How to keep your cats happy and healthy? Here are 8 general tips that will help you give your pet the love and proper treatment that they need. Please read on for those trying to brush up on their pet care skills.

1. Grooming

• Cats are really good at keeping their coats clean and beautiful by licking their fur themselves, known and referred to as 'grooming'. Sometimes you won't realised that this habit is the cause of your cat's excessive loss of fur. So what you need to do is brush or combs your cat several times a week. Regular brushing helps to reduces the amount of shedding for your cat in your home and decrease the formations of dreaded hairballs.

• Besides, this will also provides you with the chances to check your cat’s skin condition. Any presences of abnormalities on your cat’s skin such as fleas, unusual redness, lumps, sore spots or other skin problems, immediately seek help and treatment from a veterinarian. Ask a veterinarian for advice on how to treat and care for your cat.

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2. Food

• Cat food comes in various types such as dry food (kibbles), wet food, raw food and home-made food. You have to decide what type of food to feed your cat. Purchasing cheaper cat food products are not recommended because it may not provide enough nutrition as is required for your cat. Ask your veterinarian for a recommendation of high quality brand of cat's food that is suitable for your cats, especially if they required special dietary needs due to specific health conditions.

• Like humans, cats also have some specifics nutritional needs. Here some tips to choose which cat food to purchase for your cats:

  • Make certain that the main ingredients must be based on animal meat like beef, chicken, turkey, or fish because they rely on meat to get carbs.

  • Don’t forget they need essential amino acids like taurine and arginine and fatty acids for heart and eyes health.

  • Avoid serving human foods for your cat unless you have cleared the food with your veterinarian because some     human foods not suitable for cat and can make them sick (e.g. chocolate).

  • Be careful to not to over feed your cat because they may be in risk of obesity and heart diseases, especially for middle aged cats. Additionally, overfeeding also contributes to arthritis, heart disease, and various other health problems.

  • Factors such as age, activity level and health make a difference in what and how much a cat should eat.

•  Please visit your veterinarian if your cat is showing abnormal signs after eating something.

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3. Water

• Cats require a lot of water in their diets as they are more likely get 70% of water in their wild hunting food. Lack of water in their diet can cause the formation of kidney stones and various urinary problem.

• Usually, cats need to drink a lot of water when they eat dry food because dry food contains only 5% to 10% water while canned wet food contains 78% water.

• Make sure you provide fresh and clean water at all times for your cat.

• Don’t forget to clean the bowl which your cat drink from at least twice a week.

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4. Teeth

• Like humans, you have to clean or brush your cat’s teeth to avoid the formations of tartar on their teeth which can lead to gum disease and tooth decay.

• Cats can’t brush their teeth and they don’t like their owner to brush their teeth too. So what you need to do is send them to the veterinarian to have their teeth cleaned at least once a year.

• If you insist to clean your cat’s teeth yourself, you'll need a soft-bristled toothbrush and a veterinary toothpaste.

• Do not use human toothpaste because it has high fluoride which can cause stomach ache to your cat.

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5. Litter box

A general rule of thumb for litter boxes are:

• Provide one litter box for each of your pet and extra. For examples, if you have two cats, you need to provide three litter boxes.

• Keep your cat’s litter boxes clean. This means that you'll need to scoop the litter daily, perhaps more than once per day and clean the box at least once a week. They might choose to litter outside the box if the box too dirty.

• Replace the litter entirely as needed.

• Regular scooping will make you notice any changes to your cat’s feces and urines, which could indicate a health issue.

• Do not suddenly change the brand or types of litter that you've been using for your cat. They don’t like sudden changes. Suddenly changing the litter might cause your cat to stop using the litter box entirely.

• Cats don’t like to use heavily scented litter. Odourless, natural litter are usually the best suited for their need.

• Place the litter boxes in a location away from noisy appliance and easy for your cat to access.

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6. Scratching post

• Scratching is a normal part of a cat's behaviour. You can’t change it! What you need to do is to provide a sturdy scratching post for your cat if you don’t want your cat to end up clawing your furniture.

• But why cat likes to scratch? Because, when they scratch, the old outer nail sheath is stripped, and the sharp, smooth claws underneath are revealed.

• Their sharp nails are sometimes dangerous, it can harm your skin by scratching you. So, cutting your cat’s nails every two to three weeks will keep their nails blunt and less harmful to you.

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7. Cat carrier

• Cat carrier was designed to make travelling with your cat easier, whether to visit a vet, going to shop or travel the world. Without a cat carrier, your cat will distract you when you drive a car which can lead to an accident.

• So, cat carrier is not just to save your time to control your cat behaviour it can also make you less worried about the possibilities of losing your cat when they are outside.

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8. Vet visits

• Just like humans, cats also needs medical check ups. But the difference is they can't exactly communicate to theirs owners that they are sick. So, it is important for cat parents to know what their cats eat, where they sleep and where the place they play. It is best for cats if they can go to a vet for check up at least once a year.

• Usually a vet will check for their physical health such as teeth, ears, eyes, heart, deworm treatment and vaccination.

• By seeing a vet, we can detect if our cat has any disease early, so they can get an early treatment to be cured. Besides, your vet will knows what vaccinations are required for your cat.

• With much love and care, you can keep your pet always healthy and happy.