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Desexing Your Pets
The first reason to desex your pet is to
stop uncontrolled breeding
and unwanted litters.
It is not just your
female pets who should be desexed, it is also the males. Thousands of
unwanted, abandoned and stray cats are euthanased each year, simply
because homes cannot be found.
Cats start their
reproductive lives at a very young age and throughout their lives
can potentially deliver many litters of young offspring if not
desexed.
Responsible pet
ownership means getting your pet desexed as early as possible.
If due to financial
circumstances, you can't afford to have your pet desexed, there are
a number of animal welfare groups who will assist with the payment.
In addition to
preventing unwanted litters, desexing may result, in varying
degrees, to a positive behavioural change in your pet. For example,
your male cat will be less likely to
-
wander, run
away or get into fights thereby reducing such things as
abscesses and pain for your pet and costly vet bills for you
-
suffer from
anti-social behaviour
-
spray and mark
its territory
Make your life
better for your pet. If it is not already desexed, make an
appointment to see your vet today.
Cat Litter
 Cats are naturally clean animals,
as you will find when you bring a cat
home
It will generally
be litter trained. Your cat needs not JUST a litter tray, but a
CLEAN litter tray. Your cat won’t want to use the litter tray if it
smells of urine or is full of stools.
A cat can react to
major changes in its environment such as a new cat in the house or
neighbourhood or a house move which can cause it to suddenly urinate
or defecate outside its litter box. However if your cat does make a
mistake and doesn’t use the tray, clean the area thoroughly to
eliminate the odour and hopefully prevent your cat from returning to
that spot. Don’t punish your cat for not using the tray, never hit
it and rub its nose in the mess. Firmly say NO and then put it in
the litter box and praise it while it is in there.
Remember, most
importantly, your cat should have a clean litter tray and clean
litter. If your cat is an indoors cat, the litter tray should be
changed every day and any stools should be removed as soon as
possible.
It is a good idea
to have two or three litter trays and when washed leave the empty
ones in the sunshine to dry. A little lemon juice, vinegar or baking
soda added to the rinse water will help neutralise any urine odour.
When you bring a
new cat home it is best to confine it for a day or two, to the room
you plan to have the litter tray in. A bathroom or laundry is a good
choice. As well as the litter tray, you should provide warm bedding
and of course food and water. It will only be a day or so before
your cat knows where its litter tray is and at that time you should
start feeding it somewhere else as most cats do not like to eat or
sleep too close to their litter trays.
If there is more
than one cat in the household make sure you have more than one
litter tray. If you’ve adopted a new kitten, you will find that it
too, like older cats, should know how to use their litter tray.
However, if your kitten doesn’t know about its tray, just put him
into his tray regularly, especially after eating or when he wakes up
and he will soon learn what it's all about.
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If you're adopting a cat or kitten for the first time...
You will need to buy some basic
items:
Cat Carrier - buy a good
one, as you will need this for cat's lifetime, at least once a year
when you take your cat for its vaccinations
Litter Tray(s) - You can buy
the covered ones in the big pet supply stores, or smaller cheaper
ones in the discount stores. See further down for more information
on cat litter.
Cat Litter - There are many
different types of litter ranging from crystals, to clay, to
recycled paper. All cat owners have preferences on what type of
litter they use for their cats. You may need to trial some of them
before you decide which one you prefer to use. See further down for
more information on cat litter.
Food - So many varieties in
the supermarket and pet supply stores to choose from! You will
need to feed your cat or kitten both wet and dry food. We recommend
IAMS dry food and any of the brands of soft food that are available.
Ideally you should feed your cat or kitten soft food twice a day,
morning and evening, with a small bowl of dry food for them to graze
on during the day, and a bowl of fresh water every day.
Toys - If you're adopting a
kitten then you will need toys for it to play with. Ping Pong balls
are a great hit with kittens, as they roll very easily. There are
lot of other toys you'll find in good pet supply shops, and you can
never go wrong with a cardboard box - this will give your kitten
hours of fun.
Bed
- You can buy your new cat or kitten its own bed, and there are
lots of shapes and sizes to choose from. Or you can buy it a nice
soft rug (or some Polar Fleece from somewhere like Lincraft or
Spotlight) and put it in the same cardboard box it loves playing in.
Then again, there's always your bed...
Scratching Post - If your
cat is always indoors, it's a good idea to have a good size
Scratching Post or Cat Gym.
Adopt a cat for life
When
you adopt a cat or kitten you are making a lifetime commitment to
love and care for it. Lifetime could be anything up to 20 years.
Choose your new best friend carefully and be a responsible pet
owner. In no time at all you'll find out how wonderful it is to
share your home with a cat or two.
When
you adopt a cat from Sydney Dogs & Cats Home you are saving a life
and we thank you for giving them the second chance they so deserve.
We must
point out that we get little or no history about our cats and remind
you that when you take an adopted pet home particularly in the case
of adult pets, you will need to give your pet time to settle in. Please don’t hesitate to
contact us should you be concerned about your new pet and we will be
happy to advise and help if we can. Your understanding and patience
will help your cat recover from the traumatic interruption it has
experienced in its life.
What
to do if your cat goes missing
-
Check with your
neighbours that your cat isn’t locked in their shed or garage,
or even their house!
-
Phone the Pound that is connected with your local Council area.
A check on the Council website should tell you which Pound your
cat would be taken to if it was picked up by a Ranger.
-
Phone the local
Vets in case someone has picked your cat up and taken it there.
If your cat is microchipped, the Pound or Vet can scan it and
contact you.
-
Make “LOST CAT”
posters and put them up in the local area and make sure you
include a photo of your cat.
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Do a letterbox
drop.
How
will the pound know if the cat belongs to me?
 If your cat is taken to
a Pound or a Vet they will only know that it belongs to you if it is microchipped. If your cat or kitten was born after 1 July 2000,
microchipping is compulsory. It is highly recommended that any cats
you own who were born prior to that date are also microchipped.
The microchip is a small
chip the size of a grain of rice that is inserted under the skin on
the back of the cat’s neck. This chip does not contain the cat’s
details but rather a long sequence of numbers. Only a special
scanner can pick up this number and these scanners are available at
Vets, Shelters and Pounds. It is the law that ALL cats be
microchipped before they are sold or given away.
When you purchase a cat
you complete a form and these details are then put into a statewide
database, called the Companion Animal Register, against your cat’s
microchip number. Keep a copy of your cat’s microchip form so that
if you need to update your contact details all you need to do is
phone your local Council. You should receive a letter within a few
weeks from the Companion Animal Register confirming your cat’s
microchipping details.
Microchipping costs from
$30 to $70. After the cat has been chipped, you need to take the
paperwork you are given to your local Council and pay a lifetime
registration fee. This is $40 if your cat is desexed and $150 if the
cat is not desexed.
When you buy a cat from
Sydney Dogs & Cats Home, this charge of $40 is included in the cost
and we take care of all the paperwork for you, saving you a trip to
your Council.
We often get cats into
Sydney Dogs & Cats Home who are microchipped but we cannot find
their owners because they have moved and haven’t changed their
details on the microchip register.
This is why
it is important
to remember to have your cats microchip details updated if you
move house.
Sometimes there is a
happy story though. A beautiful black cat was found and brought in.
She was microchipped and when we phoned the owners, they were
ecstatic as the cat had been missing for four years! She went back
to her owners that very day. Of course, no-one but the cat can tell
us where she had been – if only she could have talked!
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