12 replies to this topic

[Whitewhiskers]

Hey, so I think I’m giving my cats improper care (I just didn’t ever think of it since I’ve grown up caring for them like this)

 

Here are my questions:

Is blue buffalo food ok for them?

do they need certain toys to play with? My cats are 7 and 14 so they don’t like to play with kitten toys but any type of enrichment?

Anything else I should know?

 

Here’s my care basically:

Blue buffalo food always available

water also always available

they free roam

I pet them and give them attention like all day long

I give them treats and catnip sometimes

 

is this good??

[~Bumble~]

Hey, so I think I’m giving my cats improper care (I just didn’t ever think of it since I’ve grown up caring for them like this)

 

Here are my questions:

Is blue buffalo food ok for them?

do they need certain toys to play with? My cats are 7 and 14 so they don’t like to play with kitten toys but any type of enrichment?

Anything else I should know?

 

Here’s my care basically:

Blue buffalo food always available

water also always available

they free roam

I pet them and give them attention like all day long

I give them treats and catnip sometimes

 

is this good??

From what you said, your care actually sounds pretty good!

Blue Buffalo is (I think) a good brand of dried cat food, but I'd try supplementing it w/ some meat and wet cat food occasionally. And yeah, ofc treats are always a good thing!

That's great that they get lots of attention! Cats act like they would die without it, lol. 

 

I do have a few questions: 1. how much exercise do they get? Are they allowed outside (on the porch or in your yard) ever? Do they have a lot of space if they are indoor-only cats? If not, I'd suggest buying or making some toys that they can chase, so they can have a proper amount of exercise.

2. Do they have a scratching post or something they can use to scratch and sharpen their claws? If not, it would be a good idea to buy (or DIY) one! 

 

For toys or enrichment, I find that cats like the simplest things to play w/: cardboard boxes, empty grocery bags, ping pong balls, pieces of string, corrugated cardboard (to scratch their claws on) etc...ofc you can always go out and buy cat toys, but these are just some things you might be able to find around your house. 

 

I hope this helps you! 

Edited by ~Bumble~, 25 April 2021 - 07:16 AM.

[Whitewhiskers]

From what you said, your care actually sounds pretty good! Oh good!
Blue Buffalo is (I think) a good brand of dried cat food, but I'd try supplementing it w/ some meat and wet cat food occasionally. And yeah, ofc treats are always a good thing!  Yeah, we can’t give my older cat wet food or she’ll have diarrhea for some reason. I give them some meat occasionally!
That's great that they get lots of attention! Cats act like they would die without it, lol. Lol yeah
 
I do have a few questions: 1. how much exercise do they get? Are they allowed outside (on the porch or in your yard) ever? My older cat is, but not my younger cat. Do they have a lot of space if they are indoor-only cats? Yeah, my 7 year old cat gets random burst of energy and runs around the house as fast as she can, for a old cat she’s in amazing shape! It’s the other way around for my other cat though, but that’s because of some medical condition she has. If not, I'd suggest buying or making some toys that they can chase, so they can have a proper amount of exercise. Hmm yeah maybe!
2. Do they have a scratching post or something they can use to scratch and sharpen their claws? If not, it would be a good idea to buy (or DIY) one! We’ve gotten them scratching posts and they never use them! They mainly just use the chairs lol. How do you make one?
 
For toys or enrichment, I find that cats like the simplest things to play w/: cardboard boxes, empty grocery bags, ping pong balls, pieces of string, corrugated cardboard (to scratch their claws on) etc...ofc you can always go out and buy cat toys, but these are just some things you might be able to find around your house. Ooh good idea! My cats play with string all the time! I can’t do grocery bags because my younger cat eats them and my older one is scared of them :\
 
I hope this helps you!   It did! Thanks!

[4 Hamsters]

Hey, so I think I’m giving my cats improper care (I just didn’t ever think of it since I’ve grown up caring for them like this)

 

Here are my questions:

Is blue buffalo food ok for them?

do they need certain toys to play with? My cats are 7 and 14 so they don’t like to play with kitten toys but any type of enrichment?

Anything else I should know?

 

Here’s my care basically:

Blue buffalo food always available

water also always available

they free roam

I pet them and give them attention like all day long

I give them treats and catnip sometimes

 

is this good??

 

From my research, having food out all the time might not be the best and some wet food mixed with dry food is also good for a cat's health. Cats like moving water, though mine does fine on water in a bowl though I prefer to use a ceramic bowl.

