Pets make life better, and even people who don’t own one know this is true. The discussion on whether dogs or cats are a better choice as a pet in 2024 will keep on raging, as the community as basically “split” in half. Some say that dogs are better because they are not as agile, but others say that barking is just unbearable, so they’d rather have a kitten that climbs on top of everything instead of that.
But, things aren’t as black and white when choosing a pet. Some require more space, others are simply not meant to be kept in an apartment. Whether you have a large yard for a larger dog, or you live in a smaller place and you want a smaller pet instead, we’ll leave it up to you to decide. This piece is focused on cats because they are not as easy to satisfy as some think.
If you recently purchased a new kitten, there are some things you need to adjust in your home to ensure the best stay for your new, little furry friend. In today’s article, we’re going to give you ten ways to make this happen.
1. Build a small pet house
Your kitten would love to have a house inside a house. Even though it’s in your own home and under a roof, they still don’t “feel like it” unless they are inside their own house. Not that kittens spend a lot of time in one place, but still, they’ll at least spend the night in there. Besides, building such a small pet house is a great, fun little project that you can finish in just a few days.
2. Make a few spots for it
Just like we said earlier, cats don’t really like staying in one place, but they love having a few spots they can go throughout the day. So, a lot of people build such spots in their home, some of them focused more on fun, others built purely for resting. If you can, build a climbing corner. This allows your kitten to practice staying agile without climbing on trees or your furniture. Petonbed is a website where you can find out more about creating perfect spots for your kitten.
3. Determine an eating corner
Every pet needs to have a determined place for eating. This ensures they’ll never take food and bring it to places where eating should be forbidden. For example, you don’t want to find any food crumbs on your bedroom floors, which is why we suggest teaching your kitten from the very start to consume food only at the pre-determined spot.
4. Get a lot of toys
Kittens love toys and they cannot spend a day without them. After all, they are predators, except in a very cute little form. So, if you don’t allow your kitten to hunt and play outside, you need to give it something to do in your home instead. A great way to do that is by getting a lot of toys. But, don’t give it all of the toys at once, because they can easily get bored with something.
5. Make a small playground
Kittens need to keep training their entire life to stay in shape. As we mentioned above, they are naturally meant to be out in the wilderness, hunting and climbing trees to escape other, larger predators. But, nowadays we don’t let our housecats outside, so we have to provide them some sort of a gym on the inside. Get some toys that allow climbing and other “athletic” activities.
6. Announce it to your family
Announcing the arrival of your new kitten to your family is crucial when it comes to comfort. This will allow your other family members to prepare everything that needs to be prepared in your home, as well as make the necessary changes to ensure the stay of your kitten is comfortable. Removing any sharp objects that might hurt it while it’s still small, removing breakable objects from shelves that can easily be reached, and a lot more. It’s crucial to do these things.
7. Choose top-quality food
Comfort means a filled tummy, and cats don’t like food that doesn’t look attractive. That’s why they prefer hunting mice instead. But, we don’t support animal cruelty, and although that’s in their nature, we still prefer feeding kittens with non-animal food. When it comes to food and cats, they prefer something crunchy, but giving them snacks all the time is not the right way to do it. They have to consume liquid as well. Water and milk are great options for a start. Then, when your kitten grows up a bit, you can continue with regular cat food. But, never cheap out on food. That’s very important.
8. Buy a scratching post
Cats just love scratching things, especially when their nails are still growing. But, some of us have expensive furniture at home, or even if it’s not expensive, we still don’t want it completely ruined from scratching. Purchasing a post allows your kitten to do their healthy habits without damaging anything that has a high materialistic value.
9. Get a leather mouse toy
You cannot erase the mouse-hunting thing from a cat’s mind. It’s something embedded in their DNA. But, we said that we’ll keep things cruelty-free, so instead of allowing your kitten to hunt for real mice, get them a leather mouse toy instead. They’ll still have a lot of fun scratching and chewing on it, but it’s still a toy, so no animal cruelty. These are cheap and easy to get, and your kitten will love them.
10. Educate your kids to be pet-friendly
Last but not least, it’s important to educate your kids to be pet-friendly. This will probably have the most impact when it comes to ensuring comfort for your kitten. Kids can easily scare off your cat or cause any unwanted trauma by doing something weird to it. Educate them on how to behave when around an animal, and everyone will have a much better stay.
