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Specialist diets for puppies and kittens
Whether your dog or cat has recently given birth or you have bought a new puppy or kitten, it’s important to understand that food intake and nutritional requirements can vary greatly between young and older pets. The right nutritional balance for a puppy or kitten is vital for their healthy development. Careful attention should be paid to ensure the smooth transition from infant to adult diets and from liquids to tinned or dry food.
The growth rate for a puppy or kitten varies enormously from that of a larger or older pet. From the first few hours of birth they must consume a large amount of liquids from the mother to ensure survival and healthy growth. During the weaning stage, a specially tailored diet must be put in place to aid the animal’s physical development, as well as taking care to avoid over-stretching of the stomach.
The early years
There are a wide range of specialist diets for puppies and kittens that contain nutritional ingredients excellent for growth and performance. Smaller cuts of meat, poultry and fish ensure that the food is digested properly. Arden Grange and Royal Canin offers both puppy and kitten specialist diets, whereas Barking Heads caters for the growing puppy.
Bringing a puppy or kitten into the home is an exciting time for all the family. But it is also a big responsibility and it’s crucial to ensure that the right foods are available for your pet, along with plenty of liquids such as water and lactose free milk. With the right nutritional intake during those important early years your pet will grow into a fit and healthy adult.
Kitten Vaccinations: Types of Vaccinations
In recent years, the vaccination of cats has become more popular. The three most common vaccines give protection against feline infectious enteritis (FIE), feline influenza (cat flu) and feline leukaemia (FeLV). An initial course of two injections, the first at nine weeks are usually given, and yearly boosters are recommended thereafter.
FIE causes vomiting and diarrhoea, and the cat develops a very high tenperature. Before the vaccine was introduced, it killed a great many cats by dehydration due to the bowel symptoms. Cat flu is caused by two viruses: the feline rhinotracheitis (FCV). FVR is the more severe of the two, causing coughing, sneezing, and nasal and eye discharges.
FVC has milder discharges but more gum inflammation and mouth ulcers. Neither FCV nor FVR is usually deadly but the infection can linger on in the form of snuffles, and some cats become symptomless carriers of the disease. When stressed, these cats develop mild symptoms and spread the virus.
FeLV suppresses the activity of the cat’s immune system, allowing a wide range of symptoms to develop. It often results in the death of the cat after several months of illness. The virus is spread mainly in the cat’s saliva. It is a disease of cats that fight a lot, and of cats in large colonies, who share the same food and water bowls. It should not be a threat in a well-run boarding cattery, where the feeding and grooming utensils are properly cleaned, and the cats do not mix with each other.
A vaccine exists against the chlamydial organism, which can cause not only mild eye and nasal symptoms, but more importantly, infertility and abortion. This vacine is used mainly in breeding colonies to protect against infertility.
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Cheap Cat Playthings You can Find Around Your Home
Buying toys from your local pet shop can be expensive, and after the money you spend on it, your cat either tears the toy to pieces in a couple of hours or turns its nose up completely!
Why not save your money and entertain your cat with the following things you can find around your own home?
String!
I guarantee all cats love string. As it wiggles along the ground, moving fast and slow, it triggers your cat’s hunting mechanism and makes a great plaything.
A great idea is to tie a long piece of string to a stick, so you can drag it along the ground and tease your pet while sitting comfortable in a chair.
Paper!
Other than the sound of pet food, nothing perks my cats ears up like the sound of paper being rolled into a ball. A ball of paper about the size of a ping-pong ball is ideal for your cat to chase around the house. They absolute love it.
Similar thing to use for ball pet toys are rolled up sweet wrappers and small balls of foil.
Rope!
One of the most versatile products you can use to make different cat toys and activities.
It’s great to wrap around a post to make your very own cat scratch post and can be pined to pieces of board to make scratch boards that can be mounted on a wall inside or out.
These are just some of the things you can find inside your home to entertain your pet, without having to spend a lot of money in pet shops on toys and pet accessories.
Cats And Pills – Tablets.
Nearly everything alive becomes ill at some stage in its life, and pets are no exception. I have been very fortunate in that my two cats have been very healthy for most of their lives. Recently the oldest cat become ill and had to go to the vet. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with a form of cancer. The treatment options were pills or radiation ‘therapy’. The radiation therapy was very expensive so that left the pills. Pills are fine for humans, but if you have ever tried to administer pills to your cat then you would know some of the problems I have had.
