How To Care For Cats

by Ruth
(England)

When you take me home as a kitten please remember I am just a baby and it is very frightening for me to leave my mother and siblings and to go and live with strangers in a different house.

I will have known nothing since I was born other than my mother cat looking after me and keeping me out of mischief and teaching me how cats behave….


Cat Age Comparison Chart – by RUTH

…..If you have other pets please don’t expect me to love them or them to love me straight away because we need to be introduced slowly and get to know each others scents first. I will need a room of my own with my own bed, scratching post, toys, food, water and lots of attention from you to help me feel at home.

But please don’t shut me in a room all night long alone as I will be very lonely and sad and would be much happier with my bed in a room where a person sleeps.

Please don’t punish me if I make a mistake, my mother will have taught me how to use a litter tray, but in a strange house I might forget at first.

Allow me to sleep in peace when I want to, as kittens need lots of sleep and sometimes suddenly when playing a game I might need a rest.

Please don’t let your children if you have any, treat me roughly and keep on picking me up. I am very fragile and need to be treated gently. Teach your children to be kind and I will play with them and love them and let them love me.

I won’t like it when you take me to the vets for inoculations and to book a little operation so that I don’t have babies if I am female or father babies if I am male. But I will be healthier after it is over with and I will not want to find a mate and cause more kittens to be born as there are not enough homes for cats already.

If you live in a country where it’s legal, please don’t let the vet take my claws away when I go for the operation to stop me breeding, even if they offer. Declawing is very painful and I would be very unhappy without my toe ends because that is what declawing means, taking away a cat’s toe ends and it is very cruel.

Cats need claws to be healthy and happy and to walk and jump and play and groom and to do exercises on a scratching post. If any bigger bad animal attacks, we need claws to give him a swipe so he wouldn’t do it again.

I won’t be a kitten for very long so please don’t punish me if I sometimes forget my claw manners, I would never scratch you on purpose if you are kind to me. If you provide me with my own furniture, which is a good tall strong scratching post and show me how to use it, I will not scratch your furniture.

Kittens soon grow up but it doesn’t mean I won’t want to play any more then. Cats love to play but I would like to sleep in peace when I choose to.

Please don’t ever go away and leave me alone for more than a day. Some people think it’s OK to leave cats on their own all day and night or even 2 days or even longer, but it isn’t a good idea. Cats can get ill very quickly and if we don’t eat for 2 days it’s very serious and we need to see a vet. We can also get into trouble and be trapped behind furniture or bad people could break into our homes and hurt us.

You wouldn’t leave a dog alone for a long time so please don’t leave a cat either. Dogs bark and howl when in distress and people hear them but no one hears a cat crying.

If you have to go away please ask someone you can trust to come and visit me twice a day to see to my needs and to give me some attention as I will be missing you and I won’t know if you are ever coming back.

Remember that we cats hide our pain, if you find us avoiding you or hiding away from you even though you are kind and gentle, it is a sign that something is bothering us and we need to see a vet.

When I am old I will need warmth and a comfortable private place to sleep and sometimes, just like old people who can’t get to the toilet in time, I may not get to my litter tray. Please don’t punish me for that.

In fact please don’t ever punish me at all, cats don’t know what punishment means and it makes us nervous of the people who do it.

If you are always kind and gentle and show me what I have to do to fit in with your lifestyle, I will do it. Remember cats are wild animals at heart.

Think how you would feel if it was the other way round and cats had taken your species from your natural habitat many years ago and you had to live in the wild with us. You would still feel domesticated at heart, even though you had adapted to living with us.

All living creatures have deep instincts and while cats can be happy living with you, it’s not your right to possess us and try to make us behave as you do, because that is impossible

Kattaddorra signature Ruth

Comments for
How To Care For Cats

Click here to add your own comments

Nov 26, 2011 Fantastic
by: Sue

Another fantastic article which educates in a fun way.


Nov 20, 2011 Genius!!
by: Leah England

Ruth! Absolutely bloody brilliant! An education that will last cat caretakers a lifetime!

Those of us who have had the pleasure of living with cats for years will already know all about this however to someone who hasn’t lived with a cat before this should be their bible!

Sadly there are those who totally lack empathy and sensitivity who will read this and still think yeah right I’ll do what I think is best. Those sorts you will never influence because they just don’t care.

People who genuinely want to do the best for their cat will read this and take it in; I just know it!!

Michael is there anyway this can be published on your home page or a link to it on your home page?

This is at the very core of cat ethics and Grahame is right it should be distributed!!!!


Nov 18, 2011 Top idea
by: Ted

I agree with Grahame this advice needs printing off and distributing!
Well done Ruth.


Nov 17, 2011 Great article!
by: Maggie

Yet another brilliant article, Ruth! I hope all new cat owners take a few minutes to read this, it’s very informative and would be very beneficial to someone who doesn’t have much experience with cats. Particularly the declawing part, new owners need to know right from the beginning that declawing is unacceptable.


Nov 17, 2011 Thank you
by: Ruth

Thank you all for your kind compliments.
I took quite a chance writing this because as you know I mostly design posters and write articles about the cruelty of declawing cats.
But reading some google alerts I receive daily about cats it seems that some people don’t have any idea of basic cat care, of how cats feel, or how their ages compare with ours.
Some people think I am a bit ‘over the top’ about cats but I passionately love them and want to help improve the lives of the ones who live with people who don’t know how to treat them or have been given bad advice.
Yes Grahame please feel free to use anything I design or write. I’m honoured ! Not sure if any Animal Welfare body would put money into publishing it as they usually have their own leaflets they use, but it’s a good idea to try.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Nov 17, 2011 Perfect!
by: Grahame

Perfect!

Ruth, this is such a perfectly put article. I think that it should be printed up for distribution with each and every cat adoption. Do you think that monies might be available from a cat fancy association or RSPCA for this? And would you be willing to give me a release for free distribution in my current city of residence? I would then approach some fine no-kill shelters here which keep all cats, sick or well, for their natural lives or until they are adopted.

Again, a wonderful piece of writing, and I loved the cartoon cats on the age chart.


Nov 16, 2011 All cat owners should read this
by: Michele S

Wow this is a brilliant article Ruth. If they could speak, I think this is exactly what cats would say.

I agree with others that this should be compulsory reading for all cat owners.


Nov 16, 2011 wonderful!
by: cat lady

What a wonderful essay! Should be in the hands of all future cat owners.


Nov 16, 2011 Nice!
by: Ana

I loved this reading! thanx! 😀


Nov 16, 2011 Lovely article
by: Barbara

I really enjoyed this, it should be compulsory reading for everyone contemplating taking a kitten into their home. Cats are so precious,it’s heartbreaking that so many are abused.

Barbara avatar


Nov 16, 2011 Well done Ruthy
by: pamela marshall

Well done Ruthy.
I don’t know any people better than you and Babz to write such a lovely piece about cats and how to treat them, and love them.
This piece is very educational too, and will help people who have never had a cat before.
This world is a better place with you in it…..


Nov 16, 2011 Elegant – Fundamental
by: Michael

Thanks Ruth for an article that gets to the underlying ethos of cat care from which all actions stem.

Love the article.


1 thought on “How To Care For Cats”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Hi! I’ve been following your web site for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Porter Texas!

    Just wanted to say keep up the great job!

    Here is my web site; ダウンジャケット 豪華

Leave a Comment

follow it link and logo