Name: 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Adopting A Cat
Uploaded: 2024-08-16T11:36:52.000Z
Duration: 14 min 54 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

What we know about cats is changing rapidly but I wish there were some things that I knew about cats before I brought them into my life.

We're talking 35 years ago something like that.

I'm going to give you guys the 10 things that I wish I knew about cats before I brought them into my life and my home.

And before I get into any of that stuff don't forget to give this video a like just because you want those 10 things and because you want to love the channel also don't forget to subscribe.

Man I wish I would have known about that one.

I mean 30 years ago the common wisdom was you're bringing the cat into a home with another animal they'll work it out.

I mean I did have a roommate who had a dog I had a roommate who had a cat.

Now when it comes to introducing cats to cats I have a whole playlist on that so please check that out.

Now in terms of dogs man that was a problem and that could turn ugly really fast depending on the dog themselves the size the prey drive etc etc.

Before you bring that cat into the home make sure that your dog can do a reliable down stay.

That is to say you put your dog in that down stay and if they break out of it while a cat walks across that room get back to the training.

That should be something you can count on because the first time that dog chases the cat it's game over.

And listen if your dog can't hold a down stay it's not their fault it's yours you just have to lean into training.

But if you can't trust them during that introduction process they're on a leash and even if they're trailing the leash around if they make a move you foot the leash you can at least guarantee that there won't be a chase.

Once that chase happens it happens you can't undo it.

Meaning the cat's confidence in that moment is shot.

Besides that you want to make sure that you're doing all introductions in a step-by-step way.

That whole thing about them working it out that is straight up shooting the dice man.

It just the amount of times that it does work versus doesn't I wouldn't be telling you about it right now if it worked out for me and it didn't.

Do make sure that you're introducing the right way.

The next part of the introductions I want you to listen to me about again from experience was about food and water and litter resources.

You want to make sure that the dog has no access to the litter box and an easy way to do that is you have a room where the litter box is.

You have a baby gate that basically clears the space underneath so the cat can walk through but the dog cannot because dogs love to help clean litter boxes and that makes the litter box an unsafe place for your cat.

Same thing goes for food and it goes both ways.

The first time your cat goes into a dog's dish to eat their dinner, I'm going to help myself to that.

If your dog is a resource garter that's going to end really badly for your cat.

Again it's about the sanctity of the resource itself so you want to play it safe, take the cat's dish, put it off the ground, and feed them separately.

So my next point piggybacks off the first one because when you're introducing animal to animal you do want to make sure that your cat's nails are trimmed.

Don't bank on whomever you got that cat from shelter, rescue, foster parent, somebody else who had the cat, whatever, had trimmed the claws because when you're doing an introduction and it's not going as well as you wanted it to all it takes is a tiny little touch when those nails are just razor sharp that it's going to cause a problem.

Let alone the fact you don't want like on day three of having a cat in your life all of a sudden they're shredding things around the house because you've allowed that to happen and by the way if you're learning who they are and they're learning who you are and you go for a pet too fast or pick them up too fast and they go like this to you those things get sharp.

So just like humans you want to make sure that you are trimming those nails every three to four weeks tops.

I know it doesn't feel like the funnest thing in the world to do but the earlier you do it and the earlier you get started the easier it becomes and you just got to stick to it.

The other thing you want to worry about is the damage it can do to the cats themselves.

Those claws grow fast and as they grow they start to curve under and I have seen it before where they get so long that they actually start digging in and poking through the pads underneath their paws.

So don't think that just because they scratch things that they're blunting them by themselves.

A big one because it was a big one in my life and this is all about optimum nutrition.

Due diligence on what a cat needs to eat.

If you bear in mind a cat is an obligate carnivore.

So if you put those two things alone together you're going to be better off.

But let me just tell you a story about the first cat who I considered my family member.

That was Rabbi and when I brought Rabbi into my house I was told by a number of sources including my vet at the time.

It will uh you know keep his teeth clean which of course was a lie and etc etc.

So Rabbi was on a dry diet free fed for seven years.

In his seventh year he developed diabetes.

Seven years old and he became insulin resistant.

They didn't tell me change up his diet that may help bring down his glucose levels.

Long story short I lost him before he ever turned eight years old.

That's why I turned as militant as I am when it comes to nutrition.

But I would do anything to go before Rabbi came into my life so that I knew about nutrition.

Be your cat's best advocate when it comes to nutrition.

Common wisdom at the time all these years ago.

Because they're not like right the second my dog off to the side of the camera who's like I need things.

And because a lot of cats are not like we just go okay well they don't need anything.

I got a video about it again down in the description.

The second thing speaking of having made a lot of videos about something.

Don't forget cats look at a room like this.

I walk explore every square inch of space and finding their own confident where in that space.

Really optimizing your environment based on what your cat needs.

Because I wish I would have known the vast difference in the quality of their life.

Both play and catification makes to that life.

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10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Adopting A Cat

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