You love your cat and want to make sure he or she lives a long, healthy life.
The most important thing you can do is make sure your cat receives regular checkups from the vet, including a full blood workup. Problems can then be spotted early and treated. If you have a senior cat, it's especially essential to have the cat checked for thyroid or kidney problems, which are very common with older cats. Both of these problems can be treated, adding several years onto a cat's life. That is, of course, if you find the problems early.
With proper care and nutrition you will have a friend for life in the form of your pet cat. And, how long can you expect your cat to be with you? It's not unusual for an indoor cat to live to be 18 years old. (The owner of this site had a cat live to be 20 1/2 years old). The oldest a cat can live is about 30.
Here are some tips on how you can properly care for your cat's health:
1. Feed them properly.
Every cat has a preference when it comes to food. There are several types of cat food available in the market. Try each one until you find out which variety your cat prefers. A good way to tell if a cat food is not the one to buy is to look at the ingredients. If the first ingredient is corn meal or by-products, skip it and find one where the first ingredient is chicken. (Or, other meats)
However, you can still try to mix the variety of cat food you prepare so that your pet will have a nutritious and balanced diet. Be careful about mixing it up too quickly, however. If you change the cat's diet it's good to do it slowly, so their systems can get used to the change. (A good way to change a cat's food is to slowly mix the amount of old food to new food, so that, say, over a week's time the cat is eating all the new food).
Make sure you provide plenty of water for your cat. And, make sure it's clean and that the bowl is clean. Having an ample supply of drinking water will lead to a healthier animal.
It does not matter if you serve dry, canned or moist cat food. Just make sure that you preserve the freshness of the food that they eat.
You might also want to opt for a healthy and natural cat food. Remember that it should be made of quality ingredients. (Remember, if the first ingredient is corn meal or by-products, move on).
2. Watch out for unusual behavior.
If your pet is exhibiting unusual behavior, then the cat might not be at its best condition, and may need to be looked at by a Vet.
Try to look out for the following symptoms:
- being lethargic or less active than usual
- shedding of the fur or coat
- it has waxy ears
- loses weight suddenly
- is suddenly overly aggressive
- is drinking an excessive amount of water (this could indicate a kidney problem)
- is constipated
- overly bad breath
- having trouble eating dry food (could indicate a dental problem)
If you notice any of the above symptoms in your cat, please see your vet.
While on the topic of pet health, you may also want to consider cat health insurance.
Synonyms: Cat or pet haelth, ealth, helth, halth, heath, healh, healt and healht are typos for cat or pet health.
