It’s really not necessary to worry about bathing your cat. Besides the fact that most cats avoid water like the plague, they take care of themselves. That’s why you see them laying around so much, wetting a paw and stretching it all around their bodies so they don’t miss a spot. It also tends to be the cause of hair balls… luckily, eating that grass will usually bring those out of the system.

If you don’t ever see your cat taking care of his own coat, you may have cause to worry and need to look at the health of your cat. Make sure you’re taking your cat in for the yearly check ups and your cat is staying within a healthy weight. Obese cats, and cats that are too skinny, develop health problems that normally show signs in the look of their fur.

Your cat should be grooming himself often and daily. If you don’t notice it for a day or two, don’t worry. You may just be missing it. If your cat gets stuck in something real bad, then it might be a good idea to take him to a grooming place to have a bath where they know which shampoos to use and so that they can be the bad guys and not you for giving that bath!

A good rule of thumb is the shorter the hair on the cat, the less grooming help they will need! And the better condition of their coat (fur), the better job they are doing themselves. Pay attention to the density of their fur and comb through if your cat really enjoys it every so often so help them along the way.

For more grooming tips on species specific cats, check out this website.

]]> http://www.simplecattraining.com/cat-grooming-secrets/feed/ 0 http://www.simplecattraining.com/your-kitty-needs-sunlight/ http://www.simplecattraining.com/your-kitty-needs-sunlight/#comments Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:05:29 +0000 admin http://www.simplecattraining.com/?p=508

Like all living creatures, cats really need their sunlight so if you have an indoor cat that you don’t allow outside, you need to think of ways to get that natural light to your pet. Think about if you never saw any sunlight, or felt it, and they say 15 minutes a day is great for your health to be out in the sun (without sunscreen, even) any longer than that my fair skin would burst into flames anyway!

For our pets we have plenty of options of doing this. Click on the links for articles related to them.

• Get some kind of enclosure your cat be outside in, such as a tent, to enjoy natural grasses and dirt. You can even try some that are high enough that they don’t need a ceiling so the natural light can come in as well.
• Take your cat outside for a walk on a leash.
• Buy a cat proof cat intended enclosure or make your own.
• Go outside with your cat for a little sunshine yourself (like shown in photos in this article).

All living things, from people to plants to animals in general need sunlight to live. The reason? We can’t synthesis vitamin D without it. It just can’t be done. Think about if you weren’t allowed to go outside and enjoy the natural things nature has to offer… like walking without your shoes, playing in the dirt, pulling on the grass, and soaking up the sun. Our animals need this too, so whichever solution best fits your lifestyle make sure you integrate it now for the health and well being of your beloved animal companions.

Sometimes my cat Ninja runs out of water in her dish, it gets to the point where I don’t realize it by just walking by and sometimes it appears like there’s water in there when it’s actually empty. Maybe it’s because it’s metal/silver so it always looks reflective… nonetheless, Ninja knows how to let me know she’s out of water.

First, she follows me to the bathroom or leads me into it. She then either stands/sits on the toilet (like in the picture above) or jumps into the bathtub/shower. The first few times she did these things I didn’t know what to make of it. I thought maybe she just really wanted to be with me, or maybe didn’t mind getting wet. But the second the water came on she was out of there!

However, over the years I’ve learned it’s her way of saying, “What’s the common denominator of all these places I’m in? WATER! They all have water and I don’t!”

What’s something your cat does to let you know it needs something?

I found my cat Ninja super moody one day when my friend Alisa came over. Her parents, along with herself, are astounding house cat trainers. Alisa was really surprised by how mean Ninja was acting. Even my husband I were embarrassed by her actions and the constant growling. When Dave went to move her away from Alisa so she wouldn’t get even angrier, Ninja howled and cried at Dave, something she’d never normally do. He and I looked at one another, astonished.

Something wasn’t right, and Alisa was the first to figure it out.

She held Ninja under the stomach and felt around, then looked at us and said, “She’s constipated.” I remembered on the recent drive I was surprised she never used the cat box. It was all making sense, but I’d never experienced a constipated cat before, how did Alisa know and what was I supposed to do to help Ninja through it?

