No matter how much we try to believe, cats don’t understand a peanut of the words which come out of our mouth, irrespective of how emotionally moving or full of affection our words are. Hence, the easiest way to express your feelings towards your pet is to pet! Unlike dogs, which, you can have your way with, and be as frank as your buddy from the fourth grade, cats are more like mistress. You either go their way or you maintain your distance. And if by chance, you dare to take things in your hand, make sure you have enough bucks to treat the bleeding scars your cat leaves you with. Yes, cats are very specific with their likes and dislikes especially when it comes to touching them. All you need to do is to harness your urges, turn your mobile phone or any other distraction away and keep the steps mentioned below in your mind. The mistress shall be all smitten if done right!

Getting started-

• Find the right opportunity

Petting your cat is not a thing to be dealt with haste. Make sure you have time at hand and relaxed state of mind. It is best if your cat itself picks up the time to get cosy. Your kitty will let you know by gestures like curling next to your leg or calmly gaining your attention with touch. If your kitty approaches you by rubbing its head over you, yes your pet wants it! If you find yourself desperate to initiate, study your cat’s routine and pick the time to approach her when your little friend is calm and resting.

• Approach

Let us first know what all to avoid while approaching your cat for some petting time.

Cats love their freedom, hence they dislike being restrained or put on leash. Also forcing your hand on them would only draw them away from you. Avoid sudden or desperate movements if you don’t want to end up chasing them.

Then what is the right way? Learn to approach gently, with a smooth movement of your hand bring it at the eye level of your cat, close enough for them to sniff and record your scent. If your kitty is in the mood, she will give you her accordance by rubbing either her head, chin or side of her body on your hand. Hurrah!

The tricks!

•  Give gentle strokes on the middle of the forehead of your cat ranging from between the eyes. Doing this not only relaxes your pet, but also affects its nerve function.
•  After soothing your cat using a gentle touch on her forehead as mentioned above, you can go for a tricky one. Once having your cat in a mood to be pleased, brush the back of your hand gently alongside the face of your kitty. Provide a transition by simultaneously stroking the cat’s whiskers with a gentle touch as well as petting her between her ears at the very same time. This shall provide your cat with some exclusive pleasure if executed with gentle and patient approach.
•   A soothing caressing stroke with your open palm, growing slowly from their throat to chin can impress your cat very well!
•  It is one of the oldest tricks in the book, one that we have seen English women do to their kitties involuntarily in decades old cinema flicks. Yes! It involves running your palm across the entire length of your beloved cat’s back. The trick is to work your open palm from neck till the very beginning of the tail of your cat. Iterate the same procedure maintaining a gentle pace yet increasing the pressure gently with each turn up to a comfortable limit. Avoid any contact with the tail and save your hand from wandering and you shall do just fine. Keep your eyes on your pet for response and adjust accordingly. Avoid experimenting with patting or reaching the sides unless you know the cat very well.
•  Massaging in small circles around the cheeks of your kitty can be pleasing to them. It also positively affects their digestion! Make sure to enroll this trick in your routine.
•  Using your fingers, lightly caress the head of your cat. Limit your area to between the ears, often scratching gently behind the ears too. Most of the cats relish this feeling, especially scratching them from back to front and hardly anything can go wrong with it. If you are well familiar with the cat, you can risk petting the cat under the chin as most of them thoroughly enjoy the sensation.
• Avoid their tummy, no matter how much you think your cat is asking for it. Yes, majority of the cats don’t like being caressed on their belly. Though, some may get in a playful mood when done so but that aggressive act of playing will leave you with scratched arms scarred memories.
•  Some cats can enjoy their feet being given attention, yet some don’t. Start by touching just one foot, if there is no sudden repulsion you may pet your cat’s feet with a finger, going with the flow of fur.

If your cat withdraws itself from your petting, digest it, you were not good enough. Do not try to amend yourself by pulling back your pet, polish your skills for the next time instead. Pulling ears back or cowering is another sign by your cat that your pet is just not into you or at least what you are doing. Your cat may express satisfaction by purring occasionally. Quite opposite to us sapiens, the ultimate achievement of pleasure for a cat by petting still lies in the outcome where your cat falls asleep while your hands are still doing their job. That is the right time to bid farewell with a wide grin and a pat on your own back.

