There are many incredible stories of cats who travelled long distances to return to their homes. In a recent case, a little tortoise shell cat named Holly was lost in Datona Beach, Florida. Two months later, it was surprising that Holly managed to navigate almost 200 miles and returned her home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Although she was starved, weak and suffering from very pore paws from walking, an implanted microchip confirmed that she was the missing Holly.
How to stop your cat from biting
Interestingly, some cats love to bite their owners especially when they are young. Cat biting can be a playful and undesirable behavior, and different cats bite for different reasons. In order to fix your cat’s biting behavior, you will first need to identify why they are doing so and take appropriate measures for your cat.
Fixing Biting Behavior
Training your cat is not similar to training any type of pets. Here are the few training principles to remember if you wish to train your cat:
- Punish bad behavior and reward good behavior
- Punishment and reward should immediately follow by the cat's action, so that your cat knows why they are being punished or rewarded
- Consistency in training is very important as well
Here are also some alternative ways to stop them from biting habits:
- Be fierce to them when they did something wrong, knowing who is the boss at the house. Cats are not as receptive to verbal communication as dogs, but will respond to volume and tone
- If you own a male cat, you may consider neutering it. Male cats tend to be more aggressive than female cats as they tend be more calm after you have neutered them
How to treat a cat bite
Cat bites can be dangerous both to humans and animals. They are able to lead to serious infections and requires immediate treatments. If a cat bites you, you will have to pay a visit to the doctor as soon as possible. Up to 75% of cat bites introduce harmful bacteria to our body such as Staphylococus, Streptococcus and Pasteurella species. Cat scratch fever which comes from Bartonella henselae bacteria may also be transmitted via cat bites.
You should take the following immediate action if a cat bites you
- Press on the wound. This could cause bleeding, but it helps to force out the bacteria out of your body
- Wash the wound with soap and water. Use a clean cloth to wipe the wound
- Pay a visit to the doctor. Doctor may prescribe antibiotics, stitch the wound if necessary, and administer a tetanus booster vaccine if yours is out of date
After consultation with the doctor, follow her care plan and instructions to prevent further infections. If it is still oozing, swelling pain, fever or any redness, see the doctor right away.
Necessary items and supplies for your cat
As a cat owner, you will have to prepare some gifts for your newly arrived furry friend. There are a lot of cat owners who are unsure of what to get and buy. Hence, here are some basic gifts that will make you cats feel comfortable:
- Bedding
- Collar and Carrier
- Food and Water bowls
- Grooming tools ( brushes )
- Kitty Litter
- Scratching Posts
- Toys, toys and more toys !
DIY Houses, Toys
Here are some tips and guides on how to DIY a house and toys for your cat
1) Epic Cardboard Cat House
Image credit: DIYS
To build this epic house for your cat, you will need the materials listed below
- Carboard boxes
- Tape
- A pair of scissors
- A marker
Here are the steps on how to produce this house
- Cut two cardboard boxes, the size of the boxes will be based on your cat's size, if the size of your cat is big, you may need a bigger cardboard
- After cutting the boxes, you will have to stack the second box onto the first box
- Later on, tape the boxes together
- Lastly, just use a marker to design your cat's house
2) Rounded cardboard cat house with ladder
Image Credit: DIYS
To produce this epic house for your cat, here's the list of materials which you need
- Carboard boxes
- Hot glue gun
- Pencil, Ruler, Cutter
Here are the steps on how to produce this house
- Draw two separate circle and a rectangle that is joined together. Later on, use a cutter to cut both boxes out
- After cutting the boxes, you will have to stack the boxes according to the picture above
- Later on, glue the boxes together
- Lastly, just use a marker to design your cat's house and put in some toys for your cats to play !
Here's a brief video on how to make it
[youtube_advanced url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_WxegAwZo"]3) Catnip Yarn Balls
Image Credit: World's Best Cat Litter
To produce these colorful Yarn Balls, you will have to use the following items
- Styrofoam balls
- A hot glue gun
- Mod podge glue
- Strips of yarn
- Paper
- Dried catnip
Here are the steps on how to produce these yarn balls
- Glue the styrofoam balls with a hot glue gun
- Sprinkle some dried catnip onto the styrofoam balls
- Wait till the styrofoam ball is dry. After that you may tie the ball with strips of yarn
- After each tie, glue it with mod podge glue, to make it more secure
The catnip is glued firmly to the interior of the balls, coated with the yarn , and cats will try for hours to unravel it which keeps them entertain. The steps cover the pieces solidly, however it take chunks of time.
