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Here are some tips based on my own experience or picked up from various
sources.
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Is your older cat
having trouble getting up on the couch, bed, or other favorite sleeping spot?
You have a few options. |
Homemade: Take a box (or multiple boxes of different
heights) at a good height for your cat to be able to handle and for the height
of the furniture and cover it/them with an old towel. Just tuck the edges of
the towel under, and you've got a simple step. (The towel helps give the kitty
a little traction, since cardboard boxes can be slippery.)
Or store-bought:
Many pet stores have carpeted steps, or you can try what I got for my elderly
cat—Puppy Stairs (I
actually have the ramp version). It makes it much easier for arthritic or weak
pets to get up and down from tall furniture. One caveat with the ramp: it
might be a bit steep for pets with very weak legs like my kitty, but I found a
small mat meant for putting in the bottom of the tub when bathing a pet. I put
this on top of the ramp, and it holds itself in place by friction between the
mat and the fleecy covering on the ramp (which, by the way, is removable and
washable).
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About.com has a neat compilation of
how-to tips for
cat owners, including topics like "How to clean your cat's ears" and "How
to train your cat to a leash." |
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Looking for gift ideas
for your cat? The
American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) has come up with its
list of the
top pet gifts.
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Has your house been
invaded by ants? One easy (and cheap) tip is to put your cat food bowls in a
pie pan that contains a bit of water with liquid soap (like dishwashing
liquid) in it. The idea is to create a moat around the food bowls that ants
can't cross. The soap seems to deter ants much better than plain water.
Another trick is to put a line of Vaseline around the edge of the bowl; ants
can't cross that. |
I haven't tried these products, but they look like they would do the same
thing (but be a bit more attractive than the pie pan technique!):
The BugOut Small Feeding System
Dura-Bowl (the
food bowl is elevated over the water bowl; also said to be good for older pets)
There's also
something called the Antser
that's supposed to work well.
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Does your cat have what looks like dandruff? It could be everyday dry
skin, or it could be related to some other condition. Have it checked out the
next time you see your vet, but in the meantime, you can use a flea comb to
help get rid of the dandruff. A normal cat brush may or may not do the job,
but the tightly spaced tines of the flea comb seem to work much better. |
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How healthy is your city for the pets who live in it? The Purina Pet
Institute identified the
Top 50 Pet
Healthiest Cities that exemplify superior care, services, and laws for
pets’ health and well-being. They analyzed 30 different criteria ranging from
veterinarian-to-pet ratios to incidence of obesity to rabies laws. |
Number 1 was Denver. San Jose didn't show until number 38 on this list,
despite getting generally good reviews. In fact, San Jose tied with New York
City for highest percentage of cats neutered (86 percent)! We also scored better
on smoking than many other cities—second-hand smoke is a danger to pets like it
is to people. Also, San Jose residents spend about $241.00 annually, per
household, on pet related purchases such as pet food, supplies, and veterinary
care. (No mention of pet sitters!) This is second only to the Nassau-Suffolk,
New York, area.
But as Purina says, the best predictor of your pet's health is you. Read these
tips for keeping
your animal friend healthy.
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The American Animal Hospital Association's Healthy Pet Web site has a
Frequently Asked
Questions page for cats that covers questions on behavior, health, diet
and weight, elimination issues, geriatric cats, and other important topics.
Sample questions include "Why does my cat sleep so much?" and "Why does my cat
have a fat lip?" |
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Pilling a cat is definitely an adventure. Some people have luck using
their fingers (they must have more compliant kitties than I do), but others
like me need a little help.
PETsMART has some tips on how to do it the manual way (literally).
 But
if you still need help, consider a piller, available from pet stores and online. This is the kind of piller I used
for my cat's twice-daily dose of thyroid medicine. A similar piller is
available from PetCareRx.com and other online sources.
If you need to cut pills for partial dosages, you might try a tool used a
lot by bakers and cooks—a bench knife (or less cryptically called a chopper). Great for
chopping vegetables and cleaning your surface after kneading dough, it's also
an efficient tool for cutting pills. One example is the
Hoffritz Stainless Steel Scraper/Chopper.
And if you need a few laughs after trying (and trying) to get a pill down
Kitty's throat, read
this.
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| Does your cat gobble his dry food in record time then proceed to throw it
all back up? Here's a tip that might help—serve the kibble in a single
layer in a pie pan. Having the pieces of food spread out like this means he
can't get as much in his mouth at once and thus has to slow down. |
| Your cat may need a little help keeping
warm as he gets older. Try the Snuggle Safe microwavable heating disk. You warm the disk in the microwave, put it in or under your cat's bedding, and it gives off warmth all
night. |
  Snuggle Safe Heat Pad
| If you've ever worried about cats transmitting diseases to humans, consult
the Healthy Pets
Healthy People website from the Centers for Disease Control. As the CDC
says, people are not generally likely to contract disease from pet cats,
although some people, such as those with lowered immune systems, may be more
at risk. Even toxoplasmosis, the disease thought for years to be a big threat
to pregnant women with indoor, litter box-using cats, is more likely
contracted from gardening than from cats. This site has safety tips and
information about a number of cat-related diseases. |
| Want to know how to cat-proof your house? According to
PetPlace.com, you start by assuming you have a two-year-old child in the
house. |
| Consumer Reports recently rated several online pet supply
sources. Stay At Home Cats is a PETsMART.com affiliate, and it's good to see
that it tied for
top ratings in the survey. |
| If you have a senior cat, especially one with even the beginning
stages of kidney disease, you want to make sure that he or she drinks plenty of
water. One way to encourage this is to use a "pet fountain." I use the Petmate Fresh Flow Fountain.   Fresh Flow Fountain by Petmate
An acquaintance was able to get easy instructions
from the company on how to clean the pump. They sent her that help sheet
rather than sell her a new pump. I like that kind of customer service. I tried
the instructions myself, and they worked great. You should clean the pump
every three or four weeks, but it's simple to do.
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| Senior cats also may be more sensitive to the cold, and they tend to like
to sleep in warm places anyway. Cats with arthritis may be especially
appreciative of a pad to sleep on that's heated in some way. I didn't want to
worry about cords and wires, so I bought a
Thermal Cat Cushion that has a core that
reflects your cat's own body heat back to her. |
 Self Warming Thermal Cat Cushion Another advantage is that it provides a place for your cat to sleep that's
all her own (and maybe it'll keep some of the cat hair off the sofa!) The
cushion is machine-washable.
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