Education for Living Together

This is the type of education we must teach our cats so we can live in harmony with them without harming ourselves dealing with hygiene and with harming them in their own growth.

Using the litter tray
There is nothing more bothersome than a dirty cat, which is why learning how to use the litter tray is crucial.

Genetically, cats have it in them to use certain zones to do their needs and later on the mother teaches them how to use the litter tray. Around 30 days of life is when the kitten starts eating solid food and defecates the rest of the food; this is when the mother stops eating the fecal material and urine and teaches the kitten how to use the litter tray.

The owner must reinforce everything learned keeping the litter tray in a calm area and continued cleanliness. Fecal material must be removed daily and a general change of litter material should be replaced one or twice a week depending how much urine has impregnated.

Never allow a cat eliminate in locations other than its litter tray. Doing so, it is unsanitary and difficult to clean and this can be a source of parasites for the cat and persons.

If the cat tries to do it in a flower pot, this can be covered with a plastic, bigger rocks or hang them up if possible. In case they try to do it in the backyard urinary problems in a future, you can put obstacles or plastic around the selected area.

If the cat normally used its litter tray and suddenly stops using it, consult the veterinarian as soon as possible because it can be some problem with its behavior or an organic problem.

Using the scratch post
As we already pointed out, they use their nails to mark territory, so they need to maintain their nails sharp. Normally, new nails grow under the existing ones and they try to detach the old ones scraping surfaces roughlyor using their own teeth, that is why it seems like they are sharpening their nails but they are getting rid of the old one and all you see a perfect new nail with a sharp point.

This a perfectly normal behavior on a cat, but it becomes undesirable when it starts ruining the furniture or wall paper of the house. In this case, it must learn to use a scraper instead of the furniture or anything else. As we already mentioned, you can find different types, shapes and sizes of scrapers. You can also avoid it from scratching furniture by putting obstacles or covering them. If it still persists, there are two alternatives, either you grant it your furniture or consult with a veterinarian to see what medical procedure can be done to control its conduct.