**NEW SERIES** Top Tips For Cat Pawrents ~ Part II ~ Let's Talk About Getting Into A Good Routine Early On For New Pawrents & Free Daily Organiser Tick Sheet

Welcome to 

Top Tips For Cat Pawrents ~ Part II

 A Brand New Series at BBHQ 

If mew're new to being cat staff, then maybe there are a few things mew haven't thought about, and we're here to point mew in the right direction so mew get the lowdown on top tips which we've gathered from over 25 years experience. And whether mew're a single cat pawrent or multi-cat pawrent, there's bound to be something that applies to mew.

At BBHQ there have always been 6 cats living here, so we're quite the experts on living in a multi-cat household, and prior to that when the P.A. lived in the city she only had one kitty, so we have insight on that too.

And for those seasoned and veteran cat staff and our friends and regular readers, do feel free to add more tips and suggestions on today's subject in the Top Tip Box aka comments as...

...we're cats helping cats!

This week's 

 is all about 

ESTABLISHING A GOOD ROUTINE 

We don't know about mew, but we find it much easier if we have a routine to run BBHQ.

As there are six of us, that means lots of litter trays and food bowls and water bowls plus fountains and then obviously there's quite a lot of cat food and cat litter too on-site, so there are lots of things to organise and keep track of on daily and weekly basis.

Before we begin, let's talk about getting set-up for furst-timers and new pawrents.

Furstly we would suggest mew find a suitable place to put your food and water bowls which are ideally placed in a location where:

a: your pawrents aren't going to be tripping over them, walking into them or accidentally kicking them over

b: where mew can eat and feel safe and not be too disturbed

c: is practical and easy to clean up and not near anything noisy, i.e., right next to a blaring tv or a washing machine

d: ideally it needs to wurk for mew

Secondly, find a suitable place for your litter tray/box using the above: a - d pointers. Remember the more cats in the house the more litter facilities mew will need, but we've got an entire post dedicated to that coming soon. 

Once mew've set up your feeding station and bathroom facilities try to keep these areas as clean as pawsible, it's better to get your pawrents to clean up as they go along rather than let things build up until its a marathon.

Purrlease don't put food and water facilities right next to a litter tray/box if your pawrents do this ask them if they would want to eat their meals right next to their toilet? Because we know they certainly wouldn't!

Okies, so now everything is set up, mew're happy with the location and it wurks for mew in your residence. PAWESOME!

>^.^<

The Daily Tasks Tick List

Next, it's not a bad idea to make a tick sheet and list all the things that need doing on a daily basis, as we know how busy life gets and things can get missed or furgotten so easily, look its nobody's fault these things just happen, so it is easier to make a list and do a quick check every day to make sure all your cat needs are being met.

This one is just an example... 



...and the second one is blank for mew to fill in and make your own schedule.

Just right-click the image to save and/or print for your pawrents ~ they can put it on the fridge or noticeboard.

It's always a good thing to establish a regular time for meals too, as there's nothing wurse than having to wake your pawrents at 3am and interrupt your beauty sleep because they are feeding mew at random times or they furgot.

For example, we suggest trying to get them in the habit of feeding mew when they furst get up in the morning before they get their coffee or tea, and then when they come home in the early evening. Leaving dry food available 24/7 is also a good idea, but if mew're prone to weight gain and are looking a wee bit chubby, we don't recommend this system. And then have a little snack or a light supper just before bedtime.

If your pawrents wurk shifts, routines could be much harder to maintain howeffur, there are many things to help make life a little easier, such as timed feeders. We just reviewed one not long ago and if mew'd like to check it out, here's the link, we use this every day for a bit of dry food when the pawrents are at wurk.

We also suggest trying to get your pawrents to play with mew each day, brush or comb mew, have cuddle time, pick mew up etc... daily interaction is very impawtant for a happy kitty/hooman relationship. 

Here's A Typical Day at BBHQ

Meal Time

At BBHQ we have breakfast at approx 8 am every morning, dinner at 6pm and light supper at 10pm. Plus we get to graze on dry food should we choose to between meals.

Play Time

As the P.A. is home a lot more these days, playtime occurs throughout the day.

Brush Time

Parsley has his brush just before bed, and then it's Melvyn's turn. Smooch likes to be brushed anytime, as does Amber. Fudge is a moderately reluctant brushee, and Pandora is our most resistant brushee. We will be talking about grooming and brushing in an upcoming post.

Treat Time

This happens right before lights out every night.

Bed Time

Is roughly the same time every evening between10.30 -11.00pm.

As mew can see our system and timetable is supurr easy and it wurks for us.

>^.^<

In summary, get a good solid routine established early on for a supurr harmonious household; decide on your daily feeding times, your playtimes, grooming times etc... your pawrents will thank mew for helping relieve their stress with the playtime and brush time, plus mew're making them interact with mew, a real living being instead of being on their phones all the time, and mew're helping them manage their screen time too, it's a win win for everyone.

Happy Cats = Happy Pawrents

&

Happy Pawrents = Happy Cats

And who doesn't want a happy, harmonious home life.



BONUS TIPS FOR

Saving Time on Routine Chores

If mew use open litter trays, make up several at a time and keep ready in the cupboard for supurr swift changeovers.



We use recycled newspaper in our trays.

Also, if mew buy larger bags of dry food put into an airtight/sealable container to keep fresher for longer and decant into a smaller dispenser for daily use.

We use these tall, food storage containers and they are purrfect for daily top-ups around BBHQ.



Also, if mew have ever used the smaller boxes of dry food, mew will have noticed how poorly designed they are for dispensing and that mew always end up with kibble all over the floor, which is so annoying, but using something like this reduces spills and cleanups.

And another cool feature of using something like this is mew can add several different flavours and shake to mix, so mew get an epic dry combo, which is so much better than getting just one flavour at a time! MOL



To catch up on previous posts in this series, visit our dedicated Top Tips page.

Well, that's us cat experts done for Monday, we do hope mew enjoyed today's post, we'd love to hear your thoughts and feel free to share on your social media.

We'll be back on Wednesday with The Pet Parade and we're sharing brand new cat awareness campaign which is kicking off on Caturday 10th October so do stop by for that.

Until next time...

Wing Commander Basil and The B Team

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