**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

Follow Us @BionicBasil®  at Instacat, Twitter and Facebook

and

Don't furget to subscribe to our blog and never miss another post. 

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 

**New Series** at BBHQ ~ Cat Hazards ~ The Art of Keeping Your Cat Safer ~ Household Items Are Not Cat Toys

  Happy Monday supurr pals

Welcome to Cat Hazards ~ The Art of Keeping Your Cat Safer ~ Another Brand New Series at BBHQ 

Today we sharing Part One of this new series, which we've been planning it for quite a while, so we do hope mew enjoy it.

If mew're new to being cat staff or cat pawrents, 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 can learn what's safe and what's not. And for those seasoned and veteran cat staff and pawrents, do feel free to add more suggestions in the comments as...

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

...and could help avoid and avert all kinds of kitty related disasters.

We don't know about mew, but we see some purretty strange stuff on the interwebs which results in cats ending up at the vets through silly errors that could so easily be avoided.

Just recently we saw that a poor kitty ended up in surgery due to the owner allowing him to play with her hair elastics - like WHAT THE FLUFF!  He'd swallowed a lot of them over a period of time and it had blocked his intestines. Didn't his owner wonder where her hair elastics were disappearing? Seriously, this type of stupidity astounds us. 

While it may be funny to watch Fluffy pounce and chase hair bands/accessories for a Tik Tok video or whatever, this is not a good idea; it's supurr dangerous and could seriously harm or even kill your cat and cost mew thousands and thousands.

Purrlease use common sense - we know this is in supurr short supply for a few peeps - but really dig deep and find some, Fluffy will thank mew for it!

Also, Cat Toys are called CAT TOYS for a reason, they are specially designed to entertain your cat safely; some under pawrental supervision and others which can be left out freely.

So let's look at today's example list of what NOT to let your cat play with, bat around, chew or chase:

HAIR ELASTICS  = NO

RUBBER BANDS = NO

PLASTIC RING PULLS = NO

ANY JEWELLERY = NO

PAPERCLIPS = NO

MARBLES = NO

BALLS SMALLER THAN GOLF BALL SIZE = NO

PLASTIC BAGS = NO

COTTON BUDS = NO

SMALL KIDS TOYS = NO

BOTTLE TOPS = NO

SWEET WRAPPERS = NO

TINY BITS OF SCRUNCHED UP TINFOIL = NO

CABLES AND WIRES* =   NO

SMALL BITS OF PLASTIC = NO

RANDOM PIECES OF STRING OR TWINE = NO

SHOELACES = NO

HEADPHONES = NO

THE CORD ON WINDOW BLINDS** = NO

etc...etc...etc...

*If your kitty has a habit of chewing things they shouldn't, mew need to either: A. Remove it and put it away safely, or B. Discourage your cat from playing with it altogether.  

What we have done at BBHQ in the past if someone is a serial-offender is use the squirt method; fill a small spray bottle with plain tap water and put a few small stones in the bottom, so they make a rattling noise. When Fluffy next misbehaves squirt once near him/her but not on them and never in the face, eyes or ears and gently shake the bottle so he/she hears the noise. Soon mew will only have to shake the bottle for Fluffy to stop misbehaving. Training your cat is easy if mew stick to it. Use this method only as a last resort, and remember that it is NOT a game, it is for training only.

**We have heard many times over the years of poor cats and kittens getting caught in the cords of window blinds and being strangled while their pawrents were out at wurk, which is absolutely terrible. Though obviously mew can't take all your blinds down, but mew can either tie the cord up out of the way or use a bulldog clip to fasten the cord safely out of reach and temptation, it only takes a minute to make them safe.

Remember NOT everything is a toy but your cat doesn't know this, and while it may be funny for 20 seconds your cat could get hurt or wurse.

Obviously, there are many other household items that mew shouldn't let your cat play with and we can't list them all here, but mew get the idea; use your noodle, if there's the minutest chance it could possibly hurt your cat, remove it immediately.