The post Pet your Pet Right! – Cats Special appeared first on Pet Attack.

A friend of mine had Mimi, a female cat, who got pregnant without anyone discovering her condition until the day she went into labour. She quickly gave birth to three gorgeous female kitties and one handsome male kitty. She only left their side to visit the litter box and have her meals. But as her faith in her humans was immense, she started venturing outside the house once her kittens were 3 weeks old. This led to an unfortunate event – Tim, the male kitten, got electrocuted while he was trying to chew a wire and died. After his funeral, my friend decided to research on how to take care of kittens. I helped her with it, and I learnt quite a few surprising things in kitten care. I hope that if you plan on having a little-wittle kitty-ku (getting carried away with their cuteness… Sorry, I meant little kitten) in your house, you need to know a lot of things.

Here are the things to do when kittens are born at home:

1. Before their arrival: If your cat is pregnant and you know it (which every responsible owner should know, unlike my friend), you should prepare a comfortable place for her to give birth in. You could take a big enough cardboard box and lay tissues and old newspapers in it and put a clean towel on it. This way, when blood and other substances come out of your cat along with her kittens, the towel and papers can soak it up. Immediately after the birthing process is over, change the papers and towel. This box should not be placed near chemicals, tools, machinery, wires and other such potentially harmful things.

2. During their influx: Cats usually do not need any help in child birth but once you realize that your cat is in labour, keep a vigilant eye on her and her well being. Sterilize a pair of scissors in case you need to cut the umbilical cord of a kitten which could get wrapped around its neck. Wash your hands thoroughly with anti-bacterial soap before attempting to go near your cat or her offsprings.

3. After the delivery: Do not touch kittens within the first week of their birth as they are very prone to infections. Do not attempt to feed them any other kind of milk. Their mother will fulfill their lactose needs herself. Feed your cat well and she will be able to feed her young ones properly.

4. Rapid growth and movement: By the time the kittens are about 3 weeks old, they would have opened their eyes and take in everything they can see. As the saying goes, “curiosity killed the cat”, cats are born curious. So they will start jumping around, climbing on things, clawing things, chewing things. Since you made a safe place for them, you need not worry. At 4-5 weeks, they can be given canned kitten food. A litter box should be placed close to them and their mother will educate them in that field. You just need to clean it regularly.

5. Play safe: Kittens love to play! Play with them, cuddle them, pet them, but only after you wash your hands with soap. Their immune systems are not strong enough yet and you do not want them to catch any illness or disease.

6. Clean and clear: Once the kittens start venturing beyond your house and into your garden, they will inevitably get dirty and most probably catch fleas. They need to be bathed or atleast sponged once a month. Do not scrub them. Gently rub their back with a soft cloth to remove all dirt. Use anti-tick cat formulae.

7. Give them away (conditional): If you are planning to sell the kittens or give them away, wait till they are atleast 8-12 weeks old. Educate the new owner about vaccines and shots and kitten care techniques.

Here are the things to do when you bring kitten/s home:

1. First day and first week: As soon as you take the kitten home for the first time, show it where the litter box and food/water are. Kittens do not usually need to be potty trained. Keep the kitten in one room and away from your other pets for the first week until it gets acclimatized to that room and gets friendly with you.

2. Food: Feed it 2-3 times a day. Keep water in a bowl for it as kittens dehydrate quickly.

3. Play safe: Get some cat toys or make homemade cat toys like yarn, wool ball etc. Play with them, cuddle them, pet them, but only after you wash your hands with soap.

4. Sleep well: Kittens are very active and due to their small size, they tire quickly. Do not wake a kitten at your whim. Buy it a cat bed. But it might need warmth and comfort and might still to choose to snuggle with you. So be careful not to squish, kick or injure your little kitten while sleeping.

5. Vaccines: Take your kitten to the vet timely and get it vaccinated. Do not forget to follow up on boosters. Do not let it out of the house until all the shots and their boosters have been given and the vaccination process is complete. You do not want your cat to catch any infection as cats are vulnerable to many.

6. First time venture: When you let your kitten out for the first time, keep a close eye on it until it returns to the safety of your home. Show it food when you need to call it. This way, it will know where to go back to after its outdoor adventures.

Happy cat-ing!

