Oct 18, 2016 | Cat Care & Health
Paying for Pet Emergencies: A Financial Plan for your Cat
Lack of financial planning unavoidably leaves cat owners with the tragic choice to choose not as much as perfect care or even euthanasia even when the condition is totally fixable. The cat owner may take on the credit card or a loan that they have no genuine approach for paying off, dragging them into financial ruin.
The truth of the matter is, great veterinary medical care is expensive, and this is even more genuine when that care is required on an emergency premise. What’s more, crises tend to happen when you least expect it. You may have already had a few big expenses that month and are not prepared for more.
Since you can’t foresee crises, you may one day be confronted with managing them when they happen. At the point when your cat is in pain, you need to have the capacity to concentrate on showing signs of improvement – in the ideal world this means letting the vet to treat your cat to the best of their capacity, without agonizing over the expense. So, we’re here to help you think about your options and put a plan in place so if the time comes you aren’t caught out in the cold.
Extra Cash
The perfect situation in crisis circumstances is having the extra cash to cover sudden costs without stress. If this is you, be grateful and keep putting money aside for a rainy day or emergency. You can stop reading now and go check out our other articles with cute pictures of cats. If this isn’t you… read on.
Pet insurance
Pet insurance is not about ending up as a winner financially, at last, no insurance policy is. It’s about true serenity and not making a choice about your cat’s well-being taking into account funds. Pet insurance is really the best type of financial risk administration if a surprising mishap, ailment, poisonous quality, or another crisis occurs for your cat.
You will have to go through the fine print, reviews, and get quotes so as to locate the best insurance for you. Consult pet-owning loved ones, and also your veterinarian. Get a decent policy that at any rate covers the unforeseen – mischances, diseases, and different crises. If you wish to have a policy that covers well-being care and elective methodology, that is even more a case-by-case choice and you truly need to read the policy completely and do the math.
Savings Account
A dedicated pet care bank account is an extraordinary thought. If you have some extra money, start putting aside a little bit each week or month to build your emergency kitty (see what I did there?). This is a great long term plan and it will require commitment from you, in the meantime you still need to consider what your plan is if something happened tomorrow (hopefully not!)
Family and Friends
In times of crisis, numerous individuals swing to loved ones for the cash to cover their pet’s vital medical costs. While this can be a feasible arrangement in a few circumstances, it can likewise prompt a straining of those connections when it comes time to pay them back. Think about your own relationships and if this would work for you.
Credit Cards
This is the thing that a great many people go after in times of pet crises. Their credit cards. At times they can really be life-savers, giving an automatic short-term advance to mitigate the sudden and prompt requirement for assets. Yet, do remember that they frequently accompany a powerful financing cost once your effortlessness period lapses and it’s showed that while the vast majority have each aim of paying their loan off each month, not very many do. What’s more, if you’re as already close to your limit, you might be confronted with your card being declined exactly when you and your cat need it most.
Conclusion
Whichever financial plan you pick, it’s critical you have something set up for those unforeseen costs. Ideally your cat will be sound and never encounter a genuine ailment or crisis however, in any case, the significant serenity in knowing you have a plan in case something happen is justified, despite all the trouble.
Have you had an emergency? How did you deal with it?
Meow for now… Kristian
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Oct 13, 2016 | Humor & Fun
8 Ways We Treat Our Pets Like Humans
So many people say that their pets are ‘one of the family’, and more often than not this is reflected in our behavior. Pet lovers tend to interact with their pets in many of the same ways that they interact with humans. This behavior is so common and comes so naturally to us that we may not even realize that we are engaging in it! So, to make things a little clearer, here is a list of 8 ways we treat our pets like humans.
1. Talking to them
We all talk to our pets, asking them if they want their dinner, requesting to know if they missed us when we come home from work, or just telling them how beautiful they are. Studies have shown that pets can understand their owners’ voices, either by picking up on their tone of voice or by grasping the meaning of a few isolated words. So, talking to our pets actually is a very good way of building and sustaining a communicative rapport with them: keep going!
