Cat Tree and Cat Care Information

Tips On How To Groom Your Cat

February 6th, 2008 at 01:10pm Under Cat Care

By Ken Charnely

Before we begin to give you additional information on this
topic, take a moment to think about what you already know.

Cats are basically very tidy creatures. They are in the habit
of grooming themselves by licking every part of their body clean
with their tongue.

This habit of tongue-bathing has several benefits to your pet
cat:

- promotes better circulation of the blood
- gets rid of dead skin cells
- removes excess/dead hair on their coat
- tones their muscles
- keeps the fur soft and clean

Although your feline friends groom on their own, you should
still do your part in keeping your cat clean and well-groomed.

Here are several ways to keep your cat well-groomed:

1. Brushing

Depending on the breed, your cat can either have long or short
hair. Make sure that you brush your cat’s coat well enough to
promote proper grooming.

-For cats with short hair, use a brush with soft bristles so
that the skin will not be scratched or hurt in the grooming
process.

Use soft, gentle strokes while brushing. This should make them
purr in pleasure and you will have an easier job of grooming
your pet cat.

After brushing the coat with a comb, you can finish the job by
wiping the fur with a dry, soft and clean piece of cloth. This
should maintain the shine on your cat’s coat.

-As compared to cats with shorter hair, long-haired cats would
require more brushing time.

For this, use a comb with wide-teeth that is specially designed
for cats. This should initially remove the knots and tangles on
their fur.

Afterwards, you can use a fine-toothed comb to work the smaller
knots on the fur and eliminate the more stubborn knots.

Do not forget to brush the hair around the face with a smaller
comb or a toothbrush.

Avoid the eye and whisker area when brushing.

Brushing your cats fur on a regular basis will help keep their
coat shiny and healthy, and will also give the owner and the pet
some bonding time together.

2. Bathing

Cats do not often require bathing because they basically take
good care of themselves when it comes to grooming.

However, there are some cases wherein you need to give them a
bath no matter how you – and your pet – dread the chore.

You need to bath your cat if the coat has excessive dirt.

Sometimes, a substance that can possibly poison them sticks on
the fur and it is vital to give them a bath in this case.

Another instance where you need to bath your cat is in case of
fleas, ticks and lice clinging to their skin.

3. Cleaning the eyes and ears.

For the eyes and ears which are the most sensitive areas in
your cat’s body, there are solutions that you may use.

Choose one which is specifically designed to prevent cats with
light-colored eyes to develop stains.

For the ears, cats collect a considerable amount or wax so you
have to take care of it when grooming.

Removing this would maintain your cat’s health and help prevent
infections.

There are also cat wipes that you can use for the ears, eyes
and teeth.

4. Keeping the paws clean.

Cats are in the habit of scratching surfaces so it is better to
keep them away from the furniture items in the house. It would
also help if you keep those paws clean and trim their nails.

You can go to a pet store and buy a nail trimmer specially
designed for cats.

Ask your veterinarian for the proper way to trim your cats
nails so as not to hurt them in the process.

If you find that your cat exhibits a not-so-healthy clawing
habit, you may go for the option of declawing your cat.

This is a surgical procedure where the nails are permanently
removed so that it will not grow back.

However, you should still ask your vets advice if you want to
go for declawing because with this, cats will lose a natural
defense mechanism.

A better and kinder option is to regularly trim the cat’s
nails, have them use a wooden post for scratching, or
crate-training to prevent them from clawing at your
most-treasured possessions.

By following these tips and making time in your busy schedule
to groom your cat, you would have a healthy and happy cat and be
a happy owner as well.

About the Author: Ken Charnely is webmaster at two of
Internet’s popular article directories. For more articles on
this topic and for free content for your website visit
www.articleteller.com/ and www.contentwow.com/

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: www.isnare.com/?aid=43377&ca=Pets

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Stop Cat Urine Smell By Removing Cat Litter Box Waste

February 4th, 2008 at 12:54pm Under Cat Care+ Cat Health+ Pet Care

By Nancy Wigal

Cat urine smell is one of the most powerful pet odors
imaginable. If you don’t scoop the cat litter box and dispose of
her waste, your kitty may deposit her waste all over your home.

This article gives you some advice on why you should quickly
remove kitty deposits from the cat litter box, and how it
encourages her from making your home her giant litter box.

Cats are fussy, clean creatures and they usually have high cat
litter box standards. You can help your cat maintain her good
litter box habits by developing one of your own - scooping her
deposits from the cat litter box as quickly as you discover
them. But, that’s only half the battle. If you keep the trash
can too close to the cat litter box, the smell may overwhelm
your cat and drive her away from her box.

Since cats have staff (us!), one of our jobs is to keep their
litter boxes very clean. If you develop the habit of checking
her cat litter box every time you pass by, and scoop out her
waste if you see it, this is a great partnership for maintaining
a wonderful relationship between you and your cat. She deposits,
you scoop, the box is clean again, and everyone’s happy.

Kitty sees a clean box every time she needs to relieve herself.
The urine clumps and other solid waste don’t lie in the box,
permeating your home with the odor.

The other critical part of this partnership is making certain
the scooped items aren’t in close proximity to the cat litter
box. Why? The smell is overwhelming to both you and kitty. Since
cats have a much keener sense of smell than you and I, she’s
going to get bowled over by the odor far earlier than you, and
she’ll find a fresher-smelling area to meet her litter box
needs. If that area doesn’t have a cat litter box handy, too bad
for you!

In order to keep The Cat happy, scoop out her production and
deposit it into a plastic bag. Wrap the bag tight, and select a
wastebasket that’s far enough away from the cat litter box not
to be noticeable by you and your cat. This might a neutral room
where the cat litter box isn’t located. Empty that wastebasket
early and often to keep that part of your home from smelling
like a litter box.

Even if you only have one cat, you may have more than one cat
litter box. There are many kitties who like to have one box for
liquid deposits, and another for solid waste. Here’s a good rule
of thumb for determining the minimum number of cat litter boxes
you need in your home:

“X” cats +1 = minimum number of cat litter boxes

Pretty easy, huh? If you have two cats, you need at least 3 cat
litter boxes.

So if you do have more than one cat litter box, you’ll need to
check all of them on a regular basis. Many cats evacuate their
bladder and bowels on a fairly regular basis, so you’ll get a
sense of the time of day and/or evening you need to make your
rounds. My cat Scout usually voids her bladder anytime between
4:30 AM - 5:30 AM. She usually passes solid waste about an hour
later. In the evening, she will urinate around 5:30 - 6:00PM,
with a feces sample shortly afterward.

By knowing the approximate schedule your cat uses the litter
box, you can plan your trips to check for scoopable products at
fairly regular times. Her box is always clean and up to her
standards. You can strategically position a waste can far away
enough from all cat litter boxes in your home to keep the smell
out of her cat litter box area, thus encouraging kitty to use
her box all the time.

About the Author: Nancy has successfully eliminated cat urine
odor from her home, and kept the kitty that caused it. The Cat
Urine Odor Advisor helps you save money and stop the damage in
your household by offering solutions that work together to
eliminate cat urine odor from your home.
www.cat-urine-odor-advisor.com Subscribe to the Cat Urine
Odor Solutions newsletter, and I’ll send you my free report
“Four Important Litter Box Basics For Your New Kitten.” Start
your new addition to the family off right, and never have a cat
urine odor problem! RSS feed:
quikonnex.com/channel/view/caturineodoradvisor

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: www.isnare.com/?aid=5149&ca=Pets

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