A cat can be the perfect pet choice for lots of people. Mainly because they do not require the same amount of care and attention as dogs or other small animals. Cats can be quite independent, and once they are litter trained, you do not have to walk them or let them outside.  

Cats can even feed and water themselves using the bulk feeders on the market. However, cats are not self-sustaining, and they do require care. Here, you will find the basics of caring for your new cat.

Never let your cat outside is the number one life saving rule. Many people fear that keeping a cat indoors may be cruel, but this is not true. In most cases inside pets will live longer and have better overall health then outside ones.

Cats who are allowed outside all the time or who go back and forth indoors and out are at risk of disease, from parasites and from other animals. Outside cats can be injured by automobiles, dogs and in Florida snakes can be a problem as well. There are many cat health problems lurking outside, for your little friend, and he is much safer inside.

How to feed a new cat

Second, choose the right cat food for your animals. Most cats will enjoy the same meals day in and day out. Digestive system issues can develop from too much variety in their diet.

Make sure that your cat is healthy. Just because cats are more independent does not mean that they do not need the same health care as another type of pet.  Make sure kitty goes for regular veterinarian visits to keep him free of parasites and illness.

Consider getting your cat spayed or neutered. There is a huge amount of unwanted, stray or feral cats in the country. Getting your cat neutered can help reduce the population of stray felines.

Yes cats like to clean themselves but make plans for additional grooming from you. Since cats do lick their own fur, hairballs can be a problem. Brushing your new cat on a regular basis can eliminate issues with hair balls. This is more important for pets with long hair.

After your new cat has been litter trained it will be your responsibility to assure the box remains clean. This is for the obvious reason that you want your home to be a clean and healthy environment. In addition, cats are pretty meticulous about their own cleanliness. They may shy away from using a dirty litter box.

New cat play time

Finally, the most important rule when it comes to cat care has to do with playtime and attention. Just because your cat wants his time alone sometimes does not mean that he will not want your attention. In fact felines in most cases love being close to their human owners.

Make sure that you set aside time each day to pet your cat, to scratch his ears or chin, and to interact with him. Look for cat toys that require your interaction like laser pointers, or remote controlled mice. This quality time spent together is beneficial to your cat and to you.

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If you are worried that something is seriously going wrong with your pets heart then there are a few things that you can check before rushing off to the local animal hospital.

Although some of the early stages of heart failure in cats and dogs have no visible signs, heart failure can be diagnosed through an evaluation by a vet.

Things that occur with both cats and dogs with mild to moderate heart failure can sometimes experience heart enlargement, coughing, lethargy and difficulty breathing.

If some really severe heart failure is going on you can usually tell by the animal having difficulty breathing (even when at rest), fainting, not wanting to exercise, loss of appetite and weight loss. Do check to see also if your pet is drooling more than it usually does as this can be a sure sign that something could be wrong with its heart.

If some of these symptoms to exist then it is best to go directly to your local animal surgery and have your vet take a look at your pet.

There are ways that your vet may check to see if your pet has heart problems are EKG, chest x-rays, blood testing, or a heart ultrasound. The ultrasound is going to be the one to be of the most use to you as it gives your vet the ability to see and measure the extent of the heart disease.

If the worst comes to the worst and there is something wrong with your pet then it is not to worry as there are many vets now that are experts in pets cardiology enabling them to even a pacemaker into your pet.

If you are really thinking that your pet could be suffering from one or some of these symptoms then it is best to at least get it checked to rule out a heart conditon. If left untreated it can result in worse problems or even death of a pet which as everyone who has gone through that knows it is not easy to have a pet pass away at all.

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Do you really know how to look after your pet, of course you do but what if it falls ill. How could you actually help it if it falls ill or breaks a limb? Sometimes putting the poor pet down could be totally unnecessary simply because a vet could actually save its life and add years to its life. As well as this there are many things now available to pets that twenty years ago would have been thought of as being impossible. Newer ways to operate on them have come into use ranging from the simple limb repair to the more skilled pets cardiology which believe it or not can even include fitting a pacemaker into your cat or dog which simply put just goes to show how far technology has come.

An animal surgery could help your pet on any of the 365 days of the year, as many have emergency clinics that you can pop into whenever you need to as well as, some having numbers that you can ring to talk to a specialist whenever you think something may be wrong with your pet, and these numbers will actually have a person who understands veterinary and can help as opposed to someone who has no idea what is wrong with your pet and is simply on the line to assure you that everything is ok.

If, sadly your pet has to be put down then you do not have to simply get up and leave, not at all. They understand that a pet is actually a member of the family so will allow you to stay on and say goodbye to your pet and help to arrange the right disposal for you.

There are some as well that offer blood transfusion so when something serious like a road traffic accident happens your pet will be able to gain back any lost blood.

So there are many ways that an animal hospital can actually benefit your pet so it is worth considering joining one now so if something bad does happen you have someone there to help.

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