“You can tell by touching her belly; when a cat is constipated her belly is hard, she is bloated, doesn’t have an appetite, she doesn’t like to be touched, is tired. Most of the time she lays down, she might move weird, her fur doesent look healthy and sick cats have much more saliva than healthy cats, bad breath… etc.” Alisa told me.

Most cats when constipated either have frequent trips to the cat box producing small dry stools, while others stop going altogether or go much, much less (an average is for a cat to go around twice a day).

Some other signs of cat constipation are:

1. Straining or crying out in pain when trying to use the cat box
2. Small (dry) hard stools often times covered in blood or saliva (aka mucous)
3. Many trips to the cat box but not actually able to use it
4. Loss in weight
5. Acting lethargic and uninterested
6. Puking or vomiting (more than normal, and not from grass or hair balls)
7. Showing discomfort, mostly in the abdominal area of the body
8. Lack of interest in grooming his/herself (bathing)

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Pikeville, KY
Shown on Ninja: Resin washed off with veggie oil

My husband put Resin polish on the inside of our trailer door. Of course, he had to lay the door down in order to put this polish on the wood to seal it so it lasts longer in harder temperatures and rain.

In case you aren’t familiar with the stuff (as I wasn’t) it’s like glue that hardens. So it’s sticky at first, and during the sticky phase… my cat decided to walk into the trailer! My husband called to her, but she thought he wanted her to go in, not out and proceeded further. He finally snatched her up and came running to me with her bundled in his arms.

Our biggest concern was that she would lick it in an attempt to clean herself, and get sick. So we quickly began putting water on her paws to rinse it – forgetting water only makes the stuff harden! She was instantly mad at us both and as I watched her twitch her legs around in an attempt to get the stickyness off, my friend (wife of a great animal trainer) suggested we use some kind of baby oil to get the Resin off her paws. I didn’t have any baby oil, so I used veggie oil.

I put it in a small dish and soaked her paws, then pulled with her hair and the Resin pieces came off. We were so relieved to get the Resin off that we let Ninja have a break from the trauma of it all and just hang out. But when she started leaving oil prints everywhere, we realized we now had to get the oil off!

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: RV
Ninja after bath number one

I went to my friends, and fantastic cat and dog trainers, and asked them for help. Maya told me she never baths her cats because they are indoor cats, but if you have outdoor cats you should bathe them every so often. Cats are very clean animals, and take care of themselves well. So normally it’s not so necessary but our situation was different. She gave me puppy shampoo that was okay for cats as well, and gentle. I took Ninja into the bath and filled it a few inches with warm water.

I then gently splashed the water all over her (except her neck/head) so she was damp enough for soap to wash around her fur. I pushed the soap into her chest and legs as much as I could for it just being me and her. I didn’t soap up her back legs as well as I wanted to, but it was hard with no one else there to help. She was shockingly well behaved and didn’t fight me hardly at all. Again, it was like she knew it was her fault for walking through it. We’ve done that to the trailer door time and time again and she’d never walked on it before… I felt terrible it happened this time.

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Pikeville, KY
You’re looking at: Veggie oil used to wash off resin followed by water

I used two small towels to wrap her and dry her off almost completely and then I let her do the rest. She’s still working on it… licking and fixing… but no more oil marks and I think her skin is less irritated now.

But I do recommend two people for bathing rather than one. It would have been more thorough if I’d had help. I thought about asking a friend to help, but I didn’t want to make the bath a big deal to Ninja because then I assumed she would think it’s a big deal too. And I knew my body language would be calm and soothing to her, and who knows how someone else would react to helping with someone else’s animal. Either way, Ninja isn’t punishing me for the baths and seems to be grateful the Resin is finally gone.

Photo provided by my cousin Britty

I came across a site that I wanted to make you all aware of. It’s a pet pharmaceutical company that offers all the medications (including prescription), supplies and supplements that you will need to ensure continued good health throughout your beloved pet’s life.

More specifically, I want to direct you to the “Pet Advice tab” where you can go to have your questions answered by a knowlegeable staff member. As I scanned through the questions, I found each to be answered responsibly and thoroughly by addressing all aspects of the question posed.

