Taking care of a cat, whether you’re a new owner or you’re cat-sitting for someone else, there are some tips to keep in mind to make the situation less stressful for everyone involved. People are misguided under the notion that cats can pretty much take care of themselves, but this isn’t exactly true.
To make things easier for yourself, here are five handy tips to make it easier to care for your cat.
- Keeping Your Cat Fed
Food and water are very essential for your cat, especially the kind of food that you feed them. Cats are natural carnivores and require taurine in their diet, which you can only find in meat and animal products. Provide water and food in easy-to-access feeding dishes and clean them on a regular basis.
If you’re the kind of person who has a hectic schedule, you can always get an automatic cat feeder that is placed on a timer to feed your cat at the same time every day.
- Keeping Your Cat Busy
Think of your cat as a 2-3 year old child. You wouldn’t leave them in a room by themselves; they’d get too bored way too quickly. That’s why actively playing with your cat is something that you should schedule into each day.
Invest in some toys that you can use to play with your cat or toys that they can play with on their own. Keeping their brains active will make them happier than having nothing to do.
- Keeping Your Cat Safe
You may be tempted to let your cat go outdoors whenever they feel like, but that can actually be detrimental to their health. They can eat something that’s dangerous, or worse, they could be killed. Cats can get runover by cars or eaten by larger predators.
It’s better off to keep them inside so that you don’t run the risk of losing your cat forever. If you really want to take your cat outside, get them a leash and harness so that you can prevent them from running off.
- Provide Medical Care For Your Cat
As soon as you get a new cat, it’s best to have them checked out at the vet. Just as you have a primary care physician, your cat needs one too. Yoru vet can provide you with insight on the best food to feed your cat and provide you with medical care and regular checkups to ensure that your cat is healthy. Having professional advice is much better than going it alone and dealing with these health problems all by yourself.
- The Issue of the Litter Box
Cats can be very finicky about their waste. They like to keep their spaces clean, so scooping out the litter box on a regular basis is a must. Keep the litter box away from their eating area and place in a quiet, private area so that the cat can go in piece. If you leave in a place that has multiple stories, it’s best to keep a litter box on each floor to make it easy for your cat.
Although cats are mostly independent creatures, they depend on you for their basic necessities, so you shouldn’t fail them. Pay attention to their needs and provide them as needed for a happier, healthier cat.