Let's Talk Real Cat Toys

At BBHQ we have a designated toy box full of all kinds of fun cat toys, some shop-bought and others which we have made, mew can see some of these examples on our Crafting with Cats page. Anyhoo we always put our toys away aftur a good play session, and then that way there are no trip hazards for the pawrents either. We also rotate toys too, so we never get bored of the same thing, this also gives your toys a longer life.

Do try to check all toys on a regular basis:- if they have become damaged, frayed and ripped or things have come loose such as tinkly bells and bobbly eyes etc... purrlease dispose of them safely. They aren't made to last forever, and even if your budget is small or tight and mew can't afford to buy more, mew can make news ones easily enough for very little outlay. In fact, most of the time mew can literally make them for nothing if mew upcycle fabrics; we do this all the time - see our Crafting page above.

Before we head off our final thing today is:- Wands and Teasers with long strings or elastic cord - NEVER EVER LEAVE YOUR CAT WITH THESE ITEMS UNATTENDED EVER!  

When mew've finished playing wind the cord around the wand - see pic below of how we store ours -  and put away in a cupboard or drawer, these things are lethal if your cat gets ravelled up and mew're not there to free them.

This is a really fun catnip teaser toy we made a few years ago - completely no sew.

It doesn't take long to make your home a safe place, and mew'd do it for a baby/toddler/child, so do it for your cat too, and our K9 buddies of course!

Next time we'll cover some house plants mew need to avoid, just in case Fluffy takes a shine to them.

If mew're looking for more advice on being a cat pawrent, check out our Top Tips for Cat Pawrents page too.

Thanks for joining us today and we do hope mew like our new series, feel free to share the post on your social media and we'll be back on the morrow with the grand finale in our epically epic adventure, The Clockwurk Labyrinth, so if mew missed any episodes, click here to go catch up.

Until then...

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team

Follow Us @BionicBasil®  at Instacat, Twitter and Facebook

and

Don't furget to subscribe to our blog and never miss another post 

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 

**NEW SERIES** Top Tips For Cat Pawrents ~ Let's Talk About Food Bowls

Welcome to 

Top Tips For Cat Pawrents

 A Brand New Series at BBHQ 

Today we thought we'd share the furst part of our new series, which we've been planning it for quite some time, so we do hope mew enjoy it.

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 for cat pawrents which we've gathered from over 25 years experience. And whether mew're a single cat pawrent or multi-cat pawrent there could be something in our new series to help mew navigate cat pawrenting more easily.

At BBHQ there has pretty much 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; our pawesome blogging buddies and regular readers, do feel free to add more tips and suggestions on today's subject in Fudge's Top Tip Box aka the comments below, as we know mew guys have a veritable wealth of experience. 

We're cats helping cats!

This week's

 is all about 

Food Bowls

Some of mew may think that this is a completely irrelevant subject and that any old thing will do but we can assure mew that's not the case, or on the other paw, some cat pawrents spend humungous amounts of cash on designer or gimmicky items.

Let's start off with the humble, normal feeding bowl before we start talking designer stuff.

There are 1000's to choose from, literally 1,000's, so where do mew begin?

Furstly let's talk size, as size does matter. From our experience mew want something that's at least 5" or 13 cm in diameter; go get your ruler and check the size, anything smaller and it makes it hard to eat from as mew need to think about whiskers.  

And talking about whiskers, don't ever buy deep bowls as this squishes whiskers and makes for an unpleasant eating experience. Ideally, the bowl should be no more than 2" or 5 cm high, this is the Goldilocks height [aka just right] as it also stops the food being pushed out onto the floor. We used ceramic saucers for years, and they were great, no whisker impediment there but the food was readily pushed off them, so great for whiskers but really bad for food containment especially with messy eaters. 

Next, let's talk about what the bowl should be made from. Ideally, stainless steel is the way to go or ceramic. If possible, don't ever use plastic bowls as these can cause chin acne, yes cat acne is really a thing! How do we know? Way back in 2003 when Amber furst arrived at BBHQ, we used to use a couple of plastic dishes from Ikea as Amber seemed to like eating from them rather than the ceramic saucers. 

