March 22, 2008

Cat Breeds - Random Breeds and Pure Breeds Compared

Comparing Random Cat Breeds to Pure Cat Breeds

While people who like cat shows and cliché cats tend to go exclusively with ownership of purebreds, pet owners are generally just as happy with cat breeds that pop up in the streets of their local neighborhoods. Whether you go with a purebred or a street kitten, you can generally find the traits in cat breeds that best suit your household. Either way, you still have the great feline domestic pet that is relatively self-sufficient and easy to care for. Give your cat some food, water, a toy, clean cat litter, and a few minutes of daily affection and you’ll have yourself a low-maintenance little family member.

In spite of what your local cat breeders would like you to think, most cat lovers don’t own pure cat breeds. They adopt a kitten or adult cat from the local shelter. Only a few among the wealthy classes of society really go for pure cat breeds because of the high costs of purchasing one of these cats. Having pure cat breeds doesn’t serve much purpose beyond making your cat more of a show piece. As far as being a quality pet, the cat’s health and personality are far more important considerations than choosing between pure cat breeds.

That is not to say that there isn’t a certain satisfaction for enthusiasts of certain cat breeds in owning a purebred cat. When you purchase pure cat breeds you have the advantage of knowing exactly what to expect in terms of how your kitten will look and behave when it grows up. Pure cat breeds have consistent body sizes, fur coats, and body shapes. Cat breeds also tend to have pretty much the same mental and emotional traits from one cat to the next.

Whether your are going with pure cat breeds or going for the random cat breeds you find in the local shelter, the main distinguishing feature in how the cats must be cared for is the length of their fur. If you like having a cat to bathe regularly and brush daily, you may be a candidate to own one of the cat breeds with longer fur. But you must also be willing to deal with more hairballs and flea problems. If you are more into a simple cat to care for, you will probably be happy with the much more common cat breeds that have short fur.

It is important to remember that pure cat breeds are mostly man-made manipulations of breeding. That doesn’t make these cat breeds lesser cats, as they are still cats. But just because a cat doesn’t fall into any particular cat breeds doesn’t make it any less worthy of being a pet. Currently there are about seventy registered cat breeds in the United States, but there are thousands of random cat breeds that have formed on their own which receive no official classification recognition.

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Cat Training Tips - Cat Treatments Training Tips

A few basic cat treatments training tips

Cat treatments training is generally much easier than dog training because there isn’t as much you need to teach to a cat as there is that you need to teach to a dog, and most of what there is to teach to a cat goes along with its natural inclinations. Most everything you will need to teach your cat to make it a good member of your household will only take a day or two. If it takes a few days longer, do not lose patience with your cat as these tips for cat treatment do work. Among the best training tips for cat treatments I can give you is the insight that reprimanding a cat is a futile move. Generally, the most important tip I can give you is that you have to find a more subtle approach to fixing each naughty behavior than saying "No" or "Bad cat". Likewise, a good addition to my tips on cat treatments is that trying to say "Good kitty" will make your cat purr sometimes but with most cat breeds it doesn’t usually promote your point the way "Good dog" does with your dog. However, rewarding good behavior with food generally gets the point across very well.

One of the most annoying, and potentially dangerous, habits that cats are prone to developing is playing with or eating your house plants. For this reason, people are often seeking good advice and they should do fast - many of these plants are pure poison instead of a good cat treatment. As you can’t say "No" and get any response, I will give you a couple of tips that most people find helpful. One way to stop your cat from getting into the house plants is to go to your local pet store and get a nontoxic substance you can spray on the plants that has a repulsive smell to your cat. Unfortunately, sometimes a repulsive smell is motivation enough for felines to attack. The other option is to build your cat its own edible plant play garden where it can’t make a mess. Whenever the cat gets naughty with the other house plants, say a firm "No" and then immediately put the cat in its play garden and say "Good kitty" and pet the cat when it starts playing in its play garden. I know, we alluded to words not being very effective for training cats, but one of the important cat training tips is that using them in combinations with other training techniques adds a little more effectiveness to the kitty training.

The last of the cat treatment training tips is simply to spend time with your cat. Most bad behavior by cats can be explained by the cat feeling neglected. Cats may act aloof a lot, but if you aren’t around the house much and they don’t have other playmates they go on rampages as a form of entertainment. Besides, the more time you spend with the cat, especially early in life, the better socialized the cat will be.
 

