Tips to Have a Happy Cat

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Purina. All opinions are 100% mine.

I probably shouldn’t share this, but I was once known as a crazy cat lady. At one point I had up to 22 stray cats in my home. They were always turning up near the dumpsters behind the business where I worked as a caterer, and I just didn’t have the heart to leave them out there. Fast forward to today and there are just 2 family cats named Boots and Bindie. With almost 100 acres of pine forest as their back yard, Boots and Bindie are happy to spend much of their outdoors. Whether you have indoor cats or outdoor cats there are things you can do to ensure your cats are safe and happy. During my crazy cat lady days I learned a thing or two about cats, so here are some of my Tips to Have a Happy Cat.

Entertainment. Watching birds and squirrels can provide hours of entertainment for your cat. Provide your cats with a safe place to see what’s going on outside like a screened porch, or make a window ledge available for your cat and hang a feeder out in the yard for some bird-watching fun.

Playtime. Play with your cat regularly. Cats have boundless energy, especially a young cat. Play with your cat using interactive toys, such as string toys and feather wand toys. This will keep your cat from becoming bored, depressed, and restless. Something as simple as leaving out a paper grocery bag will provide you cat with hours of entertainment. Remember to end play sessions with a few treats.

Cats need to scratch. It’s important to provide different types of scratching stations for your cat. Horizontal and vertical posts, as well as scratching pads are good options. Make sure scratching posts are very sturdy, and made with natural fibers, like sisal and burlap. Place a cat condo or scratching tree in a place where you cat likes to spend time like in front of a window.

Feeding. Cats need a consistent diet, as sudden changes might upset their delicate stomach. Cats like to drink in a separate location from where they eat, so you will want to separate food and water dishes. Refresh and refill water at least once a day and always leave dry food available for your cat to nibble. Feed your cat several small meals per day. Also, feed your cat wet food if possible as it provides cats with additional water.

Health. Have your cat spayed or neutered and get regular checkups at the vet. Keep up to date with vaccinations and use a flea and tick preventative.

Litter. Cats are very clean animals, so clean litter boxes at least twice a day. Keep litter boxes in a relatively private, but easily accessible location. Since some cats prefer to defecate and urinate in separate litter pans, you may need more than one box.

Use litter with powerful odor control such as Tidy Cats Lightweight 24/7 Performance Litter. Cleaning the litter box can be a pain. The container is always super heavy, the box smells, the litter never clumps like it should and it’s just a major chore! Tidy Cats Lightweight 24/7 Performance Litter locks in moisture, has a powerful odor control strong clumps for easy clean up and the best part: the container is lightweight! No longer a struggle to carry the litter home.

What is your least favorite part of cleaning the litter box?

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