2. Thinking of them as a friend
We do our pets favors, we miss them when they are not there. We think about their schedules when we are planning our own. Heck, some of our human friends may even have good cause to get jealous!
3. Having photos of them on our desks at work
Do you have a picture of your family on your desk at work, or on your wall at home? And what about your pets? Very often, pet lovers will carry photographs of their beloved animal companions on their phones, in lockets and in frames on their walls and desks: just as we do with our friends and family!
4. Celebrating their birthdays
Your pet may not realize that it is their birthday, but you are keen to celebrate anyway. Cook up a cake, get them some gourmet pet food and invite your friends and theirs round to party!
5. Dressing them up in clothes
From berets for pugs to jackets for cats, the world of pet clothes is an exciting and varied one. Dressing our pets up in cute little outfits is one of the key ways that we treat them like our kids.
6. Pampering them
Treating your pets to a nice grooming session, bath or haircut, or purchasing them some special treats, is the equivalent of giving your friend the gift of a pampering session in the local spa. We love to pamper our human friends – and we love to pamper our pets, too. And often, the emotional impulse behind this desire to pamper is the same: we want our loved ones to feel special.
7. Sharing endless photos of them on social media
You know that annoying couple that you always moan about that constantly posts photos of their dates and holidays on social media? Come on, admit it: you do the same with your pet.
8. Letting them cuddle up to us in our beds
OK, this behavior is often only reserved for certain humans in our life. But, when it comes to our pets, we love them coming into our beds during a lazy day off for a snooze!
Have I missed anything off the list?
Meow for now… Kristian
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Oct 11, 2016 | Behaviour & Training
What You Want to Know About Your Cat Licking You
I bet you think you own your cat, don’t you? Well, according to your cat, it is them that owns you! And, they demonstrate this by licking you.
Taking ownership, taking a bath.
When her kittens are born, a mother cat will lick them, and this is a way of marking them out as belonging to her. The same principle applies when your cat licks you: they are establishing a connection with you and claiming you as their own! Cats lick their kittens to stimulate their breathing, as well as to clean them. Washing is a caring, social activity in the feline world so when your cat gives you a bath with their tongue they are trying to do something nice for you! So make sure to thank them with a stroke (before heading off to wash at the faucet!).
Your cat’s way of stroking you.
When you stroke your cat, they may well want to return the favor. Cats tend to enjoy the slightly rough feel of their own and other cats’ tongues on their fur – though this can feel pretty ticklish on human skin! So, licking your skin is also your kitty’s way of petting and stroking you: they are taking what feels good to a cat and transferring it to you. Again, they are kind of treating you as an honorary cat at this moment.
Tasty salt.
Human skin can often taste salty to a cat, and you may notice that your kitty licks you most often when your skin is not slathered in moisturizing creams or aftershave (which taste pretty gross to a feline). So, another reason that your cat licks you could simply be that you taste good. In particular, if you have been sweating and have salt on your skin as a result, you may find that your cat is interested in licking you.
Should I be worried about my cat’s licking behavior?
As we can see from the above, your cat licking you is usually a very positive sign of their affection (and their design to own your soul). However, if your kitty is demonstrating excessive licking behavior then you may want to investigate the cause. If your cat has fleas or a skin infection, they might use their tongue to try and scratch itches on their skin. And, once they have developed compulsive licking habits they can transfer that onto you as well. One tell tale sign that your cat’s usual grooming routine has got out of hand is bald patches anywhere on their fur that are due to excessive licking. Make sure to treat your cat regularly for fleas, and to get any skin infections dealt with as soon as possible.
So, in short, why does my cat lick me?
Any number of reasons! When it is not caused by compulsive grooming behavior, a cat licking you is something affectionate and caring. If your cat starts licking you, then you can pat yourself on the head because you have truly made it in cat society. Or, it could simply be that your skin tastes good.
What other weird behaviours does your cat have?
