The desire to shelter a homeless cat can arise for various reasons. Some people take an animal home because they just can’t indifferently go past a hungry and hunted cat. Others bring a wounded or sick cat to the house for first aid and can no longer return the fur-fur to the street.
Regardless of the reasons for the appearance of a fluffy friend in an apartment, you have to keep in mind that the animal has already spent part of its life on the street, and it will take a lot of time and patience to accustom it to new living conditions.
I Brought The Cat Home. What’s Next?
So, the stray cat in the apartment. It is fed and hydrated, but it’s not the end. On the day the cat appears in the house, you have to complete several tasks:
- Bath the animal with a special shampoo. You can also read about cat flea shampoo if you want to prevent the unpleasant surprises on the cat’s skin.
- Inspect the cat for injuries;
- Take the animal to the nearest veterinary clinic;
- Purchase and use anthelmintic drugs with a wide spectrum of action.
Please do not close the cat in a separate room, and don’t try to hold it in your arms as well. The animal has to inspect the new place of living and choose a place to comfort itself.
Training A Stray Cat
One of the first questions a new owner has is how to accustom a street cat to the litter box? Following a hunting instinct, which requires hiding traces of its presence from prey and enemies, in natural conditions, cats must bury their feces. However, do not buy a litter box. The cat simply does not understand the purpose of this item. I advise you to collect a small amount of sand or soil in the place where the cat used to live and use it instead of the filler of the litter box.
Be patient. At first, your new fluffy-tailed friend will leave its excrements in the most inappropriate places at home. In this case, it is recommended to wet a piece of cloth or paper in the excretion and place it in a litter box. Next time the cat will react to a familiar smell and relieve in a place specially designed for these purposes. If you noticed that the cat is worried and looking for a place to relieve its natural needs, you need to transfer it to the litter box immediately.
How Often Should I Feed The Cat?
Each caring and loving cat owner is interested in the question of how much food a cat needs per day. It’s not so difficult to feed your pet correctly, the main thing is to take into account several conditions: in particular, the age of the cat, type of food (wet or dry), and also the level of its activity.
How to feed a kitten (from birth to 12 months)
In the first 4-5 weeks, kittens receive all the necessary nutrients with their mother’s milk. Typically, a cat feeds kittens up to 7 weeks, but already from the 4th week, a kitten can eat special wet food, and from 2 months, you can feed them dry. Starting from 4 months, provide it with tasty and wholesome food once a day. Kittens up to 6 months old should be fed 3-4 times a day.
How to feed an adult cat (from 1 year to 7 years)
At 1-year-old cat is considered to be an adult, which means that you can gradually transfer it to a complete and balanced food for adult cats. A healthy and active adult cat needs about 240 calories per day. This should be a combination of wet and dry foods. It is recommended to give the pet wet food in the morning and the evening, and leave a portion of dry food, measured following the needs of the cat, for a day.
Many owners note that a cat that got into domestic conditions as an adult becomes more loyal to the owner over time, compared with an animal that has grown up at home.
Author’s Bio: I am Nora Glover, a proud cat mom, and a dedicated cat lover. I was learning about proper cat care throughout my whole life, and now I am sharing this knowledge with others on my personal blog.