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Many breeds of dogs popularly kept today are said to be ‘Spitz’ dogs or ‘Spitz type dogs’. If you’ve been looking at a variety of different breeds and types of dogs with a view to finding out the perfect future pet or companion for you and the entire family, you may have possibly heard the term in usage and wonder what kind of a dog it is and also, whether, a Spitz dog might be worthy of consideration as a future pet.
Spitz is generally characterized by their pointed ear and elongated muzzle and thick, dense fur which often contains a significant amount of white pigmentation. Their tail naturally curls up over the back of the dog to some degree. The term Spitz is not a breed in itself, nor does it refer to dogs of any particular breed. It’s more of ‘type’ identification and dogs of the Spitz type often bear a passing or sometimes strong resemblance to wolves. Recent genetic testing of a range of dogs of Spitz type shows that they originate from both deliberate and accidental mating of both domestic and wild dog packs with wolves. A significant number of dogs classed as Spitz originate from East Asia and the Arctic regions. While the word Spitz is Germanic in origin and a significant number have been bred in Germany during their relatively recent history, various factors that make up the Spitz typing are not believed to be indigenously Germanic

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Dogs which fall under the heading of Spitz type may come from a wide variety of different breeds. The range of dogs most usually considered to be Spitz and having the universal traits of that type include Alaskan Malamute, American Akita, Canaan Dog, Chow- Chow, Finish Spitz, German Spitz, Greenland Dog, Labrador Husky, Siberian Husky, West Siberian Laika.
Spitz is extremely cute dogs. One of the most distinctive and uniting factors common to all of them is their dense, often luxurious coat, which comprise of two layers; a long fine tapcoat and a thick insulating undercoat of coarser hair. A dog with a coat of this type requires considerable grooming to avoid matted fur and associated problems. Dust ad licks found in their fur makes it uncomfortable for the dogs. Brushing is not enough because a brush takes care of only the top layer of fur and a comb, if used to groom the dog down to the skin, will have to deal with knots and mats within the fur.
Spitz is loyal, good natured and inquisitive and relatively easy to train, although they can be prone to stubbornness and need firm direction and consistent handling. They inherently have a lot of stamina and endurance which helps them run over long distances etc. They are always brimming with excess of energy and hence need a large amount of space to walk around, roam freely and do energetic exercise for proper utilization of their energy. They are generally good with children and other pets. They are very active since they are bred for work. Spitz love to bark and we adore a barking Spitz at home, although outsiders and guests can find it scaring. Some people are too petrified of Spitz because of their ‘non-stop barking nature’. They are real smart animals; they get bored easily, try to grab your attention and if not given, they know well how to manage it from you. It will not eat unless you feed it. It will hover all around you until your attention falls on him and if guests are at home, they sniff so carefully from head to toe unless they make sure that you are perfect and not an evil intruder.

In warm seasons, it is of utmost importance for you to perform regular checks on your Spitz for fleas and ticks. There are numerous ways to avoid this problem which includes shredding the fur, using flea comb to find fleas etc. If she is exposed to mosquitoes often, she may carry heat-worms with her. As a result, she might die early. In some moderate climatic areas, veterinarians advise preventive worm medication throughout the year. Male Indian Spitz need to be neutered-and the females sprayed- removal of ovaries and uterus by 6 months of age. This reduces female breast cancer possibility. Prostate diseases, testicular cancer, some Hernias and certain types of aggression can be prevented by neutering males. The yearly cost of rearing the Indian Spitz- to include food and snacks, to vet bills, toys and license- is not much high.

The Indian Spitz is a dog type belonging to the utility group and was once an excellent farm worker found in India. As pets, they are playful and kind towards the humans. They love to chase their own tail and are quiet athletic. They adapt an aggressive nature if not treated properly. They learn to perform many impressive tricks and tasks. They are quiet clever and can understand human intentions very well. When properly socialized from a young age from a young age, the Indian Spitz gets along well with small children and other pets, often making friends quickly due to its social nature. These dogs adapt well to indoor and apartment living. They are obedient, loyal, loving and affectionate, making an excellent hunting dog, family pet and companion alike. They are superb watch dogs and strangers will be greeted with yapping shrill barks. Their diet is very adaptable and can include anything from milk, rice and yogurt to a rice and chicken diet. The point of obesity should also be kept in mind.

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