This is a great site to keep in mind when shopping for your pet’s health and well-being needs, and the prices are great!

To check out the site, click here or type http://www.petmedications.co/ into your browser.

I’ve always fed my cat dry food for the most part. Why?

• It’s easy to buy anywhere, from gas stations to grocery stores, petstores and online.
• It comes in organic, always a good thing, right?
• It doesn’t smell bad like wet food.
• It’s not as messy as wet food.
• Somewhere along the lines, I heard it’s good for their teeth?

Not that I’ve left out wet food, but it was more like a “treat” then an every day thing. My parents always did 50/50 with dry and wet food which is now what most owners do. The best of both worlds since they don’t know which one to leave out. Makes sense, because that’s what I started doing when I heard they weren’t JUST supposed to get dry food. Something to do with water content and my cat goes through lots of water. But goes through less with wet food. Point proven to me!

But when you really do a little digging on the proper cat diet… you find out a lot about wet food and how a completely RAW MEAT diet is best. Who would have thought? Well, if you really think about what they would eat WITHOUT a human’s help… it’s pretty “duh”.

I know I won’t do these sites any justice in what they share, so I will just tell you where to look!

1. Raw Fed Cats
2. Raw Food Diets for Cats
3. Feeding Your Cat
4. Meat Patties by Only Natural

It may sound funny to direct you guys to a website that is called Dr. Dog, but Dr. Dog has some good advice on heat stroke for cats! Believe it or not. So you can check out Dr. Dog here.

In hot temperatures whether you’re in the car or a travel trailer, a house or outside in the natural heat, you always need to make sure your cat has enough cool water.

It’s also important to be realistic. My house stays between 73 degrees and all the way up to 80 and sometimes 85 but not usually. In those temperatures, my cat will lay under the hottest lamp she can find or in the sun coming in through the window and on the floor. She still craves heat! So don’t freak out about regular temperatures, they have a fur coat but they like warmth, too. (And did you know feathers are actually warmer than fur? Interesting…)

But if you know the temperature may be getting out of hand for your cat, make sure they have shade and lots of water available. My cat finds the shade outside here in Florida, she has to. She can only play in the heat for so long.

1. White
2. Black
3. Orange

Once again, this more of a genetic post on calico colored cats as most tend to be female. Why? Pure genetics, again.

To go into detail on this topic, I am going to quote a great article by Janet Crosby. She wrote,

“Coat color in cats is a sex-linked trait, a physical characteristic (coat color) related to gender. Female animals have two X chromosomes (XX), males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (XY). The genetic coding for displaying black or orange color is found on the X chromosome. The coding for white is a completely separate gene.

Since females have two X chromosomes, they are able to “display” two colors (orange and black, or variations thereof) and white; creating the 3-color calico mix. Since males have only one X chromosome, they can only be orange OR black. It is more complicated than simply having the color genes — it is a complex process of dominant and non-dominate genes interacting on the X chromosomes, but that is the basis for coat color in calico cats. For those of you interested in the detailed coat color genetics, please see the “Related Reading” articles at the bottom of this FAQ.

Can a calico cat ever be male? Yes, in rare instances. In this situation, the cat has two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome (XXY). Cats with this chromosomal configuration are usually sterile (not able to breed).”

For more on calico cats, check out the following links:

• Genetics
• Calico cat gallery

When I first saw this cat in the picture, Katie, I was astounded! I’d never ever seen a cat with two different colored eyes, though I’ve seen it in huskies (dogs). As I looked into it further, I started to hear myths that these cats are blind in one eye so I dug even deeper and found out the truth about these beautiful genetics!

First of all, different colored eyes does NOT equal blindness. That myth comes from the fact that usually blind eye has a milky-blue color to it. The eyes are simply different due to pure genetics…

Although the eye color doesn’t mean blindness, it more often DOES mean deafness.

• They’re often deaf (though not ALL are)
• They’re often deaf in at least one ear which is more often than not the ear on the side of the blue eye.

For more interesting facts on white colored cat genetics, check out this article here.

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