Pet Grooming Orange County

Can Dogs and Cats Live Together?

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It’s commonly known that dogs and cats don’t get along. However, this isn’t always the case. As Orange County’s premier grooming salon, we’ve seen several families where dogs and cats are best friends. It’s important to note that this doesn’t always happen overnight. It often takes a lot of time and patience to convince household pets to tolerate each other. Sometimes they never become friends but they do learn to share their space.

Start Young if Possible

The best cat/dog relationships start when one or both pets are young. When introducing a dog into a household with cats, it’s generally best to start with a puppy. This will seem less threatening to your cats and gives you an opportunity to train the dog not to chase. This can take some time as dogs have a natural instinct to chase and cats will instinctively run, making it even more satisfying for your dog.

If you decide to bring home a kitten to play with your dog, you must take care to ensure it doesn’t get hurt. This can be difficult if your dog is large. You will need to watch them very carefully together. Just one grab and shake could seriously injure or kill your kitten. It is up to you to ensure this doesn’t happen.

Enforce the Rules

It’s important to ensure that both the cat and the dog understand the rules. Do not let them chase each other or steal each other’s food. This might take some time as both must adjust to their situation. Rewarding good behavior lets them know they’ve done something right. This is a much better approach than punishing your pet for bad behavior.

Make Sure You Spend Time With Both Pets

Even if the transition goes smoothly, your pets may feel left out if you spend too much time with one and not the other. Make sure that you set aside plenty of time for both pets.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers dog and cat grooming from our full service salon in Fountain Valley, CA. Please call 714-962-1005 to set up a grooming appointment.

Is It a Stray?

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People often find cats roaming around their yard. These cats might pass through or they might stay for quite some time. Occasionally, they decide to stay forever, never leaving the confines of your backyard. Most of the time, the cats that visit are neighborhood pets. This is typically the case even when cats appear to be quite scared. However, sometimes these cats are strays in need of human assistance. It’s important to know the difference before you intervene.

What to Do If You Find a Cat

If a cat has made your backyard their permanent home and you’re absolutely sure it doesn’t leave, you’ll need to do some investigating. Put up signs around your neighborhood with a description of the cat. Make sure you also post a description on social media websites. This is often the first place people go when looking for their cat.

Facebook has several excellent groups for posting information about lost and found pets. Seek out these groups and ask if you can post a picture. It might also be helpful to post a picture at local grooming shops and vets.

Just make sure you verify the owner before handing over the cat. Require a picture of them with the cat before releasing it.

If you don’t hear anything for at least two weeks, you’ll need to contact the shelter. Contact your local animal shelter to report a stray cat. Aside from social media websites, pet parents will visit the shelter searching for their lost pet.

It’s important to note that it is illegal to keep a cat that you have found. You must allow the shelter to attempt to find its owner first. You can put a hold on the pet for adoption if the owner doesn’t come. This prevents the cat from being euthanized in the sad instance that the owner isn’t found.

Special Considerations

Feeding stray cats is not recommended. Leaving food outside encourages other cats and wild animals to enter your yard. This puts your family as well as all neighborhood cats at risk.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers cat and dog grooming and cat adoptions from our full service grooming salon in Fountain Valley. Please call 714-962-1005 to schedule a grooming appointment today.

Most Common Feline Health Problems

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Cats are very good at hiding problems. Some feline health issues present themselves in strange ways. It’s always a good idea to have your cat seen by a qualified vet if they develop new habits or display unusual behavior. This is often the first sign of a problem.

Vomiting

Vomiting is an extremely common problem with cats. Often times, vomiting is caused by eating too quickly or ingesting too much hair (hairballs). Other, more serious problems such as urinary tract infections, diabetes, and poisoning can cause vomiting as well. It’s a good idea to have your cat seen by a vet if vomiting comes on suddenly and occurs on a regular basis.

Feline Lower Urinary Tract Diseases (FLUTD)

Feline Lower Urinary Tract Diseases (FLUTD) are extremely common. In fact, it’s estimated that as many as 3% of all cats seen by vets are diagnosed with this condition. FLUTD has multiple causes and is more common in overweight cats fed a strictly dry food diet. Symptoms of FLUTD include:

  • Blood in urine
  • Straining to urinate
  • Inappropriate elimination (not using the litter box)
  • Depression
  • Lack of appetite
  • Vomiting

Sometimes, cats cannot urinate at all. This is an emergency situation! It’s crucial you take you cat to the vet immediately.

Fleas

Signs of fleas include excessive scratching or licking, red skin, and skin infections. A visual inspection of your cat can help you determine if fleas are present. Part the hair and look close to the skin. You might see moving fleas or flea dirt, which looks like coffee grounds that turn red when wet. Fleas are common in both dogs and cats.

Although you might be tempted to give your cat a flea bath or use an over the counter treatment for fleas, this can be dangerous for your cat. Ask your veterinarian or groomer for advice about treating fleas.

Most cat health problems are easily treated when caught early. This is why it’s so important to pay close attention to your cat.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers cat grooming and cat adoptions in Fountain Valley, CA. Please call 714-962-1005 for more information about our grooming services, cat boarding facility, or adoptable pets.

Should You Let Your Cat Outside?

