Cat Streets

Has your cat been coughing and hacking? If so, he may have hairballs. If you see disgusting skinny oval blobs on the floor, you will know that your cat has managed to dislodge one of his hairballs.

What exactly is a hairball? It is a mass of hair and food that did not digest that forms inside a cat's body. Loose hair that collects on his tongue when he grooms himself. For some reason, the hair comes together and forms a ball in his stomach instead of simply passing through his body. Since these hairballs aren't able to break down and be digested, cats often cough them up to get rid of them. 

Cats do not like to be dirty. Most cats spend a good part of their day licking their paws and face to stay clean and tidy. However, despite this, few cat owners think about grooming their cats.

However, grooming a cat is very important. This process helps remove loose hair from your cat's body. Without brushing, a lot of this hair would have ended up in your cat's stomach. Since hair is not easily digestible, it often forms hairballs. While cats can sometimes cough up hairballs, they can clog the intestinal tract, as well. In addition, grooming can remove dirt and debris from your cat's coat. It is also a great opportunity to check for fleas and ticks.

A vaccine is a substance that is made from dead or living pathogens. It is injected into the body through inoculation (intranasal versions have also recently been developed), which causes the body to create antibodies and, therefore, makes your cat immune to getting the disease in the future.

What vaccines does your cat need, and on what timeline? What are the most common vaccines and what special vaccines may be needed? Find out more about common vaccines, some of the risks, and the appropriate timeframe for getting vaccines to keep your cat healthy.

Cats are ill tempered and mean at their worst, but even the most annoying problems have a remedy somewhere. Below are six of the most common behavioral problems in cats and some solutions for them.

1. Clawing your furnishings and carpet. Cats actually need to sharpen their claws, just like rodents need to gnaw. Their claws never stop growing, and what they're actually doing when they sharpen their claws is removing the outer layer of the claw. Some people will simply declaw a cat that is having this problem. I do not advocate this. Even the most indoor of cats may wind up outside by accident or design one day, and if you remove your cat's claws, you're taking away his or her primary form of defense.

Are your chairs, window screens, and rugs all turning to confetti beneath your cat's lethal claws? If so, you may be wondering how you can stop this behavior. Of course, it may be easier to stop your cat from destroying your home if you understand why he scratches first.

Before cats were domesticated, they were deadly hunters. They relied on their razor sharp claws to help them climb trees so that they could leap down on their prey. Today, cats may get dinner from a bowl, but they still sharpen their claws. Scratching is their way of trimming their nails, since it removes the old outer part of the claws. Another reasons cat scratch is to let other cats know that the house and yard belong to them. When cats scratch, they release scent from special glands in their paws that help them mark that spot as theirs. Finally, cats scratch to get the kinks out of their bodies and to burn off some of their energy.

When Feeding Your Cat  Make Sure Your Cat Gets the Nutrition He Needs! So, you have a new kitten. You can just dump some cat food in a bowl and get on with your life, right? Well, there's a bit more to the process than this. To keep your kitten healthy, you will need to be sure that you meet all of his nutritional needs.

For the first few weeks of his life, your kitten received all of his nutrition from his mother. As he reached four to six weeks of age, the breeder probably began supplementing the mother cat's milk with canned kitten food or with hard kitten chow moistened with water. By the time your kitten reached eight weeks of age, he was weaned and eating a diet of kitten food. Your breeder should have given you some of the food your kitten was eating or at least the name of the kitten chow.

If you've never owned a cat before, you may not realize that cats can suffer from quite a few different health problems. Some of these problems are easily preventable, while others are hereditary.

One of the most common cat health problems is the hairball. Cats groom themselves constantly with their tongues. The loose hair comes off on their tongues and is swallowed. Sometimes the hair gradually forms into a ball instead of passing through the cat's body. If your cat starts coughing and hacking, he may have a hairball. Usually, the cat will expel the ball on his own. To prevent hairballs, groom your cat frequently to remove loose hair. In addition, feed your cat food that helps control hairballs. Recently, cat treats that help control hairballs have become available, as well.

Has your cat been coughing and hacking? If so, he may have hairballs. If you see disgusting skinny oval blobs on the floor, you will know that your cat has managed to dislodge one of his hairballs.

What exactly is a hairball? It is a mass of hair and food that did not digest that forms inside a cat's body. Loose hair that collects on his tongue when he grooms himself. For some reason, the hair comes together and forms a ball in his stomach instead of simply passing through his body. Since these hairballs aren't able to break down and be digested, cats often cough them up to get rid of them. 

While cats do have a reputation as finicky eaters, few cats really insist on dining from fine crystal bowls. However, that doesn't mean you should feed your cat straight from the can, either. Cats should have their own sturdy feeders or bowls that are easy to clean.

If you spend quite a few hours away from home or have several cats, you may want to take a look at cat feeders that can hold enough food to feed a cat for several days. This way, you can be sure your cats are cared for even if you are a bit busy.

Get Rid of Those Itchy Insects: Has your cat become infested with fleas or ticks? If his buggy skin has been keeping you up all night, it is time for you to get those fleas or ticks under control.

Even the cleanest cats can end up with a flea infestation. All it takes to turn your flealess pet into a flea bag is one friendly stray cat or dog that comes along for a visit and leaves his fleas behind. When a person or cat walks outside, he will pick up the fleas and bring them inside. Even one flea can lay quite a few eggs. When the eggs hatch, you will have a full scale infestation.

Training your cat may sometimes be avoided by owners because of the nature of cats.  However, training your cat is not only possible, but also is becoming more popular in order to make the cat and your household easier to live in.  Because of the behaviors of cats, there are several techniques that can be used to train your cat without becoming frustrated and without punishing your cat.   

The best way to train a cat is to understand their behavior and instinct.  Most cats are intelligent creatures that react strongly to their environment.  Some of this is naturally done by their instincts and survival methods that have been used.  The behaviors of cats are also best to use when training a cat.  They are highly sensitive to things such as environment, sound and smell.  These behavioral reactions can be used to your benefit when training a cat.

The Perfect Place to Cat Nap: Are you tired of cat hair on the counters, footprints on the windowsills, and rumpled pillows? If so, you may want to consider giving your cat his own resting spot. In fact, to truly make your cat happy, you may need to provide him with several cat beds in different areas.

There are so many different types and styles of cat beds that finding one that blends with your décor should not be too hard. You can look for colorful cat beds in fun pet prints that add a touch of whimsy to the room or you can shop for cat beds with plenty of designer elegance, instead. Of course, your cat will be more concerned with how the bed feels than what it looks like.