When I was nothing more than a child, I can remember sharing our homes and lives with what my grandmother called her feline friends. In those days, my interactions with our kitties was simple and their day-to-day healthcare happened automatically courtesy of mom and dad. I didn’t realize what went into having a cat in the house and how much care was required when you’re responsible for a pet. The food, litter, cleanup, healthcare and everything else was transparent, but that’s not always the reality of life with a pet.
When I jump forward to today, I think I finally am beginning to understand all of the things my parents did behind the scenes to make kitty-life seem fun an easy. I’ve also realized that some 50-years later, technology has caught up with kitty care, and there are resources and technology that make it much easier to keep your kitties safe, healthy and happy. So lets break a few of them down.
Feeding: There are many resources available on-line for you to choose your dry food and wet food, and while I think there are many good choices, ultimately your kitty will decide what he or she likes AND more importantly, what will keep your kitty healthy. As the owner of a “senior kitizen,” I can tell you that what food we chose for her 10-years ago, is not the food we choose now. There are digestive considerations with food, there are foods designed for allergies, there are foods geared toward kittens and food designed for senior kitties as well. We ultimately landed on several brands that were grain-free to deal with allergies and we blended in some hair-ball-control dry food to help with an issue our kitty had. In the end we recommend you fine-tune your food and buy small sample packs (your vet may provide these) and try different brands, blends and ingredients. We’d also recommend trying different flavors because like our kitty, yours will likely get bored with just one flavor.
To deliver our kibbles, we use a timer-controlled feeder that allows you to program the time of day the kibble will drop and exactly how much kibble will drop. This helps with portion control and helps ensure your kitty isn’t eating too much or gaining too much weight. We deliver wet food manually once a day and use this method to also deliver medicine or additives like digestive enzymes.
Grooming: For grooming, we have consistently found that most kitties are very good at grooming on their own, but we do think fur can become a problem. We currently have one cat, and we find fur everywhere. We also have a kitty that has hair-ball issues, so hair-control is important. We’ve tried a lot of brushes and finally landed on the SleekEZ grooming tool.
https://www.sleekez.com/products/2-5-cat-shed-groom-stick?variant=12833242972248
The SleekEZ is small enough that our kitty doesn’t see it as a threat and after using it on her for a few days, she now actually seeks it out every night. No more fur all over the place, and more importantly, fewer hear-balls to deal with.
Healthcare: Quite simply you need to pay attention to your kitty’s healthcare as you would any family member ( learn more today ). Yearly checkups can go a long way toward preventing future issues, and establishing a relationship with your vet can also help your vet get to know your kitty’s habits and tendencies. Our vet knows our kitty by name and they are always on the lookout for vaccine and feeding improvements we can make.
I know you may be concerned about vetrinary costs, and while we have looked into pet health insurance, we ultimately decided to use online accounting software for nonprofits to help better track our spending on food, and healthcare. This allows us to track our expenses and make better use of the money we do spend on kitty-care.
Summary: Your feline friends are not just pets, but also your family members. Caring for a kitty involves food, water, healthcare and grooming and that responsibility is yours. Taking care of your kitty will ensure your family member is around for years to come.
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