How to Be a Great Cat Owner

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Being a great cat owner mainly involves loving and looking out for the best interests of your feline friend. If you do that, you and your cat will be best buds.

But if you're looking for ways to ensure you're doing the absolute best you can for your kitty, look over and implement these tips.

Take Your Cat to the Vet Routinely

It's common for people to overlook their cat's need for regular veterinary care, especially when the kitty lives inside and doesn't appear sick. However, part of being a great cat owner is ensuring that you are providing the best preventative care possible. Additionally, cats age faster than humans, so visiting the vet at least yearly is a great way to catch budding health conditions early.

Here are some of the things you can do when you visit the vet regularly with your cat:

• Get routine testing done that can catch problems earlier.
• Stay up-to-date on preventative care recommended for your area.
• Get advice on when to switch diets for your cat's life stages.
• Get help with weight problems early.

Make Home Grooming and Toothbrushing a Priority

Brushing a cat's teeth and sometimes, doing routine grooming like brushing the fur and trimming the claws, can be challenging with some cats. Still, it's good to try and get into a habit of doing routine home grooming for your cat because it allows you to:

• Feel for lumps, bumps, and wounds regularly.
• Decrease hairballs by removing extra hair your cat would otherwise groom off and swallow.
• Keep an eye on oral health, which can have significant effects on overall health.

If your cat isn't used to having such things done at home, start slowly, give lots of praise, and do just a little at a time as she gets used to it.

Prepare for Problems

While none of us want to think of a time when our cat might have a medical problem or even an emergency, thinking about such things and doing what you can to prepare for them gives you a better chance of getting a good outcome if they do. Here are some things to consider:

• Get your cat microchipped, so if she's ever lost, you'll have a better chance of getting her back.
• Look into pet insurance so you will have help with bills if something goes wrong.
• Prepare a first aid kit, so you'll have necessary supplies on-hand if your cat is injured.
• Always have visible ID on your cat too, so it's easier for people who don't have a microchip scanner on hand to see it right away.

Take Daily Time for Play

Your cat can get bored and stressed if she doesn't get enough play time. While she may sometimes find ways to entertain herself, even playing alone with toys sometimes, interactive play with you provides the most enrichment, stimulation, exercise, and fun.

Use wand toys to pretend that you are a rodent or bird for your cat to chase. Try to make the wand act like the prey. This allows your kitty to exercise her predator instincts, and it relieves stress too.

Make sure you set aside time for one or two short play sessions daily with your kitty. Rotate toys periodically to provide variety. Just make sure not to leave any wand toys out where your cat might try to play with them alone because they could be an entanglement or strangulation hazard.

Provide New Enrichment Routinely

Consider ways in which you can keep things in your home entertaining and fun for your cat. A bored cat can become stressed and engage in unwanted behaviors like inappropriate urination or scratching.

Puzzle toys are a great way to keep your cat busy when you aren't around to play with her. Good quality scratching posts are a crucial piece in keeping your indoor cat happy and healthy. Automatic toys that can be programmed to turn on periodically during the day when you're not home can be wonderful enrichment.

Hiding your cat's food around the home so she must hunt for it throughout the day can be a great way to help her feel like her natural predator self. Just make sure she gets all her nutrition (finds all the food) every day.

Learn the Signs of Feline Illness and Respond Fast

Part of being a great cat owner is recognizing when something's not right and responding immediately by calling or visiting the vet. The best way to do that is to study your cat's behavior carefully and monitor it for changes.

Don't be afraid to call your vet and talk to the staff if you're ever unsure about anything.