By: Liz Barton
Cat training is not always easy, but it is possible. Though your cat may seem too independent and stubborn to change its behavior, you can get the job done if you make a commitment to the right strategies.
There are a few basic tents of successful training about whichever cat owner should be aware. Let us look at three of those cat training fundamentals:
The Need for Immediacy
Cats are incredibly smart animals, but they do not necessarily make the same kind of connections people do with respect to cause and effect. That is why it is essential to take action immediately when you observe inappropriate behavior. If your response is delayed by even a few seconds, it will lose a great deal of its effectiveness.
Never assume that your cat will remember what it did earlier in a day or that the cat will make any connection between your discipline and past behavior. Rarely, if ever, will that happen. If you correct your pet for something it did earlier, it will have no idea of why it is being corrected and may incorrectly link your actions to the behavior displayed immediately before you took action.
Encouraging Alternative Behaviors
One of the best ways to teach your cat not to engage in an undesirable behavior is to encourage the animal to do something else instead. This strategy works even better when the encouraged behavior is completely incompatible with the undesired action. This technique works because cats, like all animals, are more responsive to positive reinforcement.
You will have greater success encouraging and rewarding what you would like to see than you will by trying to stop what you do not. Instead of discouraging your cat from scratching a table leg, encourage your pet to exercise that instinct on its scratching post!
Avoiding Physical Discipline
Physical punishment will not contribute to successful cat training. Negative reinforcements do not work well for cats and hitting or otherwise physically reprimanding your pet will only make your relationship more difficult while inspiring unnecessary fear in the animal.
Cats are not always the easiest animals to train, but if one approaches the project with the right attitude and strategies, it is possible to direct a cat’s behavior. The three elements of cat training we’ve discussed all share features common to all successful techniques--they are all based on the understanding that positive reinforcement offers the greatest chance of success and that cat owners should always use the least aggressive means of correcting behavior.
Those three rules of thumb are at the very core of smart cat training.
Author's Resource:
This article was written by Liz Barton. Learn more about how to solve your cat behavior problems - you'll find another cat training article by visiting www.secretsofcats.com/training_cats.html
Visit Animal Pets & Friends for more pet and animal articles.
Cat Leukemia - What You Need To Know About This Deadly Cat Disease
By: David Lee
Cats, just like any other animal and their caretakers, can get sick. If you love cats and own them, there are some things you should know about the illnesses that can affect your feline friend.
Leukemia
Even for humans, this word is one you never hope to hear. For Felines, it's a virus, that works by producing an enzyme that it then inserts into healthy cells infecting them. Just like a retrovirus. Because of this, it is a particularly nasty illness.
Cats who have the feline leukemia virus are found all over the world. The likelihood of a cat becoming infected can depend a lot on the age of the cat, its health, environment and lifestyle. Cats who are very young or ill have an even greater chance of contracting the virus.
How Do Cats Become Infected?
Other cats are the main source of the infection being spread. The virus is
passed on in large amounts through saliva or nasal fluids. But it may also be passed on through urine, feces and milk from the cats that are infected. The virus is also passed on through cat-to-cat contact, such as fighting resulting in wounds, when cats groom each other and, sometimes, through sharing litter boxes.
What type of cats have a greater risk of being infected?
Any cat is at risk of being infected, although some cats are at a greater risk than most. If a cat is living with other cats that are infected or it is unknown whether they are infected with feline leukemia virus, risks of the cat becoming infected are very high.
If you allow your cats to roam free out of doors then their chances of contracting this disease increases. They run a greater risk of coming in contact with infected cats and being bitten or scratched, allowing the virus to transfer itself. Kittens have a greater risk of becoming infected, especially when they are nursing since the virus can be transmitted through the mother's milk. Also, they have weaker immune systems.