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March 21, 2008

Cat Training - Best Cat Training Methods

Cat Training: Only Positive Manipulation Will Do

Cats have a lot more intelligence than we tend to believe. Part of this lack of belief is rooted in the fact that cats just don’t learn the same way other creatures do. Telling your cat "No" is a generally futile way to begin cat training. But that doesn’t mean that your cat cannot learn verbal cues. Indeed, your very first cat training session should be to teach your cat to respond to your cat’s name. It is all about learning the most effective ways to undertake cat training.

Motivating a cat to participate positively in a cat training program is a matter of identifying the cat’s needs. All cats have a need for food and water. They also need a place where they can go potty regularly. Most cats also need to use their claws by either hunting or playing violent games. Nearly all cat breeds also require regular social interaction as well. If you deny your cat any of these things, you can be sure that negative behavior will be the result.

For example, if you don’t give your cat a scratching post or a good play toy, the cat will be forced to put its claws to use on your furniture and tapestries. In some cases, your own flesh could be involved in meeting this need, particularly if you have also neglected to fill the food or water bowls. Likewise, if you don’t give your cat a suitable place to potty, well, it could get messy in your house. If you don’t pet your cat for several days you shouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a household terror, resembling a mad man, but with claws.

Generally, cats are naturally well-behaved creatures, provided they are given a sense of autonomy. Unlike dogs, who want to please you, cats want to feel they are the ones in total control of their lives. But they will do everything they think will get them positive rewards, provided controlling commands like "sit", "stay", and "fetch" aren’t your cat training goals. It is easy to see why telling your cat "no" or giving it physical discipline will be fruitless in this light. The more correct way to correct the cat’s behavior is to figure out what need is not being met enough to promote the correct behavior. There is a benefit to saying a firm "no" when you correct a cat’s behavior, but don’t expect "no" alone, or accompanied by any kind of violence, to correct cat behavior.

If you just aren’t creative enough to figure out how to positively reward your cat for avoiding a bad behavior, there is the option of spritzing your cat’s face with water. This is effective, but may result in other unwanted rebellious type behaviors the cat will naturally undertake to regain its sense of autonomy. The best training methods with cats really are finding out what kind of reward you can give the cat to behave in the manner in which you want the cat to behave.

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Cat Potty Training

The Two-Step Cat Potty Training

Cats are an important part of the home in modern society. Cats make excellent pets for most people because they are quite self-sufficient and prefer to take care of themselves. All they really want from you is affection, on their terms, and plenty of delicious cat food and water. In most cases, if you give them the two things they want from you and provide them with a clean cat box, they will take care of the rest. Let them feel neglected in some way, and they will make sure they leave little deposits around the house to let you know about it. So cat potty training is really as much about you as it is about teaching the cat anything.

Cats actually begin cat potty training as kittens. It’s a behavior that their mothers convey to them. However, when a cat doesn’t seem to get it, further steps may be needed to reinforce the idea that it feels really good to use the litter box to go potty. We call this cat potty training. Relax, it is actually a simple little two step process.

1. Gotta Have a Cat Box

It may sound a bit obvious that cat potty training begins with ownership of a cat box, but not everyone who grew up without a cat around knows this when they purchase a cat. Further, if you are adopting a little kitten, you probably want to begin your cat potty training in a cat box with a low lip that allows the kitten to see the land flowing with cat litter. Although cats of all ages love the smell of cat litter, they may be inspired by the smell without seeing the goods and just go somewhere nearby if they don’t know where the cat litter actually is. This isn’t the cat’s fault, it is your fault.

If you are adopting an older cat, you need to respect your cat’s right to privacy when cat potty training. Older cats will want a more modest, high lipped box. They may even prefer one of those enclosed cat litter boxes for extra privacy. What? You didn’t know animals like their privacy when they take care of their business too? Fortunately, these enclosed boxes with high lips are readily available at pet stores.

2. Don’t Forget to Litter Your Cat Box

Of course, we are referring to putting cat litter in your cat’s box, not to putting your trash in there. Cats are clean creatures which is why they prefer going in sand or cat litter and covering it up when they are done. Isn’t cat potty training easy? If you let their litter get too much waste in it, they will go find a cleaner potty spot like your shoes in the closet, for instance. So if you want to have your cat potty training go down smoothly, I recommend you purchase the clumping cat litter. It is much easier to quickly clean and keep your cat using the cat litter box. You just use one of those sifting cat litter shovels from the pet store to remove the cat poop clumps from the litter. Nearly all cats will simply use the cat litter box once they know where it is and see it 1/3 full of inviting, cat potty training cat litter.

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