Cat Care Essentials

First impression at the vet's with your cat

You've made it to the vet! Ensure that you get the most out of your visit, it helps to know what to expect and be prepared with any questions and to take notes if required.

List your cat's symptoms
List all of your cat's symptoms plus any questions you want answered, taking a pen and paper to note what your told. Forgetting is easy in the heat of the moment and when emotions run high. Also, file your cat's documentation and medical history to take with you to each visit as it may be invaluable to next time.

The full physical
When getting to know your cat, a vet will want to make sure he's healthy and gather baseline data for future reference. Expect the Vet to examine your cat by looking at his mouth, eyes, nose and ears. Also checking his skin and fur, feeling his abdomen but listening to his heart and respiratory system. Cats are routinely weighed and some clinics have equipment to check blood pressure.

Questions, Questions and Questions
This is your chance to ask advise about everything related to your pets health management and care, your local Vet is a wealth of knowledge that you should use to your advantage as questions are free.
Also, ask for demonstrations to start you off when you first begin as a cat owner.

Specialist clinics
If your cat is older, enquire about specialist clinics, particularly if something has been identified with which you may need ongoing help and support. Dental, diet, obesity clinics and senior pet sessions are offered by Vet's these days.

Kitten Care Checklist

Vaccinations	What shots, when and how often are boosters required?
Worming	Type of medication (tablets, paste, liquid or injections), how frequently should your cat be wormed?
External parasites	What applications are needed, at what intervals and is environmental attention required at home?
Diet management	What diet is recommended and how often should the kitten be fed now and in the future weeks and months?
Dental Care	What equipment is needed eg: special toothbrushes, rubber capped over finger etc.
Identification	Ask about micro-chipping as an additional means of identification to an ID tag on the collar.

Preparing your cat for visiting the vet

Whether a clinic trip is routine or urgent, cats usually fare badly if their owners don't handle them well. Many pets become increasingly difficult with each distressing experience. There are a few ways in which to help lower your cats stress level to the vet.

Positive Associations
Cat baskets are generally stored out of the way between these special, invariably negative trips. Keeping them as part of the furniture and creating good associations can make journeys, whatever their destination, less stressful.

Preparing to Leave
Cats really do seem to have a sixth sense when it is time to leave for their appointment; they will have mysteriously disappeared from their haunts and may be found in especially inaccessible places. To avoid the stressful handling that inevitably ensures, try the following tips well before you are due to leave:

Get or keep him indoors in good time before you go
Stay calm or he will sense your anxiety
Keep stressful handling to a minimum
Tape down his blanket in his carrier so that it doesn't slip out
Cover the carrier with a cloth to reduce the stressful impact

Stress Relief
You can make his travelling kit smell reassuring with a commercial pheromone spray or by rubbing the inside with a cloth onto which you've gathered your cat's own scents. Also, spray a covering cloth to surround him with a stress reducing atmosphere.

Choosing a vet for your cat

Most cats find travelling and strange places stressful. Their misery is usually intensified in a clinic where they meet new people and other unfamiliar pets. However, veterinary health care is essential, so making the right choice of vet will benefit everyone.

Shopping Around
Strange people, smells and sounds all combine to make a trip to the vets especially traumatic for both kittens and adult cats. Therefore, it is important to research your area of and choose a really 'cat-friendly' vet that you feel comfortable with, as well as your cat.
In addition, asking your cat owning friends and neighbours for recommendation can really help you narrow down the right vet for you and your cat.

A list of things that can help you choose the right vet

Check websites for advise and reviews
The waiting room should contain a good range of literature, such as information leaflets and magazines devoted to cats
Staff should show interest in you and your feline friend, taking as many details as they can about his medical history and past experiences as possible
Ask them about open days and information sessions, because more clinics are organising kitten introductory evenings or weekends or just a look behind the scenes to put your mind at ease
Also check out emergency cover, asking for telephone numbers, addresses of service providers and maps so that lack of information won't delay you if you have an emergency on your hands
Shelves for cat baskets or extra seating so carriers can be placed in elevated locations so your cat may feel less stressed

Exploring the outside world

Once your cat is really well bonded to you and settled into his new home, (which should take around 3-4 weeks), you can introduce him to the outside world. Prepare your garden, making sure it fulfils his requirements and is safe and secure.

ID Tags
Before he venture outside make sure he has a safe collar and fitted with an ID tag with your contact details, such as a mobile number that you can be reached on at all times. Micro chipping is an additional method of identification, but can be expensive.

All Clear
Ensure the locality is quiet and you are around to supervise and possibly intervene if neighbourhood cats pay a visit.

Homing Incentives
Choose a time when he is hungry and most likely to come back when you call him for food.