Feline Leukemia: How to spot the symptoms and what it does to your feline
Feline Leukemia works very much like HIV in humans. It attacks the immune system of your cat, making it difficult for your cat to fight off even the most minor of illnesses. It can cause other health problems for your cat as well, such as blood disorders and has been linked as being a source of cancer in cats.
The main things to look for with feline leukemia is loss of appetite, weight loss and general loss of health for your cat. These may not be noticeable at first, since this virus can progress slowly. If you don't see any other sign see if you notice your cat becoming sick more often. Continual illness is a possible sign.
There are also other signs that usually show up a bit later in the diseases progression. These include fever, enlarged lymph nodes, pale gums or gums that are inflamed.
By paying attention to your cats health and following these tips, you may be able to avoid this dangerous cat illness.
Author's Resource:
Learn more about your pet from David's pet sites. Cat Feline Leukemia, Dog Disease, Dog Illness, Cat Furniture.
Visit Animal Pets & Friends for more pet and animal articles.
Cats, just like any other animal and their caretakers, can get sick. If you love cats and own them, there are some things you should know about the illnesses that can affect your feline friend.
Leukemia
Even for humans, this word is one you never hope to hear. For Felines, it's a virus, that works by producing an enzyme that it then inserts into healthy cells infecting them. Just like a retrovirus. Because of this, it is a particularly nasty illness.
Cats who have the feline leukemia virus are found all over the world. The likelihood of a cat becoming infected can depend a lot on the age of the cat, its health, environment and lifestyle. Cats who are very young or ill have an even greater chance of contracting the virus.
How Do Cats Become Infected?
Other cats are the main source of the infection being spread. The virus is
passed on in large amounts through saliva or nasal fluids. But it may also be passed on through urine, feces and milk from the cats that are infected. The virus is also passed on through cat-to-cat contact, such as fighting resulting in wounds, when cats groom each other and, sometimes, through sharing litter boxes.
What type of cats have a greater risk of being infected?
Any cat is at risk of being infected, although some cats are at a greater risk than most. If a cat is living with other cats that are infected or it is unknown whether they are infected with feline leukemia virus, risks of the cat becoming infected are very high.
If you allow your cats to roam free out of doors then their chances of contracting this disease increases. They run a greater risk of coming in contact with infected cats and being bitten or scratched, allowing the virus to transfer itself. Kittens have a greater risk of becoming infected, especially when they are nursing since the virus can be transmitted through the mother's milk. Also, they have weaker immune systems.
Feline Leukemia: How to spot the symptoms and what it does to your feline
Feline Leukemia works very much like HIV in humans. It attacks the immune system of your cat, making it difficult for your cat to fight off even the most minor of illnesses. It can cause other health problems for your cat as well, such as blood disorders and has been linked as being a source of cancer in cats.
The main things to look for with feline leukemia is loss of appetite, weight loss and general loss of health for your cat. These may not be noticeable at first, since this virus can progress slowly. If you don't see any other sign see if you notice your cat becoming sick more often. Continual illness is a possible sign.
There are also other signs that usually show up a bit later in the diseases progression. These include fever, enlarged lymph nodes, pale gums or gums that are inflamed.
By paying attention to your cats health and following these tips, you may be able to avoid this dangerous cat illness.
Author's Resource:
Learn more about your pet from David's pet sites. Cat Feline Leukemia, Dog Disease, Dog Illness, Cat Furniture.
Visit Animal Pets & Friends for more pet and animal articles.
On Holiday With Your Cat
By: Laura Marsh
It’s that time of year again, your off on your family holiday, and second to booking your holiday, you ring the cattery and book a place for your cat. Think about the money and inconvenient this can cause, having to sort your cat out a few days before you go, paying extra if you are late back, the list is endless.
But did you know that you can take your cat with you, on your holiday? This doesn’t really apply for overseas holidays unless your cat has a pet passport. All over the country holiday accommodation owners are starting to realise there is a whole market of people that they’ve over looked – the pet owner.
