What should every cat owner know? Please help me make a list!

A relative of mine is dealing with some health problems with her cat that are quite likely at least partly caused by ignorance. The relatives didn't know how serious it is when a cat doesn't eat. We humans can go without food for many days without it being dangerous and so can many other creatures. Cats, however, cannot and can easily get fatal fatty liver if they don't eat or don't eat enough. It can happen very quickly. But do most cat owners know that? I don't think they do.

This situation made me think about how important it is for cat owners to be educated about certain things. I'd like to put together a list of things that every cat owner should know and hand it out to adopters when they adopt a cat from my rescue. It could maybe also be beneficial for other people. I need some help to come up with things, though, so I was hoping people here could help me. What do you think is important for a cat owner to know to make life better, safer and healthier for both cat and owner? I was thinking about things like the risk of fatty liver, that I mentioned, the risk of crystals in male cats, and stuff like that. Can you think of any other things? It doesn't have to be health related.

Please keep the ideas coming! The more the better!

Thanks!

Good idea

Right obvious ones just of the top of my head to get it started -

Poisonous flowers and plants
Chewing electrical wires in home
Poisonous household cleaning products
Poisonous foods eg chocolate, raisins, grapes
Cords on blinds
Anti freeze, rat bait, slug pellets

Where the nearest 24 hour clinic is! Number in cell phones for a heads up call that your coming in is nice.

Not to give meds that seem innocent or even ok for a dog

To switch cat food or even litter slowly

Move litter box slowly if it must move

How small a spot a cat or kitten can go.  I "lost" one who went up under box spring cheesecloth and was on the wood support chilling out as we went insane looking thinking he go out.  Or the kitten who found out he could squeeze under the kitchen cabinets where it was notblocked off.  You NEVER would have known.  the kickboard was solid but the overhang was not.  He came out COVERED in dust

A cat will not always come down out of tree on own even if it is really not that high 

SLOW introductions so they do not cause issues with the resident cats/do not give up to soon

Get a tree or post from the start

Always have a carrier on hand and do not risk going without it even for the calmest cat

Emergency stash of food for emergencies,especially if your cat is picky or on special RX food.  If RX note that it must be called in xx days before you run out.

What food/litter/litter box type you use.  Regular toys you have in house.  Sponge balls and mylar is a given for all the cats here but the laziest who would rather sit on it so the others can not find it....

The fatty liver is important!  I did not know how fast it can happen until we had a cat in who had it.  I had had cats about 5 years at that point.

To keep a fund or dedicated credit card for emergencies. Many folks never think about it until they need it and then it is too late. I never want another pet owner to go through the same stress and terror we did when one of our cats was seriously injured and we didn't have money for the emergency vet. We were so very lucky to have my mother to turn to for help, but not everyone has that option. Honestly, it was humiliating to have to wake her at three in the morning to beg for money. If not for her, my Wheezie would have had to be euthanized.

Why dry food is the worst thing you can feed to your cat. In fact, I would put together a list of the most highly-regarded website resources on the subject of diet, and put that on a handout. My personal favs are

catinfo.org

littlebigcat.com/category/nutrition

feline-nutrition.org - this site actually has PDF info-files that can be printed and handed out

catnutrition.org

healthypets.mercola.com

Every time I am in the pet section and I see people picking up bags of dry cat food I cringe. I also cringe at the fact that the Humane Society where I adopted my Shelly hands out sample bags of Science Diet with the $5 coupon stuck to the bag - my bag went in the garbage, because Shelly is on an all-canned diet with an eye towards transitioning to raw/homemade.

- Another suggestion is how to choose a vet. My own requirement is that the vet takes a holistic/integrative approach and is not a pimp for Science Diet. I've decided to switch vets because the vet i initially chose made the decision to "pimp out" SD after Shelly's initial exam; the practice's website as I first encountered it gave the impression that they take a holistic approach. A month ago, the website changed completely, and now it says they carry the full line of SD Prescription Diets. Being that I am a believer in the message of Dr. Lisa Pierson's website,  I found a local holistic vet (who studied veterinary homeopathy under  Dr. Richard Pitcairn) who is also accredited in veterinary acupuncture, and takes a cautious approach to vaccinations, procedures, and medication - if he is not sure, he doesn't go ahead with them. He is open to alternative procedures that most conventionally-trained vets would eschew, like stem cell treatments.

IMO it wouldn't hurt to explain WHY a holistic vet is superior to a conventionally trained vet. Particularly where the knowledge of feline nutrition comes into play, and how a conventional vet's nutrition knowledge base was provided courtesy of Hill's or Purina and, therefore, has little to no scientific base in a cat's biology and the biological nutritional needs of the species.