Freedom
For the first few times, leave his exit/entrance door open and allow him to decide if he wants to go out at all and how far he ventures. He may keep popping out and then darting back in until he feels confident. Strategically located hiding places for him to use shoudl also help him to feel more at ease.

Confidence
Gradually build up the time he spends outside once you are sure he will return safely and knows the outdoors as well as he does the indoors. Once he is familiar with the cat flap, he can become fully independent.

Outdoor Pen
This can be an asset in areas with busy roads, a very high feline populated areas, neighbours that aren't feline friendly or where cats can be a hazard to local wild life. The pen should be secure with a cat flap to give your cat the choice of using it or not. Also, a well shaded and stocked with food and water are essential.

Outdoor Hazards

Deep ponds and swimming pools
Anti-freeze is a common cause of cat poisoning, so keep all garages locked up
Keep plastic bags securely contained to avoid injury from jagged food tins and cooked bones that shatter when eaten
Many chemicals used to treat wooden garden items are toxic

Introducing your cat to the great outdoors

When equipping their homes in preparation for a new feline arrival, many owners overlook their outdoor space. Be sure to provide a cat-friendly environment where they can indulge their natural behaviours.

Latrine areas
If possible, dig over and appropriate private area to create a pit, then fill it with gravel and some good quality yellow play sand to the soil. Clean the latrine regularly to prevent your cat from searching freshly dug areas in your prize flower beds.

Hiding places
As for indoors, cats love to have places to hide and observe from. These can be provided by outdoor kennels, large plant pots and tubs arranged near cat exit doors or the cat flap. Shrubs and trees provide shady resting spots and elevated positions.

Climbing
Shed or garage roofs and fences, playhouses all provide platforms that allow cats to get up as high as possible to observe what's happening around them.

Territorial markers
Your cat will need somewhere to leave a marking scent and visual marker to declare his territory boundaries. Tall, stable soft wooden objects untreated with chemicals, such as fence posts are ideal. Provide dedicated scratching posts to protect garden furniture and trees from unsightly scratch marks.

Introducing other pets to your cat

Unless cats are appropriately exposed to pets of other species during the socialisation period, the may never be comfortable or safe in close proximity to them. However, bringing kittens up to view other household pets as part of their own social group is sometimes possible.

Supervision
Supervision is key to making a success of the enterprise and cats should never be left un-attended with any pet from a prey species, no matter how well bonded the may appear to be. Equally, when introducing a resident dog, never leave them unsupervised.

Refuges
Make sure that your cat can quickly escape to his sanctuary or an elevated observation post. It is important to maintain a degree of separation between pets, especially where dogs are concerned, so that the cat feels safe in one part of the home.

Smaller pets
It is important to be aware that for many small furies, such as hamsters, even the scent of a cat is bad news. This is embedded into their evolution that a cat is one of their predictors. So once again, we must take care in not to allow them access to smaller pets from prey species, as well as ensuring we don't pet our cat, then handle our tiny companions as that may send them into a fear induced state.

Cats and dogs
Care should be taken when introducing cats to dogs. The breed, temperament, age and degree of control we are able to exert are important issues when introducing them to a new feline companion.
A poorly trained dog should never be introduced to a cat and exceptional care should be taken with terriers.

Obedience
Brush up on your dogs obedience training before the new cat arrives. You need to feel confident that he will obey commands to leave and sit.

Escape routes
A frightened cat that is unable to escape is unlikely to tolerate a dog again, let alone become friends with one. The secrets to a successful meeting are:

Have elevated refuges available for the cat
Dog gates over which cats can escape
A light lead that the dog wears for control if and when necessary
A supply of favourite treats or an exciting new toy with which to distract your pooch
Use of pheromones to create a calm relaxed environment.

Closer contact

Repeat the sessions over several days, weeks or months, depending on your pets reactions. When the time is right, allow your cat to approach the dog but not the other way around. Never leave your pets together unsupervised in this crucial stage, make sure they are well adjusted and your cat can easily get away if necessary.

Quick guide to canine introductions

Keep introductions short and sweet. Control everything and ensure the dog learns that it is more worth it's while to not chase the cat than to do so.

Do not force your cat into contact with your dog but when you think the time is right, sit quietly in a room with your dog beside as you as far from the doorway as possible.
Keep hold of the lead but let it hang loose or put your foot on the end so you can stop the dog chasing the cat. Have your supply of treats or new toy nearby and make your dog sit with his attention focused on you.
If you have someone to help you, get them to play with the cat and gradually move towards room but not too close. If not, choose a time that the cat is likely to approach or even lay a trail of treats that lead towards the room.
Reward your dog for not taking any notice or just sitting quietly and let the cat hop up onto a shelf, climbing frame or the back of a sofa.
End the session before your dog gets over excited or if the cat becomes stressed or frightened.