I usually feed my cats on a dry ‘all in one’ biscuit diet. This diet and a supplement of fresh food has kept them very healthy for over 14years. But now I need to add pills to her diet every twelve hours. So what do I feed her that will hide the pill well enough for her to eat it without complaining? Well after some experimentation I came to the conclusion that hiding a whole pill was not the answer. Not the answer at all. Whole pills are located and removed from the food with amazing accuracy. The simple answer is to crush the pills before adding them to the food.
( Note : The pill should be added to a small quantity of food – half a normal serve or less, and that small quantity should be given to your pet BEFORE the rest of the meal. This helps to ensure your cat is hungry enough to eat the entire pill. Once the pill food is eaten you can give them the rest of the meal.)
Pills are usually quite easy to crush into powder, I use two spoons, one small teaspoon as the crusher, and a larger desert spoon to hold the pill. Place the pill into the larger spoon and using the edge of the small spoon as a blunt knife, carefully break the pill into smaller chunks. Now use the small teaspoon to gently crush the chunks into powder. In less than two minutes you should be ready to sprinkle the powdered pill onto a small serve of food. Crushing the pill gets much easier once you have done two or three.
This is how I prepare chicken or fish for my cat at pill time :
Chicken : Cooked (cold)
Cooked chicken is a favorite food of my cats so it is a good pill food for them. To make the most reliable pill hiding food from cold chicken is really quite easy. First of all you need to prepare the pill by crushing it into a powder as described above. Then you need a small serve of chicken that you can breakup into smallish pieces – use your fingers, it gives the best results. Once you have broken up the chicken add a small quantity of water to the serving plate and roll the chicken in the water until it is wet all over. Now drain the excess water from the plate – too much water will leave the pill on the plate and not on the food where it needs to be. The next step is optional, but it makes a big difference for my pets. The next step is to place the food in a microwave oven. All you want to do is VERY GENTLY warm up the food, I use about 6 SECONDS on high. What you are looking for is to remove the coldness of the food – which activates the SMELL of the food. Do not make the food hot! ( The heat could damage the pill that you are trying to feed them, and not many cats will eat hot food anyway.) Now that you have a very gently warmed serve of food it is time to add the pill. Just sprinkle the crushed pill over the wet, warm chicken and serve it up!
Note : Always add the Pill LAST!
Fish : Raw
If you want to use raw fish as a pill serving food then it pays to make sure that the cat in question likes the fish that you are going to use. ( Cats are fussy!) I have two cats, one eats fish at every opportunity, and the other will walk right past it and ask for something else..
So get a small piece of fish to test the cat with, and assuming that the fish is accepted it is easy to prepare. I use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the fish into small pieces. A sharp knife is ok but the skin on fish is very tough, so for safety and ease of preparation I use scissors. Once you have the fish cut up all you need to do is sprinkle the powdered pill over the fish and serve it up. Raw fish is usually wet and quite smelly, so it doesn’t require water to be added or the microwave to warm it up.
Fish : Cooked (cold)
To prepare a cooked cold fish you basically follow the steps outlined for cooked chicken. Prepare the pill, get a small bit of cooked fish and cut or break it up into small pieces. Make it wet, drain off the excess water and zap it in the microwave for a few seconds – do not make the food hot! Add the crushed pill to the warm wet fish and serve it up.
Note : Always add the Pill LAST!
The purpose of warming up the food is to make it smellier. Most food has a much stronger scent or smell when it is at room temperature than it does straight from the fridge.
If you need a small quantity of fresh raw fish it can usually be purchased from your local take away food shop. If you want to use cooked fish from a take away shop bear in mind that the batter or bread crumbs should be removed before it is served to the cat. (Well, it should be removed if your cat won’t eat the fish with it still on there..) Also remember to cool the fish down to about room temperature before you add the pill – otherwise the heat may damage the pill.
Never microwave any pill – it could damage the active ingredients or even make them toxic to your pet.
For those that are interested, my cats name is “Eff-Gee” ( “F”+”G” ) and she can tell the time as well if not better than I can. Every 12 hours (+ or – 30mins) she is asking me for her pill food 
My other cat – that doesn’t like fish, is called “Sox”. He doesn’t really like chicken either. Actually he prefers the biscuits over most other foods – unless it is meat with chili on it. He is a nice cat
Cats & Dogs – Soul Mates?
