Things That Will Make Your Cat Happy
1/16/2019
If youre a cat owner, then you know that cats are generally beguiling, low-maintenance, inquisitive pets. They dont ask for much, even on a day designated for kitty Q& A . But if youre like us, youll take any holiday dedicated to kitties as an opportunity to spoil them rotten. Here are our top ten ways to do just that:
Instinctconsider Recent Life Events
Cats are creatures of habit. They also learn what is safe and what is scary very early in life. Anything new such as a strange house or people, can put their tails in a twist when they feel uneasy or even frightened. If there have been changes in the cat’s life, think about how these may impact behaviors and how you can help your cat handle the changes.
Tips For Raising A Friendly Cat
Cats may be known for being aloof, but that doesnt necessarily mean that they arent friendly folk, by nature. All cat lovers know that a cat will likely come to you when theyre ready and are extremely unlikely to ever want to be fussed unless its on their terms. Of course, some cats are naturally friendlier, while others just want to be left alone.
Theres absolutely nothing wrong with this- however if you have the chance, why not use a few tips and tricks along the way to help encourage your cat to be friendlier. The following tips are perfect for families of small kids who want to inspire their kittens to be more relaxed around busy areas, as well as those cat owners who really would just like to be as close to their cat, as possible.
Also Check: What Was Gargamel’s Cat’s Name
Make Sure You Play With Your Cat Regularly
Sometimes cats are aggressive simply because they havent had enough play time, so its incredibly important to make sure your cat gets out all his or her hunter energy when youre in the process of training your cat to be more snuggly. Its not an easy thing to remember, but its important to do.
I find its also really, really handy to have a slew of toys cats can play with by themselves strewn all over the house, especially in areas they generally hang out in, as if youre busy or not even at home because youre out or at work, they can still have some place to take out their hunter-drive energy.
The big hits in my household: cat springs, ball track toys, & kick sticks. Hands down the best toys in my cats eyes.
So important in my opinion for them to be able to get this out on their own if they can, especially because in my experience they will typically use things you dont want attacked , as a replacement for a self-play cat toy if they dont know what else to do with themselves.
My cats unanimous favourite toy they can play with by themselves? The ridiculously affordable Spot Ethical Pet Cat Springs.
Theyre an absolute godsend, and while each cat has their favourites besides these , all love and use the springs absolutely the most.
Feed Multiple Small Meals
This goes hand in hand with my question of whether your cat is actually hungry or not. Dont feed ad-lib, with food always available. Instead, feed regular small meals.
This way, your cat is more likely to be hungry when the food goes down, and they are more likely to happily eat whatever they are offered.
Recommended Reading: Why Is My Cat Losing Fur
Many Cats Grow More Affectionate With Age
Living with a senior cat can be rewarding since they take to cuddling and snuggling with pleasure during their golden years. With these guys, you definitely want to watch out for their comfort, keep up with their meds, and give them plenty of food and water.
Many new cat parents askHow can I get my cat to like me?In most cases,our cats already love us. We need to learn how to receive it in a cat-friendly way.
Do you have a story about helping a cold or churlish cat find his warmhearted nature? Email us back, and share!
Also in Purrr Blog
Dealing with litter is part of loving a cat. But you don’t have to cope with pebbles scattered all over your home.
Recent Articles
How Long Does It Take For A Cat To Feel Comfortable After A Move
The length of time it will take for your cat to adjust to their new environment depends largely on their temperament. Some cats feel at home right away, and wont require much beyond a lesson in where their litter box, food bowl, and water bowl/fountain are. Other cats, however, might take days, weeks, or even months to start feeling safe in their new territory.
The best thing that you can do when it comes to timing is to let your cat go at their own pace. Moving is stressful. Moving when a large part of your comfort and sense of safety is wrapped up in your territorial base is even more stressful. Give your kitty as much time as he or she needs to adjust to their new home, and dont try to rush the process.
Also Check: What Are Cat Years Compared To Human Years
Learn To Pet Your Cat Properly
Getting your mean cat to trust you may take time so you should be patient if you want to earn her trust and affection.
Here are some tips on how to pet your cat that may avoid meanness or aggressive behavior.
- focus on areas with scent glands such as the chin, the area behind the ears, and on the cheeks
- stroke the cat gently using your fingertips
- rub the back of your hand gently along the side of her face
- let the cat come near you and smell you before you pet it
- try to extend a hand or finger and wait for the cat to rub her nose against your finger
- if your cat allows you to pet her be sure to avoid the belly
- if your cat flattens her ears against the head, twitches her tail, growls or hiss then it may mean she does not want to be petted anymore so stop petting her as soon as you see these signs
Overstimulation or over petting makes a cat aggressive or mean. Try to pet her in a gentle and controlled manner if she allows you to touch her. However, if she acts annoyed then let her be and dont force yourself to touch her. Also, avoid punishing her as it may just lead to further conflict.
