How to treat hairballs in cats

Most cats are fastidious creatures. They groom their fur, clean their toes, and wipe their faces after every meal. This grooming causes many cats to perform a disgusting little ritual of choking and coughing until the offensive hairball ends up on the carpet. Cats are just doing what's natural by expelling the ball of fur.

I'm tasked with cleaning up these lovely little "cat presents." Somewhere along the way, my wonderful family decided covering the hairballs with a paper towel was sufficient. Like a little red flag, it's my notice that the cat has done something that is just too gross for anyone but Mom to clean up.

If you're like many cat owners, cleaning up hairballs ranks pretty low on the cat care scale, right along with dumping the cat box. It's a nasty chore despite the actions of the cat being a wholly natural body response to an accumulation of hair in the stomach. Since hair itself isn't digestible, the cat's stomach reacts by emitting digestive juices that cause the cat to expel the hairball. There are many remedies, all of them relatively simple and inexpensive. Sometimes, your cat just might need a little help!

Brush your cat

Once of the best ways to prevent a hairball from even happening is to grab a pet hairbrush and brush your cat's fur. This is a ritual that so many cats love. Quality time with Mom! Regular brushing helps remove the cat's loose fur and will often reduce the incidence of hairballs. Once or twice a week if sufficient for short haired animals. Long haired cats should be brushed daily to prevent excessive hairballs.

Special foods

Some cat food manufacturers have created chow and treats to help keep things moving along kitty's digestive tract. These special foods include a lubricant and fiber to aid your cat's passing of any offensive hairballs. Some cats just love the food while others have increased vomiting or other reactions. I'm personally not a fan of hairball remedy cat chows, but then I not a fan of cat chow. There are many other choices to alleviate excessive hairballs rather than switching the animal's entire diet.

To read more about treating hairballs in your cat, click here

How to keep cats off countertops

One morning you enter your kitchen and see a trail of perfect little kitty paw prints lined up along yourkitchen counter top. Looks like your cat has been on your counters again, despite your repeated attempts to stop this behavior. It's time to train that kitty even though you might often feel that you're the one being trained.

Cats love to be up high; on top of cabinets, high shelves, and the highest level of a cat-climbing tree. There's a measure of safety and security in being able to look down on their world. In addition, cat's have a "bird's eye" view of their domain when perched above the rest of the world. An added benefit to this new height is that it's the perfect place to ambush unsuspecting humans or other pets in the house.

When this climbing tendency results in nasty cat paws across your counter, you're got to control the cat. Remember that consistency is the key to training your cat. Training must be fun, must be repeated, and certainly must have an adequate reward to keep kitty in the frame of mind of trying to please you. It's really quite simple. You need to re-establish who is boss in your house.

So what's on your cat's feet?

Counter surfing is great fun for a kitty. A sure way to attract immediate human attention, very few cats can resist the temptation of fun AND food all in one spot. This great form of entertainment for your cat is really just spreading germs via kitty's feet. Litter box residue (and subsequent feces and urine), dust from the floor, dirt from the flooryou name it, it's on the cat's feet.

Unless you're planning on using the floor as your dinner plate, it's frankly pretty gross to let kitty prance happily on the counter. The 5-second rule for dropped food should apply to the floor, not your counter. Has your cat decided he likes the sink better than his water dish? Well, is his water dish clean and fresh? A hundred things entice your cat to climb. Bottom line is that it's really unclean to have the cat walking on the surfaces that you cook and prepare food on. In addition, if you use any cleansers on the counters, your cat may be ingesting the residue when he cleans in paws. I shouldn't even need to mention the dangers of a hot stove!

Stop that counter-surfing!

Water

I confess to spritzing my cat with the kitchen sink sprayer to prevent his jumping into the sink. Just a little spray and he hasn't done it since. Many folks use a squirt bottle. Make sure it's filled and the nozzle is turned to the "stream" setting. Keep it handy. Cats will almost always stop the unwanted behavior after just a few squirts. Make sure to combine the spray of the bottle with a firm "Off!"

Tin Can Rattles

Most cats will startle at loud noises. Throw some change or rocks on an empty coffee can and keep it on the counter. If kitty counter-surfs, rattle than can. It might freak them out the first few times but you can be sure that even the sight of the can will make your cat think twice about jumping on the counters. Don't forget to soothe that ruffled fur a few minutes after the rattle sounds.

Tape or aluminum foil barriers

Imagine your totally indignant cat with a big piece of tape stuck to his paw, shaking his foot for all he's worth in an effort to dislodge it. Pretty funny mental image. Some folks try this method. In truth, I haven't although I just might because of the sure entertainment value. It seems it would work although I imagine lining the edges of all your counters with 2-sided tape might be difficult as well as inconvenient. Some folks try aluminum foil on the premise that cats don't like the feeling of the foil on their feet. These are great additional options for folks who've failed with water and the tin can rattles.

