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How to take care of a Cat
Cats are characters, all of them and that’s a large part of why people grow so attached to their felines. It’s fair to say they’re not as openly affectionate in the same way that dogs are, but they have their own ways of showing their owners they care about them a whole lot. The feeling is always mutual of course, and that’s why you’ll be determined to keep your cat in the best of health. You may know how to take care of a cat, but there’s many different poor health indicators that aren’t immediately obvious just by looking at your cat.
Sick cat symptoms sometimes won’t be easy to spot. Now no one expects you to become a veterinarian overnight, but you can get more in the know about how to take care of a cat. And we’re talking about much more than just cat flea and tick prevention or even making sure they eat a healthy diet. One of the biggest risks to a cat’s health is also one of the sneakiest, and it applies to dogs in the same way. We’re talking about heartworms and sometimes by the time the pet owner becomes aware of them they’ve already damaged the animals ticker.
A cat dewormer medication really is a must for every cat owner.
So what we’re going to do here is look at how to take care of a cat in the broader sense, with everything from good meds to diet choices and then more on best ways to care for a cat. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do for your feline friend, and that’s the way it should be so let’s get into it.
Cat Health Warning Signs
First and foremost when it comes to how to take care of a cat? Could be knowing when it’s time to get them to the vet. Here’s what we know about sick cat symptoms, what they might mean, and how seriously you should take them.
General Lethargy
Some people say lethargy is a fancy word for lifelessness, and while you can’t take that literally it is definitely going to be obvious when your cat doesn’t want to get up, move around, or take interest in anything like they used to. If your cat is lethargic it can be for any number of reasons. It could just be something minor and temporary, or it could be something much more serious.
We talked about heartworms earlier, and while tapeworms won’t potentially kill your cat they’re plenty nasty in their own right. And a lack of energy or general lethargy can be a potential indicator for a tapeworm infection in cats. Long story short here is these nasty worms are making it so that your cat isn’t getting the full nutritional value of the food it eats.
You’re not in the business of feeding parasites with any part of what you budget for your cat every month, and the good news is that many multi parasite worm medications for cats will kill tapeworms too.
Refusing to Eat
Most of the time a cat is refusing to eat food it is because they simply have indigestion or some other type of temporary discomfort. It may be something more than that, or it may even be your cat is trying to send you a message that it wants to eat better. Ok, that’s unlikely but one thing that is true with how to take care of a cat is know that refusing food isn’t something you should overlook, and especially if it continues for more than a day or two.
This is because it could be related to a respiratory tract infection, and what you can do is get close to your cat and see if they are having any difficulty breathing. If they do it’s definitely time to make an appointment to see your veterinarian. Another possibility is a digestive system disease, and IBS is one of the more serious ones that can cause this. If your cat has IBS one of the best things you can do when figuring out how to take care of a cat is to follow an IBS diet for cats.
Persistent Diarrhea
Alright, not a subject matter that people like to discuss but if you cat has the ‘runs’ constantly you’re going to want to look into it. Again all sorts of reason why this might be happening but the two ones that should ring huge alarm bells will be an intestinal blockage or gastric cancer. Most of the time it’s not something so serious, and it may be because of an undiagnosed food allergy too. It’s fairly straightforward and won’t cost you anything to look into that if you know how to do a food elimination test for cats.
Now, if we were to cover absolutely everything related to how to take care of a cat and sick cat symptoms we’d need more blog entries, so maybe we’ll revisit this topic again in the future. If you’re inclined to be fully in the know now there’s plenty of information out there if simply search around basic cat care.
