Multi-Pet Households. Many households successfully combine multiple pets – dogs and dogs, cats and dogs, birds and dogs, rabbits and dogs. However, this peaceful co-existence doesn’t always come easily, especially when it involves different species that communicate differently. Sparks (and fur) can fly when their signals are misinterpreted. Even multiple dogs may not always get along.
The dogs’ breeds, physical characteristics, ages, health status, temperaments, and backgrounds can all affect their relationship. Although there is an adjustment period between dogs and they often work things out, ignoring the differences between your pets can lead to fights, injury, stress for both pets and humans, and, in the worst case, the death of a smaller pet.
Speaking different languages Different species communicate differently. It is important to remember that even when your dog or cat learns to read the body language of cohabitating animals, this may not extend to a new dog or cat. Plan ahead I didn’t plan that Cat vs. Traveling and moving with your cat | AAHA. Use a solid, plastic cat carrier For trips over two hours, use a plastic, hard-sided carrier lined with newspaper, covered with a blanket. It must be large enough to allow your cat/kitten to turnaround, sit up and stand up. Cloth carriers aren’t recommended because the sides could collapse. Getting used to the carrier Get your cat or kitten used to the carrier long before your trip. Water for cats If possible, provide a small amount of water in a higher-sided bowl that won’t spill. Feeding Cats don’t need to be fed for trips under two hours. Kittens can’t go as long as cats without eating and drinking.
Harnesses and leashes Get your cat used to a harness or leash long before your trip. Make sure that your pet has his/her harness on the entire time he/she is out of the carrier if you walk your cat at a rest stop. The right temperature If you’re comfortable then your cat will be comfortable. Never leave your cat alone Identifying your cat Microchip your pet AND use a collar with a phone number. New Arrival: Bringing a New Cat into Your Feline Household.
How Many Cats? Will an additional cat fit into your household? The answer depends on the size of your home, the number (and temperature) of existing feline residents and your own expectations. Some cats are naturally more sociable than others. Some are content to share a small space with others. Others want to control everything they see. As a general rule, the more cats you put in a confined space, the greater chance of a problem behavior. Some owners believe their cats will accept a kitten more readily than an adult cat. A cat of either sex can fit into a multi-cat household — as long as the cat has been spayed or neutered. Prevent Territoriality“The key to successfully introducing a cat to a multi-cat household is to prevent territorial aggression,” says Dr. Think about your new cat’s arrival from perspectives of your animals. HabituationOnce a cat becomes territorial, you will find it difficult to remedy the situation.
Two Rooms of Its Own Frequently visit the new cat’s room. Introducing Your Cat to a New Cat. Free-ranging and feral cats lead complex and busy lives. They maintain far larger territories than most people realize, and these territories often contain a variety of environments, such as forests, farmlands, urban gardens and yards. Within these territories, cats explore, hunt and scavenge for food alone. They only occasionally interact with other cats. They don’t live in groups or even pairs, and they don’t seek out contact with other cats. In fact, they actively avoid it. Considering this natural behavior of cats, it isn’t surprising that it can be very difficult to introduce a new cat into an established cat’s territory, even when that territory is your home.
If you’re bringing a new cat into your home, be patient. If your resident cat becomes aggressive when she sees other cats outside your home, you’ll probably have a difficult time introducing a new cat into your household. Unfortunately, there are no reliable guides for deciding the best matches among cats. Tips for Combining Households with Multiple Pets by J.B. Doyle. J.B. Doyle's image for: "Tips for Combining Households with Multiple Pets" Caption: Location: Image by: Combining pets can be tricky-especially with cats. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Source: Humane Society of the United States. 3 Ways to Introduce a New Cat to the Family. Steps Method 1 of 3: Introducing a New Cat to a Family Without Pets 1Create a "safe room" for the cat. Your cat will be overwhelmed by the sights, smells, and sounds of its new environment, so the first thing you should do to make your new cat feel at ease is to confine it to one room of the house so it can feel safe and take time to adjust to its new environment.
