Owning a pet cat can be very rewarding but it is important to answer a few basic questions before rushing out and bringing a new kitten home. This post is intended as a summary only and you should thoroughly research all aspects of cat ownership before bringing a new kitten into your house.

Animal shelters receive thousands of unwanted and abandoned animals every year, many of these from people who have rushed into getting a pet before realising that they are actually unprepared to look after it in the long run. 

The RSPCA website has some great information regarding what you should think about before bringing a new pet home… Here is a summary (read the full article here)

Am I prepared to care for a pet for its whole life?
The average lifespan of dogs and cats is around 12 years, with some dogs and cats living until 15 or even 20 years of age. While puppies and kittens are irresistibly adorable, you will need to be prepared to provide for an adult animal too.

Can I afford a pet? There are many costs involved with pet ownership. Upfront costs include vaccination, microchipping and desexing. However, you must be prepared to pay for food, worming, annual health checks, vet bills, training, boarding, toys and bedding for the life of the animal. 

Do I understand how to care for a pet? It is your responsibility, as a pet owner, to thoroughly research the basic requirements of your chosen pet. You should do this before bringing your pet home so that you are well informed about the species-specific needs of your pet and you are prepared to take good care of it. 

Do I have time to care for a pet? Some pets will demand more of your time than others. You will need to have time to exercise, groom and play with your pet for its lifetime.

Do I live in suitable accommodation with adequate space for a pet? Your home and garden size are significant factors in determining your suitability as a pet owner. Do you have enough space?

Will a pet fit into my lifestyle and priorities? Working hours, a busy social life and taking regular trips away are all factors you need to be considered before purchasing a pet. Companion animals thrive on human company and will always depend on you; you must be sure that your lifestyle will accommodate them. 

Don’t forget to buy the essentials before returning home with your new cat;

• A cat bed
  
• Food & water bowls
  
• Cat carriers 
• Scratching post (because you don’t want your cat to destroy your furniture!)
• Litter tray
  
• Toys
  
• Grooming equipment
  
• Food

Now click on this link to search Google for advice on what you should consider before running out and bringing home that cute little kitty and how to prepare your home… See you back here in a little bit!

Welcome back! Hopefully now you are prepared to bring your new kitten home and have a good understanding of what it takes to be a responsible cat owner but what comes next? What about after you arrive home with your little bundle of fluffy joy?



Health
The health of your kitten is vitally important right from the start so one of the first things you should do as soon as possible is take your kitten to a vet for a full health check. The vet will give you some general advice on caring for your new kitten as well as some important documentation regarding caring for your cat, health and vaccinations. Make sure that you check your cat’s ears regularly and carefully clean dirty ears with cotton wool dipped in water. Teeth should be checked regularly for tartar and inflamed gums although feeding a dry food can prevent some dental problems. 

Nutrition
You should feed your kitten a balanced and nutritious diet. You should provide a mixture of commercially available foods mixed with natural foods including raw meat, raw meaty bones and vegetables. See this article from the RSPCA for more advice on what you should feed your new kitten. If you have any questions about your kittens diet or nutrition needs speak with your breeder or your vet. Fresh water should be available for you kitten at all times and you should wash her food bowl after every meal… After all, you don’t eat from a dirty plate do you?!!

Grooming
It is important that you regularly groom your cat to avoid matted fur and unwanted nasties making it their home. If you start grooming from a young age and make it part of her routine this can be an enjoyable experience for your cat.

Litter Tray
Cats are clean animals therefore training a cat to use a litter tray is easy. Her litter tray should always be accessible and easy to find. You should use about two inches of litter in the bottom of the tray.

You don’t need to change all of the litter every day, simply scoop up patches and faeces and replace with fresh litter. Once a week you should wash the litter tray with hot water but be careful about using detergents as some can be toxic or your cat may be put off by the smell and not use the tray after washing. 

Like many animals, cats can carry disease in their faeces (especially if let outside and mixing with other cats) therefore you should use gloves while handling the litter tray and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. 

Sleeping 
Provide you kitten with a clean bed to sleep on that is warm and dry. Don’t forget to put plenty of toys in the bed! Cat beds come in many different types. For your kitten’s first bed, a cardboard box with sides about twelve inches high will be better than a large bed since the high sides will help her feel more secure and will also help to keep out the cold. Make sure you put soft blankets inside.

Playing with your Kitten
Kittens love to play and it is an important part of their growth and development as well as a way you can strengthen your bond with your kitten whilst also honing her instincts and reflexes. Give your kitten safe toys that she cannot injure herself with such as a ball or a rubber mouse.

Training
You need to bond with your kitten and there is no better time than play time for this! However, if she does something naughty, such as sharpen her claws on the furniture you need to stop her. You can read more about how to stop your cat from scratching in this blog post. It is important that your kitten doesn’t turn her hunting skills on the local wildlife. Putting bells on your cat’s collar and keeping her in at night are one option whilst a cat enclosure or cat run at your house will allow your kitten the freedom to play outside day or night whilst preventing her from leaving your property and the associated dangers. 

