Collars<\/strong>:\u00a0 All collars on cats are dangerous unless the collar has an elastic insert or is the “breakaway” style.\u00a0 Cats can strangle if the collar gets caught on something, or injure themselves trying to get the collar off.\u00a0 If you put a collar on a kitten, please be sure to check that it does not become too tight as the kitten grows! If your cat <\/strong><\/em>goes outside, prevent the cat from killing birds by adding a small bell to the collar.<\/p>\n Feeding<\/strong>: Do not feed your cat <\/strong><\/em>food made for dogs or use any dog care products on cats.\u00a0 Dog food and “human” table food lack essential vitamins and minerals cats need such as taurine – an essential amino acid for cats.\u00a0 Lack of taurine in the diet causes blindness, serious heart problems (dilated cardiomyopathy), and may promote urinary tract problems as well.\u00a0 Feed only well-balanced cat <\/strong><\/em>food, appropriate to the age and activity level of your cat.\u00a0 Avoid dairy products!\u00a0 Dog flea preparations often kill cats.\u00a0 Likewise, medications, shampoos and other products made for dogs (or humans) can be toxic to cats. Never give aspirin to a cat<\/strong><\/em>!<\/p>\n Surgical Claw Removal or Declawing<\/strong>: This is an extreme measure in which the entire last part of the ten front toes are amputated.\u00a0 A graphic comparison in human terms would be cutting off a person’s finger at the last joint.\u00a0 General anesthesia is used for this surgery, which always has a risk of disability or death associated with it.\u00a0 Because declawing provides no medical benefit to cats, even slight risk can be considered unacceptable.\u00a0 In addition, the recovery from declawing can be painful and lengthy and may involve postoperative complications such as infections, hemorrhage, and nail regrowth.\u00a0 The latter may subject the cat to additional surgery.\u00a0 Declawing not only robs a cat <\/strong><\/em>of an integral means of movement and defense, but it can also cause cats to undergo a profound personality change, in which they may become extremely <\/strong>timid or unusually aggressive.\u00a0 Other options <\/strong>include the use of scratching posts, adhesive plastic nail caps, regularly trimming the cat’s nails, and discouragement of unwanted behavior. <\/strong>Methods of discouragement include placing a sheet over the target furniture or using aluminum foil or double-sided tape on the object.\u00a0 It is also possible to discourage scratching by using a scent which cats generally do not like, such as the fresh smell of citrus.<\/p>\n Indoor cat<\/strong>: It is important to consider making your cat <\/strong><\/em>a strictly indoor pet.\u00a0 The list of risks to outdoor cats include poison (like antifreeze), injury (falls, cars, attacks by other animals or humans, or broken glass), parasites (fleas, ticks, or worms), disease (feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline infectious peritonitis, upper respiratory viruses, etc.), and theft. Believe it or not, pets are regularly stolen by unscrupulous individuals for sale to the animal research industry, for cult use, or as food for snakes.\u00a0Keep your cat <\/strong><\/em>indoors, and you will have a healthier, more socialized, and content family companion.<\/p>\n Keep your pet entertained<\/strong>: Provide your indoor cat <\/strong><\/em>with toys and a tall, sturdy scratching post made of a rough material such as sisal (hemp-like rope) or a strong woven material (carpeting is rarely a good material for a post), regular claw-clipping (we do not recommend de-clawing!!!), nutritious food, fresh water, and lots of love and companionship.\u00a0 You will both enjoy it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tips for cat owners. If you have a cat as a pet, check out these helpful tips provided by Clear the Air to ensure your cat is properly taken care of. Collars:\u00a0 All collars on cats are dangerous unless the collar has an elastic insert or is the “breakaway” style.\u00a0 Cats can strangle if the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[17,113,402,174,400,256,54,214,69,401,403,24,25,38,20,59],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":788,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions\/788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleartheair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}