Meow for now… Kristian
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Oct 6, 2016 | Cat Care & Health
Reasons Why You Should Never Declaw Your Cats
More and more people are de-clawing their cats, and this is a worrying trend. De-clawing is the process of removing the entirety of a cat’s claws, and common reasons for asking a veterinarian or other professional to perform the procedure include the notion that it will stop cats from scratching furniture, the idea that it makes cats less aggressive, and the argument that de-clawing makes cats more hygienic as it stops them from picking up harmful bacteria in their claws as they scrape and scratch in the dirt of the yard or in their litter tray.
But, de-clawing is very harmful for cats – and painful too! What is more, all of the above-cited reasons for getting a cat de-clawed are based on false evidence. So here, we give you the low down on why your cat needs claws and why de-clawing is bad.
De-clawing is just like trimming your nails, right?
Wrong! It is actually totally fine to trim a milimeter or two from the ends of your cat’s nails if they get too long (this can happen in elderly cats who lead very sedentary lives), however usually this is not needed. Cats maintain their nails naturally by scratching – to save your furniture just get them a scratching post! If they need a little encouragement to use the scratching post rather than the leg of your favorite vintage chair, then you can try rubbing a little cat nip on the post or hiding some inside!
Now, to come to de-clawing. Cats’ claws are a sensitive extension of their toes, so de-clawing a cat is very painful for them. It is the equivalent of cutting of a human finger at the first knuckle, rather than simply trimming your nails. As well as being in pain even after the de-clawing procedure, de-clawed cats will find it hard to walk as claws are used for balance. And, unlike trimming your nails, when a cat is de-clawed, their claws do not grow back. We are talking about an amputation, not a simple manicure.
De-clawing is not more hygienic.
De-clawed cats often find using the litter box painful. Just watch your kitty scratching away at their gravely litter in the sandbox and imagine what it must be like for them to do that when recovering from having all their claws removed (remember that it’s like having the tops of your fingers cut off) – ye-ow!
As a result, de-clawed cats are more likely to poop outside the litter box, leaving their overall environment much less hygienic. Cats also use their claws for grooming and for scratching itches, meaning that de-clawed cats find it much harder to take care of themselves properly. Imagine if you had nothing to scratch yourself with when you had a pesky itch – annoying huh?
De-clawing does not make cats more docile
This is another myth. Advocates of de-clawing often argue that the procedure makes cats less aggressive – a kind of ‘can’t scratch, won’t scratch’ mentality. In fact, it can make them more aggressive, and more vulnerable to attacks from other cats, too: an awful combination!
Firstly, without their claws, cats cannot defend themselves against attacks. If you have seen cats getting a little cranky at each other, you will know that often cats flash their claws or hiss at each other (without actually scratching or biting each other!) to warn each other off. Usually this does the job and no actual fight starts. De-clawed cats, however, cannot do this, and what is more, if they do wind up in a fight with another cat (for instance, if they come across a swaggering tom cat who has decided that your back yard would be a nice extension to his territory), they will be unable to warn the aggressor off in the first instance, and will be pretty powerless to defend themselves against attack leading to then sustaining some scratches and bites that could need veterinary attention. So, de-clawed cats are pretty vulnerable.
Now, on to aggression. Because they feel so vulnerable, de-clawed cats can actually become more aggressive. And can you blame them? So, studies have shown that cats that have been de-clawed bite both people and other animals much more frequently than cats that have not been de-clawed. So, the next time that you read online that de-clawing a cat makes it safer around your newborn, treat that article with suspicion!
So, as you can see, there are plentiful reasons why your cat needs claws and why de-clawing is bad. Unsurprisingly, de-clawing is illegal in several countries through the world, including in Great Britain, Australia, and Japan.
What to do if you inherit a de-clawed cat.
For the reasons described above, a cat that has been de-clawed can be harder to care for than a cat that has not been de-clawed. Sometimes, de-clawed cats can wind up in animal shelters as a result, and you may meet the cutest ever de-clawed kitty there and want to take him or her in! So, how should you ensure that they can live a happy life?
Firstly, make sure that they have soft litter in their tray. Look for a brand that is ultra hygienic but also soft and sandy or soil like so that your kitty does not find it painful to scrape around in their sandbox. Sometimes, de-clawed cats can find that shredded tissue paper is a good option for their sandbox instead of the more traditional stony litter.
