My 1 1/2 year old male cat that was neutered and vaccinated, then got deathly ill, is now raring to go--outside that is.
I haven't let him out, even though sometimes he howls, caterwauls. How long does the testosterone stay in a male cat's system after neutering?
Wish it would hurry up and go.
HOW TO COEXIST HAPPILY WITH YOUR CAT
The common complaint from those who own and don't own cats is that they shed hair and claw furniture and carpet. Some cat owners decide that they can live with this. Many times, however, their friends and family can't live with the hair. |
So, what happens? The cat owner either decides to get rid of the cat or keep the cat and visit their friends and family outside of their home.
But, there is a way to have cats in your house, minimize shedding, save your furniture, and have a home that is pleasant for friends and family to visit.
The first thing some people might think of to keep a cat from clawing furniture and carpet is declawing.
If you are considering doing this, you need to know that this procedure is worse than the torture that prisoners of war went through when they had their nails removed from their fingers and toes.
Although legal in most US jurisdictions, other than eight cities in California, many countries in Europe, Australia, and Brazil have banned this barbaric practice.
Declawing is amputation; it is not merely the removal of the claws. To declaw a cat, the veterinarian cuts off the last knuckles of a cat's paw – cutting through bone, tendons, skin and nerves. In a person, it is equivalent to amputating each finger or toe at the last joint.
Declaw surgery can be an extremely painful procedure with associated health risks and complications such as infection.
Declaw surgery can produce permanent lameness, pain or arthritis.
Declawing is the same mutilating procedure for house cats or big cats.
So, what are the alternatives? Get your kitty scratching posts made out of sisal. Place the posts in areas that he or she likes to scratch. Play with your cat near the post to encourage her to scratch. Do not take your cats claws and “show him or her how to scratch” the post. This will just produce a bratty attitude. They will only walk away and ignore you.
To discourage a cat from scratching your furniture, cover with duct tape or aluminum foil until the cat learns to scratch the post. If the cat has marked furniture with his or her scent, you will need to remove this scent with pet odor remover cleaners. Also, cats hate the smell of citrus products, so try spraying lemon or orange scented sprays on your furniture
.
Now, as far as the hair shedding goes, the best thing to do, if possible, is get rid of all your carpet. Replace with wood, tile, or vinyl floors, get throw rugs, which are easily washed and replaced. Second, brush your cat daily—of course brush in an area where you don't care about hair getting all over the place. Also, there are many products on the market designed to reduce hair shedding. One is the Furminator, said to get into the underneath layer of your cat's coat.
If you don't have time to brush your cat(s) fur every day, then get covers for your furniture. SureFit makes some very attractive covers. Alternately, buy a couple of matching King sized comforters for your sofa and Queen size for your loveseat. When one set becomes coated with hair, remove and wash. Put your other set on while washing and drying the set you removed. You can buy comforters pretty cheap at WalMart or look at thrift stores for bedspreads, quilts, and comforters.
Using a humidifer indoors in the winter, or at least setting pans of water around the house (out of the cat's reach of course) can help “weigh down” the hair flying through the air, so that it lands on the floor instead. This makes it easier to sweep or vaccum the hair off the floors.
I used to always sweep my kitchen floor, then mop. Frequently I found that I was sweeping the hair into the air, thus getting cat hair in my eyes, which sometimes took a couple of days to wash out of my eye. Finally, I realized the best solution was to mop first and then sweep. Why? For the same reason that a humidifier weighs down the hair—the water keeps the hair from flying into the air. Once you are finished mopping, the wet hair/grit remaining on the floor can be easily swept into a dustpan.
