Cat Facts & Tips

[Daniel E.]

My cats' new favorite toy is a catnip-filled banana:

Amazon product

They also like the brand sold individually at Walmart.

 

[Daniel E.]

Diarrhea is often caused by digestive upset or eating something that they should not eat. (cat drinking milk)

• Internal parasites
• Feline leukemia and FIV (cats only)
• Medication
• Stress
• Food intolerance
• Imbalance in good vs bad bacteria
• Organic disease (liver, kidney)
• Hormone disturbances (Diabetes, thyroid disease)
• Infection (parvo, salmonella)
• Lymphoma
• Other

Source: Michelle Brownstein, DVM

 

[Daniel E.]

Cat Diarrhea: 5 Treatment Options You Should Try

An immediate call to the veterinarian might be in order when your cat has diarrhea, but sometimes you might want to try some home treatment first. Here’s how to respond when your cat develops diarrhea.

www.petmd.com

Fiber​

Some types of cat diarrhea get better with a low-fiber (highly digestible) diet. If your cat doesn’t have diarrhea all that frequently but when he does he produces a lot of stool, a low-fiber diet could be worth a try. Look for foods that are advertised as being highly digestible or good for cats with “sensitive stomachs.” These products should have a crude fiber level of around 3 percent listed on their guaranteed analyses.

To confuse matters, other types of cat diarrhea tend to respond to fiber supplementation—particularly conditions that make cats “go” frequently but produce only a small amount of feces at any one time. Unflavored psyllium (e.g., Metamucil) and canned pumpkin are two easily available fiber supplements. No hard and fast rules for how to dose psyllium or pumpkin in cats exist, but starting with 1-2 teaspoons of either mixed into your cat’s food over the course of the day is a reasonable place to start.

 

[Daniel E.]

9 Ways to Keep Your Cat Entertained When You're Not at Home - PetPlace

Want to keep your cat content and out of trouble when you're not home? Here are 9 great ways to keep your cat entertained when they're alone.

www.petplace.com

Keep the Windows Accessible​

Even though your cat is inside, they can still enjoy the sights and sounds of the great outdoors.

Draw back your curtains or raise your blinds, at least on one window, before you leave the house to keep that window accessible. It’s also a good idea to place a cat tower or perch by the window to give your cat a comfortable seat to watch the birds and other wildlife.

You can even take it a step further and install a bird feeder outside the window to give your cat guaranteed entertainment while you’re away.

 

[Daniel E.]

What is Normal? | The Cat Community

Noticing subtle changes in your cat’s normal routines may alert you to an issue that you can proactively address with your veterinarian.

catfriendly.com

 

[Daniel E.]

Thirsty cat - is it just hot or is something up? - Vetwest Veterinary Clinics

As the weather starts to warm up a cat’s water requirements naturally increase. However, cats are very adept at masking signs of illness and often it is only very subtle changes in their behaviour (eg. increased drinking) that are early indicators of serious diseases. This can make it quite...

www.vetwest.com.au

Wet or canned food contains about 80% water where as dry food contains about 10%. A 4kg [8.8 pound] cat solely eating canned food may only need to drink about 30ml [1 oz] of water per day where as the same cat eating only dry food would need to drink more than 200ml [6.8 oz] of water per day.

 

[Daniel E.]

Self-cleaning litter boxes may be too small:

The Best Automatic Cat Litter Box (But We Don’t Recommend It)

Self-cleaning litter boxes are expensive and more work than they're worth. The Litter-Robot III Open Air is the least bad, but we don't recommend one.

www.nytimes.com