September is Happy Healthy Cat Month, the time to appreciate our feline companions and give them the best care to live long lives. We at Alpine Animal Hospital are committed to helping owners with these tips and insights.
- Take your cat to the vet – cats can be very good at hiding symptoms or something wrong. Annual veterinary visits can help catch issues early to keep your cat healthy.
- Consider getting your cat microchipped. No owner likes to have their cat go missing, and increasing the chances of reconnecting with a microchip is a great way to keep your kitty protected from getting lost.
- Provide entertainment for your cat. There are so many ways you can enrich the life of your indoor cat. Keeping in mind, that not every cat will enjoy the same activity and you’ll need to find the one that works for your pet. My favorite is hiding little pieces of cat food around the house for our kitty friends to forage and keep them active during the day. Other things include catios, enrichment toys, teaching your cat tricks, walking them on a harness, or having catnip for them. Ohio State Veterinary school has a great resource linked here for other enrichment ideas — https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats
- Remember preventative medicine. In all cases, the prevention of flea and ticks and the diseases they transmit is cheaper than treating the disease. This is something that should be done year-round, even if your cat is indoor only.
- Feed your cat a high-quality diet. Cats are obligate carnivores and require a diet that can fortify their dietary needs to help keep them healthy.
- Give plenty of scratching opportunities. Scratching is normal behavior and cats benefit from being provided plenty of places to scratch as well as different types of scratching posts for them.
- Provide plenty of clean litter boxes in multiple places. The general rule is to have a litter box for each cat living in the house, plus one. For example, if it’s a three cat household there should be four litter boxes in different areas and on different levels of the house for them to access. Keep the litter boxes in low traffic areas of the house and clean them regularly so your cat is consistently going in the appropriate locations.
If you find other ways of keeping your cat happy, please let us know! We love to hear stories and creativity that goes into helping our feline friends.