The cat is not a small dog, and this is all the more true for his education. If the dog is a "hierarchical" animal with a dominant and dominated, the cat is a territorial animal. This notion of territory is fundamental to establish a harmonious relationship between you and your cat ..
Your home, apartment or garden, is the territory your cat catches. It will delimit a rest area (basket, cushion, blanket or quilt for sleeping), a feeding area (access to food bowl and water), an elimination area (litter box, garden For its needs) and a playground (games and hunting).
By organizing your space at best, you will allow your cat to flourish in its territory, regardless of the size of your home.
- Learning of cleanliness:
The vast majority of adopted cats and kittens are already clean when they arrive at their master's home. Provision must be made for your cat to have a litter box (even if the cat has access to the outside), in a quiet place (avoiding passing or noisy places) with perfume-free pellets and changed very regularly . If you choose a closed litter, make sure your cat has understood how to get through the door, and that he is not afraid of it. If you have more than one cats, it is advisable to install as many litteras as cats, plus one (eg if you have three cats, plan four litter boxes).
Urinary or faecal dirt may result from a too contaminated tank, a change in the litter mark or certain diseases (diarrhea, cystitis ...) which require a veterinary consultation. Urinary marking (small spots of urine emitted vertically from walls or objects) occurs at puberty of the kittens (about 5-6 months and disappears most often after sterilization) but also during conflicts of territory with a congener (Which can be foreign to the house but which comes to mark its territory under your windows) and during stress (moving, modification of the composition of the family ...) There are available spray and diffusers that diminish the urine marking and provide A state of well being to your cat. Do not hesitate to ask for advice from your veterinarian, he is the most able to detect a pathology or a behavioral disorder at the origin of these inconveniences, and to propose a suitable solution.
- Access to food:
Cats like to make several small meals during the day. If your cat is greedy, do not give him his full ration in the morning, he would eat everything very quickly and then (sometimes in a very insistent and sonorous way) to claim to have more, which can be at the origin of overweight then d 'obesity. Split the food ration, do not hesitate to put it in different places (more or less easy to access to get your cat to flush the bowl as he could do with prey). There are also games (mostly in the form of a ball) which allow a fractional distribution of the ration and which force the cat to make an effort to get his croquettes.
The choice of a dry food (croquettes) or wet (household ration, box), will depend on the taste of your cat and you. Be aware that not all industrial foods are equal in terms of their composition, take time to read the labels. Cats drink little, and some kibbles associated with a weak drink can cause more or less severe urinary disorders (from cystitis to bladder stones). You can, however, stimulate your cat's catch with a water fountain that keeps the water flowing, which attracts cats.
Diet has a direct impact on your cat's health, weight gain and coat quality. Do not hesitate to seek advice from your veterinarian who will be able to choose the best meal for your cat according to age, lifestyle and medical history.
- Rest and games:
Your cat spends many hours sleeping. He chooses several places in the house he frequents in turn. Your cat prefers a quiet and comfortable place (sofa, bed quilt, on the knees) but also likes the observation posts (furniture top, window sill, cat tree). Sometimes the rest areas are marked with vertical scratches, think of installing a griffoire (wooden log, piece of carpet, rope claw) to protect your furniture and your tapestry.
During his waking hours, you find that your cat is very gambler. This behavior is directly related to the learning of the hunt and you can find scenes of predation on these toys. Do not hesitate to stimulate him by multiplying the opportunities of games with him, you reinforce your link and your complicity. Also put at your disposal balls or other hanging toys so that it can have fun alone in your absence. This is even more important for cats that do not have access to the outside. Beware, however, of small objects, pieces of string or wool that your cat could swallow: there is a risk of major intestinal obstruction.
- Fighting scratches and bites
Some cats do not exhibit inhibition of bite or scratches during prolonged contact (caresses) or during games. Sometimes they even develop predatory behavior on the feet, legs and hands of their owner: a cat on the look-out under a piece of furniture that pops up and sticks its claws in the ankle of his master when he comes home from work. These behaviors appear in kittens who have been separated too early from their mothers, orphans, "wild" kittens who are very little socialized to humans, and in indoor cats whose life is not very stimulating (few toys, To limited food).
To prevent such behaviors, do not adopt kittens less than two months old and make sure that the mother has been present for the education of her kitten. On the other hand, plan a living environment rich in games and hiding places, and access to food. It is also necessary to try to detect the first signs of an attack: when the cat taps the tail, to the skin that shakes or lowers the ears during the caresses, it is necessary to stop the caress before the scratches or the bite. Similarly, when the cat is on the lookout under a piece of furniture in a predatory position, throw a ball to divert the predation of your feet towards that ball. Do not hesitate to talk to your veterinarian, certain diseases are transmissible to the man through the claws or the teeth of your cat (disease of the claws of the cat ...), and the children are frequent victims of its Aggression (especially in the face).
- The Reprimand
You see your cat ready to do something stupid (jump on the table to eat dinner fish, make claws on your curtains ... etc ...), how to react? A cat does not punish but you can divert its attention by throwing an object in its direction (small ball with bell for example), you can interrupt an unwanted sequence (scratching in your flower pot for its needs) by sprinkling it With a water gun, or you can grab it by the skin of the neck (as his mom would do) and tell him firmly NO. Under no circumstances should violence be used that creates an atmosphere of anxiety that is not conducive to harmonious coexistence.
