Cats are fun, loving, adorable, and clean, and their maintenance is relatively low. They are highly autonomous as they don’t require companionship, walking, and formal training. They can perfectly fit into busy, contemporary lifestyles more seamlessly than their canine counterparts.
Cat owners don’t have to overcome the process of house-training a new kitten since kittens understand how to use litter boxes quite well. Also, cats can adapt well to smaller flats or houses, as they require minimal space.
However, cat owners usually make certain mistakes. Here are the seven mistakes cat owners make.
Adopting When They Are Too Young
Before adopting a kitten, it is vital to understand its development timeline. Kittens rely wholly on their mothers for all their nutrition during the first month. They also depend on their mothers for warmth and safety.
Separation from their mothers when they are too young makes them vulnerable to health complications. They also tend to portray inappropriate behaviors and find it hard to interact with other cats and humans.
Kittens are supposed to stay with their mothers until they attain sexual maturity or until the mother conceives again. At this age, they have a well-boosted immune system, can perfectly go to the bathroom in the right place, and can play independently.
Not Vaccinating or De-Worming a Cat
Cats, like other domestic animals, require maximum veterinary attention. The common mistake cat owners make is assuming that cats are not susceptible to diseases, as they are always indoors. Primary vaccination is crucial to prevent Panleukopenia (also referred to as Feline Infectious Enteritis), Cat Flu (Feline Calicivirus and Feline Herpesvirus), and Feline Leukaemia (FeLV).
If your cat has access to the outside, you can arrange with your vet and identify a vaccine schedule that suits your cat’s attributes and lifestyle.
Ensure you adhere to external deworming, especially against fleas and ticks, and internal deworming (intestinal worms) every three months. Additionally, use anti-flea products, especially during the summer.
Not Spaying or Neutering Them
Most cat owners neglect to spay or neuter their cats. Spaying or neutering is vital to hinder problems such as aggression in male cats or “screaming” in female cats when they are in heat.
Spaying suppresses female cats’ risk of unwanted kittens, including their susceptibility to health issues such as cancerous tumors or infections.
Not Paying Attention to Cat’s Education
Training a cat can be tedious. Cats do not exhibit conspicuous expressions to convey their message. The only thing cats do is sit, gaze or twitch their tails. Cats are not your usual pets, where you only need to issue clear, coherent, and seamless orders for things to get done. With cats, it is imperative to gain their complete trust.
Therefore, their training requires immense patience and consistent practice to surpass their willful nature. Due to such complications, most cat owners tend to neglect cats’ education. However, it is vital to understand that cats reciprocate positively to friendly reinforcement. Therefore, arrange the training wisely and offer a reward that, together with the result of the task itself, is highly beneficial to the cat.
Doing Improper Litter Box Maintenance
Forgetting to clean the litter boxes is a big mistake most cat owners commit. Always ensure the litter box is clean and do not use scented litter in order to prevent any irritation of the sensitive area.
You may consider using an extra large litter box to allow the cat to eliminate waste without straining and feeling distressed. Ensure to replace the litter frequently, as this helps to reduce medical problems and infections.
Giving Them Food That Doesn’t Meet Nutritional Needs
Most cat owners fail to feed their cats with food that meets their nutritional needs. For a healthy cat, feed them food rich in protein and with minimal amounts of grain fillers such as corn.
Consider pet foods that carry an AAFCO-approved nutritional guarantee. Consult your vet to get advice on recommended foods for your cat. However, select a budget-friendly option but one that will meet your cat’s needs. Food rich in nutrients will keep you from frequent visits to the vet.
Declawing Them
The primary reason cat owners declaw their cats is to prevent them from destroying their furniture and flooring. This is a big mistake. Cat’s claws are usually permanently affixed to a cat’s knuckle. Therefore, the procedure entails surgically amputating all or part of the third bone from a cat’s paw.
Although some veterinarians view this surgery as a regular art of cat ownership, the procedure is cruel and not vital. Instead of declawing, cat owners can consider non-surgical alternatives. Therefore, avoid declawing unless it is medically beneficial.
Conclusion
Although cats are easy to live with and care for, living with them is a significant decision, which still needs a great deal of time, effort, and money.
Understanding common mistakes in a cat’s upbringing is critical to halt such undesirable behaviors.