Catnip and Cats

What do cats just love? Why catnip of course. My cat loves to roll around in it when I sprinkle some on the carpet. A good sniff test comes first. Then he rolls over and proceeds to try and crush it into the carpet with his back.

If you want your cat to play in a certain area, sprinkle catnip in this area. By doing this on a consistent basis, your cat will learn that particular spot as its favorite. If you want to train your cat to stay in one part of the house most of the time, this same technique can be applied.

Why do cats love catnip?

Catnip is actually a member of a plant family That includes mint. The leaves of this cat favorite plant has oil on its leaves that produce a smell that cats like. When a cat bites into something that contains catnip leaves or rolls on them, the membrane of the leaf is broken releasing a distinctive scent. Once a cat gets a smell of this scent, they are ecstatically happy. All is well in the world of cats.

A cat has genes that make it susceptible to the feeling of overwhelming joy from catnip. Now, not all of these felines posses this gene. Another point is that this gene is present in kittens, but is not activated until the animal gets older. About 70 % of felines have this gene. This includes the big cats you find at the zoo. The bigger cats that I am referring to are cheetahs, lions, tigers and others. It does not matter what size they are. If they have the gene that allows them to feel the pleasure catnip provides, they will be affected by it.

People want their pet cats to be happy. They want to give them a treat now and then. Catnip will provide this treat for them. People will go out and buy a toy filled with the stuff for their pet. Sometimes they bring the toy home and it appears to do nothing for the cat. The owner knows that the feline likes catnip. What is the problem?

When you go to buy a toy filled with this substance or a jar of it to refill a toy, you need to be careful what you buy. You must read the labels on the toys and the jars. A lot of companies will include filler in the toy or jar. The leaves will be all dried out and not contain any of the oil that has the aroma that cats like. Read the label of the products you buy and make sure you are getting 100 % catnip. Smell the packaging. If you can not get a hint of the smell of the catnip, your cat will not be able to either. Make sure the leaves are a really dark green and smells like mint. Of course, if it is inside a toy, you will have to rely on your nose and not your eyes.

You can save yourself some time in the store by buying this plant in bulk. It can stored for up to about a year. You can freeze it, but do not refrigerate it. put in a empty glass pickle jar with the lid on it or a plastic lunch bag that seals.

Cat Flea Treatment

The need for cat flea treatment may not be noticed by pet owners until the cat's skin is badly infested with the insects. Pet owners are accustomed to the frequent grooming of their cat and may not notice the problem until there is visible loss of fur or they notice bumps on the animal's skin.

On white or light colored felines the fleas can easily be seen scurrying around. On dark fur you may need a fine toothed flea comb to see the tiny black dots commonly referred to as flea dirt. This is actually flea excrement - a clear indication your animal has a flea problem.

Unchecked flea infestations can cause feline anemia which can be fatal in kittens. If your cat has been heavily infested with fleas, pale gums can be signal of anemia caused by loss of blood. A more serious type of feline anemia is caused by a microorganism transmitted by fleas. This severe form of anemia may require antibiotics and steroids. In the most serious cases, blood transfusions may be recommended by your veterinarian.

Tapeworm is a common consequence of fleas on cats. Kittens are prone to worms and are often dewormed routinely. Older cats may exhibit dull coat, weight loss and appear lethargic when tapeworms are present. For the owner, the appearance of small white specks around the anus are a clear symptom of tapeworm. Your veterinarian can provide a small pill that will effectively kill tapeworms. Controlling fleas on your pet will prevent tapeworms in the future.

Fleas will make your cat itchy and uncomfortable and can lead to further skin problems and infections. Topical flea treatments such as Advantage, Frontline and Revolution can totally eliminate the flea problem for cat owners.

Advantage was the first widely used veterinarian recommended topical flea treatment. It is generally regarded as safe for adult cats and for kittens over 6 weeks old. Advantage is an effective and cost effective flea control medication.

Frontline for Cats kills fleas on your pet in twelve hours and also protects from ticks and lice. The spray version of Frontline may be less expensive for those who have a multiple cat household but the topical drops are more popular as they are easier to apply.

The introduction of Revolution provided a medication that would control fleas but also some ticks and ear mites and provide protection against heartworm. Revolution is a systemic product that remains in the cat's bloodstream and some animals will have an allergic reaction to it. This flea prevention medication is available only through a veterinarian and provides complete parasite control as it also prevents hookworm and roundworm.

Although both Advantage and Frontline products are offered by pet stores both offline and online, it is recommended that you purchase directly from a veterinarian. It is important to buy products that are well within the expiration dates and avoid cheap imitations that are packaged to look like the original product but are ineffective and could harm your cat.

Topical flea treatment for cats remains effective for up to a month and kills new fleas as they hatch. Fleas lay their eggs on your cat or dog and the insects may go through the entire life cycle on your pet.

Other eggs may drop off onto carpeting or pet beds or on the cushions of your couch. Stopping the flea cycle requires eliminating the flea population on your cat, preventing newly hatched fleas from maturing and controlling any fleas in your home. There are insect sprays specifically formulated to kill fleas on furniture and powders that can be sprinkled on carpets. After a few minutes, vacuuming the carpet removed the powder and the dead fleas.