My top list would be:

* Dry food

* Fatty liver disease

* Declawing

* SLOW introductions

The first two of that list I didn't even know and I had a cat for 20 years!  I feel like these are the ones that people seems to mess up easily without knowing any better.

Check appliances before using them! I always keep appliances closed, but I check anyway. My kitten is like a ninja. She can be fast asleep on the couch when I go into the kitchen, next second I swear she's teleported to behind me. So wouldn't be hard to sneak into the washer, drier, dishwasher.
As for dry food, some information about it would be good. Even if you tell the new owner what the cat is currently fed, some are still going to swap to dry for convenience. Especially when vets say "You know they can just eat dry", and other cat owners who feed dry tell you "Oh, it makes the poops less stinky and more solid".
Hand play - recommending that hands NOT be used to rough house the kitten/cat during play. Yeah, it's cute and tickles when a kitten bites and bunny kicks your hand. Not so much when it grows up to see hands as something to attack, even when you just want to pet it.

There are already so many good ideas here! I would add that people learn to understand a cat's body language so they do not scratched as much.  Such as when a cat's tail is twitching be careful when touching them.  I would also add that if your cat enjoys following you around look out that they did not get trapped in a shut room, closet, garage, etc.  One summer day my dad, who is terrible at watching out for our cats trapped one of them outside in our hot, luckily shut garage (so he did not run away).  We went looking for him after he had been outside for about an hour or two.  Luckily he was just fine but we called the vet and he could have seizures or other complications from being outside in the hot so long.  

A look at these articles will give you a big list

http://www.thecatsite.com/atype/45/Cat_Care

Oh yes, Smarty, definitely the sign language. I read up on it and taught it to my children. My last cat was very sensitive to petting, he liked it sometimes, but more often could only tolerate a couple of strokes, then the warning signs would start. Of course my daughter would persist, and always got swiped or a (gentle) bite. Definitely a must to learn, especially with children that just want to play or pet the cat as often as possible.

They should all know about TCS 

When my Vinnie got sick, we found out that cats can only go 7 days without food. At which point there is no saving them. 

Good things to know as a cat owner:

number to 24 hour vet on hand,

carrier for each cat (some don't travel well together),

try to stick with one food as much as possible (i have 2 that get sick on anything but Iams.),

keep the liter box in an open area not accessible by a cat door as one cat can become territorial of the opening,

Play with them every day for 15 mins,

love on them at least 15 mins a day,

learn the warning signs of pushing their limits, 

Supervise kids and people who don't know your cats.

Learn when to from a distance break up two cats (noise is a bad thing) (no noise is good)

Keep an eye on how the cat behaves (distant cat becoming suddenly clingy, or clingy going distant with no other warning)

Keep cords and plastic and anything you wouldn't want a baby chewing up or covered in bitter apple.

Feed at set times (free feed is okay for kittens but can be bad for older cats)

When in doubt talk to your vet. They are the experts.

ErinRadfeeley said:

 
When in doubt talk to your vet. They are the experts.

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You haven't taken part in serious study about feline nutrition, or you'd know better than to make a statement like that. Most "conventional" vets (as opposed to vets with a background in holistic or homeopathic medicine, both of which are integrative in their approach) haven't the slightest clue about feline biology in as far as what its nutritional requirements are, because the very generalized nutrition courses they take in vet school are more often than not taught by a representative from a pet food company, usually Hill's, which produces what many consider to be one of the worst pet foods on the market, Science Diet.

I would never take nutritional advice from my current vet, because they recently announced on their newly-redesigned website that they now carry the "full line of Science Diet Prescription foods." I chose this practice because at the time I got my cat in February, their Nutrition page stated that if owners want to feed a homemade diet, they supply the resources to ensure that the owners were feeding a balanced diet. That statement is now gone from their page. They also have a "practice manager," an engineer who decided that he wanted to be a vet instead, and I would bet $$$ that the switch was his decision. My father is a retired engineer, so I know firsthand how engineers are usually  very nit-picky about getting their scientific principles correct.

The "lead vet" at this practice, Holly Cheever, is well-known in my area as a hard-core animal-rights advocate, which SHOULD include feeding the proper diet and enforcing the idea that proper diet can ward off illness, such as the FLUTD, obesity and diabetes caused by feeding moisture-deficient, carb-loaded,dry food, so that makes this change especially disappointing to me.

I have found a holistic/integrative vet, and I will be switching over to his practice. He has trained in Homeopathic Veterinary Medicine under Dr. Richard Pitcairn, who is considered to be one of the, if not THE, foremost expert on the subject.

These are all such great tips.  As a new cat owner, I really appreciate all the great info in this thread.  I learned a few things just be reading!