Bring your cat home in his carrier and place it down in the new room, waiting for the kitty to step out on his own. 4Transition the kitty to the rest of the house. Method 2 of 3: Introducing a New Cat to a Family with Other Cats 1Separate the cats. 5Know when it's not working. Method 3 of 3: Introducing a New Cat to a Family with a Dog 1If you have other cats, introduce the new cat to the cats first. 7Rub a towel against the new cat's scent glands (on the cheek) and give it to the old cats to let them sniff it and investigate it. We could really use your help! Can you tell us aboutbodybuilding? Bodybuilding wakeskating Video Tips. Pets and Relationships: How to Combine Different Cat Households Together. You’ve navigated your way through the dating ritual, and now it’s time to move in together. But what if you and your partner are feeling the love, but your respective cats aren’t?
Dr. Ilana Reisner, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist, admits that introducing a new cat into an existing cat household, or merging unfamiliar cats into a completely new house can be fraught with adversity. At the Western Veterinary Conference, she shared some tips on how to make the transition easier. Signs of Trouble in Paradise A little bit of squabbling among unfamiliar cats, in the form of growling, hissing or darting away is not unusual, according to Dr. An assertive cat, for example, may aggressively attack another, seemingly without cause or warning, often inflicting injury. Cats may also express their dissatisfaction in more subtle ways: by staring or stalking another cat, or blocking his access to food, litterboxes and favorite resting places. Introduce Cats Gradually A Few More Words of Advice 1. 7 Tips on Combining a Multi-Pet Household. Introduce New Pets with These Easy Steps You've decided to bring home another new pet but Rufus, your faithful companion who's enjoyed the spoils of single “pethood,” may not share in your excitement.
No worries: These easy-to-follow tips from Daniel Estep, Ph.D and Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D of Animal Behavior Associates will help expedite a smooth transition for your pets. Introducing New Pets to One Another It's important, advises Estep and Hetts, that pet owners keep in mind that each introduction will be different depending on the species (dog, cat, etc.), the number of animals, and the ages, sexes and individual temperaments of each animal involved. 1. Confine your new pet to a comfortable space where she/he can be visually isolated from other household pets but can begin to get accustomed to the new home. 2. Never leave unfamiliar pets unsupervised together to "work things out" on their own. 3. 4. Restrain your pets at first with leashes or by holding them near you. 5. 6. 7. Toblerone. Merging Households with Cats & Dogs : Dr. Jeff Nichol. Merging Households with Cats & Dogs Question: I am merging households with my fiancée.
I am concerned about moving my two cats into his house. He has two cats and two dogs. One of my cats is very shy and is known to spray at times. How can we accomplish this move with the least anxiety for the animals? Dr. You are smart to consider your pets’ future. Your situation is especially challenging because two cats are being uprooted, one of whom is known to share his feeling by spraying urine. Begin the transition now. You’ll want to comfort the nervous ones. 392c Reader Feedback Two weeks ago I fielded a question regarding merging two cat-owning households. From another savvy cat person: “You might have mentioned to the person whose cat was spraying if she’s neutered or spayed him or her. Untitled Page. By J. Veronika Kiklevich, DVM Q. I adopted my 2- to 3-year-old cat from a reputable shelter almost five months ago.
My little girl lives strictly indoors, has had regular vet checks and has received all her vaccinations except for FIV. Since I brought her home, she has had a problem with soft stools. I recently took her to the vet, and apparently she lost another pound in the past month. I have so many questions: Were all the tests appropriate? A. Your cat's loss of a pound in the past month is cause for considerable concern, so it is good that you are committed to getting to the root of the problem.
Some of these parasites require obtaining a very fresh sample (right from the cat!) Your vet is on the right track looking for liver, kidney or pancreatic disease, as they can all have diarrhea as a symptom; however, pancreatic disease often does not have reliable tell-tale changes on routine blood work and requires special testing. Give us your opinion onLoose Bowels Battle. Untitled Page. Untitled Page. Kitten Training Tips and Treat Rewards. Why do I need to register or sign in for WebMD to save?
We will provide you with a dropdown of all your saved articles when you are registered and signed in. Use a Clicker A clicker can make training easier and faster. If you don’t have a clicker, you can use a pen that makes a clicking sound. The instant your cat does the correct behavior, click and then offer a treat. The click lets your cat know the instant he does the right thing, so it helps him catch on faster. Just make sure you click at the exact moment he does the behavior you want, and then give him a treat. No Punishment! While training your cat, keep in mind that cats respond very poorly to punishment!