Steam cleaning carpet and furniture and frequently washing cat beds is effective in preventing fleas from establishing a colony in your home. The low cost topical flea treatments for cats are available online and are inexpensive to use.

Applying the topical flea treatment for cats is as simple as placing a few drops of the medicine on the top of the cat's neck. The only caution is to put the drops where the cat cannot reach them or lick them off. Chances are your cat won't notice the flea drops when you apply them, but within 24 hours the fleas will be gone. Combing with a fine toothed flea comb will remove the dead fleas and flea dirt from your cat's coat.

Your Cat's Personality

When visiting neighbors who have cats you are likely to run into 2 kinds. The pets that are friendly, like people and want interaction with them and the ones that want to be left alone. Cats are very friendly when treated the right way as kittens, just like people. These felines will bite and scratch if irritated enough. Do you not defend your yourself or get angry when irritated? For the most part they are very friendly. The problem pets come into the picture for many reasons.

One reason a cat may not like attention, avoid people and hate being picked up is lack of proper tending to when it was a very young kitten. When you get a kitten for a pet, you should pay a lot of attention to it. Pick it up and hold it every chance you get. This will lead to your pet wanting to be held and payed attention to. It will become a lap cat. It will sit on you lap while watching TV. It will climb onto your bed and lay on your chest for some loving. Your cat will generally be a happy camper all around.

Another reason a cat may not like people is abuse. If as a kitten it was abused by being treated badly, mishandled or a young child or someone else was just plain mean to it, they will not want any parts of humans. You should supervise young children when a kitten is introduced into the household as a pet. Teach the child to be kind to animals.

A stressed out cat can turn and bite or scratch you to. The cat may be used to a nice quiet house. You may have a party and people wanting to pick up the cat. All the noise and the extra people may make your pet stressed and more apt to not want to be paid attention to. Usually the cat will find a place where it can hide until the situation is back to normal. On the other hand, if has been brought up to be a friendly cat and like people, it just may be a social part of the party.

Just like people, if cats are sick they want to be left alone. When you are sick do want people disturbing you? You want to be left alone until you feel better. If a cat is sick, they will feel the same way. They will bite you and scratch you if they are sick and do not want to be bothered.

One thing you might want to do is trim your cats claws. Keeping them trimmed will reduce the pain that these feline legs can dish out. It will not hurt you as much as really sharp unattended to claws would. You will be able to enforce some discipline easier by knowing the cat will not take a big chunk of your skin off with one swipe.

Cat Pregnancy

If you are a cat breeder and facing some problems in the pregnancy of your pet then there can be several issues that are taking part to stop her from being pregnant. Being a specialist in cat health issues I personally feel it quite important to share some good and useful information on this important issue. If you are having such type of problems or just want to learn about them then read the whole article because here I am going to share some useful content with you.

The major cause, that why your cat is not getting pregnant is infertility. In this case, the major factors that are responsible for this issue are poor breeding techniques. To tell you the truth, a cat is not so friendly in mating with the other partner. In such cases, you have to observe the behavior of your cat that either it is enjoying the mating process or getting uncomfortable. If the cat is not so comfortable then you have to switch the partner because your cat will not get pregnant.

Poor sperm production is also an important issue and there are several problems that a pet is facing. The major cause of this issue is some health problems or due to some injuries in the abdomen or the mating area. In this case it is quite difficult to get your kitty pregnant. Moreover, if your cat is quite healthy or weak then it can also take some time to conceive the sperms. So, if your cat is healthy or weaker then try to give her some healthy food.

The other main issue that creates troubles in the cat pregnancy is "Dystocia". In this case, it has become quite difficult for the kitty to deliver the kittens easily. Mostly, the birth of kittens by a cat is very natural but sometimes such problems can occur. If your cat starts panting during the delivery period then it is quite alarming because she is having some troubles to deliver the babies.

If you are interested to learn more about cat pregnancy then you can visit my own pet health site. The links are mentioned in the resource box for your assistance.

Cat Fleas

If you have many cats and you want to know more about this creature then read this article thoroughly because I am going to discuss an important topic in this article. To tell you the truth, there are many things that I want to discuss with all of you people but due to shortage of words and time I can only discuss about cat fleas. Well, this is a persistent disease and if your beloved pet is under the influence of this sickness then you have to take proper steps to alleviate this ongoing pain.

You might have observed that a cat licks her fur too much and most of the people including you (I am sure) thinks that a cat loves to itch herself by this habit. By the scientific views and thoughts, if you are thinking this, then you are totally wrong because the scenario is quite opposite to it. To tell you the truth, the structure of a normal cat is quite friendly with the fleas and other foreign objects. In short, different bacteria and other germs can easily find their place in the fur of your cat and due to this reason your beloved kitty licks her fur for all the time.

Now you might be thinking the easy ways to get rid of this persistent disease. Yes, there are many ways that can help you to get rid of this sickness. Furthermore, the best and easy solution of cat fleas is to examine the fur of your pet on daily basis. Though, this practice is quite time taking but it can result in good health of your pet.

If you observe your cat that it is very drowsy, not eating food properly and scratching its skin all the time then it is an alarming situation because your cat is under the viral attack. Try to consult the vet if you have enough money otherwise search some useful content from the sites I have mentioned below.