Persian cats are also known as glamorous cats with silky, long fur, a baby face and eyes just like precious jewels. The long fur will need a lot of care and grooming. Whether you have a kitten or adult Persian cat, you must know how to take care of a Persian cat. Having a happy and healthy Persian cat is the most rewarding experience and it will take a lot of effort to achieve that.
Here are some simple steps on how to take care of a Persian cat.
Grooming
- The Persian cat is a beautiful breed, but as compared to shorter hair cats, grooming Persian cats is a task. Their coat is thick and they have an undercoat as well, so it may feel like they have two coats instead of one. They will keep grooming themselves from time to time, but you will have to help them as well. You will have to brush them everyday to avoid matting of their fur and the forming of knots. Brushing will also help you in controlling the volume of their shedding. Use a fine wire brush to keep their fur smooth and clean.
- However, in spite of all this, it will depend on the personality of your Persian, but most of them will like getting brushed. If you make the procedure of brushing as a routine for your cat, then soon it will become a normal activity for them and they will look forward for it. Baths are also necessary after a certain time, if you notice that the coat is tangled and dirty. Many cats do not like to bathe, so you must try to limit both the exposure time and frequency for reducing the fear factor.
Dental care
- For the overall health of your cat, it is essential that you take care of the dental health. The real threat is the periodontal disease in felines, which can cause a problem to various organs and it will shorten the life span of the cat if they are not treated on time.
- Frequent brushing is ideal, and some of the owners will face a problem in using a toothbrush or a thimble for removing the plaque and tartar from the teeth. While this may not sound practical, but daily brushing is the only way to guarantee that your cat will have a good oral health. Besides brushing, there are other things that you can do for maintaining oral hygiene. You can get a tartar control treats for your cat or fluoride that will go in the water and with other chewy devices. All these things will help you on a regular basis.
Hairballs
- Your Persian cat will start developing hairballs, and if you brush regularly then this will prevent the hairball from occurring. You can get a hairball formula as well and feed this to your cat for preventing and treating the problems with hairball.
Claw care
- You will have to trim or clip the claws of your Persian cat from time to time. This is essential for preventing your car from scratching the furniture or other people in your family. Remember that you will have to clip the front claws every couple of weeks and the back claws won’t need clipping this often.
- The task of declawing a cat can be very emotional and controversial. One must not do it, unless there is an urgent need to do the same. There is an alternative for declawing, which is placing a cap on the claws. Remember to consider this issue whenever you plan to buy a cat.
Food and water
- Make sure there is constant supply of water and food for your cat. Get quality product food for your cat, like lams or science diet. When you buy a new Persian cat or kitten, you will have to give him a different combination of food until they find something, which they like and will like to eat regularly. You can ask your vet for recommendations on certain food, which will benefit the health of your Persian cat.
- Remember that the amount of wet food you give to your cat will completely depend upon you, but it is better if you give a mix of wet and dry food. Maybe you can give wet food like a treat twice or thrice a day along with the dry food. This is completely your choice, as long as you are giving adequate nutrition to your cat.
- However, always remember it is never a good idea to give your cat ‘human food’, as some of the ingredients in food can be dangerous and fatal for the Persian cat. Stick to good quality cat food and give them treats and snacks once everyday.
Litter
- There are various kinds of litter available and whichever brand you choose must depend upon the nature of your Persian cat. A regular with a non-clumping kind clay litter is the most preferred and cheapest type. There have been many controversies about clumping litters and their safety. If by any chance the cat consumes the litter then it can create serious problems for their health.
- You will have to buy a large litter box and keep it in a quiet secluded place. You will have to clean the litter box everyday, a good way for this is to remove the litter and dispose it in a trash bag. Clean as many times as you want for keeping the box clean.
- If you have more than one cat, then you must keep two boxes or one large box, which will accommodate both of them. However, you will have to increase the cleaning schedule to make sure that the box is odor free. Nowadays, there are self-cleaning litter boxes also available in the market. Remember that cats are very picky about their litter boxes, so if you fail to keep it clean then you are inviting trouble in your house.
Veterinarian visits
- Take your Persian cat for regular visits to the vet. You will have to get booster shots or rabies shot, whichever your state requires. If you need any extra shot then it will be up to you.
- Always keep your Persian cat indoors, since they are not the aggressive types and they will not fair well in front of other animals. Make sure that you have childproofed your apartment, since cats love to crawl inside things and get on top of things as well.
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