CATS AND KITTENS
The best toys to engage your cat to play
Do you remember your kitten’s early days? Simply waggling a toy mouse in their general direction was enough to get them geared up to play! Now your cat is an adult, sleeping may well take priority over any form of exercise! We’re here to help with advice on some of the best toys to encourage…
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Settling your kitten into their new home
For a small kitten, moving away from their mum and siblings to a new home can be strange and scary. So, it’s important that we do all we can to build their trust and confidence in us as their new owners. To them, we are total strangers and their new house looks and smells completely…
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Kitten Socialisation
We’ve all heard of those ‘nightmare’ cats that swipe at anyone who approaches them and hiss at every cat that dares walk near. The fact is, these kitties likely had little to no socialisation when they were a kitten and never really stood a chance. Mixing with other animals and humans does not always come…
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Keeping your cat at a healthy weight
What is a healthy weight for a cat? A difficult question to answer, as just like humans, there is a lot of variation in the size of individuals. 5kg may be perfect for a large male cat, but in a petite female, this would be overweight. Just like the BMI scheme in humans tries to…
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Body condition score your cat
In the UK 40-50% of cats are estimated to be overweight or obese. Cats are overweight if they are between 10-19% heavier than their ideal weight. Once they are over 20% heavier, he or she is said to be obese. There is a method of working out what your cat should weigh called a Body…
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Taking care of your older cat
Cats are said to have nine lives – many a moggy will go on to live to a ripe old age of 20 years plus or minus a few! What specific needs does my elderly cat have? If your cat has always been allowed to come and go as they please, you cannot change things…
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Stress in cats
What is stress? Is it always bad? Stress is just another word for anxiety and worry. Being worried that something might attack you is a necessary part of being able to avoid it. If you didn’t care at all about situations where your life is at risk, you probably wouldn’t last long enough to pass…
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History of the domestic cat
History of the cat: Early evolution One of the most recently evolved species within the Felidae family, is the domestic cat or Felis catus. There are 3 groups or genera in the Felidae family (in other words the entire cat family): Panthera (cats that roar: lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars) Acinonyx (the cheetah) Felis (all…
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Sunburn in cats
Believe it or not, just like people, cats are susceptible to sunburn. There is pretty much nothing that cats enjoy more than lying sprawled out in a warm patch of sunlight. However, whilst lazing in the sun may look safe (and feel really good!), it is not without its dangers. The energy in the sun’s…
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Letting your kitten outside for the first time
Advice on letting your cat/ kitten out for the first time Indoors or outdoors? Many people are somewhat risk averse when it comes to letting their kitten outside into the big wide world. Keeping a cat indoors will ultimately be safer. However, like their wild counterparts, cats love freedom and outdoor activity, behaviours which are…
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