Soul Mates?
I had heard more than once how Chows are very cat like in their demeanor and attitudes and since I have had two of them in my life I can confirm this! Given this similarity I was still unprepared for my current Chow’s love of cats. My last dog chased cats like every genetically correct pup should do, so I was amazed at my current pup and her feline fascination.
My pal Keisha was only five months old when she met her first cat. His name was Pongo and he was also five months old. We were visiting with family in Omaha Nebraska for Christmas and Keisha was determined to make friends with Pongo.
Pongo would have nothing to do with her!
They tip toed around each other for three days even coming nose to nose eventually. Then on Boxing Day we had just finished our lunch of leftovers…you know turkey sandwiches and such, when we heard a crash in the kitchen. Assuming nothing serious we were slow to react.
When we finally moseyed into the kitchen to get going on the post lunch cleanup they were caught in the act! There they were…Pongo and Keisha nose to nose eating the turkey that someone (?!?!?) had pushed off of the counter onto the floor. They had a fine feast together and even after their tag team mischief, Pongo was still reluctant to become fast friends although I think he was beginning to warm up to the idea, after all Keisha had eaten the turkey and not him!
Unfortunately we had to leave before the relationship was cemented. We have not seen Pongo since but Keisha responds most enthusiastically to his name still, over three years later.
Keisha is almost four years old now and since meeting Pongo she has tried to make friends with every cat she meets. They have all wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. And then came MOJO.
Mojo is owned by a neighbour and is an outdoor cat. He totally suits his name and struts through the “hood” as though he owns it and has complete control over all that goes down in it. He definitely has his MOJO goin on!
At first Keisha approached him cautiously, and he would bat at her with his paws, but never with claws out. Slowly but surely they came closer and closer to each other. There was the dancing around each other period that looked really funny as each would take their turn jumping forward then backward not unlike some ritual. Then came the purring and then the rolling over and belly sniffing. After that Mojo began to walk around and under Keisha strategically putting his tail in her face. She managed to maintain her aloof dignity when he does the tail in face thing. All of this has progressed to Mojo coming for walks with us, he come to visit and waits at the door for Keisha to come out to play. Keisha will put her paw on his bum to get the game of chase going and if Mojo is in the mood he will start the game by running or he will roll onto his back and swat at Keisha with all four paws. Mojo is the alpha in the relationship in spite of his 10 lbs to Keisha’s 60!
It is the most wonderful thing to observe and the neighborhood is mesmerized by these two fast friends.
To see them together one wonders why some cats and dogs get along and others want to destroy each other. Is it perhaps a past life spent together? Early influences like Pongo? Maybe Keisha was a cat in her last life and thus the affinity for cats and cat like behaviour? Or are they just all very different souls with very different personalities and perspectives? Who knows for sure? All I know is that my heart always warms when I see them together and am awed by this amazing friendship that truly looks like soul mates in action.
Cat Toilet Training
One of the first things as an owner that wants to toilet train your cat is to know about your cat.
The behavior of a cat; the does, and don’ts of training a cat.
Since we are going to talk about potty training a cat, we need to set some basic rules down. Most important one is that if you do not catch the cat going potty on the floor at the very moment; it will not make any sense to the cat what you do to them about it. Cats remember things like that only shortly. No rubbing the nose of the cat in it, that will only cause pain, or do anything that would harm or hurt your cat. By doing any of these painful acts will only make the cat afraid of you and you will have a very hard time training your cat to do any behaviors, or taking care of your cat.
Let us look over the potty training a cat. Having a cat potty trained on any household toilet will save you thousands of dollars in kitty litter. Will keep the cats area clean, safe and dry, and since a cat does not like messes this is a great way to get rid of the mess for you.
Now you are wondering why someone would want to have the cat use the toilet and not the litter box. In the fecal, of the feline, when mixed with kitty litter can cause people of all ages to get sick. When the cat comes out of the litter box to a person, on its paws are the germs from the litter box. When you or family member is sick or aged people, they are very expectable to this disease.
With a cat being potty trained, the fecal goes under the water this will help prevent the disease from spreading. There are devices on the market that will help you potty train your cat. The devices come with books to help and support you with toilet training your cat.
Let’s look at the potty device, to see what steps are taken to get the cat to use the toilet.
First, you will need to put the device in the toilet. It is basically a small shallow version of a toilet bowl that fits under the ring on the toilet.
