Why Cat Care Is Important For Your Cat’s Health
A lot of preparation goes into bringing your fur baby home for the first time. There’s finding the perfect cat food brand to meet your kitty’s dietary needs and stocking up on cat treats and toys to make training and playtime fun.
Then, you have to remember to pick out all of the grooming products and adorable accessories, from ID tags to collars to seasonal costumes, that you will need to keep your kitty looking and feeling his best year-round. And, of course, you shouldn’t forget about grabbing a bag of the best all-natural cat litter on the market (spoiler alert: it’s Skoon).
That being said, getting ready to welcome your cat into your home isn’t just about filling your cart at your local pet supplies store or favorite online pet care website. After all, you can purchase all of the top cat products on the market but still be left with dozens of questions about taking care of your cat and ensuring you know how to raise a healthy kitty.
Here’s one more to-do to add to your essential cat care list: reading a cat care guide.
The internet is filled with social media posts, articles and videos about cat care hacks and tips on taking care of your cat. It’s easy to become overwhelmed in this information and confused by conflicting advice.
That’s where Skoon’s 101 Guide to Cat Care comes in. We have all of the answers to your top cat care questions without any of the confusion.
In this article, discover everything you need to know about being the best fur parent you can be to the cat in your life.
Why Cat Health is Important
Initially, the topic of cat health might not seem as exciting as other cat care activities like teaching your cat some new tricks, trying out a feline-friendly hike or enjoying a little quality time together on the couch, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less important.
It’s essential to put in the cat care work from the get-go to make sure your feline friend stays a healthy kitty as long as possible. That way, the two can enjoy all of the fun and games you want for many years to come.
It’s easy to think that cat health begins and ends with a single trip to the vet each year, but that’s not the whole story. Scheduling regular check-ups with a great veterinarian is a good place to start and is definitely an essential part of preventative cat health care. During annual appointments, the vet can make sure your cat is where they should be for their age group, see if they have any signs of illness or disease and answer cat care questions specific to your cat’s unique situation.
You can do much more to promote cat health and support a healthy kitty at home. That’s a good thing — it means you have some say over how healthy your cat is. When you’re looking for a way to be the best pet parent possible, taking control of your cat’s health through consistent cat care is an excellent first step. This cat care will be critical throughout your cat’s entire life to ensure they’re a healthy kitty, whether they’re actually a kitten or are celebrating birthdays in the double digits. Cat care promotes cat health at every stage of life.
What We Will Cover
When it comes to taking care of your cat, there’s a lot to know. That’s exactly why we’ve put together this guide to cat care — to make learning about raising a healthy kitty easy. Learning all of the ins and outs of cat care doesn’t have to be difficult and definitely shouldn’t feel overwhelming.
Tackling your cat care questions one at a time is a great way to dip your toes in the water of the cat care world without feeling stuck in the deep end. Here is a look at the topics we’ll cover in our 101 Guide to Cat Care:
- Vitamin Supplements for Cats
- Common Diseases in Cats
- Kitty Litter and Asthma
- Lavender and Cats
- Your Cat’s Body Language
- A Clean and Happy Kitty 101
- The Lifespan of Well Cared For Cats
- Probiotics for Cats
Read on to find out what you need to know about each of these areas of cat health and how they can become a part of your regular cat care routine.
Do Cats Really Need Vitamin Supplements?
There are several choices to make regarding your cat’s diet, from dry vs wet food to picking the right brand to decide how many treats you will give your fur baby regularly. All of these concerns relate to one central goal: ensuring your cat gets the nutrition they need to be a healthy kitty. Can vitamins for cats help support that goal too? The answer is: sometimes. Not every cat needs vitamins to maintain a healthy diet, but there are some cases where vitamins can be beneficial.
For example, if your cat has certain health conditions, specific nutritional deficiencies or eats a diet that isn’t as well-balanced as it could be, vitamins could be a necessity. With this aspect of cat care, it’s imperative to collaborate with your vet. They can tell you if a vitamin is a good idea and advise you on which brands are best for your cat.
Common Diseases Cats Get and How To Help Prevent Them
Cats can get sick just like humans can. In fact, some of the most common diseases that cats get are also experienced by humans. This includes kidney disease, diabetes and cancer. There are also a variety of Feline-specific diseases, such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV).
Brushing up on the symptoms of the most common illnesses in cats is an excellent way to know what to look for in your own cat. Another critical part of taking care of your cat’s health is helping prevent them from developing diseases in the first place. Key preventative cat health tips include keeping your cat up-to-date on vaccinations, scheduling regular vet check-ups and sticking to a cat care routine that promotes overall health and hygiene.
What Kitty Litter Is Best For Cats With Asthma
When your cat has a health condition like asthma, it’s important to tailor your cat care strategies to support their unique health situation and prevent their illness from becoming any worse.
