the duty of the pet owner to get the help of the veterinarian in case if the cat is found to be lethargic or sleeping for long time than required.

If the cat is not responding to your, has glassy eyes, fever etc then the cat requires medication and hence should be rushed to nearby vet clinic. Warfarin is the rat and mouse poison that is being used often in the house which is highly dangerous to cats if consumed accidentally.

One can find blood in the stool of a cat. There is nothing to worry much as it could be due to simple constipation. The main cause of constipation cat is lack of required moisture in the food. The cat also must be drinking less water. The blood in the stool can be a result of less fibre diet. Because of the constipation the cat will struggle to push out the stool which will damage the blood vessels of the rectum which is the reason for blood in stool (melena).

Most of the commercial cat’s food are dry and are not having required water content for the smooth flow of the stool. Hence the pet owner should prefer wet food as much as possible. The cat should also be provided sufficient quantity of water and the pet owner should ensure the water provided is consumed by the cat. The pet owner should read the label and check for the ingredients before purchasing the commercial food. The fibre content of the ingredient should be taken in to account before deciding about the purchase. By following these simple tips one can prevent blood in stool of the cat.

The pet owner will love that his cat expresses that he or she is ill. That is not likely to happen. The cats by nature tend to hide the discomforts as much as possible. Hence it is the duty of the pet owner to get the help of the veterinarian in case if the cat is found to be lethargic or sleeping for long time than required.

If the cat is not responding to your, has glassy eyes, fever etc then the cat requires medication and hence should be rushed to nearby vet clinic. Warfarin is the rat and mouse poison that is being used often in the house which is highly dangerous to cats if consumed accidentally.

One can find blood in the stool of a cat. There is nothing to worry much as it could be due to simple constipation. The main cause of constipation cat is lack of required moisture in the food. The cat also must be drinking less water. The blood in the stool can be a result of less fibre diet. Because of the constipation the cat will struggle to push out the stool which will damage the blood vessels of the rectum which is the reason for blood in stool.

Most of the commercial cat’s food are dry and are not having required water content for the smooth flow of the stool. Hence the pet owner should prefer wet food as much as possible. The cat should also be provided sufficient quantity of water and the pet owner should ensure the water provided is consumed by the cat. The pet owner should read the label and check for the ingredients before purchasing the commercial food. The fibre content of the ingredient should be taken in to account before deciding about the purchase. By following these simple tips one can prevent blood in stool of the cat.

The pet owner will love that his cat expresses that he or she is ill. That is not likely to happen. The cats by nature tend to hide the discomforts as much as possible. Hence it is the duty of the pet owner to get the help of the veterinarian in case if the cat is found to be lethargic or sleeping for long time than required.

If the cat is not responding to your, has glassy eyes, fever etc then the cat requires medication and hence should be rushed to nearby vet clinic. Warfarin is the rat and mouse poison that is being used often in the house which is highly dangerous to cats if consumed accidentally.

One can find blood in the stool of a cat. There is nothing to worry much as it could be due to simple constipation. The main cause of constipation cat is lack of required moisture in the food. The cat also must be drinking less water. The blood in the stool can be a result of less fibre diet. Because of the constipation the cat will struggle to push out the stool which will damage the blood vessels of the rectum which is the reason for blood in stool.

Most of the commercial cat’s food are dry and are not having required water content for the smooth flow of the stool. Hence the pet owner should prefer wet food as much as possible.

The cat should also be provided sufficient quantity of water and the pet owner should ensure the water provided is consumed by the cat. The pet owner should read the label and check for the ingredients before purchasing the commercial food.
The fibre content of the ingredient should be taken in to account before deciding about the purchase. By following these simple tips one can prevent blood in stool of the cat.