How To Create A Safe Environment For Your Cat

It is important that you keep your environment safe for your cat, as they are very inquisitive animals and will get into all sorts of trouble given half the chance.

Living near a road may be a major concern for a cat owner, as cats in general love to wander around a neighbourhood in search of other cats or company from other people.

It is not uncommon for cats to wander a long distance particularly at night, and the best solution is probably to keep them confined inside at night so you know where they are.

This might require that you keep them locked inside the house or have an external area that is fenced in, in such a manner that your cat can’t climb out, remembering of course that cats are extremely good at climbing and escaping from any enclosure.

They also need to be protected from other animals, and in particular dogs that can become quite vicious in the pursuit of a cat.

You should really use your common sense and look around the environment that your cat is living and playing in to determine any areas that could be of danger to them.

Having a cat door fitted that provides your cat with unrestricted access to the house is essential, and practical, for a cat that chooses to spend some of their time outside during the day or night.

Cats can pick up infections from other animals, or from the faeces that have been left about by other animals, so you need to know where your cat is wandering and whether those places could be endangering their health in any way.

By having your cat neutered there is less chance that they will wander about the neighbourhood looking for other cats.

If your cat isn’t kept within a confined area then you will need some form of identity tag or collar on them should they ever get lost.

Creating a safe environment for your cat is in your, and your cats, best interest.

About the author:

Paul Alexander helps run an online pet information business that provides pet owners with the means to create a permanent record of the life of their pet. He is also a long time pet owner and has published many articles on pet related issues. For more information visit www.PetsLife.co.uk

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Ocelot

The beautiful Ocelot is a wild cat of the Americas. Leopardus Pardalis, it is also known as ‘Painted Leopard’, ‘Manigordo’ and ‘McKenney’s Wild Cat’. Twice as large as a domestic cat, it can be nearly five feet long (including tail) and weigh around twenty five to thirty pounds.

Ocelot’s fur resembles that of Jaguar according to many people’s opinion though to me it looks more like a small clouded leopard. Coat varies in color from cream/yellow in dry areas to dark yellow/brown in densely forested habitats. Markings are irregular, dark brown with a black border, in the form of spots and stripes along the body length. A nocturnal cat, Ocelot is often seen resting in tree branches and is known as a good swimmer. It is a very territorial feline and fiercely defends its territory from intruders - often fighting till death!

Predominantly a terrestrial hunter, Ocelot usually takes down smaller prey animals including rodents, monkeys, small deer and fish. It has a keen nocturnal vision and is also believed to use scent to track down prey. A solitary cat, Ocelot can have a range of several square miles in the wild. They have a long gestational period as a specie and produce a small litter with slow maturation and high death rate among kittens - something that does not help their numbers in the wild.

Historically Ocelots have been widely hunted and prized for their coat. Young cubs were also trapped and mothers killed, to steal them for the ‘pet’ industry. Afterwards they were de-clawed, de-fanged and de-scented to make them ‘better pets’ for humans! In the 1980s they were classified as endangered and thereafter the Ocelot trade lessened. Today they flourish again in parts of South and Central America, though certain subspecies including the Texan Ocelot, Leopardus Pardalis Albescens, is still classified as endangered by the IUCN!

The author is a blogger about cats and an expert on ocelot.

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