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Read about some common cat terms here 

Do you own an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or Android pad?

Check out the cat piano and talk to your cat...  Play meow sounds and watch the fur fly. Muffy hiding under the couch? Coax her out with Cat Piano. It's like having a load of cats in your pocket. Serenade your pets or start a band!! 

See it in action below.

iPhone - Apple App Store ($0.99) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cat-piano/id302091679?mt=8 
Android - Android Market (free) https://market.android.com/details?id=com.objectgraph.catpiano&hl=en

Have you noticed that your cat is always rubbing itself up against things? Chair legs, your legs and they even love rubbing against the knots on the netting we use for our Kat Cubes and outdoor enclosures. Part of the reason they do this is because it feels good like a good scratch but there is also a much more important reason they behave like this.

Cats have scent glands in various spots on their bodies including on the forehead, lips, front paws, and on their flanks and rears. Through these spots they release chemical messages called pheromones.

Pheromones are unique to each cat in a similar way to a human fingerprint. Cats produce several different pheromones that send various signals which in turn affect a number of different behaviours including its reproductive status, marking of territory and to signal comfort and familiarity. 

Through rubbing, cats mark their territory, claim ownership and establish group scents whilst also overriding scents left by other animals. Often when a cat finds an area scented by another cat it will rub its face against it in a process known as “chinning” until it is satisfied that its own scent is stronger and it has therefore claimed ownership of the area. 

Pheromones convey information to other cats, such as the identity of the cat, when it was there, which direction it was travelling, and even what kind of mood it was in. 

When you stroke a cat you pick up pheromones. Combined with this a cat will often rub his entire body along his favourite humans to mark them as part of his group. Does your cat sometimes act differently around you? Many cats will change their behaviour towards a well-known human who has recently stroked a cat that is not part of the home group because they feel threatened by the other cat’s scent.

Pheromones secreted by glands on the face seem to have a calming effect on cats. If you have more than one cat, you may notice them rubbing their faces against each other. The physical contact of head rubbing help them to feel more comfortable with each other and more secure in their home territory. 

Scratching is another way that cats claim ownership. The combination of visible claw marks coupled with the scent left behind from scent glands in your cat’s paws marks the territory as their own.

Read more about cats scratching and also how to stop your cat from scratching your furniture in this blog post http://www.secureakat.com.au/1/category/scratching/1.html 

Sometimes customers come to us with a request for something a bit different for their cat enclosure. Here is an example of a custom run we did for David who lives near the beach just south of Adelaide.

His cat cat exits the house via a cat flap installed in the window and the down a ramp installed on the side of the house. Then there is a fully enclosed walkway for the cat along the side of the house and through a part of the garden. After that there is a hole in the metal fence and the walkway continues down alongside the fence before the cat reaches a massive cat enclosure in David's large garden full of trees, plants and plenty of things to play with!

The enclosure also features a zipped entry for people to walk through and has plenty of room inside.

We often get asked about the cat in our logo, whether it is based on our cat or just a picture we liked? Well we thought since we have a blog now we would fill you in on the details.

The cat in the logo is actually "Puss" a real (and very fluffy) cat who lives with SecureaKat owner Henry and wife Pauline Garner. Puss was rescued from the Animal Welfare League in Adelaide. 

In the photo to the left you can see the rug she like to roll around and scratch herself on... Its one of her favorite places in the house!

At first Puss found it hard to settle in and was quiet and quite shy whilst not being afraid to get her claws out. Over time she slowly started to settle in however could still be quite aggressive at times and we were told that this was because she wasnt looked after well in her previous home. 

About 6 months after adopting Puss, SecureaKat did some work at the Animal Welfare League and in return was given a voucher to adopt another cat, so Pauline went back a few days later and came home with a kitten which Henry being the deep thinking person he is, promptly named "Mini-Puss" (They also have a Jack Russell named Jack!).

After the arrival of the new kitten Puss took on a mother role and the change in her personality was amazing! This was about 5 years ago and to this day Puss is one of the happiest and friendliest cats you will ever meet to the point where she practically lives attached to your leg! Mini-Puss is also a very needy cat, although these days she spends most of her time cuddled up to the dog.

We often take either one or the other to cat shows we display at, here you can see Mini-Puss with Pauline and Dr Harry from Channel 7.

Its not just rescued cats in the Garner household either. There is a Gullah called Max (Henry was banned from naming the bird!) who was waiting outside on the roof of the car when we returned home from the shops one day. He looked weak so Henry approached him and the bird said "Whatcha doing" so it was obviously somebodies pet who had escaped. After taking the bird inside and feeding him, a poster was put up at the local supermarket and a couple of days later a phone call was recieved from Max's previous owners saying that they didn't want him back so they decided to look after him themselves.

