Time flies when you are having fun with your new pet!
Interacting with your pet is an important and fun thing to do, so let’s talk about proper holding and interaction. A calm animal is a happy animal, and a happy animal will be a wonderful pet.

Your cat may not like to be held because some don’t like to be restrained. However, your cat will probably love to be pet by you. Try scratching behind its ears and under the chin. You can also pet gently down your cat’s back. Be careful around the tail. It is full of small bones so and the cat may not like it to be touched (if you do touch, just be gentle).

Never chase your pet and make sure you calmly offer rewards (like a favorite treat) when your cat is doing something favorable, then your cat will learn to be excited to see you. Building a friendship with your animal may take a little time, so take a moment everyday to remind your pet that you are a good person to be around.

Kitty boot camp and training with treats.
Training and treats are great tools for any pet owner. First, determine a reward or treat that really makes your pet interested and motivated. The more the cat wants your “reward,” the more your pet will do to get it. Here are some possible rewards:

• Small amounts of wet canned food
• Store-bought cat treats
• Dried catnip
• A favorite toy
• Attention from you!

Small amounts of treats can go a long way, so only use the smallest amount that will still motivate your animal. Now that we have some treats, you can start training. The best way to train is with positive reinforment and baby steps. Think of what you want your pet to do and then make a plan to get your animal to do it. Reward with a treat when your pet makes steps in the right direction. The animal will continue to figure out the behavior.

Some cats are very smart and will want to work for you while others may not be interested. If your cat does not seem very interested in training, you can still work with your cat but keep the training sessions short. This way your cat won’t get frustrated.

Keep ’em busy (and out of trouble)!
What does your animal do when you are not around? It will get into anything it can find and sometimes cause trouble. Just like people get bored, animals can get bored without something to do. Giving your animal fun things to do is an important job for pet owners. Since animals can’t go out and buy new toys, they will often use whatever is around. This could mean chewing
the wrong things, trying to get out of their housing to explore or worse. Giving animals enriching times or “enrichment” will keep them busy and happy.
Here are some great cat enrichment ideas:

• Cardboard boxes
• Blankets
• Training activities
• Other pets for company (if they are all comfortable with each other)
• Fun store-bought cat toys
• Time spent playing with you!

Change up the enrichment regularly to keep your pet’s home new and exciting!