Weekend in the city has never been so mundane, all we have for entertainment would be watching television, reading a book or maybe trying that new recipe. Sometimes we wonder, if only someone, or something, can walk into our life, and bring happiness into our daily life.
Wait no more, cats are here. Cats? What are they doing in the city? Shouldn’t this tree climbing furry friends be in the forest or something? Well, those are wildcats. Thankfully, the ones in the city are domesticated cats. You may ask; What are domesticated cats? If we go way back in history, we would be surprised to know that cats domesticated themselves around 4000 years ago. Cats approach human as they see human kindness towards animal in providing food and shelter.
Living in the city, we will probably run into lots of cats in our neighborhood. However, cats are not pet that would follow what you tell them to do. Instead, you will need to learn the know-how of raising them. If you raise them right, they can be your companion for life.
Let’s begin with your first encounter with your forever companion.
First that you need to know, it is easier to begin raising cats while they were young. A cat needs to start socializing with human as young as 2 weeks old, so that they can be domesticated cats. However, you may come across a situation where the mother cat brought her 3 months old litter. That’s fine, you still have until the kitten turn 16 weeks old to try to socialize them with humans. After that time period, it would be too hard to start domesticating them.
Now we’ve got the socializing tips covered, next let’s look at the nature of cats.
Believe it or not, cats only meow to human. When cats meet each other, they do not meow to each other, they communicated using body language. The reason a cat meow to human is to get its owner’s attention. It is true a mother cat would meow to her kitten to come out from their hiding spot, and kitten meow to get their mother’s attention. However, as a cat grow to adulthood, they do not need to meow to each other.
Okay, now we have got the first two steps covered. Now for the most important part, feeding the cats.
The question that is on everyone’s mind; Do we feed the cats with wet food or dry food? Both type of food are good choices. You just need to make sure the food you are feeding them are balanced for their age. With wet food, your cats will love the texture and the moisture of the food. The taste and smell would be appealing to your cat, and it would be easier to chew. With dry cat food, mainly the dry kibbles, your cat’s teeth will become stronger with less plaque. Not to mention, dry food tends to be cost effective, having longer shelf life, and more convenient to prepare.
Your cat needs to play too. Make sure to prepare prey type kind of game. For an example, a feather with a bell attached to a string tied to a stick would be an attractive game to a cat, as you sway the feather around prompting the cat to catch it.
Make no mistake, your cat needs its own space that they can call theirs. If the cat lives indoors, they need a cat tree so they can hang out in their space when the needed to. An indoor cat needs a litter box too. For outdoor cats, any place in your yard can be their space.
You may wonder, for indoor cats, do you need to walk your cats outside? The answer to this question is, if your cats has always stayed indoors, they likely would not miss the outdoors. However, if your cats are strays which has always lived outdoors, moving them indoors would cause them to feel stress and restless.
If you plan to keep your feline friend indoor, around one to four cats would make a good number for indoor pets. However, if you plan to raise 5 or more cats, letting them live outdoor would be better. I mean, you don’t really want to look like some crazy cat lady with 20 cats in the house.
So, should cats get a bath? The answer for that is yes and no. Yes, you can bath a cat once a year, shampoo them so their fur will become clean, and free from flees. But ultimately, cats can groom themselves. Have you seen cats licking their fur? That is how they bath themselves.
Finally, cats do need to meet the veterinarian if they become sick. For an example, a kitten with swollen eyes. You can have the kitten meet the vet, so the vet can give the appropriate eye ointment.
Fulfilling the cat’s needs feels like a lot of work. Some cat owners joked that they feel as if they are butlers of their cats. However, the healing power a cat holds are endless. Imagine waking up and going outside of your house, to see your outdoor cats strut their way to your feet, looking at you with their big eyes and brushing their fur on your leg.
You felt welcomed. As you feed them, you felt thankful that you have a feline companion in this busy urban life. Urban life may not be all that, sure you have a lot of technologies, but you would miss the nature part of life.
Research shows that having a pet can heal many ailments, as it reduces stress and bring happiness to a person. Everyone deserves someone, or may I say, everyone deserves a cat. If you are nice to cats, they are bound to like you, and you will be blessed to have them in your life. In turn, the cat will stay with you, giving you companionship. The interactivity you have with the cats will be a sort of entertainment, in an otherwise mundane life.