One of the worst things which can happen to your cat is to be infected with an infestation of ear mites. They are parasites which if left untreated, will certainly degrade the health of your cat. There are several types of ear mites that can live in your cats' ears, but one of the most common are Otodectes cynotis, tiny, eight-legged parasites that feed on the wax and oils in a cat's ear canal. The ear mite can live up to three weeks in your cat's ear and is barely detectable by the human eye. The Mites life cycle is as follows:

1. Eggs are layed and hatched in approximately 4 days
2. Larvae Feed for 5 days before moulting
3. Nymph Feeds for 8 days and molts to adult
4. Adult mite lives in cats ear canal and feeds on wax and oils.
   

Well, from the noticeable symptoms mentioned above such as skin inflammation and hair loss. Untreated ear mite infestation may end up seeing your cat with a ruptured blood vessel. This is caused from excessive and intense scratching and the cat may need some surgery to correct it. Cats catch ear mites just as they would catch a tick or flea. It can be transferred from environment to cat or from cat to cat. Cats who reside outside are more prone to catching ear mites since they are facing more of the environments than indoor cats.

Treating Cat Ear Mites
The good thing about ear mites is that they can easily be treated and if you suspect that your cat is infested. You can simply visit your vet and he will examine the cats ear and tell you whether your suspicion is correct. If the diagnosis comes up positive, the vet will simple prescribe the appropriate medication needed to get rid of ear mites as well as heal any inflammations.

Prevention is Always better than cure
Always keep your cat ears clean, this can be done using cotton swaps with fresh clean water and a bit of pet shampoo. Ensure that all animals your pet is associated with are free from ear mites. Keep a clean and healthy outdoor environment. Keep bushes trimmed and avoid your cat playing in direct dirt.

For most cat owners, training their cat to use the litter is a relatively painless process. It is among a cat's natural instincts to eliminate in an area that they can cover their feces in. This behavior may be a way of your cat accepting what they perceive to be as the natural order of dominance. In the wild feral cats will bury their feces if they are not at the top of their social hierarchy, if a feral cat does not bury his or her feces it is likely that the cat exhibiting that behavior is the dominant feline. So when your housecat buries his or her waste he or she may be recognizing your role as the dominant animal in their social community. It is also possible, however, that your cat may be displaying his or her inherited instinct to bury his or her feces in order to hide their trail from would be predators.

Generally kittens will learn the behavior of burying their feces and using the litter
through their mother once they are weaned assuming the mother is litter trained.
So if you bring home a young kitten of about 12 weeks, you may only need to
place kitty in the litter box and gently scratch the clean litter with your fingers
shortly after she eats to indicate to her what she is to do.

KITTY DIDN'T TAKE TO THE LITTER RIGHT AWAY

If your new cat doesn't take to litter training after your first few attempts you may
want to consider teaching her using another common method. Confine your new
addition to a small but comfortable room, preferably one with a hard floor if you
have one. Place both the litter box and the food dish in the room but don't place
them close to one another. Your cat will naturally not want to defecate near its food
source so she will look for another area. Eliminate any pillows, blankets,
newspapers, towels or other soft items where your cat may decide to eliminate from
the room before you close her in. If you have confined your cat to a room with hard
floors she is likely to avoid eliminating on the floor since urinating is likely to splash
back and get on her fur. The only remaining choice to the cat at this point is
(hopefully) the litter box.

MY CAT STOPPED USING THE LITTER

If your cat was housebroken and all the sudden she seems to have
forgotten that instinct there are a few possibilities you might want to consider
before giving up.

1. Does Kitty Have A Dirty Litter Box? The most common cause of a
housetrained cat to stop using the litter is your cat
disagreeing with the level of cleanliness regarding her litter box. Your cat is more
likely to
stop using the litter if she feels that it is too dirty. It is best to clean your cat's litter
every day or at the very least every second or third day. The dirtier a litter box gets
the less likely it is that your cat is going to continue to use it. Your cat wants to
eliminate in a clean environment and if she notices that every time she eliminates on
the carpet you immediately run and clean it up she perceives that as a more
desirable place to eliminate because it is so quickly cleaned. Keeping your cat's
litter as clean as possible is the best way to avoid this problem, and remember, what
you consider clean, your cat may not.

In addition to emptying the litter, you obviously need to change it from time to time
as well in order to ensure good cat health and cleanliness. Weekly changing is best,
this ensures that odors and wetness won't have too much time to build up to
unacceptable levels and it also reduces the likelihood of sickness due to high levels
of bacteria.

2. Stress. A cat eliminating outside of the litter box may also be a sign for
stress.
The introduction of a new person or animal into the household may be putting a lot
of stress on your cat. Cats generally like to feel like they know what is going on and
what they can expect. If you upset that balance by introducing a new creature (even
a two legged one) into the household they may get stressed which can cause them
to eliminate outside the box.

If you leave your cat alone for long periods of time (for example while you take
vacations or go on business trips) and you come back you may
notice that your cat will sometimes seem aloof and standoffish. This is another
instance in which your cat may react with eliminating outside the litter box as a sort
of protest to what she perceives as being abandoned.

A new piece of furniture, or conversely, a newly missing piece of furniture may also
put stress on your cat. Order and comfort are important if you are a cat. If you
decide to get rid of that old fabric sofa because of it's ugly pea green color and
because it's falling apart at the seams and then you replace it with a brand new,
slick, top of the line, leather sofa with a refrigerator built into the side, and a
massage and heating function, your cat is unlikely to see this as a stylish upgrade
the way you would. What your cat will probably see is that one of her favorite nap
spots has disappeared only to be replaced by something she is unfamiliar with and
intimidated by.

