Archive for July, 2010

Most Effective Cat Training Techniques

It can be quite difficult to communicate with our fury friends since there is a language barrier. But there is a great deal of effective cat training techniques that can be utilized to help get your point across. While our beloved kitties may pick up on some words we say to them, it is still tough getting them to understand what we want from them.

Since cats typically learn by experience, it is often when they experience something bad that they stop doing something.  We love our kitties and certainly would not want for this to be the only way they learned to stop doing things that may harm them. That being said, we can be proactive and teach them beforehand so that they can bypass as many bad experiences as possible.

It has often been thought that cats simply are not trainable and that they are too independent to take direction from their owners. Well, this is definitely not the case and here are a few cat training techniques that you can try out on your cat:

 

Do not yell or shout at your kitty when you disapprove of his behavior. This is ineffective as he is not able to understand why you are so upset. Instead, try to give as less attention to his bad behavior as possible.
Provide a scratching post to accommodate your cats' innate need to scratch. This will deter him from scratching your furniture.
Ensure that his litter box is clean and totally change out the litter at least once a week. This will prevent your cat from peeing on your carpet or bed. Cats are very particular about their litter box and it will need to be cleaned frequently to avoid this problem.
Purchase cool toys for your cat to play with so he does not get bored. Bored cats are more likely to get into mischief and can sometimes exhibit bad behavior to seek your attention.
Reward your kitty for his good behavior. Give him treats and praise him when he is behaving correctly. This will allow him to associate the treats and praise with the good behavior he is exhibiting.

There are also other methods available to aid in successfully training your kitty. By investing a little time and commitment you will be able to have your cat trained in no time.

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About the Author:
Did you find those cat training techniques useful to you? You can learn a lot more about these training techniques and other cat behavior here .
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Immature dogs, usually a year old often chew things around them. At the tender age of six months, you need to start teaching your puppy for not tearing things left open in the house. You need to make sure that your dog does not inculcate this behavior.

 

Dog chewing can carry on well after the completion of first year due to numerous causes such as boredom and scarcity of exercise. Dogs having adequate sleep do not chew, so you need to make sure that your dog gets adequate sleep and exercise daily.

 

An hour of walking for your dog can drastically reduce his chewing habit. Because, after an hour of walking session may leave the dog tired and chewing things may not interest him. Therefore, your dog may prefer sleeping instead of tearing or chewing things.

 

A genuine solution to prevent the dog from chewing is that you need make your dog perform plenty of exercises and at the same time, you need to keep regularly supervise him/her. It is certain that if your dog is away from you, he/she may chew things. Therefore, it is essential for you to tie your dog with a leash or keep the dog under supervision of an individual.

 

You need to keep on varying your corrections. For instance, you can also pull leash suddenly to show the dog your disagreement for any erratic behavior. Dogs hate the sound of coin in a tin and you can shake the tin whenever the dog chews any object. There are people, who prefer a spray of water projected towards the dog. Avoid using undesirable techniques such as usage of high-pitched tone for scolding the dog or beating, as this may lead the dog to chew more often.

 

You can also provide the dog with a few chewable things. For example, there are chewable toys available that you can give to your dog. Avoid giving old clothes or shoes as chewing items. If the Dog Chewing activity persists, make certain rectifications or take help of professionals. However, it may take some time for your dog to quit the chewing habit completely, so you need to have patience.

 

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About the Author:
Timcy Hood writes informative and unique articles about Stop Dog Barking and Clicker Training Dogs. One thing that separates Timcy Hood from others is the passion she puts into it, knowing full well and respecting the time viewers spend on reading his work.
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While it may feel kinder to allow your cat the freedom to roam, you're potentially exposing it to many dangers, things that could be avoided if you kept it indoors. Here are ten reasons why you should keep your cat indoors:

1. To Monitor its Health: Cats that are allowed to freely roam outdoors can't be monitored properly. An indoor cat can be easily monitored for fatal diseases such as urinary tract blockages and bowel problems. Checking your kitty's litter box can literally save your its life.

