Cats are one of the most interesting, beautiful, and weird creatures. You might want to consider yourself lucky if a cat loves you. It becomes your responsibility to keep it happy and healthy.
Many people adopt or buy a cat because they are cute and cuddly. However, many people abandon them because it becomes challenging to take care of them.
You might need to understand a cat’s basic needs to raise a happy and healthy pet. Here are some ways you might want to try to keep your furry friend active, healthy, and joyful.
1) Keep Their Life Interesting
You might be an indoor or outdoor human, but you might want to take your cat outside a lot. You might want to keep your furry friend occupied if you can not manage to take it outside that often.
A cat might get bored or stressed without many activities and contact with diseases. You can play any game like fetching, puzzle games, etc., with your cat.
You might also want to consider adopting more than one cat together. Cats occupy each other’s time, making them less vulnerable to stress and diseases.
2) Hygiene
You might want to do the following things to keep your cat hygienic.
You might need to groom your cat regularly if you only have one. Cats groom each other, so you might not need to put extra effort if you have more than one cat at your home. I’ll explain it thoroughly in the last section,
Give your cats fresh water daily. You might also want to change your bowl, glass, or anything that your cat does not like to drink from,
You might also want to buy more than one litter box per cat to keep them cleaner,
Try to keep your cat’s teeth clean,
You might also need to check for fleas on your cat regularly. Your cat might be more vulnerable to fleas if it roams freely. Fleas populate rapidly as a female flea can lay around 25-30 eggs in a day. You do not necessarily have to visit a vet every time you experience this issue. You can try some helpful home remedies for fleas on cats to keep the fleas away.
You might also want to avoid too much dry food for your cat because they contain too many carbs.
3) Exercise
You might assume that cats only want to sleep, which might be the truth to some extent. However, you might want to keep your furry friend mentally and physically engaged.
Keeping your cat engaged, especially when it demands attention, makes things more peaceful. Cats often develop aggressive behaviors if they can not channel their energy.
You do not necessarily need to push them to run on treadmills or similar activities. Little and fun activities like string toys, hiding treats, fetch and throw, etc., can also do the job.
4) Grooming
Cats love grooming themselves and love to keep their coats sleek and shiny. You might not need to brush short-haired cats regularly, but you can not do this with long-haired cats. You might need to brush them regularly.
Not brushing your cat’s hair can give your furry friend problems. Several times cats end up at vets because of hairballs in their stomachs. They keep licking themselves, and the excessive hair goes to their stomach.
You might also want to trim your cat’s nails regularly. It minimizes the damage they do by scratching. It also helps you, your furniture, and other pets.
You might also want to brush your cat’s teeth. You can ask your vet about the foods and products you can use to keep your furry friend’s dental life healthy.
5) Vet Visits
One of the most necessary steps to keep your cat healthy is to visit the vet more often than you visit your doctor. When we get ill or unwell, we search for some medicines and remedies on Google or ask someone else.
Cats do not have that liberty. However, they give you signs that you can easily ignore or misunderstand. So, you might want to visit your vet as soon as you notice some unusual activities or patterns.
You might also want to show the diet chart to your vet every couple of weeks and ask them if they need to change something.
Conclusion
It does not matter which animal you decide to adopt or buy; they need more care and attention. You might not want to adopt a pet if you only want to play or pass your time with it.
These animals demand attention, love, care, and, most importantly, your time. You might only want to adopt a pet when you are ready to take care of it, just like it is your toddler.