I play with my (foster) cat twice a day, just to give him more enrichment and entertainment

I would go to "Cat mojo" it's a youtube channel where a cat behaviorist talks and give information about things you should and shouldn't do with cats. It's better to do your own research so that you can decide for yourself what you want to change and improve in your cat's life.

[Whitewhiskers]

From my research, having food out all the time might not be the best and some wet food mixed with dry food is also good for a cat's health. Cats like moving water, though mine does fine on water in a bowl though I prefer to use a ceramic bowl.

I play with my (foster) cat twice a day, just to give him more enrichment and entertainment

I would go to "Cat mojo" it's a youtube channel where a cat behaviorist talks and give information about things you should and shouldn't do with cats. It's better to do your own research so that you can decide for yourself what you want to change and improve in your cat's life.

Yeah, but like I said I can’t use wet food because it gives my older cat diarhea :\

yeah I was thinking of getting a little cat fountain for them to drink from too! 
oh cool ok I’ll check it out. Thanks!

[~Bumble~]

 

From what you said, your care actually sounds pretty good! Oh good!
Blue Buffalo is (I think) a good brand of dried cat food, but I'd try supplementing it w/ some meat and wet cat food occasionally. And yeah, ofc treats are always a good thing!  Yeah, we can’t give my older cat wet food or she’ll have diarrhea for some reason. I give them some meat occasionally!
That's great that they get lots of attention! Cats act like they would die without it, lol. Lol yeah
 
I do have a few questions: 1. how much exercise do they get? Are they allowed outside (on the porch or in your yard) ever? My older cat is, but not my younger cat. Do they have a lot of space if they are indoor-only cats? Yeah, my 7 year old cat gets random burst of energy and runs around the house as fast as she can, for a old cat she’s in amazing shape! It’s the other way around for my other cat though, but that’s because of some medical condition she has. If not, I'd suggest buying or making some toys that they can chase, so they can have a proper amount of exercise. Hmm yeah maybe!
2. Do they have a scratching post or something they can use to scratch and sharpen their claws? If not, it would be a good idea to buy (or DIY) one! We’ve gotten them scratching posts and they never use them! They mainly just use the chairs lol. How do you make one?
 
For toys or enrichment, I find that cats like the simplest things to play w/: cardboard boxes, empty grocery bags, ping pong balls, pieces of string, corrugated cardboard (to scratch their claws on) etc...ofc you can always go out and buy cat toys, but these are just some things you might be able to find around your house. Ooh good idea! My cats play with string all the time! I can’t do grocery bags because my younger cat eats them and my older one is scared of them :\
 
I hope this helps you!   It did! Thanks!

 

Sounds great!  

That's amazing that your older kitty is still in great shape, and at 14 yrs old! Too bad that she can't eat wet food without getting sick, and that your younger cat has a medical condition, tho. Is her medical condition the reason she's not allowed outside? 

Oh, lol. My cats just loooove to use our couch and beds to scratch their claws as well as their scratching posts, much to my mom's annoyance.

You can make them by basically wrapping sisal fabric (or rope) around a PVC pipe or thick cardboard tube...there's lots of tutorials on YT!

Haha, mine too! One of our cats was going crazy the other day chasing a piece of string all around the house XD

 ...your cats sound cRaZy LOL

 

Np! Happy to help! 

Edited by ~Bumble~, 25 April 2021 - 09:35 AM.

[ajuniceuhamsters]

Hey, so I think I’m giving my cats improper care (I just didn’t ever think of it since I’ve grown up caring for them like this)

 

Here are my questions:

Is blue buffalo food ok for them? I'd say that's one of the best dry foods. But I highly encourage raw diets for cats because there are so many benifits.

do they need certain toys to play with? My cats are 7 and 14 so they don’t like to play with kitten toys but any type of enrichment? Do they have cat trees and posts? My uncle's cat is 8 and love his cat wheel too! I might recommend some interactive toys for them so they can chase them. 

Anything else I should know?

 

Here’s my care basically:

Blue buffalo food always available 

water also always available

they free roam Idk this seems cool but a catio outside would be fun~

I pet them and give them attention like all day long

I give them treats and catnip sometimes

 

is this good??

It seems pretty good, minus the diet, but that's because I'm kinda against anything but raw unless there's medical conditions preventing from doing so.

 

My uncles cat loves cardboard boxes and a cat wheel. Maybe you can get a woven jute mat? Digging at those is one of my uncle's cat's fav things to do!

[Whitewhiskers]

Sounds great!  