The recommendation is to put small amount of cat litter in the small portion of the plastic bowl. Then remove all other cat litter boxes, so the cat will only find litter in one place. Another thought is to cover the plants on the floor, so the cat will not be able to dig in the dirt.
With the device, that you get, there could be some type of fragrances to put on the toilet device to help attract the cat to that area. Leave the cat for a while in the bathroom, with the door closed, privacy is something that cat need and want and will the cat will explore that the litter in on the toilet and use it there. If there seems to be a problem with the cat going, you may want to put the litter box next to the toilet, this way the cat will get use to this and see the toilet, before getting the training started. In this time if you see that cat needs to go, pick the cat up and put it on the toilet with the device on so that kitty will see the device and the litter
This will all take time and lots of patience from you and some good training to the cat. The cat does not have natural instincts to go in the bathroom and go on the toilet. When a cat is older, this can be a real task as the older cats are usually set in their ways and do not like change. With this, you will want to use the slow approach.
In the end, you and your cat will be happy that there are no more kitty litter boxes in the home.
Rewards are very important in this training and hard also; you may not see or catch your cat on there going but remember to reward them when you do see them.
Cat Furniture
I remember dreading the day I found the perfect couch to go in our appartment. Binx was never particular with what he liked scratching on and I realised that if I bought this couch, that it would end up looking like a shreaded pin cushion in a matter of hours not days!
Just moving into a new appartment (or having been there a long time) introducing your kitty to his new surroundings can be quite tough and you want to keep him inside for about a week to three weeks until you are satisfied that he is happy to know where home is and he is settled himself before deciding to let him outside. While he is inside for those one to three weeks, if you are unfortunate enough not to be able to stay home and watch your kitty 24/7, you will likely to come home and find the couch has been attacked or worse, I used to come home and find the base of my bed had been attacked!
Now declawing is definately out of the option, the only other choice left was to look at is Cat Furniture for your kitty. For starters a cat scratcher especially if you have an indoor kitty! Now I was very warey how Binx would take to this new carpeted object sitting in the lounge, and it was quite lucky I had bought him a Cat Nip plant!
Your kitty will probably go nutty over Cat Nip, but not all cats react the same way to it. If your kitty is not taking any notice of his new scratching pole, and is still using your couch, break a couple of leaves off the Cat Nip plant and proceed to rub it all over the carpeted pole. It took a few days of sniffing for Binx to actually get any interest in the pole, but once your kitty gets the idea or if need be, show kitty how it should be used first, and praise him each time he uses it properly!
Make sure the pole is secured down properly because it might topple onto kitty while he’s using it, and it will just scare him off using the pole for good! I had ours wedged underneath the TV Cabnet and now the Coffee table and removed the bell attached to the top of the pole as it seemed to scare Binx everytime it jingled behind him! And guess what – He has not touched our new couch, ONCE!
Cat Fights
Feral or unferal, your kitty may get tangled up in one of these if they are in particular an outdoor cat. Indoor cats if by themselves are obviously not as prone to this risk, unless they find themselves outside, or a stray visitor inside.. but two or more indoor cats can have their “bad” days as well.
If you allow your cat to roam outside in the big wild outdoors, I seriously recommend you take kitty to your veternarian from a young age and start getting him vaccinated! And make sure this is done every year no questions! This is necessary if you don’t want your kitty to get infected by nasties like Feline Aids (FIV) which is transmitted through blood while fighting. This also protects your kitty among a lot of other different diseases out there like Feline Leukemia
(FLV). It is also highly advisable to get him (or her) neutered. Unspayed males will fight feirsly for a female if she is in heat, which can leave both cats in tatters and spayed males can find themselves in the middle of something they don’t understand if an unspayed males get the wrong idea…
Cats fighting outside at night time can be quite of a shock, as sometimes they can sound close to a child shreking or yelling, and it is definately the last thing you want to hear when your trying to sleep at night! My ultimate way of getting rid of cats engaged in a fight is to turn the hose on them, as noises won’t startle them hardly as they are concentrating too much on the other cat!
For indoor cats, obviously water all over the carpet is unwanted so I find usually placing a large object between the two which will cut of eye contact with both cats, if they are engaged in a fight, don’t get in their way as cat bites can not only hurt, but are more likely to become infected than dog bites. Use a chair and turn upside down and use the back of the chair and gently slide the chair between the cats, this will startle them and stop them from fighting. Give the cats ‘time out’ by placing one in a closed room for a short period of time.