Soon after, the P.A. noticed that Amber had a few little red bumps under her chin, anyhoo the P.A. began to investigate what could be the cause. Aftur much elimination of trying different wet and dry food, she finally addressed the bowl, and aftur removing it and using something else non-plastic, the chin acne went away aftur a few weeks, so learn from our mistake; 

DON'T USE PLASTIC BOWLS  

Your cat may not be susceptible to chin acne from plastic bowls but our advice would be don't go there, go stainless or ceramic.



These are what we use, we have 12 in total. They are stainless steel, so easy to clean and hygienic, plus they flare out at the top so are purrfect for whiskers. The dimensions are just under 6" or 15 cm in diameter and 0.75" or 2 cm high approx.

Designer and Gimmicky Food Bowls

Ok, let's talk about designer and gimmicky bowls. In our 25+ years we have seen so many different types of bowls, all the way from supurr cheap to mega expensive. Just because it's expensive and has a fancy name doesn't mean it's better, some of the designer brands are no better than something from let's say B and M or Target, mew're just paying for the name, and really your cat doesn't care who it's made by as long it is doesn't squish their whiskers and has their favourite food in.  

Honestly don't get sucked into parting with your hard-earned cash because mew want to be hip and fashionable and have expensive everything matchy-matchy, mew can get great stuff at a great price if mew shop around and create your own vibe, and as we said earlier your cat doesn't care what brand it is, it just needs to be functional and practical plus easy to clean. Don't buy it because mew think it'll look cool on Instagram for five minutes and get a few likes, keep your cash for something better.

And now let's talk about gimmicky bowls. The P.A. just bought Amber a new ceramic bowl, see pic below, only a few days ago. 



It looks great right? Sadly that's the only thing going for it.

Amber will be 18 in October and has a bit of arthritis so the P.A. thought getting her an elevated bowl would be just the trick to help her out at this stage in her life. It cost about £14 or $18 US dollars, and what a total waste of money it was. The wet food slides onto the floor and if mew put dry food in it, it ends up everywhere. 

In all honesty, we've now put a little non-slip box under her regular stainless bowl to elevate it, see pic below, and she's as happy as a kitty in a catnip meadow. If the P.A. had thought about it before she jumped in and bought it, she could have saved £14 to go towards something else far more useful, like 14 packets of Dreamies. The P.A. should have used our *money-saving tip below - don't wurry we've written to her and said, "Don't let it happen again!" MOL



We also have a funky-looking elevated double bowl holder, see pic below, which we bought years ago and use for freshwater and dry food/kibble only, but we hardly use it preferring our water fountain in the main kitchen instead and we like to eat the dry food/kibble from the normal ceramic bowl in the catservatory better.



So purrlease don't get sucked into buying expensive or gimmicky things, try this easy way to save money; *before mew hit check-out if mew're shopping online wait 24 hours and see if mew still want the item/s. Chances are mew won't. Put that cash towards cat food, treats, cat litter or just save it for something epic. 

BONUS TIP FOR

Easy Peasy Clean-ups!

We are very lucky that we have our own kitty kitchen at BBHQ, and it's a rather organised affair at mealtimes as mew can see in the picture below. Smooch usually has the middle slot aftur Fudge - the ginger ninja but this morning he was having a lie-in! MOL 

 Look top left and mew'll see the tip of Parsley's tail, he eats on the countertop, don't ask us why he prefers to dine alone.



We find that using plastic placemats and putting kitchen roll under each bowl is a great idea, not only is it a supurr civilised way to eat, but it helps if there are food accidents; remove the bowl, pick the kitchen roll up and throw it in the bin, wipe the placemat and put a new piece of kitchen roll down and mew're ready for the 2nd course, instant easy peasy clean-up.



Fudge wants to know when lunch is being served, and could he see the menu, he says he rather fancies the fish today! MOL

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 tomorrow with the next thrilling and  claw-biting chapter of our mega-adventure, The Clockwurk Labyrinth, and if mew've missed any of the previous chapters, click here to catch up.

Until next time...

Wing Commander Basil and The B Team

Follow Us @BionicBasil®  at Instacat, Twitter and Facebook

and

Don't furget to subscribe to our blog and never miss another post 

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com