Page 21 - Complete Cat Care: How To Keep Your Cat Healthy and Happy

Collars and ID tags

If your cat ventures outdoors,
it makes sense for him to wear
a collar carrying an address tag
in case he gets lost (see also
“Microchipping” on p.89).
However, collars tend to snag
on branches or undergrowth.
To avoid the risk of a cat being
△ Basket-style bed △ Tent-style bed caught up and possibly choked,
Soft fabric beds with high sides are nearly This type of bed, sometimes referred to as an fit a collar with a quick-release
as good as the sofa for snuggling into. Check “igloo,” keeps out drafts and gives your cat the fastener that snaps open when
that the material is easy to wash. security of a roof over his head. tugged. Collars with elastic
inserts are unsafe, because some
may stretch enough to become
stuck around the head or allow
the cat to put a leg through.
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Quick-release collar

△ Carrier △ Wire traveling cage Essential equipment
A carrier made of rigid plastic is easy to clean Your cat may travel better if he can see out Cylinder tag Disk tag
and resistant to a cat’s scratching. It protects all the way around. Cages usually open from
the cat against knocks and bumps during travel. the top and some fold flat for storage.

are bound to be times when you with him. Many carriers are made and is best used as a temporary
will need to transport your cat in two halves, so that the top half measure for short trips.
safely for trips to the vet, or maybe can be unclipped and taken off
to a cattery when you go on and your pet easily lifted in and Something to play with
vacation. If your cat gets used to out. Make sure that the carrier Cat toys perhaps cannot be
the look and smell of his carrier, gives your cat enough room to counted as essential equipment,
he is less likely to be stressed turn around. Line the bottom with but most owners find them
when a trip becomes necessary. one of his old blankets to provide impossible to resist. They
Let him climb in and out of it at a familiar smell. Soft-sided are an amusing way of keeping an
home, and he will soon regard it as carriers, in the style of totebags, indoor pet physically and mentally
part of his personal territory. are the easiest to carry and most fit. Cats have a natural sense of
Cat carriers are made of various comfortable for your cat. However, fun and even mature, sedentary
materials, including basketwork, they can be tricky to clean and cats can be persuaded to play for a
rigid plastic, coated wire, and soft may provide less ventilation few moments. Swiping at a feather
fabrics. Most cats object to being than rigid carriers. The most on a wire or ripping up a catnip
confined, so it is important to economical option is a cardboard mouse is good exercise—although
choose a carrier with a wide grid carrier, but this type may not your cat will be just as happy
opening that lets your cat see out withstand assault from a cat with scrumpled newspaper or
and allows you to communicate determined to claw his way out a cardboard box (see pp.38–9).

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