2. To Prevent it from Picking Up Diseases: Cats allowed free access to the outdoors frequently come into contact with other cats which puts them at risk from contracting infectious feline diseases such as Feline Leukemia, Feline Infectious Peritonitis, Feline Distemper, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and many other contagious diseases.

Your kitty may eat or carry mice and rats which may contain diseases dangerous to your cat. A more rare but possible risk is squamous cell carcinoma - a painful and serious disease that white and light colored cats are prone to from over exposure to the sun.

3. To Prevent it from Being Run Over: Cats freely roaming the streets are at high risk of being run over. Cats can suddenly run across a street and even the most well meaning drivers may not be able to avoid them. According to a study, more cats are annually run over in the United States than euthanized in animal shelters.

4. To Keep it Safe from Predators: Cats can be attacked by raptors, owls, native big cats and coyotes. Even dogs can easily overpower and kill a cat.

5. To Prevent it from Causing Problems with the Neighbors: While you may adore cats and think your cat is the best thing since the invention of Wonderbread, not all people may feel the same. In fact some people are terrified of cats and some may even have Ailurophobia (the fear of cats). So not all people will appreciate your kitty using their yard as its litter box. Your neighbor may even resort to calling animal control to remove the cat, or worse!

6. To Prevent it from Getting Injured: Cats can be very territorial and will sometimes try to defend their territory to the death. Even a minor cat fight can result in abscessed wounds. Abscessed wounds can result in death if not caught early as cat's claws can carry disease-causing bacteria, fungal and virus germs.

7. To Prevent it from Becoming Victim to Human Abuse: Cats can easily become targets to people who think nothing of using a cat for target practice. Even neighbors can feel justified for killing a cat they feel is trespassing on their property.

8. To Ensure it isn't Lost: A well meaning person may "rescue" your cat thinking it's a stray, or it may be picked up by animal control.

9. To Protect it from Bunchers: Bunchers are people who sell cats to laboratories for research or animal experimentation. They usually pick cats up from the street and some even more unscrupulous individuals use cats as bait for fighting dogs.

10. To Protect Local Wildlife: Cats are efficient hunters by nature, and even the most docile of felines will attempt to play and even kill rabbits, birds and other small wildlife.

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About the Author:
Kenny likes to write on a number of subjects and has been doing so for a number of years. His most up-to-date internet site is http://powerwheelsparts.net which provides folks with information on purchasing a Power Wheels accessories.
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Cats Health – Home Remedies for Cats

Healthy kittens and cats do wonderfully entertaining antics for themselves and for us. These play activities are exercises that keep cats healthy and are easily maintained on home remedies.

They will meow and purr with delight when happy, comfortable or content.
They can make you giggle or laugh at their antics.
They love playing with plants, twigs, string, balls, anything that moves as they like to pounce, chase or run.
When playing with an unknown they hesitantly and very gingerly paw the object. Then it is decided if they will pounce on it, whack it or attack it.
They like the game of stalk and attack.
They crawl in and out of boxes, shelving, packages, or any tunnel or tube structure.
They love to climb shelving, steps, and trees.
They seemingly enjoy licking, cleaning, kneading and massaging each other.

We take many cat pictures and cat videos of our adorable kittens and cats to share with family and friends.

Cats in the wild will do a lot of walking, stalking, running and chasing of prey. They eat what they catch. And they maintain a weight that is healthy for their being. On the other hand, our domestic cats are not hunting for their prey and they eat what we serve them. Removing the food which they have not eaten will help with maintaining healthy weight.

You probably know how important it is to help your cats get their daily exercise. It is important that you mix physical exercises with play activities. Include games that will have them stalking and chasing an object as though they were hunting. Be regular about this, not sporadic. This will help your cat to perform its natural habits.

Their foods should be balanced with high quality meats. Fresh water should always be available.