It’s much easier to train your cat when you reward behaviors you want and offer him more attractive alternatives for behaviors you don’t want. Finding Help and More Information Here are a few books and links to explore: Continue reading below... How to Stop a Cat Scratching Furniture | Cat Training and Behavior. How to Stop a CatScratching Furniture If your cat is scratching your furniture, and destroying your home, you need to realize that your cat needs to scratch and climb. Scratching conditions your cat's claws by removing the old layers of the nails. Scratching and climbing are highly enjoyable feline activities and are part of the essence of being a cat. Since your cat will want and need to scratch, provide her with a variety of scratching posts and teach her to use them.
Until your cat can be trusted not to scratch and claw your furniture, she should not be allowed free run of your house when you are not there to supervise her. If your cat has a single favorite scratching site, this may be temporarily protected by covering it with some netting or loosely woven fabric. As a temporary measure you can confine your cat to an area where she cannot get into trouble. You can buy scratching posts at your pet store or you can build one yourself. Train your cat to scratch her post on command. Holding and Touching a Cat | Cat Training and Behavior. Training a Cat to AcceptHolding and Touching These training exercises are to ensure that your cat will never react badly when touched, handled or restrained. Begin the training exercises when your cat is relaxed and content. Start off by handling your cat in ways that it already finds pleasurable, such as scratching the top of the head or on his back at the base of the tail.
As the exercise proceeds, the stroking, touching and petting should become more vigorous and include more of the cat's body. All the time the cat remains relaxed, praise him profusely. Work slowly and gradually increase the area of the cat's body that is touched. Your ultimate goal is to train your cat to enjoy being touched and handled so she doesn't feel threatened, defensive or irritated. Within a very short handling session, you will be able to locate your cat's sensitive spots that will require additional careful attention. Gently take hold of your cat's paw, scratch him behind the ear and give him his treat.
Cat Training | Cat Behavior | Understanding Cats. No, this is not about cat training boot camp! If training your cat to sit, stay and heel is your goal, perhaps you should get a dog. If training your cat to adroitly perch himself over your toilet to do his business is your goal, perhaps this article is not for you either. This article is for all of us who would be happy training our cat to just use the litter box instead of our comforter, closet or shoes. This is for owners who would be happy training their cat to use a scratching post instead of the stereo speakers. Why do cats do the things they do. Before we start training our cats to do something or to stop doing something, we need to look at how cats learn. The key to training a cat and understanding cat behavior is to make sure that whatever you want your cat to do is exceedingly rewarding and pleasurable. Sometimes we unintentionally reward our cat for obnoxious behavior.
Reprimands simply do not work when training your cat. Stop all reprimands and punishment. Meows, Gwen. Cat Training Tips : Cat Guide. Basic Training for Your Cat : Cat Guide. Pet Insurance - The Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | Dublin SPCA. Pet Insurance is an affordable way to protect your pet and yourself. Some insurance policies offer a variety of benefits to you and your pet: • Vet Fees for Illness and Injury • Boarding kennel or cattery fees if you are in hospital • Holiday Cancellation if your pet is hospitalised or goes missing • Advertising and Rewards if you pet goes missing • Third party liability and legal costs if your pet damages property or injures another person • Death of your pet from illness or accident • Theft or Straying of your pet Vet Fees for Illness and Injury With pet health insurance, you'll be able to provide your dog, cat or horse the best medical care possible.
One in two pets will experience a major illness or injury during its lifetime. Accidents and illnesses happen; it's just a fact of life. With the advancements in veterinary medicine, veterinarians are now able to offer treatments for conditions that were once considered fatal for most pets. Other Benefits of Pet Insurance: Back to top | Share. Pet Poison Information - The Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | Dublin SPCA. Inappropriate Elimination in Cats. Cat Urine Problems: Spraying, Litterbox Avoidance, Odor. Cat Training - Solving Common Litter Box Problems. Top Picks for Cats Urine Odor Removal Products. How to Stop Cats From Urinating Outside the Litterbox.