Max currently lives in a large cage in the garden which is within a full enclosed cat enclosure. All of the animals get along brilliantly, Max generally avoids getting to close to the cats but often has friendly beak to nose touches with the dog. Max can be very noisy at times and enjoys mimicking the dog bark as well as the telephone ring and his favoite words are "Watcha doing", "good boy" and "come on" which is often followed with a dance!

The first netted cat enclosure we ever built was in Henry and Pauline's garden in 2004 and there has still not been an escapee! Both cats spend the daytime in the garden along with Max whilst Jack the dog often comes into the Advanced Nets & Ropes factory.  

Some well timed photos below of cats looking like they are doing things. Always good for a laugh! If it makes you laugh too hit the share buttons below and leave a comment too =)

Cats can be affected by diabetes as well as humans, in fact, Feline Diabetes is one of the most common feline endocrine disease affecting about 1 in 400 cats and it doesn't have to mean the end for your cat.

What is feline diabetes and what will does it mean for me and my cat?
First of all it doesn't mean the end of the world! In fact, with a good understanding of the disease and proper comping methods feline diabetes cat diabetes is a treatable and manageable condition. With the right assistance a diabetic cat can live for a long time... Click here to read about Chance who at the time of writing had lived for 6 years with diabetes.

Understanding diabetes is the best place to start. With a good understanding, you'll find that you'll be on top of the situation in no time. Head here to get some very good background information on the disease, why is occurs and what it means for your cat. http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetes-info.htm

Symptoms of diabetes
www.cat-world.com.au has a number of articles to assist in noticing the symptoms of diabetes in your cat and if you notice these things you should visit the vet for a professional diagnosis. Depending on the severity & length of time your cat has been a diabetic you may not see all of these symptoms. It is important to always be observant of your cat's general well being, eating & toileting habits & if you see anything out of the ordinary seek veterinary advice as soon as possible. 

• Increased urination & thirst (PU/PD)
  
• Weight loss
• Increased (polyphagia) or decreased appetite (anorexia)
  
• Vomiting
• Dandruff
  
• Weakness in hind legs
• Bad breath 

In the video below, Dr. James R. Talbott, a staff veterinarian at Belle Forest Animal Hospital and Kennel in Nashville, Tenn. discusses some of the signs of feline diabetes.

Causes of feline diabetes
Nobody knows for certain what causes feline diabetes but a leading contributor is a diet high in carbohydrates such those offered by dry cat food can be a major contributor to Feline Diabetes development. For good advice and in depth background research about your cats diet and nutritional needs visit http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

Online help and resources
One of the best websites online is http://www.felinediabetes.com/ and with the tagline "Saving diabetic cats since 1996" the site has been around for a long time. There is lots of information and resources on there including insulin schedules and blood glucose concentration converters to assist in the management of feline diabetes.

Lots of support can be found on the Cats of Australia and Cats World forums
 http://www.catsofaustralia.com/forums/http://www.cat-world.com.au/forums/

Here at SecureaKat, our cat enclosures and cat runs offer your cat the opportunity to live outside in your garden in complete security and with no chance of escaping from your propery... We call it a cat friendly garden "Feeline Freedom at Friendly Prices"!  In Japan, a new trend is emerging in the form of pet friendly houses - Take a look at the photo on the left! 

Some of the cat-friendly features in that home include:
 - A cat-climbing tree that serves as a spiral staircase leading up to a catwalk on the second floor of the unit. 
- A catwalk forming a zigzag design and can also be accessed via steps that protrude from the wall.
- Holes in the wall leading to other rooms.
- Cubes and 'cat shelves'
- Floor to ceiling scratching post wrapped in hemp rope.

Fauna Plus DeSIGN who build these homes estimate the cost to design a two-story, detached wooden home built to cat specifications to range from 3.2 million yen (about $42,000 in U.S. dollars) for a 20-square-meter space (about 215 square feet) - on up to 13 percent of the total construction costs for a space measuring more than 50 square meters (about 538 square feet), the company reports.

To read more about these crazy cat homes on the link below
http://www.inman.com/news/2011/09/16/a-home-thats-fit-a-cat

Rescued cat wins the SecureaKat trophy for best domestic kitten at the Royal Adelaide Show 2011. 

Garfield was adopted from 'Help Save The Furry Ones" animal rescue shelter in Ingle Farm, South Australia. Here is an interview with the owner and SecureaKat on Adelaide's 5AA radio station with Amanda Blair.

Some of the topics discussed include the number of cats in need of homes, desexing cats and dogs, people dumping their cats and where you can go if you want to adopt a cat from a shelter. 

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http://www.facebook.com/pages/help-save-the-furry-ones/127462437325166