What Causes Constipation In Elderly Cats
Constipation has several causes that vary in severity. The most common explanations include:
If your cat is dehydrated, it may have kidney disease. One in three geriatric cats experience some degree of renal failure.
According to the Journal of Small Animal Practice, kidney problems are also often linked to hyperthyroidism. This is another medical problem that can lead to feline constipation.
Older cats have more brittle bones, and a fractured pelvis is a common injury. As Vet Compendium explains, a fractured pelvis leads to a narrowed colon. This makes defecation difficult, or even impossible, in some cases.
As per the BMJ, your cat may have megacolon. Megacolon is the dilation or restricted movement of the digestive tract.
Read Also: How To Make Catnip In Little Alchemy
Help Them Get Their Scratch On
Scratching serves more than one purpose for cats. In addition to keeping their nails healthy, scratching lets cats mark their territory. Their nail beds help them leave a chemical scent wherever they scratch, which is why many cats will scratch up furniture even if they have a scratching post. To curb this behavior, make sure your cat has somewhere to scratch in every room. It doesnt have to be a post: you can buy scratchers that hang on door knobs or DIY simple wall scratchers like this easy framed piece from IKEA Hackers that cats will go nuts for.
How To Train A Cat To: Come On Command
Cats can learn to respond to a vocal cue and run your way. This step of how to train a cat starts by making a distinct noise before feedingbefore you open a bag or canlike vocally call your cat, or click your tongue. Your pet will learn to associate that noise with something positive and will eventually head to you when it hears it. Then, encourage this behavior outside of normal feeding times. Start from short distances. Make the noise, use your clicker when your cat comes, and then reward your pet with the treat. Over time, call the cat from longer distances. The ASPCA recommends up to two cat training sessions a day, for five minutes or less, during which you should repeat the behavior up to 20 times. Heres how to tell how smart your cat is, by the way.
You May Like: Lovecrafts Cats Name
How To Make Your Cat Love You
Getting a cat to be more affectionate is the yearning of many a pet owner. Some cats are antisocial when it comes to being picked up, cuddled or petted . Other kitties are born loving this sort of attention.
If youre not lucky enough to have a cat who automatically seeks out your affection, trying to entice that reclusive furball to become your snuggle buddy may take some motivation and determination on your part. Your pet may never convert to a drooly lap cat, even after weeks of effort on your part, but at the very least youll probably strengthen your relationship with your cat.
How To Train A Cat To: Beg
This is similar to the shake hands trick. Hold a treat just above your cats head and give a beg command. Your pet should stand on its hind legs and reach up for the snack click to mark the behavior and then give your cat its treat. Practice until your cat begs on command without needing a treat dangled overhead. If you really want to learn how to train a cat well, make sure you always reward your petbut never feed your cat milk.
Don’t Miss: How To Make Cat In Little Alchemy
Understand Why Your Cat Is Mean
Living with a mean cat can be a stressful situation. The stress can be felt by you, your human family members, and the cat. The H.I.S.S. Test, which stands for health, instinct, stress, and symptom solvers, can be helpful to understand whats going on with your cat and is a helpful first step in examining a mean cat.
Homemade Cat Food Recipes
Making homemade cat food can be a little unnerving, but to give you an idea of what a typical homemade cat food recipe looks like, heres a sample :
- 1/4 teaspoon olive oil or salmon oil
- 2.7 grams of feline vitamin/mineral supplement
- 30 grams of potato, cooked without skin
- 50 grams of carbs
- 83 grams of cooked animal protein
Mix all of the ingredients together and store the food in the fridge until needed.
Read Also: How To Make Cat In Little Alchemy
Don’t Mask The Odors With Sprays Plug
Many scented air fresheners smell heavenly to humans but are gag-inducing to cats. Moreover, some fragrant household products can be dangerous to cats. Potpourri oil, for instance, can burn a cat’s skin. Try a DIY alternative to toxic air fresheners if you want your house to have a spicy, tangy smell.
Ingredients You Must Include In Your Homemade Cat Food
Just as there are some ingredients that could harm your kitty, there are others that you absolutely must ensure you include to your cat recipe. The most important ingredient for a feline diet is meat and liver protein since cats are strict carnivores. Here are some of a cat’s nutritional requirements:
BornFreeUSA.org has a great list of Sample Diets for Dogs and Cats that includes helpful tips and ingredients lists. For more information on the ins and outs of good cat nutrition, check out Alternative Nutrition where they have loads of resources, stats, and helpful hints for making homemade cat food.