Asthma can cause a variety of uncomfortable symptoms in cats, including coughing, wheezing, vomiting and trouble breathing. Certain cat litters can actually aggravate asthma symptoms in cats.
The best way to prevent this and support a happy and healthy kitty with asthma is to choose the right litter. Some key qualities to look out for in kitty litter when you have a cat with asthma are litter that is: low-dust, all-natural and non-toxic. Skoon cat litter is all three.
Skoon is made of all-natural diatom pebbles and doesn’t contain any artificial additives like traditional cat litters that cause respiratory irritation.
The Truth About Lavender and Cats
Guidelines for cat care aren’t just about products and activities that are directly related to your cat — they also apply to the parts of your lifestyle and house that are indirectly a part of your cat’s life. For example, there are certain plants you might have on your windowsill or in a bouquet that pose a threat to your cat, including lilies, tulips and aloe vera plants.
Another popular plant is lavender, which appears in the garden and in many household products through its essential oils. The question is: is lavender one of these plants that can harm your pet? The truth is, not all lavender products are created equal. An outdoor lavender plant can cause digestive upset in cats, and lavender essential oils can pose even more of a health risk.
If you still want to include lavender in your home, lavender scented litter from Skoon is a great option. Cat litter companies offering lavender options ensure that the lavender level in the litter is low enough that it won’t cause any health issues.
What Your Cat’s Body Language is Telling You
Observing their body language makes it easy to tell what emotions your cat is feeling. You can tell if they’re scared when you see a tail pointed straight up and fur that appears to be standing on end. If your cat pounces and flicks its tail, you know they’re happy and want to play. Your cat’s body language can also give you insight into their health.
Knowing how to read your cat’s body language will help on your journey of taking care of your cat and identifying when they need more cat care than they’re getting. A few common signs of a sick cat to look out for include pointing their ears downwards, keeping their head down and spending a lot of time curling up or crouching.
If you notice sudden changes in your cat’s body language, that’s another sign that a trip to the vet is to get your furry friend the cat care they need.
How To Keep Your Kitty Clean and Happy
It’s a well-known fact that cats are experts at grooming themselves by licking their fur, but that doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook in this area of cat care. There’s still plenty you can do to keep your kitty clean and happy in addition to their personal grooming sessions. Cats don’t have to be bathed as often as dogs to stay clean but should still be washed every now and then to promote proper hygiene.
Other ways to keep your cat looking great include brushing them daily and providing them with a constant water supply to support hydration and skin health. Taking care of your cat’s health also means keeping their environment clean by vacuuming up fur on a regular basis, using air filters to enhance air quality and making sure the litter box is in order.
Skoon makes kitty clean-up easy with odor-absorbent litter that doesn’t track around the house and a disposable, biodegradable cardboard litter box that is easy to replace each month.
How Long Is The Lifespan Of Well Cared For Cats?
Investing in cat care and learning everything you need to know about supporting a healthy kitty will ensure that your fur baby is around for as long as possible. Every pet parent wants their furry friend to live a long and happy life, and promoting cat health is the best way to make that dream come true.
The typical domestic cat has a lifespan of between 10 and 15 years. A variety of factors can extend the expected lifespan of a cat, from how much time they spend outside on their own to whether or not they get regular vet check-ups to how much time and cat care their owners put in to keep them in good health. In many cases, well-cared-for cats have been reported to reach 20 years of age. Taking care of your cat is important from the moment they enter your life to keep them in good health throughout every stage of development.
How Probiotics Can Help Your Cat Stay Healthy
Probiotics are touted for their many benefits in the human health world, but they aren’t just for people. Probiotics support a healthy digestive system in cats and can help with individual symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea and digestive conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.
Probiotics are also made specifically for cats that can boost cat cat health in several ways. Probiotics for cats don’t just help with digestive health. They’re also a great cat care solution for benefiting the immune system, restoring balance to the gut after using antibiotics and improving your cat’s overall wellness.
Probiotics are an easy way to help you reach the goals of caring for your cat and raising a healthy kitty. Skoon makes adding probiotics to your cat’s routine simple with a chicken and tuna flavored Probiotics supplement that can be sprinkled directly on your cat’s food.
Choose Skoon to Support Optimal Cat Health
Taking care of your cat should be easy. If you’ve been searching for a simple way to improve cat care that will benefit your cat’s health and hygiene, look no further than Skoon: your one-stop destination for the best cat health products on the market.
Skoon’s all-natural cat litter is non-toxic and biodegradable, meaning that it’s healthy for your cat and the environment. Skoon also offers supplements, including Skoon Probiotics, to support all of your cat care needs. Skoon has you covered, whether you’re looking for cat care solutions that apply to kitty clean-up or overall health and wellness.
These simple and effective cat care strategies mean you can spend less time worrying about your cat’s health and more time doing what you love — hanging out with your cat. Choose Skoon today to support optimal cat health!