Commercial products

Commercial cat repellents are available at local pet stores and vendors. If all else fails, this might be the ticket for the most stubborn cat. It's important to remember that training a cat is never an easy proposition. Don't expect to find a simple solution in a can of spray repellent.

An important reminder

It is so very important to consider the health and well being of your animal. Never is this more important than when you are training your animal. Never smack your cat; never hit him anywhere on his body. Remember that you are trying to foster a changed behavior, not create an angry cat with issues. Positive training brings about positive change in your cat. And soon the kitty counter surfing will be a thing of the past!

How to Put Your Cat on a Diet

"Your cat is fat!" Those horrifying words reverberate around the vet's examining room. What you thought would be a simple visit for shots and a checkup ended up being a brash assessment of your kitty's physique. You've got a fat cat and you don't know what to do.

Cats have a metabolism, just as people do. Lazy or older cats tend to have a slower metabolism and as a result, burn the calories consumed from foods slower than more active cats. As calorie consumption increases, and with it your cats need for more and more food, kitty can pack on the pounds just like humans do on a diet of chocolate candy bars.

The theory of weight loss and gain is similar to humans. However, it is absolutely necessary to make sure your cat is getting enough food and water every day for maximum health. Any drastic change to your animal's diet can be traumatic. It makes more sense to put your cat on a diet that will encourage slow and steady weight loss. Consult your vet about the exact amount your cat should be eating every day. Ask exactly how much you should decrease the amounts of foods each week. Be as specific as possible with your questions.

Dry Food

I'm not a proponent of dry cat chow. It's packed with carbohydrates and fillers like grains and oils that your cat simply doesn't need. Cats are obligate carnivores that require meat in their diet, not grains. So consider the cat chow as kitty potato chips that are packing on the pounds and wrecking your cat's svelte figure.

If you're free feeding your fat cat dry kibble all day, it needs to be stopped. Do it gradually by feeding high quality canned cat food in place of the filled chow bowl. Reduce the chow in the bowl by one third every 2 days and add a wet food feeding. Most adult cats require one 5.5.-ounce can of wet food each day. However, some differ. If you need to add a little more wet food, then do it to keep kitty from starving as his body adjusts to less food.

Your aim is to provide your cat with 2-3 feedings per day of wet food only. By eliminating chow, you're eliminating a ton of unnecessary calories. Don't expect the change from dry chow to wet food to be easy. Be patient with the cat. We humans don't like giving up our junk foods either.

Cat chow doesn't have even a minimal amount of the moisture that a cat needs to consume on a daily basis. Many cats aren't great water drinkers so adding any to their diet is a must for kidney health. Not convinced yet that chow is bad?

Try this fact. In the wild, cats get every bit of water that they need from the prey they eat. They don't need to drink water.

Wet Food

There's simply no way to take a field mouse, chipmunk, or bird and stuff it in a can to make the perfect cat food. However, manufacturers of pet foods have added an acceptable combination of protein, vitamins and minerals to make a can of cat food a more than adequate diet for your cat. The caveat is the quality of cat food that you buy. To place an obese cat on a diet, it is simply unacceptable to feed anything from a grocery or chain pet food store. All-natural foods are the only way to go. Natural pet foods contain less filler, starches, and are generally packed with

Wet food has added bonuses too. Within a few weeks of feeding your cat a high quality wet food, you'll see a noticeable difference in the texture of his fur. It's truly amazing. Plus, wet food has an added benefit of increasing the amount of water in a cat's diet because water is used in the preparation of the food. Moisture is so important for a cat's proper kidney function. The added benefits to feeding the highest quality food that you can afford is a definitive decrease in health problems as your cat ages, translated into dollars and cents NOT spent at the vets.

Some tricks for tricking a dieting kitty

Cats hate change so expect a little pouting when the chow bowl goes empty permanently. Remember that you're trying to teach your cat to eat properly. In actuality, your cat can't understand the insulting comments made at the vets. It's up to you to translate it to a new and interesting way of feeding.

Plastic dishes retain the smell of foods. Pitch the plastic dishes and invest in ceramic coated or metal dishes. These are so much easier to clean and very likely, your fat kitty will appreciate a change. In fact, you might want to change the feeding area completely. This slight alternation may be enough to signal to the cat that change is coming.

When feeding wet foods, make sure you spread the canned food across the bottom of the dish. Use a fork to mash the food flat. Your aim is to teach your cat to eat slower. Chunks of food can be gulped down but mashed food requires the cat to lick slowly to eat his meal.

Fresh water is a must for every cat, every day. Standing water gets a film across the top of it in just one day. Kitty spit, fur, and food particles end up in the dish, often making it resemble the neighborhood pond. So wash that dish and add fresh water every day.

Make this a fun time for your cat by adding some daily exercise. There's no need to buy expensive cat toys. Grab a bottle cap and toss it across the floor. Put your hand inside an oven mitt and wrestle with the cat. Any increase in exercise will burn some calories.

