These little creatures can give you years of enjoyment and love. They will grace your home with their playfulness and beauty. They will give you hours of laughter and enhance your life experience. All they require is your complete attention, care and love, in return.
The decision to bring a cat or kitten into your home is one that should be made with thoughtful consideration. These are somewhat fragile animals that must be cared for and protected. Small children usually aren’t familiar with handling a cat or kitten. For the safety of the cat, and the child, it will be necessary to teach the child the proper way of interacting with the new addition. Supervision must be given, in the beginning, to insure the safety of the cat and the child.
Consideration must also be given to whether this will be an inside cat, an outside cat or an inside/outside cat. From statistical studies, an outside cat’s life span is 2 to 4 years. On the other hand, a house cat can live into its twenties, if cared for properly.
If you’ve never had a cat in your home, you may find you need to make a few adjustments. Kittens, in particular, are very inquisitive. They will examine every nook and cranny of your home. By doing this, they establish “safety zones”. You must let them have these in order to give them the security they need. Cats are very safety and security minded.
They may also find electrical cords, which could injure them if chewed on, or valuables that can be broken, if played with. The best thing to do is shorten cords to raise them off the floor. You can do this with twist ties. Valuable or breakable items should be put away until you feel the cat will not be attracted to them.
The kitten never lacks in imagination. Constantly exploring it’s environment, the kitten is in awe of the surroundings. There are so many things to see and do. The kitten never gets bored, maybe tired, but not bored. A kitten learns its behavior in the first weeks of life. It needs stimulation, by play, to keep it from becoming destructive in later months. Providing toys and safe places to sleep or play is of utmost importance to the kitten’s development. Providing scratching posts, cat bed and a climbing tree is of utmost importance to your furniture and your nerves.
Small toys such as catnip scented mice or small ball type toys seem to keep their attention the longest. Batting these toys around, all over the house, is not only fun to them but gives them the exercise a house cat needs. If you opt for other more expensive toys, they should have an interaction to entice the kitten because they have a very short attention span.
Sibling kittens learn the art of play and rough and tumble interaction with other kittens, which will serve to make them play longer into adulthood. This is important for their physical development, giving them the exercise they need and creates the psychological frame of mind to get along with other family pets.
An adult cat is a thing of beauty and grace. Jules Verne once said “I think a cat could walk on a cloud and not come through”. The feline is one of God’s most perfect creations. He knew we needed them in our lives.
The journey through life with a cat is truly a joy you can’t understand until you experience it.
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