Walking your cat..

One way to enrich your cats life is to let it explore the outdoors. While some people let their cats outside by themselves it can often become dangerous. A cat can get ran over by a car or can encounter a an animal that might carry a disease.
A Safe way to do this is to buy a leash and halter for the cat. Start out slowly and be very careful. If your cat has never been outside then he/she might be afraid of all the new sights and sounds. Stay close to your door at first so if you see that your cat is very scared take it back inside right away. With time your cat will get used to being outside.

Here are some pictures of Muki on his second time outside. He enjoys being out and does not get scared. Whats best is that he walks on the leash like a dog.

He is a very confident cat.

 

Introducing A New Cat Part 2 (and some general advice)

For the first few days Littlefoot was quite grumpy and often hissed and growled at Muki. This was ok as they did not fight. There were a few times when I thought that they were fighting but it turned out that they were play-fighting. At first Muki would start it and sometimes make Littlefoot angry but soon I saw that she would pounce on him as well.

                                                     (thats a big yawn isn't it? hehe)


What really showed me that she was accepting him was the fact that they started to sleep together, groom each other, and walk around the house together. It is interesting because when they first met, Littlefoot was ready to attack him. She was grumpy and very defensive. Over time though she began to relax around him and they bonded.

----General Advice for Introducing Any New Pet -----
Here are some general tips that work for other animals as well:.
It is important to give pets time to adjust to new animals. Never rush the process and just because your pets don't like each other at first don't give up. Give them time. The best advice I can give is to give the animals their space. Keeping them in separate rooms at first helps and when u first introduce them it is great to do it from a distance (keep them on a leash, have a barrier between them..ect). Animals sometimes get defensive if another animal gets too close and that can lead to a fight. Its just better to be cautious and safe.

Introduce the animals in a new place. Some animals are territorial and will want to defend their home/cage.     Ive read on forums that its best to introduce guinea pigs on the bathroom floor and never in their cage. While they are getting to know each other clean out the current cage and make sure it smells new. Also move things around so it looks like a new cage. This will help reduce the chances that the current guinea pigs will get aggressive and defend their cage from the new guinea pig.

The scene of smell is important for animals. If they smell the same they might get along better. Giving them a bath in the same shampoo or using pet fragrance spray might help. There are also some sprays that calm animals (Ive seen those for cats and dogs). Getting one of those might be a good idea.

Make the experience positive. When introducing your pets give them treats and their favorite foot. Pet them and reword them. They will realize that the new animal means yummy treats and they will be much more happy about it.

The slower the process the greater the chance that the animals will eventually get along.
Keeping more then one animal is great because while you are away from home your pet has buddy to keep him/her company. Also animals will often play and chase each other around, this will be another way for your pet to get exercise and stimulation. If you have a pray animal such as a guinea pig, mouse, or bunny (to name a few) getting other animals of the same species will make them more secure. Prey animals are easily frightened and feel safe and secure among more of their kind. Just as a farmer keeps sheep in a herd you can keep guinea pigs in a small herd as well. Whenever there is a loud noise all three of my guinea pigs huddle up together, they feel safer that way.

I hope this post will help you introduce your new pet :)

Introducing a new cat

Hi there :)

So in mid December, with my boyfriend's family we were able to adopt Muki. We got him from PAWS Chicago, a wonderful no kill shelter. It was a hard choice because there were so many nice cats there. We were tempted to get one of the kittens but knew that those had no problem getting adopted so we all decided to try and get an older cat. Muki was recommended to us by one of the workers at the shelter and described as the perfect lap cat. Indeed as soon as I picked him up he cuddled on my lap. He seemed very sweet and laid back.

Muki was over a year old and is a male so I thought he would be a perfect match to our current cat, Littlefoot, who is over a year old as well. I wanted a cat that would be energetic enough to play with her. The next day we adopted him and took him home. He just slept in my arms for the entire car ride. I began to wonder if he would be energetic enough to keep up with Littlefoot. He seemed so laid back. (Before we brought him home we took Littlefoot to Bobby's house so he could have the place all to himself to adjust)

His first days went well. He was not afraid of Chikita (my black Labrador) and they got along well. I was a bit concerned at first because he was a bit obsessed with my guinea pigs. To prevent his constant harassment I covered the cage with a blanket. He soon lost interest in them. After two days we brought Littlefoot back. Although she had been around other cats before and was close friends with Bobby's sister's cat (Bucky) she was still very territorial. This is where things got a little complicated. Upstairs where I live the rooms do not have doors except for the small bathroom. I knew I had to separate them at first because Littlefoot would murder him. So for another two days I set up a schedule. Every six hours my alarm would go off and I would rotate the cats. One cat would go to the bathroom while the other would get free range of my place. I did provide separate food, water, and a litter box for the cat that was in the bathroom. This allowed the cats to smell each other but not see each other which was very important to Littlefoot as she was a territorial cat. The day after that I put both cats on halters and leashes and tied them to opposite parts of the room so that they could see each other but not get too close. This prevented any fighting and showed Littlefoot that Muki was no threat. Then I went back to rotating them between the bathroom and my place for a bit but let them see each other in between. I don't remember exactly when but eventually I let them both go free around my place. Littlefoot was still grumpy and hissed at Muki but she did not attack him and since he was from the shelter where lots of cats hissed at each other all the time he did not care.

To be continued...

Hello World! Part 1

Hey there? Thanks for visiting!

This is a short post about the importance of providing pets with a stimulating habitat/environment. Did you know that the type of environment and interaction you provide for your pet will affect their brain development (at a young age) and also their personality. For example, one of the people I am inspired by, Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer) always stresses that you expose a puppy to different sounds and situations. This will prevent the dog from becoming frightful and timid but will also help the puppy develop. Now many people think that this could be applied to other animals as well. When me and my boyfriend got a kitten ("Littlefoot") we took her everywhere with us and taught her to be on a halter and leash. Now she enjoys cars rides and does not mind going to Petsmart where all the big dogs bark at her. She just gives them the evil eye and sits in the shopping cart. We also take her to his parents house where she learned to get along with the other two cats. While they dont like each other she learned not to bother them. She still gets frightened by loud noises at times but does well in new environments and adapts quickly to new places, people and situations.

To be continued..