Sharing your home with a furry feline pal may be an especially rewarding expertise. If you might be up for the accountability, they will make incredible long-term companions. They may be stored inside, they clear up after themselves, are sometimes already house-trained as kittens, they usually love a knee to twist up on in winter. Cats are additionally nice communicators as they will use completely different pitches of their meows to get their message throughout.
“More and more people are opting for cats in India, and in many countries, they have outnumbered dogs as a choice of pet because of how low maintenance they are. With people’s busy lifestyles, it is easier for them to take care of cats because they are self-sufficient, and they take care of themselves even when left alone. It is estimated that there are between 40 recognised breeds of cats which include Abyssinian, British Blue Shorthair, Burmese, Chinchilla, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Havana Russian Blue among others. In India, Siamese and Persian and domestic shorthair cats are most popular”, mentioned Dr. Umesh Kallahalli, Senior Veterinarian, MARS Petcare, India. (Also learn: 5 methods proudly owning a canine can preserve dementia at bay )
Pros and Cons of Getting a Cat
Dr. Umesh additional shared with HT Lifestyle an inventory of professionals and cons to contemplate earlier than adopting a cat:
1. They Can Be Low-Maintenance
As lengthy as you feed them, change their litter field and preserve them hydrated, cats will do advantageous. Not to say that you shouldn’t spend high quality time with them, however cats are fairly unbiased and don’t require fixed consideration. They don’t ever overfeed themselves, clear themselves on their very own handle to entertain themselves and are much less prone to have separation nervousness.
2. They Don’t Require a Lot of Space
As a pet dad or mum, you might be stunned at how little room cats want as they love curling up in small areas. Cats are fortunately adapting to smaller flats or homes if there’s a window from which they will look out and observe the world. While they’re comfy staying indoors, you do must guarantee that the areas you allot for them adequately meet their wants. They require human contact and psychological stimulation but additionally want satisfactory house to cover and be alone to scale back their stress ranges.
3. Cats take time to socialize
While cats are remarkably daring, clever, and playful, they’re additionally lone hunters by nature and don’t depend on packs for survival. This is why domesticated cats must be taught social expertise from a young age. It takes a variety of time and endurance for cats to socialize with different animals. It is really useful to maintain the home quiet when bringing a cat home. If you could have different pets, attempt to preserve them away for the primary few hours. Once a ‘home base’ is established to your cat, you may slowly introduce one other animal to it.
4. Cats can show behavioural points if not taken care of
If not raised correctly, cats can show behavioural points. If their basic wants like diet and hygiene will not be met adequately, cats have an intuition to hunt even when they aren’t hungry. When cats are pressured long-term, some could present behaviours akin to urine spraying or soiling indoors or territorial aggression. You may have to offer scratch posts to keep away from injury to curtains or sofas. It is really useful to neuter them if you happen to don’t need them to breed as it could create a nuisance throughout mating season, significantly at night time.
“While cats are very unbiased, the accountability of their well being and bodily wellbeing finally lies with you. Like some other being, cats want a balanced weight loss program, and it isn’t really useful to offer them a vegetarian weight loss program. Cats are carnivores and depend on vitamins discovered solely in animal merchandise, you may go for merchandise like Whiskas moist and dry meals to fulfill their nutrient necessities. You can provide them non-toxic toys to play with and study and comb them frequently to forestall shedding. Finally, and most significantly guarantee all harmful objects like toxic crops and cleansing chemical substances are eliminated, and they’re correctly vaccinated and dewormed for a wholesome life,” concluded Dr. Umesh.
