17 Things You Should Know Before Getting A Cat / Kitten

 

If you are thinking about getting a cat and are not sure exactly if you should, this article will be amazing for you.

1.Be Wary of How Old Your Cat Is

The first thing that you should know before adopting a cat is that adopting a kitten is a great responsibility. They need full attention if you adopt them between 6 weeks or younger. You might have to bottle feed them and even feed them 4 times a day. If you are not up for that type of responsibility, then we would recommend you to adopt an older cat.

2.Feed Them with High Protein Cat Food, especially Wet Food

It’s important to feed your cat a correct diet. Cats are obligate carnivores, so ninety-five percent of what they eat should be protein. It is important to feed your cat a high quality food, because this avoids vet visits - vet visits could be very expensive.

Lots of cats have been feeding dry food all throughout their lives and have no problems. But one of our stick to avoid this is to feed your cat vet food. Kittens can start eating wet food at around 5-6 weeks. Wet food helps them become more hydrated and use the bathroom more often than eating dry dehydrated kibble.

3.You need a litter box for Your Cat

Unlike dogs, cats don’t go outside to do their business. You need a litter box for their waste. Just buy a huge one, cats could grow up really fast! After your cat used the litter box, you have to go and clean it. If you don’t, it will stink up the house. That’s not really pleasant. And if you don’t clean the litter box frequently, your cat won’t use it. Cats are naturally very clean animals. If your cat sees that where it’s supposed to go to the bathroom is all dirty and smelly, your cat won’t use it. Your cat may poop on one of your pretty rugs, your sofa, or even your bed.

4.Cats Are Territorial, Bringing in New People or Animal Makes Them Feel Threatened

Cats are very territorial by nature. Introducing cats to other cats or even other animals (such as dogs, rabbits or whatever you have) is not easy. You need to be very patient. If you just bring another animal into your house, your cat is going to feel threatened. You can’t just get the two animals together. It’ll be great if you can introduce them to sleep. When you bring your cat to a new home, make sure it is in a quiet place, so your cat won’t get nervous and frightened by noises all around. What we recommend is keeping your new family member in a small room or a small bathroom for at least a few days until your cat gets acclimated to its environment.

5.DO NOT Give Cats Cow Milk

When you have your kids at home, you might want to give your cat some milk, thinking that your cat is small and he/she doesn’t have mama. DO NOT give a kitten or a cat cow milk. The majority of cats are lactose intolerant. Giving them milk will make them have a terrible day. Just avoid cow milk at all time. If you get a small kitten, you need to be feeding it kitten formula milk.

6.Have A Scratching Place for Your Cat

Cats have long nails, and they continue to grow their nails out their entire life. It is really important that you have a scratching post or a cat treat like cap trees. This is a nice thing to have for your cat as it can avoid them scratching your furniture. If they don’t have a scratching post, they will scratch your bed, your couch, your TV and whatever they can get their hands on. To make your cats get used to scratching their scratching post, you can put catnip on it. Stop them whenever they scratch on furniture.

7.Cats Can Live up to 13-17 Years

Cats can live up to 13 to 17 years. Some cats even lived till 20 years. Be sure that you really really want this companionship. At least make sure that you are ready to have this beautiful feline for almost two decades. This is a responsibility.

8.Develop A Feeding Schedule & Avoid Turning Them Fat

When you have your cat or your kids in at home, it is important to develop a feeding schedule. People often feed their cats in the morning and at night twice a day. There are other people that feed them three times a day for less quantities. It’s very important to not free feed your cat, because that will cause obesity cats love to eat if you have food lying around every day and every minute. They are going to get fat. And if they get fat, they have the potential risk of becoming obese. Fat and obese cats might easily have potential health problems.

9.Constantly Change Their Water

It’s important for cats to have clean out their water bowl and give them fresh water. Water can potentially become contaminated by various of thing. So their water must be constantly changed. Just keep it fresh and clean. If you are always busy at work and not able to change the water daily, you can consider and get your cats an automatic water fountain.

10.Play with Your Kitten to Build Bond

Cats are usually cling to one person. If you want that person to be you, you need to spend lots of quality time with your cat or kitten. For example, you can play with them daily with a little feather toy. It really does help to create a bone with your kitten. And your kitten will feel a lot more comfortable with you.

11.Trim Their Nails Every 3 Weeks

Cats’ nails grow very fast. If their nails are very sharp, you can easily get hurt when you play with them. You need to trim their nails very three weeks to keep them trimmed. This will avoid all those scratching problems.

12.There are various plants that are toxic for your cat (must do research)

There are lots of plants that are toxic to your cats. Some plants can lead to allergies intoxication and even death. Before bringing home a cat, please DO AVOID all these plants at all costs. You must do research on this matter.

Below are some common plants that are poisonous to pets: Aloe Vera, Amaryllis, Azalea, Baby’s Breath, Begonia, Carnations, Castor Bean, Chrysanthemum, Cyclamen, Daffodil, Gladiola, Hosta, Lvy, Lillies, Milkweed, Morning Glory, Oleander, Poinsetta, Pothos, Sago Palm, Tomato Plant, Tulip, Yew, etc.

13.Make Sure You Brush Their Teeth once A Week

Cats are not dogs, that makes them unique. A lot of people don’t know that you’re actually supposed to clean your cat’s teeth at least once a week just like humans. If you don’t properly clean a cat’s teeth, they will develop cavities and bad breath. All in all, be patient when it comes to your cats. Yeah, it takes patience, but we need patience for everything in life.

14.Have everything set-up before taking in the kitten

It’s important to have everything set up before you take the kitten into your house. For example, you should prepare these items in advance, such as cat food, cat litter, litter box, food bowl, water bowl, their bed, blanket, etc. You don’t want to bring a cat home being unprepared. That will just make the whole experience much more difficult for your and and for the cat.

15.Your Cat Needs to Be Dewormed

Just like dogs, cats also need to be dewormed. But some kittens had died when they are dewormed and especially when they are only a few months of age. So be careful. If you are not sure whether your kitten or cat should be dewormed, you can turn to a professional vet.

16.Your Cat Needs Vaccines

Cats also need vaccines. Vaccines are to protect them from diseases. Be careful when vaccinating a kitten. If your kittens or cats are just home, it’s unlikely for them to catch diseases. And it’s OKto vaccinate once a year. You can also ask your vet for more advice.

17.Spay/Neuter Your Cat if You Don’t Want Any More Babies

If you don't want any more babies, you should better spay or neuter your cat. For female cats, spaying is best done any time after eight weeks to before they turn six months of age. It is neutering time for male cats when they are over two months. There are many health benefits of spaying too. It can reduce the risk of getting a cancer, the risk of infections of the reproductive system. It also improve your cat’s overall behavior. At least your cat won’t poop wherever he/her wants, and he/her won’t easily get angry or fight with other cats.