Your cat is sure to appreciate a change of scenery now and then, especially if it lives indoors all the time. Of course, it's not just indoor cats that like to play with their humans—outdoor cats enjoy it too.
Cats are predators and therefore have a hunting instinct. They love to sneak up on their prey and lie in wait. They want to kill. An indoor cat that cannot embark on adventures, hunt mice, play with other cats, and fight will want and need to express its instincts in other ways. Of course, it doesn't have to go hunting to catch its breakfast—its human roommate takes care of that. But giving your furry friend some fun, games, and excitement will make it happy and also train its mind and reflexes.
Every child knows that cats scratch. So don't get too carried away when playing and protect your hands and other body parts from attacks. When looking for suitable toys, which can even be made from old household items, make sure they are safe for your cat: the toys should not have any sharp corners, anything that could be swallowed or anything with sharp edges.
If you make the game a ritual and always signal to your cat when it's time to play, they will quickly understand when you are ready for an attack.
The play sessions don't have to be long: cats can only maintain their full concentration for a certain amount of time. If they don't catch their prey after several attempts, they will give up or at least take a break. So it's smarter to play with your pet for ten minutes several times a day than to celebrate an hour-long workout.
What would you like? Some cats prefer games of skill, others love hiding and stalking, while young wild ones may want to attack straight away... Try out what your cat enjoys most. Here are a few tips to give you some ideas.
In this game, your cat has to earn its food. Lay out a few pieces of dry food or small treats as a trail. Or let your cat overcome a few obstacles to get to its food.
There are now several skill games for cats available to buy. But you can also get creative and make your own. For example, you can cut different sized holes in a cardboard box. Then let your cat fish certain pieces out of the box. Of course, they can only reach them through the right opening.
You probably have a flashlight, but a laser pointer works just as well: your cat may enjoy chasing the beam of light or catching the dot on the floor. Just send them across the room and see what they like best.
Hide and seek is a classic game. Hide, make a noise, and let your cat find you. It's best to reward your cat or at least show how pleased you are with its talent. This will motivate it for the next round.
A fishing rod with prey dangling from the end not only protects your hand during play, but also motivates your furry friend to catch the prey. Whatever you choose to hang on the rod is up to you.
The throwing game is self-explanatory: simply throw the object of desire. The cat can catch it and "kill" it; some felines even fetch it for their humans. What you throw should, of course, be suitable for your cat and interesting enough to make them want to go after it.
Mitral valve disease (MMVD) is a chronic degenerative disease of the heart valves. It is the most common heart disease in dogs and mainly affects older dogs of smaller breeds. An exception is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, which often develops the disease at the age of 1.5 to two years.
Phlebitis is an inflammatory change in the vein wall. In horses, the jugular veins, which are located on either side of the neck in the jugular groove, are often affected. These veins transport blood from the head to the heart. Due to their location and easy accessibility, they are most commonly used for injections, infusions, or the insertion of intravenous catheters.
In order to truly understand this disease, which has been known for 2000 years, it is first important to understand the structure of the hoof roll. Riders often say, "My horse is lame, it has hoof roll." Strictly speaking, however, every horse has a hoof roll; this term refers only to the anatomical structure consisting of the navicular bone, bursa, and deep flexor tendon. The navicular bone is a small, elongated bone shaped like a shuttle, which lies transversely at the back of the hoof joint under the deep flexor tendon. Between the tendon and the navicular bone is the navicular bursa, a small fluid-filled sac that prevents pressure and friction between the tendon and the bone. Only the term navicular disease or podotrochlose describes the actual condition, which can affect all three components.
As in many other sports, doping plays an important role in equestrian sports when it comes to competitions and performance comparisons. Unlike in athletics, however, it is not the human being who tries to enhance their own performance by taking certain substances, but the animal whose performance is to be enhanced by administering these substances. Since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the issue of doping in equestrian sports has also come into the public spotlight due to numerous proven cases of doping, which has resulted in considerable damage to the image of equestrian sports.
Rabbit plague, or myxomatosis in medical terms, is a dangerous viral infection of domestic and wild rabbits that is widespread throughout Central Europe. The disease is highly contagious and can take on epidemic proportions in unprotected populations. An effective vaccine is available as a preventive measure. Hares, on the other hand, are virtually immune to the pathogen.
The horse's mouth is a sensitive area. Healthy teeth are important not only for eating, but also for riding with a bridle and bit. Many instances of head shaking or restlessness under the saddle can originate in the horse's mouth.
Since the liver has a very high regenerative capacity and functional reserve capacity, most liver diseases in horses initially progress without visible signs of disease and are only diagnosed at an advanced stage.
Kissing spines is a condition that causes the vertebrae to grow into each other. It is a change in the horse's spine. This results in a significant narrowing of the spaces between the vertebrae in the thoracic and lumbar spine, often in the saddle area. The diagnosis requires riders and owners to be vigilant and provide the right training.
Kidney disease is relatively rare in horses, but its symptoms are often nonspecific and therefore not always immediately recognized, meaning that treatment is often delayed. In many cases, kidney disease is a concomitant or secondary condition of other diseases.
This disease, often mistakenly referred to as feline leukemia, is caused by the feline leukemia virus. However, since the virus causes many other serious symptoms in addition to malignant tumors of the lymphatic tissue, the name is somewhat misleading
They are cute, lively and can provide lots of fun. But first, a word of warning: ferrets are not for people with sensitive noses. There are not many ways to mitigate the strong smell of these cute and sometimes cheeky pets.
Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease is also known as aseptic (= without the involvement of pathogens) femoral head necrosis (= death of the femoral head) and describes a non-inflammatory growth disorder in young dogs. It mainly affects miniature dog breeds and small dogs between the ages of three and ten months.
