EVERYDAY CAT CARE

You know to cover and store an open can of cat food in the refrigerator, but how long can you safely keep it there before it should be thrown out? Three to seven days. After that, you can’t be sure there hasn’t been so much nutrient degradation that the cat isn’t getting all the vitamins and minerals the food originally contained. Also, opened canned food that sticks around too long can provide the perfect environment for the growth of harmful bacteria.

Since March of last year, more and more cats have been diagnosed with bird flu, an often deadly viral disease. Cats in particular appear susceptible to avian influenza. The illness has been diagnosed in indoor cats, barn cats, and large cats like tigers, mountain lions, and lynx, both in zoos and in the wild.

The general rule for how long it’s okay to leave a cat alone at home is 24 hours. Many cats even seem to do fine alone for an entire weekend. When their people come back in the house, they may be greeted with nothing more than a nonchalant yawn, if that much.

Just as your own skin might require moisturizer during the cold months, so might your cat’s. It’s the dry heat in people’s homes that does it. Inside environments tend to have much less moisture (lower humidity) to keep skin well hydrated when the heat is cranked up.

You see an ad for Siberian forest kittens that promises they are hypoallergenic. You then make a mental note to yourself about your next cat, since the one you have makes your eyes water and your throat scratchy. But that breed can bring out your allergy, too. What gives?

We not infrequently hear from our clients that they chose their cat’s food based on the recommendation of someone who works at the pet shop. Not to diminish the good work of store staff in any way, but would you build a nutritious diet for yourself based on the advice of someone who works at the supermarket?

You may hear some people refer to cat cavities. But cats don’t get cavities. Their teeth don’t touch each other in a way that lets cavity-causing bacteria collect between them, and they don’t have little pits and fissures in their teeth, like people do, where cavities form. The pH of their saliva also stops cavity formation.

Is your cat happy? Bored? Something else? Here are a few ways to tell.

If your cat occasionally gets into your dog’s food, it’s no big deal. But cats have unique nutrition requirements that dog food simply cannot cover. In fact, it would be much easier for a dog to get by on cat food than vice-versa.

• The more games someone plays with their cat, the better the feline’s quality of life and the better the relationship between the cat and their guardian. Furthermore, cats show signs of distress when their people haven’t played with them for a while. They become more destructive, more aggressive, or more reclusive, depending perhaps on their inherent nature.

  These are just some of the findings made by researchers who designed detailed surveys that were answered by almost 1,600 people in 55 countries. The researchers, hailing from Australia’s University of Adelaide, reported their results in a study entitled “Cats Just Want to Have Fun,” which appeared in the journal Animal Welfare.

Boxes, paper grocery bags, a shelf in a linen closet…if it’s a tight fit, your cat will like squeezing herself into it. The sense of security derived by felines in a close space is so strong that cats who are given a box when they arrive at a shelter calm down by day 2, according to a study conducted by researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. It takes a full week to calm down for newly arrived cats who are not given boxes.
The boxes don’t just provide a sense of security. They also help a cat keep warm; felines like indoor temperatures higher than we do, as we said on page 1. And they like having their abdominal organs covered by curling up into a ball. It makes them feel safer from injury.

Q: Sometimes a mouse ends up in our basement, and the chase is on! When our cat finally catches up with it, she kills it. But instead of trying to eat it, she brings it upstairs and lays it right in front of me. What’s her point? Is she trying to show me what a skilled hunter she is? Or is she simply sharing her excitement about getting to exercise her predatory drive?
Bridgette Manes
Essex, Connecticut