Check in with your vet regularly to check that their paws are not at risk of infection, and also that they haven’t become inflamed through the cat bumping them on the floor as they walk or scraping in the sandbox. Check with your veterinarian, too, if you can get an analgesic cream or injection to numb any pain they may experience in their paws if you find that they are still siffering after the de-clawing procedure.
Groom them! You may need to help your kitty groom itself with a special cat brush.
Keep them indoors, away from predatory felines prowling around looking for a fight. And, when guests come to your home, make sure that they always treat your kitty with love and respect, to ensure that they don’t lash out.
What are your thoughts?
Meow for now… Kristian
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Oct 4, 2016 | Behaviour & Training
How to Socialize Your Kitten (It’s Not So Complicated)
Cats are often thought to be very independent creatures, and there is definitely a lot of truth in that. Unlike dogs, for instance, cats can groom themselves (and as we all know they do so all the time!). However, all cats can benefit from the society of both other cats and humans – and, indeed, if left alone for too long, cats can become anxious and withdrawn. That is why it is crucial to pet and play with your kittens at least every couple of hours during the daytime (it’s a hard life, we know) and to ensure that when you are on holiday adult cats have someone to look in on them at least every couple of days.
Cats have different personalities just like humans do, and some are more timid by nature whilst others are very sociable little creatures! However, it is inevitable that your kitty is going to need to socialize at some point in their lives. Guests may pop in to your home, you may already have existing cats that you want to introduce a new cat to, or you may live as part of a large shared household. So, reading our tips below on how to socialize a cat or kitten is a must!
Socializing cats with other cats
Slow and steady wins the race with this one. If you have a cat that needs to share a living space with other cats, you can introduce them slowly. Put the new cat in a room and designate it ‘their’ room: a place where they can feel safe and secure. Give both your kitties lots of love and attention and let them sniff and meow to each other across the door.
Feed them at the same time on their respective sides of the door frame, and, after a week or so of doing this, open the door and feed them together from the same feeding mat – but with different bowls of course. Monitor them closely the first few times to check that they get on ok together and respect each other’s space (no food stealing allowed!).
They will be playing together in no time!
Socializing cats with humans
Here, you can harness the fact that you can discuss things with your fellow humans beforehand! If you have a timid kitty who is finding it hard to socialize, you can inform your guests before they arrive that they need to approach the cat with care and gentleness. Stretching out a finger for a cat to sniff is a good way to build up to petting them, as is coming down to their level to stroke them and get introduced rather than looming over them.
Let’s face it, I’d be pretty scared if I had a giant looming over me trying to stroke my head too, no matter how friendly their intentions were!
In short, the rule of thumb here is for human guests to let the cat approach them rather than forcing themselves into the cat’s personal space. Enticing a cat over to be petted is especially easy if you have a catnip toy or treat to hand (see our last point below!).
First impressions count
The first few times that your cat meets other cats or humans will really set the tone for how they respond to social situations in the future. That is why it is important to be especially careful the first few times that your kitty finds him or her self in a social environment.
If you have just acquired a cat from a sanctuary or rescue home that has been socialized badly (and who, as a result may feel timid and vulnerable, and even aggressive in social situations), you will, similarly, need to act as if you are starting from square on!
If in doubt, harness the power of cat nip!
Thanks to its active ingredient nepetalactone, cat nip fills felines with warm fuzzy feelings of love and contentment. It is great for helping cats to relax in social situations. So, if you want your kitty to socialize well with another cat, for instance, just toss them a couple of cat nip toys to play with or plant some cat nip in your garden and watch them frolic happily in it together!
The same works for humans, too: so as well as bringing a bottle to your next dinner party, your house guests could always bring a cat nip toy or even some nepeta cataria essential oil (the distilled oil of cat nip, which contains plenty of nepetalactone) to run on their fingers before they meet your cat!
How have you socialized your cat?
Meow for now… Kristian
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