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There’s a lot of debate over whether or not it’s a good idea to let your cat go outside. While many people believe it’s cruel to keep your cat inside, the statistics and facts prove otherwise. Allowing your cat to go outside exposes them to numerous dangers, reducing their lifespan and putting other animals at risk.

While most pet parents have good intentions when they let their cat outdoors, there are numerous reasons why you shouldn’t. Below, we detail the top reasons why it’s better to keep your cat indoors.

Reduced Lifespan

Allowing your cat outdoors reduces their lifespan by as much as three to five years. Every single time a cat is put outside, their life is at risk. Common dangers include vehicles, other animals, diseases, and ill-intentioned people. While not every cat that goes outside will get killed, their chance of being injured is extremely high.

Reduction in Bird Populations

Cats are natural hunters. Unfortunately, even the best fed housecat will hunt and kill other animals for sport. While you might think that this is a small problem, it’s actually quite large. Cats kill an approximate 1 to 4 billion birds each year in the United States. This not only affects bird populations, it increases the amount of insects we have to deal with, as birds often feed on these common pests.

Overpopulation

Cats reproduce extremely fast. Many people don’t realize that cats can become pregnant at just four months old. Once they give birth, they can reproduce almost instantly, producing a large amount of offspring in just a short amount of time.

It’s important to have your cat spayed or neutered, even if they never go outdoors. Cats are excellent escape artists and will find a way out if they have the opportunity to reproduce. Spaying and neutering reduces the desire to go outdoors and eliminates the chance of reproduction.

Cats Can Easily Become Trapped or Lost

Cats like to squeeze into tight spaces. They will often follow small critters into unfamiliar territory. Once a cat becomes trapped or lost, they often don’t make it home.

Final Thoughts

Many people believe that cats become bored when left indoors. This is true for both outdoor and indoor cats. Cats need regular interaction. Keep your cat happy by playing with them daily. Claws N Paws Day Spa offers a variety of toys for your cat. Please visit our grooming salon to see our selection.

 

 

 

Kitten Adoptions

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Claws N Paws Day Spa has been caring for pets in Orange County, California for sixteen years. While many people already know about our pet grooming services, not everyone knows that we also have several rescued cats and kittens available for adoption. These sweet felines are eagerly waiting for someone to give them a chance at a happy life.

We Take Donations!

Many of the kittens we have available for adoption were found as newborns. These kittens have to be bottle-fed and socialized before they are able to find a new home. This takes a lot of time and effort. It also costs a lot of money.

Kitten formula is expensive. So is the veterinary care and medicine these babies often need. This is the reason we ask for donations whenever possible. The money we collect for our rescue does not go back into our grooming shop. Every cash donation goes directly towards caring for our foster cats and kittens.

If at all possible, please consider donating to our rescue. In addition to money, we also accept towels, blankets, formula, cat and kitten food, and litter donations.

Adopt, Don’t Shop

Kittens in pet stores usually come from puppy mills, or commercial breeders. These breeders see the animals in their care as profit makers. They generally do not provide the attention or medical care required to raise happy, healthy pets. As a result, pets from pet stores are often sick or badly behaved. Purchasing animals from a pet shop allows this type of breeding situation to continue. If you are looking for a cat or kitten, please consider adoption.

All of the cats and kittens we have available for adoption are healthy, up-to-date with their vaccinations, spayed or neutered (when old enough), and socialized with people and other pets. Our bottle-fed babies are some of the sweetest kittens you’ll ever meet.

Stop by our grooming salon in Fountain Valley, California to meet our available cats and kittens. Each has its own unique personality. Our groomers will be happy to help you find the perfect fit for your family. Please call 714-962-1005 for more information about our cat and kitten rescue.

 

 

 

 

Support Our Rescue

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Many people already know that Claws N Paws Day Spa is one of Orange County’s premier grooming salons. What you might not realize is that we also offer cats and kittens for adoption. These friendly felines are rescued, meaning that they do not come from breeders or puppy mills. Instead, they were found by us or brought to us because they did not have a family of their own.

Cat and Kitten Rescue is Expensive

Many of the kittens we receive must be bottle-fed. This is both time-consuming and expensive. Kitten formula can cost just as much, if not more than, human infant formula. Depending on the age of the kittens and the number we receive, we can go through quite a bit of formula in a short amount of time. Then we must also purchase litter and food for these kittens once they are weaned.

Our cats and kittens receive veterinary care. Frequently they are ill when they arrive and must be medicated before they can be adopted. Once they reach four months of age, all of our kittens are fully vaccinated and spayed or neutered. All of these costs come directly out of our pockets.

Donations are Always Appreciated

Donations are important to rescue groups of all shapes and sizes. Donations help pay for necessary supplies and medical treatment. They also make it possible for us to take in even more animals in need.

We encourage you to consider donating to our rescue. All of the cash donations we receive go directly towards the purchase of formula, litter, medical care, etc. We do not keep any of this money for ourselves nor do we pay our fosterers for their service.  We also accept kitten formula donations, towel and blanket donations, and cat and kitten food donations. Anything you can provide us with will be greatly appreciated.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers pet grooming and cat and kitten adoptions from our full service pet salon in Fountain Valley, CA. Please stop by to schedule a grooming appointment or to visit our rescued cats and kittens.