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You are here: Home / Kitty Wisdom / 10 Handy Cat Tips for Humans

10 Handy Cat Tips for Humans

September 8, 2014 By: Summer Samba63 Comments

I've heard I have an intelligent face!

I’m just a kitten and I can’t even begin to be as wise as Sparkle was, but I think I can come up with ways to help humans be better servants to kitties! Today I’ve compiled a list of handy tips, most of which humans can use starting right now!

  1. The best way to serve a kitty her meals is on a plate. That gives her whiskers room to comfortably spread out, and ceramic or porcelain plates are less likely to cause acne than plastic bowls, or deep bowls.
  2. Does your cat keep losing his toys under the sofa? Get a fishnet from the aquarium section of the pet store — it will help you “fish” them out! (I got this one from my friend Sasha.)
  3. If you have a cabinet with cleaning supplies and other items that are potentially dangerous to cats, use a childproof lock to keep out your kitties. We are smart and can undo twist-ties, and we can also chew through twine and rubber bands (in fact, rubber bands can be dangerous if we swallow them, so never use them, period). But only use the child proof locks for that. Cats should be allowed in all the other cabinets.
  4. The best way to put a cat into a carrier is to place her in backwards. If you try to put her in face-first, she can reach out and grab at the opening and make it really difficult for the both of you. Also, your cat will feed off of your energy, so if you are nervous, she will respond in kind. If you can be calm and matter-of-fact, it makes it less stressful for everyone.
  5. If you have a non-plastic carrier, make accidents easier to clean up like this: cut up an old shower curtain to a size that’s a couple inches or so larger than the bottom of the carrier. Place it on the bottom of the carrier so that the extra material goes up the sides, and then put a plush towel over it. That way if the cat is sick in the carrier or goes to the bathroom, it keeps the mess from sinking into the carrier itself.
  6. If one cat is mad at another cat who came home from the vet, put some baby powder on a towel and rub it on both their rear ends. That way they will smell alike and it should help end the hissing. (I found this one on Facebook from a smart human that my human knows.)
  7. Let your cat tell you when he wants to be petted. Reach out with your arm and hand relaxed, fingers lightly extended. Let him sniff your fingers, and if he rubs against them, it is okay to proceed. This is a good way to approach cats you don’t know well too. If you are unsure of the cat, it’s best to lay your hand on a flat surface, palm up, to make your approach as passive and unthreatening as possible. If a cat is really shy, you can hold a pen for them to sniff, or the part of your glasses that go over your ears (like Jackson Galaxy does in My Cat From Hell). Remember: cats always prefer to be the ones in control when it comes to physical contact.
  8. Don’t bother meowing to us kitties. You can just talk in your regular human language. Meowing isn’t actually a language with words. We do understand a few human words, like “food,” “treats,” and our name, but mostly we pay attention to your tone of voice and body language, and that’s what you should pay attention to if you want to better communicate with your cat.
  9. If you play really active games with your cat and then feed him right before bedtime, there’s a better chance he will sleep through the night and not have the nighttime crazies.
  10. Marinate cat toys in a tub of catnip so they always stay fresh. I hear many of you are already familiar with this one… but how many of you are actually doing it?
10 Handy Cat Tips for Humans10 Handy Cat Tips for Humans10 Handy Cat Tips for Humans
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Comments

  1. Xenabobb says

    September 14, 2019 at 11:52 am

    Good advice from baby Summer….

    Reply
  2. Catherine A Lingg says

    July 10, 2019 at 2:35 am

    All great information Summer. I take all to heart. Love the powder to butts ides

    Reply
  3. Sandi Stefani says

    July 9, 2019 at 7:58 pm

    Cute kitten pic with good advice from one so young.

    Bodacious

    Reply
  4. Anne says

    September 15, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    I like the marinating the cat toys in catnip. I’ll have to try that with Rosie’s toys. She hasn’t seemed very interested in them lately, probably because they need some refreshing!

    Reply
  5. PHoebe Kitten says

    September 10, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    Ah so that’s why mum feeds me before bedtime!!

    Reply
  6. Maggie says

    September 9, 2014 at 10:52 am

    The advise was well worth reading, but it was hard to scroll past your beautiful photograph, Summer.

    Reply
  7. Baby Tali says

    September 9, 2014 at 9:28 am

    You are one smart little girl Summer!

    Reply
  8. Ron murray says

    September 9, 2014 at 9:08 am

    Good advice, Summer, but I’m not so sure that meowing to kitties is always fruitless. Let me tell you how our Garfield came to live with us.
    We’d seen this orange kitty a few times, mostly going through our rubbish. He always ran away as soon as he saw us, until one afternoon when my wife and I came home and he was in the middle of yard. He started to run away, and, not knowing what to do, I meowed at him.
    I have no idea what I said (I can apparently speak cat, but I can’t understand it), but he immediately turned around, came to us, and started rubbing against our legs and purring.
    I wanted to take him in, but my wife didn’t want to (she thought five cats was enough), so we went inside and left him.
    He spent the next day howling at our door until my wife took pity on him and let him in. He’s now a happy, sweet, orange kitty and we love him.
    (My wife insisted on calling him Garfield because he’s orange and he likes pizza. She’s probably right.)

    Reply
  9. meowers from missouri says

    September 9, 2014 at 8:46 am

    boy, howdy, summer! you gots some good ones in there! we are fer sure gonna show them to mommer–especially the one about dunkin’ yer toys in nip! it’s HER prollem to figger out where to keep the toys safe while they’re steepin’! 😉

    Reply
  10. Fur Everywhere says

    September 9, 2014 at 3:44 am

    These are really great tips, Summer. We used to feed Jewel on a plate a lot. Then she’d scoot half her food on the floor, MOL!

    Reply
  11. Basil says

    September 9, 2014 at 3:20 am

    Some brilliant top tips there!!

    Reply
  12. The Poupounette Gang says

    September 9, 2014 at 12:41 am

    You may be young, Summer, but you have already figured out a lot of things! That is some excellent advice!

    Purrs,
    The Chans

    Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. The Caturday Report: Silly and Serious Edition says:
    September 13, 2014 at 12:10 am

    […] I put together a list of 10 useful cat tips for humans! […]

    Reply

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