3. Changing Litter Brands. Cats are creatures of habit and can also be
quite finicky (remember Morris, the 9 Lives cat?). If you've recently switched the
brand of litter you usually buy this may be cause for your cat to find another place
to go. Some litters are perfumed (for humans rather than cats) and your cat may
not react well to these smells, or perhaps your cat was used to a less dusty type
of litter, a particular litter's texture, or who knows what. Changing brands or types
of litter may upset what your cat is comfortable with and the result may be a messy
carpet. If you suspect this to be the cause, you can either switch back, or
gradually introduce the new litter. Try mixing in a little bit of the new litter with the
older brand at first and gradually step up the percentage of the new litter each time
you change the box, eventually you will be able to replace the older brand
altogether. This will help your cat ease into the new litter brand rather than upset
her sense of the order of things.

4. Multiple Cats. As mentioned above a second animal may cause a cat to
begin to
eliminate outside of the litter box, but this may not necessarily be the result of
stress. A second cat in your household should probably have his own litter box
unless your cats have proven they don't mind sharing. Again, remember cats are
clean creatures and they can be territorial as well. Some cats may not mind using
the same box, but others may refuse, which means again, the carpet becomes litter
box number two.

5. Litter Box Size Or Placement. If the litter box does not provide enough
room for
your cat she may not use it at all. Your cat will likely want to scratch around and be
able to feel comfortable in the litter box. Make sure it is roomy enough, easy
for your cat to get in and out of (the sides of the box should be lower for kittens
than for adult cats), and not in a high traffic area as cats seem to like some
degree of privacy when eliminating. Lastly, make sure your cat has access to the
litter at all times. Putting your litter box in a room that is closed on occasion is a
recipe for disaster. If your cat has to go and she can't get to the room that you've
put the litter in then she really will have no other alternative than to find another
suitable area to eliminate.

6. Medical Issues. Your cat may be experiencing kitty incontinence. Like
humans,
incontinence can strike animals and this may be an indication of other medical
issues with your cat. As a cat ages, she becomes more likely to lose control of her
bodily functions just like a human does. If you suspect age or medical reasons may
be the cause for your kitty's litter box problems then you should take her to the vet
for an examination, advice and possible treatment to resolve the problem.

WHEN YOUR CAT MAKES A MESS

If your cat does make a mess outside of the litter box it is generally not good
practice to scold her or punish her. Putting her nose in the mess and then tossing
her in the litter is not going to solve your problem. Being upset with your cat is
natural after such an incident, but to display this behavior and then to put her in the
litter box is only making your cat associate the litter box with a bad experience.
Your cat may also begin to learn to be afraid of you, which is obviously not what you
want. Your best solution is to clean up the mess quickly. Put your cat in the litter
box and be friendly and speak in a calming voice with the cat. Scrape the clean
litter with your fingers and make sure your cat sees this behavior, hopefully it will
sink in. To avoid having your cat defecate in the same place outside the litter box a
second (or third) time, cover the area with a plastic sheet or something hard that
will result in your cat splashing herself with her own urine if she should chose that
place to defecate again. Clean the smell as best you can (white vinegar may help,
but make sure your furniture or carpet can handle it). You can also move her food
dish on top of or near the area that she used to defecate, a cat will not want to
defecate near her food source. If your cat uses the litter again, even just once,
reward her, play with her, pet her, give her a treat, make her associate the litter box
with a good experience rather than a bad one.

A cat that eliminates outside of the box is not a lost cat. Don't give up on her until
you've explored the possible reasons for the problem. Once you find it, you can
most likely correct it and kitty and human can live a happy co-existence once again


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/42381

When you visit one of these shelters to adopt a cat and bring it into your new home you must ensure that you are given all the details as much as possible about the animal. You must find out about the animal health record. As sad as it may be, there is absolutely no sense in bringing home a very sick cat unless you know you definitely have the power to heal that animal.

You may need to know the breed of cat you are adopting and know about its behavioral pattern and temperaments. Even though all cats have common characteristics, there are breeds which have different behavioral patterns. The thing is, adopting a cat for re-homing is the same as getting a new cat from any pet store.

If you decide on rescuing a cat and opt to visit an animal shelter, i can guarantee that it will not be all cute and happy stories which will greet you. Some shelters have to be taking care of physically abused, mutilated and amputee cats. You may just be moved to take home one of those category of sheltered cats. But when you do, remember why you took the cat and remember all the care which will be needed to ensure that the cat lives the rest of his/her life feeling, happy, loved and comfortable.  Pet shelter are happy to see prospective adopters as they are over burdened with animal expenses up t their necks for simply having a heart and rescuing these animals. The food and health bill is always a burden, so the quicker they find suitable families for the cats, the easier the budget gets.

Now that you have decided to take a cat home from the animal shelter, i will advise that you let the animal stay their for one more day until you have prepared a space for that cat. If you have already done so, well good, you can bring home the cat immediately.  Ensure that you have the following items prepared for your new family ember when it reaches home:

• Litter box - Develop litter box training
• Scratch Pad or pole - to prevent those brand new sofa from being clawed to pieces
• Interesting cat toys which will have you cat moving
• Healthy cat food

Cats are adorable creatures, there are billions of cat owners worldwide with numbers continue to grow yearly. Probably if our world leaders owned cats they would be making more cat feed than canons. Visit your nearest cat shelter today and do that heroic thing; adopt a cat.