Oh, adolescence! The one that people go through is complicated, but that of our dear friend is not far behind. Like a human teenager the furry is going to challenge us daily, and, in the same way that a father and / or mother should do with their child, we have to be very patient and teach him, over and over again, not to do things he cannot do, like scratch or bite us.
But in addition to patience, we will need something else to make the furry one become a happy animal. So let's see how to care for a teenage cat.
Food
An adolescent cat is an animal that is between 6 and 12 months old, that is, it is still in the eyes of all of us who love cats, a puppy. It continues to grow, but more slowly. Even so, like all carnivores, they need us to give them a quality diet, rich in animal protein and low in cereals (In fact, you shouldn't bring any type of cereal, as these ingredients are often the cause of many health problems such as allergies and even urinary tract diseases such as cystitis).
Nor can we forget to fill your drinking fountain with clean and fresh water every day.. If we see that you do not drink much, the ideal is to buy a fountain type drinker in any pet store or on the Internet. In the event that we suspect something is wrong with him, we will take him to the vet.
Games
The cat learns through games. Those moments when he has fun with us, playing with a ball, a stuffed animal or a rope. Every day we have to dedicate at least three sessions of ten minutes each to have fun. He is young: he has a lot of accumulated energy. We, as your caregivers, have to see to it that you vent, that you exercise while having a great time with your human.
In pet stores we will find countless cat toys, but at home we probably have cardboard boxes, old shoelaces, golf balls (or of a similar size). We can even entertain you a lot by making a small ball out of aluminum foil.
Hygiene
Gone are the puppy who did not pay much attention to his personal hygiene. The adolescent cat begins to behave like an adult, grooming itself several times a day to keep its coat shiny, clean, and most importantly, healthy. But there is always a but) the human can help you maintain it by brushing it daily and applying an antiparasitic treatment (pipettes, collar or spray). In this way, no parasite can harm or disturb you.
Likewise, we will regularly have to clean the eyes with a gauze moistened in an infusion of chamomile, and the ears with a specific eye drop.
Education
How to educate a teenage cat? For that, a lot of patience and perseverance is required. It is necessary to repeat the same action many times to learn it. For example, when we teach not bite I to do not scratchIf we have it next to us on the sofa, we will lower it; and I can assure you that it will go up again, and it will bite us / scratch us again, and we will have to lower it again…, so until it is calm, which will be when we give it its well-deserved prize (caresses, sweets).
Do not get angry. The screams, the angry faces, the mistreatments, ... only serve to make us afraid. And we don't want that, do we?
Veterinary
During this stage you do not usually need to go to the vet, but if we suspect that you are ill or if you have had an accident, we will have to take you. Also, with 5-6 months it will be highly, highly recommended to take it to castrateespecially if we intend to give you permission to go abroad. This is an operation from which you will generally recover very quickly: the males take about two days, and the females about five.
Following the advice given by the professional and giving our friend a lot of love, in a few days he will be back as usual 😉.
And you, how do you take care of your teenage cat?
We are glad that you found it interesting 🙂