4) Feather and String
To produce these elegant toy, you will have to need
- Cat toy template
- Scissors
- Wool felt
- Iron
- Jingle bells
- Satin cord
Check out the steps guide to build this elegant toy
- Using templates as guides, cut out one large and one small feather from two pieces of different coloured medium-weight wool felt
- With a hot iron, press a crease down the center of each feather
- Add a jump ring to a jingle bell
- Slip end of a 1-yard length of satin cord through jump ring. At bell, tie stems of feathers to cord with a square knot. Knot both ends of cord to prevent fraying
Kittens and Adult cat Nutritional Needs
Before we talk about the types of food and brands, it is important for owners to know how do kitten's nutritional needs differ from adult cats. For the first few weeks, a kitten's weight might double or even triple. So, in order to support this explosive growth, your kitten may have triple the energy needs of an adult cat. It is hard for kittens to have all the necessary nutrients in one meal[blockquote font="3" cite="Jennifer" italic="yes"]''So most kittens want to eat at least three or four meals a day,” “It’s also a comfort thing - kittens are snackers at heart.[/blockquote]
Kitten needs fat, fatty acid and vitamins which some are the same for adult cats. But kitten has the most need to amino acid, minerals as well as vitamins. Kittens should get 30% of their energy from protein. Whereby adults cat needs fat, protein, linoleic and arachidonic acids, vitamins and minerals.
What not to feed and feed to your kitten and adult cat
Here are some food that you should and should not feed to your adults cat and kitten
What Not to Do for the First 24 hours
Introductions with Other Pets
Letting your cat outdoors
Do not leave your cat outdoors for the first 24 hours, as they are not familiar with the new environment yet, if you want to let your cat at outdoors, you are able to do it after 2 weeks and above, depending how fast your cat is able to adapt to the new environment. In Hence, there are many situations whereby when the cat is left outdoor, they won't have a sense of direction of how to go back to their house. Therefore, owner should take note and bear in mind that, not all cats are suitable to be at outdoors.
What Should You Do for the First 24 hours
Give your cat time to adjust
Let your cat to have its own personal time. At first she will be hiding behind the door or even underneath the chair or table, but you don't have to worry as it's a natural reaction. Let your cat introduce itself instead of you introducing your cat to the family, you can try to say approach her, but if she's not keen to it, don't force her, eventually she will come to you and ask to play or even a tickle her chin.
Make Things Familiar for your cat
At the very start, your cat might not be comfortable with the environment. Therefore she might not have an appetite to eat, try offer her the same food that she was fed before you collected or adopt her. [blockquote font="3" italic="yes"]Remember to change your cat's water regularly too![/blockquote]
Set up a room for your cat
Warm and cozy bed is what you're looking for after a long stress day, neither does your cat. Your cat will want to have a bed which makes them feel warm and cozy. Owners usually sets the bed at the bathroom because it is the easiest room to clean. Remember to equip the room with
- A toy
- Bed
- Food
- Water
- Litter Tray
- Scratching Post
Types of kitten food
The rapid growth that kittens experience means they require a diet that is high in protein and fat. Choosing the best and suitable kitten food will reduce the chances of an upset as they go through this growth stage. Here are the three favourite kitten foods that are perfect for raising kittens to be healthy and strong.
1) Dry Kitten Food
These are the brands that you can take into consideration:
- Instinct
- Blue Buffalo
- Hill's Science
- Taste of the Wild
Instinct has added natural DHA to assist with brain and eye development. It contains plenty of good protein from animal sources to make sure they have all the energy to required play and grow. Instinct ensures your kitten has a balance diet, which 81% your kitten will be eating high quality animal products and oil, 19% comes from fruit and vegetables and other wholesome ingredients. Cage free chickens is their number one ingredient.
Price: $14.83-$19.99
2) Wet Kitten Food
These are the brands that you can take into consideration:
- Royal Canin
- Wellness
- Instinct
Royal Canin is perfect to help young kittens in their transition from their mother's milk to solid foods. It's considered a "first-stage" food and is suited for kittens under 4 months old. Consistency is a soft mousse that helps kittens bridge the gap between milk and solid foods. Young kittens needs to have a good immune system support they can get which Royal Canin has an antioxidant complex that is specifically for the young kitten.
Price: $16.64-$27.30
Types of Adult Cat Food
In order to call it "The Best Cat Food" it needs to be rich in protein and low in carbs yet provide sufficient amount of moisture to address your cat's needs for water. Looking out for a good quality cat food can be hard as there are unscrupulous manufacturers that underminehigh-quality food manufacturing processes. But don't worry, here are the top 3 adult cat food brand that you can assure your cat gets the necessary nutrients from.
1) Dry Adult Cat Food
Adult cat food has lesser calories and fat compare to kitten food. Adult cat food have specific requirements for their dietary nutrients, nutrients like amino acid, vitamins etc
These are the brands that you can take into consideration:
- Taste of the Wild
- Wellness
- Nulo
- Orijen
- Fromm
Price: $20.42-$64.89
2) Wet Adult Cat Food
There are many types of wet cat food in the market, wet cat food usually have a specific nutrients that helps your cat to
- Loss weight
- Gain weight
- Best for seniors
- Best Grain Free
These are the brands that are able to provide the necessary nutrients
- Instinct (Best Grain Free)
- Avoderm (Weight Loss)
- Tiki Cat (Weight Gain)
- Royal Canin (Best for Seniors)
Price: $18.25-$34.32
After knowing the aforementioned essential supplies for your cats, we hope that cat owners are able to spend a little more time each day with your felines so that bond will be developed between you both. Cat-human relationship is a lifetime friendship that has a great deal of rewards attaching to it.
