EVERYDAY CAT CARE

Cats don’t navigate naturally to vegetables and fruits. They do like to chew on grass and other plants, however. Why is not fully understood. International Cat Care (icatcare.org) posits that grass might help move hairballs and food through the digestive tract—either up or down, since eating grass sometimes results in vomiting. Grass may also provide essential trace nutrients—kind of like a vitamin/mineral supplement.

While you sometimes (but not often!) may want to bathe your cat, don’t put any water or suds on her face. Cats really do not like that and will have a hard time forgiving you. Just bathe her from the neck down, working towards the tail in the direction of her hair growth. And keep the shampoo dilute—one part shampoo to five parts water, says the ASPCA.

You’ll often see dogs greying around the muzzle and eyes as they age, but even though cats tend to live significantly longer than dogs, that same phenomenon doesn’t tend to occur. It’s not that cat hair can’t turn grey. It can. But it doesn’t occur as frequently, or at the same rate.

You know to cover and store an open can of cat food in the refrigerator, but how long can you safely keep it there before it should be thrown out? Three to seven days. After that, you can’t be sure there hasn’t been so much nutrient degradation that the cat isn’t getting all the vitamins and minerals the food originally contained. Also, opened canned food that sticks around too long can provide the perfect environment for the growth of harmful bacteria.

Since March of last year, more and more cats have been diagnosed with bird flu, an often deadly viral disease. Cats in particular appear susceptible to avian influenza. The illness has been diagnosed in indoor cats, barn cats, and large cats like tigers, mountain lions, and lynx, both in zoos and in the wild.

The general rule for how long it’s okay to leave a cat alone at home is 24 hours. Many cats even seem to do fine alone for an entire weekend. When their people come back in the house, they may be greeted with nothing more than a nonchalant yawn, if that much.

Just as your own skin might require moisturizer during the cold months, so might your cat’s. It’s the dry heat in people’s homes that does it. Inside environments tend to have much less moisture (lower humidity) to keep skin well hydrated when the heat is cranked up.

You see an ad for Siberian forest kittens that promises they are hypoallergenic. You then make a mental note to yourself about your next cat, since the one you have makes your eyes water and your throat scratchy. But that breed can bring out your allergy, too. What gives?

We not infrequently hear from our clients that they chose their cat’s food based on the recommendation of someone who works at the pet shop. Not to diminish the good work of store staff in any way, but would you build a nutritious diet for yourself based on the advice of someone who works at the supermarket?

You may hear some people refer to cat cavities. But cats don’t get cavities. Their teeth don’t touch each other in a way that lets cavity-causing bacteria collect between them, and they don’t have little pits and fissures in their teeth, like people do, where cavities form. The pH of their saliva also stops cavity formation.

Is your cat happy? Bored? Something else? Here are a few ways to tell.

If your cat occasionally gets into your dog’s food, it’s no big deal. But cats have unique nutrition requirements that dog food simply cannot cover. In fact, it would be much easier for a dog to get by on cat food than vice-versa.