Hydrating your elderly cat

I'm a big advocate of water - for humans AND cats. Especially older cats. Having seen the damage done by food contaminants in my older cats and the incredible benefits of immediate fluids, it doesn't take a rocket scientists to put 2 and 2 together.

So I feed wet food, have plenty of water available, and encourage my cats to play in their water, generally making for a fun kitty time. Kidney health is so important in older animals.

Many older cats already have some reduced kidney function. For that reason, diet and water consumption should be a pet parent's focus. Tied to this issue is also bowel movements. Hydration plays a very important part in keeping your cat's entire intestinal system working properly.

For a comprehensive article and a case study on colon issues caused from possible dehydration from the SunHerald.com, visit this link:

http://www.sunherald.com/pets/story/964579.html

It shouldn't take much to convince anyone. But this does it.

8 Ways to Improve your Old Cat's Health Right Now

Want to have immediate impact on your elderly kitty's health immediately? Try the following:

1. Feed a high quality wet food. Forget the grocery store brands. Choose a brand that lists meats in the ingredients first. And limit the cat chow intake too.

2. Add a little water to the wet food with every feeding to make gravy. Some cats are notoriously finicky water drinkers. Boosting their water intake is always a bonus, especially for kidney function.

3. Pitch those plastic cat dishes. Plastic retains the smell of all the food you've put in the bowl. Get a glass dish or bowl and use that instead.

4. Spruce up that water bowl with a cat fountain. Cats fountains encourage kitties to drink and play in the water. Models start at $35.

5. Give kitty a good grooming with a wide comb and brush. Older cats aren't as flexible and sometimes, it's just too much to reach all those spots on the body. Your cat will love the attention as much as you love showering him or her with attention.

6. Clip those claws carefully.

7. Break out the toys for some playtime. Why not give your old kitty a little exercise with a laser light or even a string?

8. Have yourself a good snuggle session with your cat. As kitties age, the might be shy or less inclined to seek you out for attention. A few pats and strokes will remind you both of why you have each other.

Caring for Elderly Cats

There's nothing quite so sad as watching your beloved older pet reach their twilight years. Your playful kitten that attacked your ankles from under the sofa now reclines on the cushions, barely waking from a nap when you enter a room. It's tough watching your cat age. Making them comfortable and happy should be your primary goal.

Caring for an elderly cat can be demanding. I know, I have one 17-year old kitty. I'm lucky because I'm home all day. At times, they are more demanding than my children. She meows loudly for no reason, demands copious amounts of food, and beg like a dog for table scraps. While I know these are symptoms of aging, I worry like a mother hen over my old girl Maui. Here are some suggestions for what you can do to ease their lives and your own worry.

Vet Visits

Regular vet visits are important for older cats. Take your elderly cat twice a year for a checkup. Older cats can develop diabetes, hyper thyroid, or any number of diseases without showing outward symptoms. A regular vet visit will help catch illnesses early.

Vitamins

Purchase a tube of vitamins from your vet and mix with the cat's wet food. Just as with humans, an elderly cat's body needs additional vitamins and minerals. Elderly cats experience more hairballs. The soft vitamins keep things moving in their digestive tract.

Water

Make sure there is fresh water available ALL THE TIME. I purchased a cat water fountain and I have to admit, they drink much more often now. And stick their paws and heads under the water too, just for my entertainment.

Food

Mealtime has now become their main activity. Adjusting their diet to include more soft food might be necessary if your cats have lost teeth or if you've noticed a decrease in appetite.

Sleep

Elderly cats spend most days lazily snoozing away on the sofa or on a sunny spot on the carpet. Make sure their snuggle spot is comfy and warm. And don't be surprised if your kitty sleeps the whole day away.

Grooming

Your elderly cat's fur might be looking a little lackluster. Many older cats stop grooming themselves as they age. It's your job to take over with a comb and brush. Most cats love to be brushed. They'll appreciate this special time with your undivided attention as long as your are careful and don't pull too much at matted fur.

Claws

Trim those kitty nails. Your older kitty isn't nearly as active. You've probably noticed your furniture isn't taking the beating it once did from scratching. Clip kitty's claws carefully once a month.

Playtime

Yes, it's still necessary to older kitties. You may have noticed that the evening crazies are long gone but your older cat still has some spunk left in him. Break out the strings and soft toys and try to get kitty to play. Some older kitties like chasing a little laser flashlight that can be purchased at any pet store.

Other Considerations

Older cats loose their acute senses too, just like people. Their sense of taste, smell, sight, and hearing will all lessen as they age. Pay attention to these things as they might cause an appetite change, litter box accidents, or unexplained cat howling. Soft pats and snuggles when they are agitated can help comfort them as they adjust to this loss.

The hardest part of being a pet owner is knowing when it's time to let go. Somehow, someway, most of us are lucky enough to have that sixth sense tell us it's time. Making this decision is heart wrenching. Say goodbye to your dear friend, grieve for your companion animal, and be patient with yourself as you move step by step through the grieving process.