Tips for Raising an Indoor Cat

Cats are excellent companions and make great indoor pets if you don’t want them going outside. However, you must do your research if you are going to raise an indoor cat so that you have an environment that will allow them to live happy and fulfilling lives. With this in mind, let’s look at three tips for raising an indoor cat.

1. Cat-Proofing Your Home

Before bringing a new cat home, you want to make sure that it is prepared for them. This typically falls under two categories: safety and damage control.

Safety

If a cat is going to live its entire life indoors, it needs a safe environment. Your home can contain hazards for cats that you may be unaware of.

Start by making sure that none of your plants are poisonous to cats, and if they are, remove/replace them. You also want to bundle up cords so your cat won’t play with them and strangle or electrocute themselves. Other choking hazards such as small objects, wires, and coins should be removed. Also, toys such as yarn and string should only be allowed when supervising your cat.

Damage Control

Cats, especially kittens, can be destructive if they become bored. To prevent this, you need to take special precautions when adopting an indoor cat.

For starters, you should have plenty of toys for your cat, along with a scratching post. This way, your cat won’t scratch up your furniture. Also, keep candles and incense out of reach so that your cat can’t knock them over and start a fire. Leaving food out unsupervised is also something that should be avoided when you have an indoor cat.

2. Interaction with Other Pets

Introducing a new pet into the family can be stressful for pets you already own. This is especially true for indoor cats since they’ll have to spend their entire lives around your other pets.

A good first step is to introduce your new cat slowly to your other pets. Keep your cat behind a closed door for a day and let your other pets get familiar with their scent. After that, you can let your new cat out and separate it from your other pets with a gate while they check one another out.

Eventually, your pets should get used to one another, and there shouldn’t be any problems. That said, sometimes pets simply don’t get along. The best way to handle this with an indoor cat is to make sure it has a place it can go to feel safe. Cat towers are a good option, especially if the pet they’re not getting along with is a dog.

Also, consider installing gates to separate rooms or to put in the hallway if you have a smaller dog that’s giving your cat trouble. This will allow the cat to quickly jump over the gate while the dog will be forced to remain on the other side.

3. Making Travel Arrangements

A cat is more difficult to travel with than a dog. This means that you’ll want to make sure that you can make arrangements when you need to leave your cat behind when you travel. If you’ll only be gone for a few days, setting out extra food or setting up a timed food dispenser is a good option. You can also set out extra litter boxes as well.

If you will be gone for longer than a few days, then you’ll need to make arrangements for your cat. This could be hiring a cat sitter to come over and feed your cat and empty their litter box, or you can contact a service that provides services for boarding and pet care anytime you need.

Preparation is the Key

Indoor cats can live just as rich and fulfilling lives as their outdoor counterparts, even with the unique requirements that must be provided for them. The key is preparation. You don’t want to learn how to cat-proof your home the hard way or have to make last-minute decisions regarding when you need to travel. Caring for an indoor cat is easy and rewarding as long as you plan ahead.

Author – Sylvia