Are you taking care of your cat in the right way?

If you’re a new cat parent, let’s make it very clear that contrary to popular opinion, cats aren’t fully independent pets. From anti-tick for cats remedies to other pet products for them, they do require care and maintenance which more often than not is overlooked by cat parents. So, if you really want that purr-fect relationship with your little furry buddy then you have to understand what are the most common mistakes you end up making with cats and how to easily tackle them!

1. Don’t rush into buying a cat Let’s begin from the basics – buying a cat. Buying pets are generally known to be an impulsive decision that you make when you see those cute kitten eyes or a cat in need of a shelter else it won’t survive. And though your gesture in both these scenarios is genuine, don’t make the mistake of buying a cat in pulse. So, make sure that before you actually go through with buying a cat your arrangements for its stay, allergies, food, sleep, temperaments, and other requirements are in place. I don’t expect you to have a ‘what to expect when you’re expecting’ book ready with your research, but touch on the basics of how cats behave, what do they eat, what are their maintenance costs, what breed suits the weather you stay in, etc. One of the best ways to ensure that you are making the right decision for your cat you can browse through “pet accessories shops near me” on the web and then contact the shopkeepers to find out about pet breeders or rescue pets.
2. Feeding your furry friend  Now that your kitten is home, the two things any cat needs to survive are food and space. You would be surprised to find out that as per the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, over 60% of American cats are overweight due to lack of attention by owners on the dietary needs of their cats. So make sure you aren’t following the age-old mantra of leaving a bowl of food outside for your cat assuming that it can understand its own dietary needs. After a few vet visits, you can rightly estimate how much food your cat needs in one go and how often does it need to be fed in a day. Its also important to ensure you are feeding them the right kind of cat food. First of all let me say this loud and clear – cats cannot eat dog food! Cats should not eat dog food! Cats will not eat dog food! Because of the less variety and less awareness about cat food, a lot of my fellow cat parents end up buying fish-flavoured dog food. So lets start with making the effort to find pet products online in Lucknow (or whichever city you’re living in). And even when you do find a pet product online in your city with cat food make sure that it has a lot of protein and meat. You also have the option of going for homemade cat food, but even in that case be sure to add as much mineral-rich and vitamin-rich food and not to add too many fillers like grains. 
3. Make sure your cat stays hydrated  In addition to their food requirements, you must make sure that your cats get fresh water at least twice a day. Being furry makes them absorb much more heat than they need, so if you don’t help keep their bodies hydrated they can become moody, feverish, or even run away! Also it seems very rational to keep a cat’s food bowl and water bowl side by side, but its not! Cats do spend a lot of time next to their food bowls and so cat parents feel like keeping the water bowl next to it would help make them drink more water. But actually the water might collect a lot of dust and fur from the cat and make the water dirty. There are also these ceramic water fountains on many stores for pet products online that I find perfect for providing fresh water for cats without letting dust and fur get into it.
4. Grooming a cat’s fur is not an easy feat. Let’s move on to grooming now. If your cat does not spit out furrballs from time to time I suggest asking the vet what’s wrong with it. Because cats often self-clean and ingest their own loose fur (lose fur is the top-most layer of their fur which constitutes all the dead skin to be shed off). So despite any kind of grooming efforts from your side, your cat will ingest its fur and spit out fur balls. The real question is how much is it ingesting? If you don’t regularly brush and comb your cat then chances are that your cat is consuming all of its lose fur. So whether it has long fur or short fur, a quick combing session once in 2 days will definitely help keep away skin infections, bumps, lumps, and sore spots. And after your daily brushing sessions you can apply some flea and tick remover creams or powders to keep your cat away from infections. 
5. Train your cat to use scratching stations Another rule that you must add to enhance your cat’s grooming is training it to stick to one particular scratching post. Cats really scratch a lot of furniture because they need to remove the outer sheath of their claws. This scratching habit can really ruin your furniture, but cat parents often assume that this is just what happens with cats. But there is a solution to this, start setting up scratching stations. Whenever your cat starts scratching around take them to the scratching station and make sure there are carboard scratchers, similar pieces so that the cat has something to scratch. A pro-tip for this would be to add some cat-nip to these scratching stations to get the cats come to it. And for the good furniture that you don’t want them to scratch on you can apply some dog repellant spray because dog repellant sprays work well for naturally keeping dogs and cats away from certain spots and furniture in your home.

Just try to buy all kinds of basic products like cat and dog repellant sprays, flea and tick removers, and anything else your cat might need from trustable stores of pet products online. But as overwhelming as all this may sound, plan it out well and I am sure your cat will become your best friend. But keep in mind that more often than not its not you who owns your cat but the other way around!