There are many reasons why some people might think that cats are bad pets to have. These include the fact that they’re on their own schedule, furry, and sometimes loud. However, there are ways to have a well-behaved cat and it may be worth considering before you make up your mind about what type of pet would work best for you.
The tips below will help you create the perfect environment for a happy cat who doesn’t cause any problems around the house-
*Use an appropriate food dish – Cats like to drink from running water so use a dish with fresh water all day long or put out several dishes; this also helps teach them not to play in their food dish because they can easily get wet and get it everywhere.
*Provide enough food and water – Ensure that you put out the right amount of food for your cat to eat in a day; keep it in an airtight container and make sure to clean up after them when they’re done eating.
*Don’t leave wet food out all day – Put wet food in the refrigerator when you get home because cats like their food at room temperature.
*Don’t leave dry food out all day – Put your cat’s dry food in an airtight container because this will keep it fresher longer and they won’t eat as much.
*Use a litter box with low sides – Cats like to dig and cover their business so use a litter box with low sides.
*Don’t be too noisy – Cats are naturally skittish animals by nature so don’t be too loud around them. They will probably run away.
*Create barriers – Don’t let your cat get on counters by putting down anything they might climb over. If they can’t get on the counter they won’t be able to cause any damage, make a mess, or eat something they shouldn’t.
*Keep food and medications hidden – Keep your cat from getting into things by putting them in drawers or cabinets; this also works for medicine and snacks.
Learn the kids with the cat
While teaching your cat how you want it to behave, at the same time teach the kids how to deal with the cat. It is important from an early stage that the kids realise the cat isn’t a toy and should be treated with love and respect. If you have a baby, then it may be best to supervise interactions until you can learn the child what the cat is and how to react to it. If the kids pull the cats the tail or whiskers and the cat lashes out, don’t blame the cat as it is simply defending itself.
Make sure your kids understand that the cat is not a toy and they shouldn’t run, jump or play with it. Make sure that any kind of physical or verbal abuse towards the cat by the kids is dealt with harshly; even if the cat growls at them for hitting it. This could make them overly physical because they learnt nothing from the incident.
Reprimanding
Never use physical force with your cat – teach them what is good and bad by your voice and your actions. Hitting the cat won’t learn it what to do and will end up where they are aggressive with you or fearful, neither making for a good and happy pet. Understanding why a cat is behaving in a certain way is another big factor to solving the problem – they don’t do things just to be awkward but because an instinct is telling them to.
Finally, when reprimanding your cat for a bad behaviour – make sure that the show it how to behave in return. If they scratched sofa cushions, for example, give them something to scratch. Cats love going underneath things and going up high so consider putting up scratching posts instead of constantly replacing sofa cushions.
