{"id":1719,"date":"2017-01-10T06:12:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T14:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2017-01-10T06:12:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T14:12:26","slug":"newsday-tuesday-spoil-your-cat-the-right-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1719","title":{"rendered":"Newsday Tuesday \u2013 Spoil Your Cat the Right Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1352\" src=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CWA1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"CWA1\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CWA1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CWA1-375x500.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CWA1.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>How do you spoil your cat? You notice that I didn\u2019t ask if you spoil your cat. I know you do.<\/p>\n<p>But are you spoiling her to death with too much of the foods she shouldn\u2019t be eating? Or letting her play with something that could be a danger? Maybe you\u2019re encouraging her to spend time outside when she really doesn\u2019t have street smarts. Some people allow their cats outside without flea protection. Or they turn a white cat loose. Did you know that white cats that spend a lot of time outside can get sunburned and even cancerous ears? I imagine a hairless cat should also be kept out of the sun.<\/p>\n<p>Cats are living longer these days. It\u2019s wonderful to know that we could have as many as <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1453\" src=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"SmokeyWPix\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix-281x500.jpg 281w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SmokeyWPix.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/>eighteen years with our cats. But that number can be greatly decreased for a cat that is obese or one that is attracted to something that\u2019s dangerous to cats such as poisonous plants, chocolate, avocado, or other things that can make a cat sick. Some cats die from eating metallic bows, ribbon, plastic toys, wiring, cleaning supplies, antifreeze, for example.<\/p>\n<p>We can still spoil or kitties without harming them. Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep your cat inside.<\/li>\n<li>Identify the things that your cat is attracted to that could be dangerous and find ways to protect your cat from these things.<\/li>\n<li>Set aside time each day for active play with your cat. Most cats love it when you get down on the floor with him and interact with a wand toy, a ball, or something else interesting.<\/li>\n<li>Offer your cat, especially as she ages, a comfortable, soft bed. Our cats curl up in their beds in winter, but never during the warmer months.<\/li>\n<li>Provide a hidey place for your cat and honor her privacy when she needs it.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure he has a suitable place to climb and scratch on. According to experts, a cat scratches for a variety of reasons\u2014two are to keep claws in shape and to relieve stress.<\/li>\n<li>Cuddle with your cat. Put her favorite blanket on your lap and entice her for a snuggle.<\/li>\n<li>Build a perch at a window or move a cat tree near a window for added interest for an indoor cat.<\/li>\n<li>Bring in a kitty-safe water fountain.<\/li>\n<li>Keep litter boxes fresh.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure kitty sees her veterinarian anytime there is a problem, of course, but on a regular basis for a well checkup. Have the vet trim her claws, if need be and weigh her to make sure she\u2019s maintaining a healthy weight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019m sure you can add to this list. If you think of something we should include, please leave me a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do you spoil your cat? You notice that I didn\u2019t ask if you spoil your cat. I know you do. But are you spoiling her to death with too much of the foods she shouldn\u2019t be eating? Or letting &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1719\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,4,31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1720,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions\/1720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}