Recommended Reading: What Was Gargamel’s Cat’s Name
Expand Your Cats World: Create Vertical Space
One of the most important aspects of creating a cat friendly home is making sure your cat has vertical space. The creation of vertical space is HUGE for cats. It opens up their space, makes it easier for cats in a multi-cat household to get along as they can time-share their space/assets because there are enough spots to go around, and it lets them survey their world from on high. It also encourages exercise, sorely lacking for many indoor cats, by giving them somewhere to jump to. There are many awesome ways to create vertical space for your cats: amazing cat trees, cat shelves, and the connection of these vertical spaces to create cat super highways.
Pictured above: With high perches, playhouses, swinging ropes, ladders, and more, the Classic Cat Tree from Armarkat has something for every cat .
The beautiful Lotus Cat Shelves from Refined Feline provide an ideal up-top perch for your cat. Not only do they provide vertical space, but theyre supremely chic .
Scientists May Have Found Out How To Get Rid Of Cat Allergies
That sneezing, wheezing, congested, itchy eye, must-escape-this-room-because-I-cant-breathe-around-this-cat feeling can ruin even the best of daysespecially if you are a cat lover.
But now, you might be able to avoid the allergies altogether, instead of avoiding the furry feline.
You read that right. There have been some very promising scientific breakthroughs that can help alleviate the symptoms of cat allergies altogether. Breathing comfortably without red, itchy eyes could become the norm for allergy sufferers.
And we arent talking about allergy shots or desensitization therapy, either.
These new treatments for cat allergies arent for youtheyre actually administered to your cat. The goal is to help make them less likely to incite an inflammatory process in you.
Heres everything you need to know about the potential new cat allergy treatments.
Recommended Reading: What Are Cat Years Compared To Human Years
How To Make A Mean Cat Nice
Cats come in different breeds, temperaments and behaviors. Some cats love to cuddle and sit on your lap while some are aloof and tend to be mean. Having a mean cat can be worrisome but do not lose hope because there are ways to make a mean cat nice and even affectionate.
Here are some tips on how to make a mean cat nice:
Diy Cat Tree With A Water Shelf
Does your cat actually love being high up so much that you can barey get them to come down off their current run-down cat tree unless youre feeding them? Well, since youre making them a new one anyways, then we think you might get a kick out of the way Medium made a basic cat tree thats already a great design on its own, but also features a little water tray, just to make sure any kitty who prefers to be up high still gets plenty of hydration.
You May Like: What Are Cat Years Compared To Human Years
Diy Cat Play Tower Made From Actual Trees
Have we piqued your attention the best so far with the concept of making a cat tree from actual wooden tree branches but youre just not sure that the rocky zen garden design we showed you earlier is quite the direction you want to take things in? The maybe youd do better giving this alternative tutorial from Southern Revivals a little bit of consideration instead!
Analyze And Get A Good Understanding Of Why Your Cat Is Mean
Having a mean cat can be stressful but it does not mean that you have to punish your cat for it. The best thing to do is to analyze and understand why she is mean by using the H.I.S.S. test as a basis. HISS means health, instinct, stress, and symptom solvers. Through this, you will be able to get to the root of the problem. The H.I.S.S. Test is made of the following:
Health
Check out if your cat has health issues. The reason why your cat may be mean and tend to hiss and growl is that she is not feeling well. Cats can be subtle and may hide the signs of sickness. Consult your vet for a thorough checkup and inform him of the changes in behavior as it may reveal clues why your cat is mean and grouchy.
Instinct
Consider recent changes in your cats life. Cats are creatures of habit and anything that disrupts their routine may bring about changes in their behavior. Have there been recent changes in the household like a new family member, a house remodeling, or parties? Being able to ascertain this will make you understand your cats behavior well.
Stress
Check out stress levels in your household. It could be that you or other family members are going through a stressful time. This can have an impact on your cat as well. Being able to identify this may give you a clear idea of why your cat is mean.
Symptoms
Also Check: How To Make Forest Animal In Little Alchemy
Bonding With Your Cat Through Toys
If your cat is resistant when you try to pick them up, try playing with them instead:
- Dangle a wand toy for them to tug on.
- If they seem comfortable with you while youre sitting on the floor, place them in your lap while you move the toy.
- Once your cat gets used to you being around while theyre playing, youll have more opportunities to pick them up and test the waters.
Sure, this may not be as good as being able to hug and cuddle your cat like a puppy, but it will be a form of physical bonding.
In a blog post on this subject, Johnson-Bennet writes, Cats show affection in so many ways, and you might even not notice some of the more subtle ones.
She adds: Your cat doesnt have to be a lap cat to be affectionate. She may enjoy sitting next to you or maybe even a several inches away, but that doesnt mean shes not affectionate.