How to Keep your Cat Healthy

Understanding and supporting your moggy’s basic needs will help you raise a happy and healthy feline for years to come and all the fun in between – from being your personal hot water bottle to sharing joyful memories together.

From their youthful days to their senior years, cats are inquisitive and active critters. They like to be involved in whatever’s going on in the house and investigate any new things you bring home. They have to do their checks too right?

Cats get bored easily, so if your feline friend is causing a little trouble and pushing all your ornaments onto the floor, it might just be they may not have a stimulating environment. It’s nothing to panic over, as allowing your cat to be more mentally stimulated can be as easy as extra playtime or some new cat scratcher to explore! 

In a perfect world, we would be able to train our kitties to use the toilet and flush it after themselves, but the next best thing is cleaning their litterbox regularly. A clean litterbox is key to keeping your feline friends stay healthy. Avoiding any potential disasters of them traipsing through their old waste and then tracking it through the house. Without regular cleans, you’ll have yourself a very smelly box filled with bacteria and a cat who will probably start looking for cleaner places to relieve themselves.

Investing in a good cat litter can help to manage any dust or smells that come from the litter tray. Whilst this doesn’t mean they won’t need regular cleaning, it means your moggy is able to relieve themselves without affecting your homes fragrance. Without regular cleaning, they are open to diseases or may feel a sense of stress if they have nowhere to go – leading to potential kidney or blader damage.

Offering multiple tray locations can help avoid smells or ensure they have no stress when going to the toilet. An enclosed tray such as the Savic Nestor Toilet Home, is the perfect addition to any home, giving them enough privacy and room to be inquisitive.  

Keeping your cat groomed is a great way to bond but is also key to keeping them looking and feeling their best. While our feline friends do groom themselves, there are some hard-to-reach places they might struggle with. Whereas, for long coated cats, it can be an arduous task for them. Long-coated cats can develop matted fur if they aren’t groomed regularly, so giving your moggy a helping hand with keeping clean and tidy can really benefit their well-being.

For short-coated cats, grooming is a little easier. Using a brush which is very soft like the Ancol Ergo brushes are the perfect grooming solution. Soft brushes like this are great for loosening dead fur from your pet’s coat. However, if they have a longer coat where dead fur can settle a lot deeper and closer to the skin, you will need a brush that’s a little tougher to tackle that. Brushes like the Groom Professionals Dual Slicker Brush penetrate the surface of the coat to remove all the loose coat from underneath that your cat might struggle to reach.

For our felines friends who don’t like to get their paws dirty, or put in the manual labour required to keep their nails nice and trimmed. Owners may need to invest in nail clippers to keep them trim and avoid them getting caught in your soft furniture or clothes.

Playtime is a vital part of pet ownership, especially for keeping our felines healthy. The more they play, the more mentally stimulated they’re kept – keeping them out of trouble when you’re not looking! There’s no doubts cats love to explore, they’re predators after all and many cat toys are built specifically with that in mind.

Toys are a great way to up their activity levels, especially ones like the Grumpy Cat Catfish Cat Wand. Wand toys are great for encouraging your moggy to stretch their legs and increase their heart rate by playing chase. Playing is a great way to keep them fit and lose a little weight if they’re looking a bit round! Overweight cats are known to have increased stress on their joints, which can lead to issues in the long run. So, keeping them in good shape not only important for their boredom, but also for their health.

The Catit Treat Ball is an excellent way to mentally enrich your feline friends, while also making them work a little for their food. You can either fill it with treats or for the weight-conscious moggies, you can put their daily food in there to get them moving a little even while they eat!

Play isn’t just a great way to build a strong bond and a loving relationship with your cat but it’s also vital in keeping them fit and letting them burn off some energy to keep stress levels low.

There are lots of things owners can do to keep their pets healthy and happy but one of the most important things is regular vet visits. You might feel like your moggy is looking perfectly healthy, but an annual check-up by the vet is vital - catching any issues you can’t see on the surface.

If illnesses can be picked up in their infancy, there’s a better chance that your vet can treat whatever it might be. Some illnesses can be cured while others need long-term medical management but catching them early can make a big difference in your cat’s health and longevity. Annual check-ups mean you’re doing everything you can to make sure your feline companion is thriving.

To help keep your feline friends happy and healthy for as long as you can, take a look at our range of cat products, to boost their well-being and bring lots of enrichment into your home.