That's amazing that your older kitty is still in great shape, and at 14 yrs old! Too bad that she can't eat wet food without getting sick, and that your younger cat has a medical condition, tho. Is her medical condition the reason she's not allowed outside? 

Oh, lol. My cats just loooove to use our couch and beds to scratch their claws as well as their scratching posts, much to my mom's annoyance.

You can make them by basically wrapping sisal fabric (or rope) around a PVC pipe or thick cardboard tube...there's lots of tutorials on YT!

Haha, mine too! One of our cats was going crazy the other day chasing a piece of string all around the house XD

 ...your cats sound cRaZy LOL

 

Np! Happy to help! 

She’s in good shape besides she’s very fat, but that’s again due to the medical disease (I can’t even remember what it’s called lol). She’s allowed outside, the older one is the one with the medical disease btw, the younger one isn’t because she’s super small and my paranoid parents think something will kill her (which makes sense, we have like tons of wild racoons and dogs and stuff)

 

ugh yeah it drives my parents insane lol. Oh don’t get me started on couches!

 

ooh nice, I’ll have to try that then!

 

XD

 

Haha they are, they’re so cute too.

 

Fun fact: my 14 year old cat shares the same birthday as me! We both turned 14 on April 16-ish

[Whitewhiskers]

Do they have cat trees and posts? My uncle's cat is 8 and love his cat wheel too! I might recommend some interactive toys for them so they can chase them. Well, I bought them a cat tree once but they never used it and kind of hated it, so we gave it to my friend for her cats. Wdym by interactive toys?

 

My uncles cat loves cardboard boxes and a cat wheel. Maybe you can get a woven jute mat? Digging at those is one of my uncle's cat's fav things to do! Ooh ok I’ll look into that! Thanks

[ajuniceuhamsters]

 

Do they have cat trees and posts? My uncle's cat is 8 and love his cat wheel too! I might recommend some interactive toys for them so they can chase them. Well, I bought them a cat tree once but they never used it and kind of hated it, so we gave it to my friend for her cats. Wdym by interactive toys?

 

My uncles cat loves cardboard boxes and a cat wheel. Maybe you can get a woven jute mat? Digging at those is one of my uncle's cat's fav things to do! Ooh ok I’ll look into that! Thanks

 

like the ones that require both the owner and the cat to work, not just the cat. eg= a tunnel isn't interactive since the cat plays on it by their own, but something that involves the human, like teaching them tricks or smtg is interactive and keeps them stimulated!

[nebit]

Have you tried different brands and flavors of wet food for your older cat? It may just be the brand or protein you tried did not agree with her.

 

If wet food is out, you can try soaking some of the daily kibble in warm water.

[~Bumble~]

She’s in good shape besides she’s very fat, but that’s again due to the medical disease (I can’t even remember what it’s called lol). She’s allowed outside, the older one is the one with the medical disease btw, the younger one isn’t because she’s super small and my paranoid parents think something will kill her (which makes sense, we have like tons of wild racoons and dogs and stuff)

 

ugh yeah it drives my parents insane lol. Oh don’t get me started on couches!

 

ooh nice, I’ll have to try that then!

 

XD

 

Haha they are, they’re so cute too.

 

Fun fact: my 14 year old cat shares the same birthday as me! We both turned 14 on April 16-ish

Ohhhh haha, I was a bit confused. Yes, we have a lot of coyotes, raccoons, etc. around where I live as well, so when we let the cats outside we always bring them in at night. You might consider letting the younger cat out, but maybe only for short periods of time, and keeping her under supervision? Idk...

 

 Cats...smh 

 

That basically describes cats: crazy yet cute lol

 

Oh, cool! Happy (late) birthday, WW!!! 

[Whitewhiskers]

Have you tried different brands and flavors of wet food for your older cat? It may just be the brand or protein you tried did not agree with her.

 

If wet food is out, you can try soaking some of the daily kibble in warm water.

Yeah I’ve tried a lot of brands and some samples and it’s just the wetness.

 

Oh ok, I’ll try doing that then!

 

Ohhhh haha, I was a bit confused. Yes, we have a lot of coyotes, raccoons, etc. around where I live as well, so when we let the cats outside we always bring them in at night. You might consider letting the younger cat out, but maybe only for short periods of time, and keeping her under supervision? Idk... 

 

 Cats...smh 

 

That basically describes cats: crazy yet cute lol

 

Oh, cool! Happy (late) birthday, WW!!! 

Yeah I was thinking of starting to let her out but idk we just have a lot of other cats too and I’m just so used to her being inside :\

 

yeah XD 

 

thanks