Just keep in mind RX diets DO save some pets.  My own cat had urinary issues early in life and was able to live because of C/d.  They are overused(weight control and diaetic formula W/d IMO is crap-feed less for heavy cats and low carb wet for diabetics.  Another few made it because of A/d.  Sadly not everyone can afford to feed and all wet diet.  I am one of them at this point.  Best I can do at moment is treats of wet.

A/D saved my kitty when he was very sick.  For whatever reason some crystal kitties can only do well on the prescription food, probably a genetic thing.

AutumnRose74 said:

 
You haven't taken part in serious study about feline nutrition, or you'd know better than to make a statement like that. Most "conventional" vets (as opposed to vets with a background in holistic or homeopathic medicine, both of which are integrative in their approach) haven't the slightest clue about feline biology in as far as what its nutritional requirements are, because the very generalized nutrition courses they take in vet school are more often than not taught by a representative from a pet food company, usually Hill's, which produces what many consider to be one of the worst pet foods on the market, Science Diet.

I would never take nutritional advice from my current vet, because they recently announced on their newly-redesigned website that they now carry the "full line of Science Diet Prescription foods." I chose this practice because at the time I got my cat in February, their Nutrition page stated that if owners want to feed a homemade diet, they supply the resources to ensure that the owners were feeding a balanced diet. That statement is now gone from their page. They also have a "practice manager," an engineer who decided that he wanted to be a vet instead, and I would bet $$$ that the switch was his decision. My father is a retired engineer, so I know firsthand how engineers are usually  very nit-picky about getting their scientific principles correct.

The "lead vet" at this practice, Holly Cheever, is well-known in my area as a hard-core animal-rights advocate, which SHOULD include feeding the proper diet and enforcing the idea that proper diet can ward off illness, such as the FLUTD, obesity and diabetes caused by feeding moisture-deficient, carb-loaded,dry food, so that makes this change especially disappointing to me.

I have found a holistic/integrative vet, and I will be switching over to his practice. He has trained in Homeopathic Veterinary Medicine under Dr. Richard Pitcairn, who is considered to be one of the, if not THE, foremost expert on the subject.

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How does any of what you have said, correlate to the very general comments that ErinRadfeeley has made in her post? There is nothing in her post that mentions vets and their knowledge of nutrition?

I don't care for prescription diets myself, but I know in some circumstances they can be necessary and effective. I get a little tired of people righting off dry food like its the plague without looking at the individual circumstances. I don't think dry food or prescription food should be the main basis for a cat's diet, but for some cats it may be necessary and there can be room for it provided that a cat is getting the protein and moisture that they require, from other sources.

Just for the record, there is no guarantee that a holistic or homeopathic vet is any more versed in nutrition than a conventional vet. This sort of knowledge requires separate study, apart from what ALL vets get through university. I have known some good holistic vets who are quite versed in nutrition, and some others who will say that there is nothing wrong with feeding an all-dry diet?

Oh and a great site to see which companies  have good pet insurance and which dont is at www.petinsurancereview.com

AutumnRose74 said:

 
You haven't taken part in serious study about feline nutrition, or you'd know better than to make a statement like that. Most "conventional" vets (as opposed to vets with a background in holistic or homeopathic medicine, both of which are integrative in their approach) haven't the slightest clue about feline biology in as far as what its nutritional requirements are, because the very generalized nutrition courses they take in vet school are more often than not taught by a representative from a pet food company, usually Hill's, which produces what many consider to be one of the worst pet foods on the market, Science Diet.

I would never take nutritional advice from my current vet, because they recently announced on their newly-redesigned website that they now carry the "full line of Science Diet Prescription foods." I chose this practice because at the time I got my cat in February, their Nutrition page stated that if owners want to feed a homemade diet, they supply the resources to ensure that the owners were feeding a balanced diet. That statement is now gone from their page. They also have a "practice manager," an engineer who decided that he wanted to be a vet instead, and I would bet $$$ that the switch was his decision. My father is a retired engineer, so I know firsthand how engineers are usually  very nit-picky about getting their scientific principles correct.

The "lead vet" at this practice, Holly Cheever, is well-known in my area as a hard-core animal-rights advocate, which SHOULD include feeding the proper diet and enforcing the idea that proper diet can ward off illness, such as the FLUTD, obesity and diabetes caused by feeding moisture-deficient, carb-loaded,dry food, so that makes this change especially disappointing to me.

I have found a holistic/integrative vet, and I will be switching over to his practice. He has trained in Homeopathic Veterinary Medicine under Dr. Richard Pitcairn, who is considered to be one of the, if not THE, foremost expert on the subject.

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Okay when I said when in doubt talk to your vet. I ment in health relation, i.e. is that behavior normal, is this spot okay. Personally my vets give me advice on food. That is to say, if your cats are getting sick from everything but IAMS then don't give them anything else. And might want to supplement with some treats. But they don't try to sale me......