Pet

Cat Owner Challenges

Owning a cat – or being owned by one, as it often feels like – can be a hugely rewarding experience. Your furry, purring companion can even help to lower your blood pressure, as well being cute to look at and play with. 

Unfortunately, it can also come with some serious challenges. Today we’re taking a look at some of the challenges cat owners can face, and how you can plan and prepare for them.

Sickness 

A vomiting cat is no one’s idea of a good time – you’re worried about your cat, you have an unpleasant mess to clean up, and you need to think about what your cat’s been eating! Even the most experienced pet owners find themselves wondering to friends why my cat throws up.

Fortunately, in most cases, unpleasant is all a cat’s upset stomach is: vomiting and diarrhea pass quickly, sometimes after only one bout and often within two to three days. In the meantime, switch up your feeding schedule: offer smaller meals frequently to help keep your cat nourished while it’s sick – it’s not healthy for a cat to miss more than one meal. You might also like to try offering them boiled chicken and rice as this is easier to digest and more tempting to their fragile palate.

To make cleaning up easier and more thorough, it’s worth stocking up on enzymatic cleaner – this uses enzymes to break down the molecule changes that cause stains and odours in a way that’s similar to digestion. They’re a useful way to shift unpleasant kitty clean ups.

Fights

It’s never pleasant to see two cats fight, whether that’s two of your own cats or your cat fighting with a neighbour. Even if they avoid injury, it’s still sad and upsetting to see. 

Sometimes a spate of fighting will resolve whatever territorial dispute inspired the conflict and it will pass quickly. If the fight looks seriously, or fights keep on occurring you’ll be tempted to break it up. Be careful how you do this – it’s not a preferred outcome, and might lead to you getting injured by mistake. Throwing a blanket over the combatants or pushing them apart gently with a soft bristled broom are the safest ways to intervene.

Most fights are about territory or resources: if you have two cats who are fighting, it might be worth feeding them separately and ensuring they have separate sleeping areas and litter trays. If your cat is contesting territory with a neighbour’s cat it might be worth varying the time you let them out to reduce the chances of them crossing paths – you could even coordinate with your neighbour to ensure the two cats aren’t outside at the same time!