It’s International Cat Day, which means cat owners everywhere are probably filling your social media timeline with pictures of cute kitties and cat memes — and maybe giving you the itch to bring home a cute feline friend of your own.
If that’s the case, here are a few cat ownership tips from the Moose Haw Humane Society to get you started.
Before embarking on becoming a cat owner, it’s important to consider the commitment — cats can live up to 20 years, and come with ongoing vet expenses just like any other pet.
It’s also worth considering spaying or neutering as a necessity, as cats can reproduce fairly quickly: beginning at the age of four months old, one mother cat can have up to 12 kittens each year.
Making sure that your household is prepared for a cat is also a good place to start, as the Humane Society often sees cats come back because someone has allergies that weren’t considered beforehand.
Once you’ve decided that a cat is absolutely the right addition to your life, it’s best to prepare for your lives together. Make sure you have a scratching post and a litter box for your kitty, and a designated place to keep their food and water bowls.
Kittens love to play, so having toys around to keep them active is important. Trimming their nails at a young age can also help make the process much easier in the future.
Declawing cats is actually illegal in most provinces in Canada, and vets will often refuse to do the procedure for any reason short of medical. Keeping nails trim can help keep your cat from scratching up furniture, as can having someplace for them to scratch as an alternative.
It's also important to know that all cats have individual personalities and can be aloof or playful, cuddly or independent. Some cats love having social time with their people, and some don’t. Being a cat owner entirely depends on the cat you choose to cohabitate with.
If perhaps bringing a cat into your home isn’t quite for you, there are other ways to get your fill of kitty cuddles.
SCRAPS welcomes volunteers to get involved with helping the stray cat population in Moose Jaw, either by offering to be a foster home for adoptable strays or becoming a volunteer with the trap, neuter, release program, among other projects.
The Humane Society also welcomes volunteers to come into the shelter and cuddle cats anytime they are open, or to become a foster home for cats nursing new litters of kittens.
And, as always, both organizations recommend adopting your new cat rather than buying. There are tons of cute kitties in the care of both places looking for families, and there’s almost never a shortage of adoptable cats in the area.
If you can check all of these things off, perhaps next year you’ll have a cute kitty photo of your own to post for International Cat Day 2020.