As you think about maintaining good health in your kittens and cats consider them as children. Children are at their happiest when playing, running, skipping, and having different activities. They enjoy not only being physically exercised, but also mentally occupied. Children need attention; cats and kittens need attention.

Keep it simple. If your household owns a cat, you are its only companion, and your pet looks to you for activities. If there are other cats that can keep your pet busy and loved that is a big relief on your time and energy.

If you have noticed a sudden change in the behavior of your cat, there may be some emotional or mental problems which need to be addressed.

It becomes your choice if you want to go to the cat vet first or if you want to try a few methods of your own to correct the problems, and then see the cat vet.

The sudden changes could be insomnia, not eating, aggressive behavior, withdrawal, depression, or not using the litter box. Review and think what changes have taken place with you, family or environment that might have caused your cat or kitten to suddenly behave differently.

Here is a checklist:

Cat or kitten:

food and water
medictions
play and organized activities
a new pet
new bedding
new litter box

Yourself:

change in jobs
pregnancy
spending time with a new baby
spending time with a new pet
change in routine
stress or anxiety

Family:

a new person in the house
children too noisy
loud music
neglect or too much attention to pet
party
new people
change in routine

Environment:

change in furniture placement
change in litter box
change of litter brand
new house
new carpet
new building
new pet

Sit in a quiet setting of your home with your cat. And stroke, massage or quietly speak to your cat or kitten for a few minutes each day.

Is there a window that your cat can gaze outward to change the scenery? Is there a door that allows her to enter and exit at will?

With few exceptions view your cat as a person. Think about the variety of things that you enjoy and which of these would your cat or kitten enjoy within their bounds.

People think of good friends, good food, pleasant surroundings, stability, and fun and most importantly - love. Your pet would be happy with same.

Here is how you can always maintain a healthy cat or kitten. Visit the pet section of Tricia Deed at http://www.Infotrish.vpweb.com/ Review Time Tested Home Remedies that Heal Your Pet.

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About the Author:
Through the years I have learned to be a jack-of-all-trades and maybe mastered one. Because my interests are many, diversity has been the road most traveled. Currently my interest is hobbies which I have combined with my internet marketing business.
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How Can Ferrets Eat Cat Food?

Belonging to the order Carnivora, ferrets are a part of the Otter family also known as the Weasel family. Owing to their similarity to cats one wonders can ferrets eat cat food? These adorable pets are generally very mischievous trying to steal smaller things like watches, keys etc. which they can get access to. One can have a lot of fun playing with ferrets, but must ensure that they do not tear up the clothes or bed. Ferrets should usually be cared for in the same way one looks after kitten and puppies.

Ferrets can be trained to play tricks and pranks on friends as they are naughty themselves. Just like you would take a dog or cat out for stroll, you can take your ferret out too, and introduce it to friends. Ferrets start identifying friends quickly and get along well with humans. Ferrets are carnivorous and like all other carnivorous animals they love eating meat and cannot just live on tofu or vegetables. One can find varieties of meat, duck soup and ferret kibble as ferret food in the United States.

But coming back to the question can ferrets eat cat food, the answer is in the affirmative as cat food is a variant of kibble consisting of proteins and fats which is the same as what ferrets need to stay healthy, happy and active all the time.

Before giving cat food to ferrets you must ensure that it is of high quality and contains at least 18-22 % of fats and proteins. It is also a good idea to wash the containers well and give distilled water to ferrets. Even if it is tap water you must ensure it is free of germs as ferrets are delicate animals that are prone to infections by bacteria through water and food that is contaminated.

Can ferrets eat cat food? The answer is yes, but with precautions like proper cleanliness along with maintaining the fat and protein content of the food. It is an adorable pet which when taken care of will be source of lot of fun for your family.

 

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About the Author:
Clint is a ferret enthusiast who enjoys giving information about Ferret Cat. You can learn more about taking care of ferrets the correct way at FerretCareHelp.com.
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