A good tell-tale sign if a cat is frightened, the hair will stand up all over the body and when the cat threatens or is ready to attack, you will see the hair stand up in a narrow band along the spine and tail to make him look bigger, and this is also a good time to get out that hose or chair!
With the average lifespan of an outdoor only cat if they are feral or unferal, is only about three years! Which is why if you love your kitty and want him to have a healthy live, keep him indoors and he can live a whopping 16 years longer!
Not only will you benefit from keeping your kitty living longer indoors, it will save you expensive veternarian bills for infected scratches, broken teeth, torn ears, and so on by these nasty one-on-ones.
Cat Owners’ Cat Training Books
This article seeks to give you a solid knowledge base regarding the subject matter, no matter what your previous experience on the topic. Cats are wonderful animals! It is remarkable how well these animals have adapted to domesticity. It has been estimated that they have been living in close contact with human beings for approximately 3,500 years.
Not only are they good for pets, but they are also very useful to humans. The ancient Egyptians took care of them to get rid of the mice in their homes. No wonder there have been hundreds and hundreds of books written that are devoted to the subject of these animals. Most of these books have to do with cat training.
Since cats are predatory creatures by instinct; they still exhibit some behaviors that are best suited in the wilderness. This sometimes becomes a problem for people who have cats living in their households. That is why there are a lot of training books that have been written to address various issues concerning cat training.
Different types of training books:
There are various different types of training books that are available in the market. Some deal with the issue of cats’ health and their behavior. Some are reference books written by veterinarians. They offer insights and tips on how to properly take care of cats. These types of books can be used as a resource by owners when training their cats.
While other cat training books are categorized according to breed, some give those readers who are seeking to gain more knowledge on a specific breed of cats more extensive, and helpful information.
Where to get these books:
These books can be purchased in local bookstores. They can even be borrowed in libraries. But the most convenient place to get them would be online. There’s a wide range of cat training books to choose from in the internet. Rates and reviews of these books are also available. This gives the buyer some insight about the book, helping them decide and pick out exactly the type of cat training book they are looking for.
Who buys these books?
Books on how to train cats are perfect for first time cat owners. These books will offer them the much needed information they need in order to take care of their cats. A lot of cat lovers also have a collection of cat books. Ranging in topics from: breed books, photography, fiction, cat care, training, nutrition, etc.
Cat training books are a perfect companion for any cat owner. Every cat owner should at least have one on their book shelf.
Here are some of the best-selling and truly amazing cat training books that can have one’s pet cat do more than meowing and scratching:
1. “Guide to Well-Behaved Cat: A Sound Approach to Cat Training”
The book says it all. It aims to train the cat to behave. Written by Phil Maggiti, this book is packed with rich information and divided into four parts. The first chapter tackles the cat’s evolution, while the second is all about its domestication. Design and function of an ordinary cat is discussed in chapter three, while chapter four talks about human-pet relationship topics such as why does a kitty disobey the owner when it is called?
2. “Understanding or Training Your Cat or Kitten”
This acclaimed book is from H. Ellen Whiteley, a veterinarian who understands cats more than an average person does. This book contains 292 pages of important information that can truly make you understand, train and appreciate one’s pet cat.
3. “Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat”
This book is a collaboration of Gary M. Landsberg, W. Hunthausen and L. Ackerman. Published by Elvesier Health Sciences, this is one of the most reputable books in cat training. Okay, so it is dual purpose – it is about cats and dogs, but it doesn’t matter. It is as informative as any other cat training book out there.
From discussing kitten development to suggesting therapy for behavior and diet-related problems, from approaching feline agression to finding out what the “European approach to behavior counseling” is, this book is indeed helpful.
4. “Cat Training in 10 Minutes”
The “Cat Training in 10 Minutes” is 142 pages of quirky information on how to communicate effectively with cats. Written by Miriam Fields-Banineau, a certified cat lover, this guide is easy to read and highly effective. Every cat owner can toilet-train his kitty in just a few reading sessions! It will not be long before the cat also follows the owner’s commands! The photographs in the book are very attractive as well.
Nobody says cat training is going to be easy. That’s why cat training books are available online so one can get the gist and be the best cat owner in town. We hope that you have found this article interesting and eye catching to say the least. It’s objective is to entertain and inform.
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with glucosamine for dogs and
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