If you use a travel agent, ask them to provide a list of accommodation that accepts pets. If you book your holiday online, there are plenty of websites out there that will list places in your country that will accept you cat. You’ll find these are no more expensive than your normal accommodation, simply because you don’t have to add the price of an extra room, just make sure you take your cats bed with you.
Before you on holiday make sure you take your cat to the vet and get it checked over. The last thing you want is to have an emergency with your cat while you’re away. Once you’re sure your cat is in good health, make sure you’ve got everything you need; make sure you cats travel box is clean and comfortable especially if you’ll be travelling for a long time. You may also find it useful to take an extra blanket and cover the travel box with a blanket while you travel, as this will calm your cat down and it will probably sleep most of the way.
Pack sufficient food and cat litter for the entire holiday, as if you run out you may not be able to get to a shop easily, and you’ll have a very upset cat.
When you arrive to your holiday destination, let your cat out and let it investigate the accommodation, once its done that it should settle in just fine. Show your cat where you are going to put its food and litter so there are no accidents. And if you are on a short break, say about 1 week, then keep your cat indoors, the last thing you want is to loose your cat when your on holiday. If your there for 2 or 3 weeks, that’s not so bad, and your cat should be fine roaming about in the garden (if there is one).
Not all cats will accept holidaying with the family. Elderly cats can find travel difficult and may get very upset when not in their own environment. The same goes for any sick cats. Some timid cats may find it hard to settle in to a new environment so quickly, and it may be disturbing for them. But for the average, boisterous, family cat they’ll enjoy the experience of exploring new places.
So next time you have to fork out for cattery fees, consider taking your cat on holiday with you.
Author's Resource:
www.caringforyourcat.info
Visit Animal Pets & Friends for more pet and animal articles.
It’s that time of year again, your off on your family holiday, and second to booking your holiday, you ring the cattery and book a place for your cat. Think about the money and inconvenient this can cause, having to sort your cat out a few days before you go, paying extra if you are late back, the list is endless.
But did you know that you can take your cat with you, on your holiday? This doesn’t really apply for overseas holidays unless your cat has a pet passport. All over the country holiday accommodation owners are starting to realise there is a whole market of people that they’ve over looked – the pet owner.
If you use a travel agent, ask them to provide a list of accommodation that accepts pets. If you book your holiday online, there are plenty of websites out there that will list places in your country that will accept you cat. You’ll find these are no more expensive than your normal accommodation, simply because you don’t have to add the price of an extra room, just make sure you take your cats bed with you.
Before you on holiday make sure you take your cat to the vet and get it checked over. The last thing you want is to have an emergency with your cat while you’re away. Once you’re sure your cat is in good health, make sure you’ve got everything you need; make sure you cats travel box is clean and comfortable especially if you’ll be travelling for a long time. You may also find it useful to take an extra blanket and cover the travel box with a blanket while you travel, as this will calm your cat down and it will probably sleep most of the way.
Pack sufficient food and cat litter for the entire holiday, as if you run out you may not be able to get to a shop easily, and you’ll have a very upset cat.
When you arrive to your holiday destination, let your cat out and let it investigate the accommodation, once its done that it should settle in just fine. Show your cat where you are going to put its food and litter so there are no accidents. And if you are on a short break, say about 1 week, then keep your cat indoors, the last thing you want is to loose your cat when your on holiday. If your there for 2 or 3 weeks, that’s not so bad, and your cat should be fine roaming about in the garden (if there is one).
Not all cats will accept holidaying with the family. Elderly cats can find travel difficult and may get very upset when not in their own environment. The same goes for any sick cats. Some timid cats may find it hard to settle in to a new environment so quickly, and it may be disturbing for them. But for the average, boisterous, family cat they’ll enjoy the experience of exploring new places.
So next time you have to fork out for cattery fees, consider taking your cat on holiday with you.
Author's Resource:
www.caringforyourcat.info
Visit Animal Pets & Friends for more pet and animal articles.