Cats spend approximately one-third their time sleeping and one-third playing, with the last third divided between eating and grooming.When a cat has free access to the outdoors, it will willingly hunt small prey (mice, young birds, small birds) that it may or may not eat, when it is fed elsewhere. Even if it does not have access to the outdoors, a domestic cat will still exhibit this predatory behavior. Indeed, all cats are drawn to moving objects and can spend hours kicking a ball around.A cat that eats only mice must consume eight to ten mice per day to fulfill its dietary requirements. Hunting mice is not easy, and just spotting one is not enough to catch it. Hunting is very time-consuming, and failure is frequent. Still, cats do have terrific assets for hunting and catching prey. They have keen senses of hearing, sight, and smell, mobile whiskers, sharp claws, great nimbleness, and one particularly special skill and the ability to move without making a sound.
The Claws and Teeth
A cat's claws have several special features: They grow constantly throughout the cat's life, are slightly curved, and are sharp and retractile, being attached vertically.
A cat's ability to extend its claws has several consequences. First, with its claws retracted, the cat can move silently, thanks to its delicate paw pads. Next, cats can retract their claws to protect them, as they are valuable hunting and fighting weapons. Finally, when the claws are extended, they serve both as fearsome sharp, slicing weapons and as a precious tool for climbing trees.
Thanks to the shape of its claws, a cat can easily sink them into its prey or enemies, like a set of tiny knives. Clawing, even in play, always leaves at least a nice scratch on the skin.
It is entirely possible for owners to clip their cat's claws, but several precautions must be taken. First, owners must use a specially adapted nail clipper that is in good condition. Next, the cat must be held firmly, so that the paw does not slip when the nail is clipped. Finally, once the owner is well-equipped and well-positioned, he or she must take the end of the cat's foot, lightly squeeze the tip of the toe between two fingers, and cut in the direction of the claw (unlike when clipping human nails) to avoid crushing it. When a claw is extended in this manner, two areas become apparent: a pinkish area near the toe and a lighter area near the tip. The light area is what must be cut, as the pinkish area is the nail root and contains blood vessels. The cat is equipped with four claws on each hind foot and five on each forefoot. The fifth of these front claws is called the dew claw (it is located on the toe corresponding to our thumb). This claw must be monitored, since if it is not clipped, it could curl around into the skin and injure the paw. Many cats willingly use tree trunks or, when unavailable, a vertical plank as a scratching post. Scratching serves to file the nails, not so much to wear them down as to renew them, as scratching removes the old outer layer of the claw to expose the underlying sharper claw. Some cats will actually clip their nails on their own and you may see them chewing on a nail as if to bite it off.
After its claws, a cat's teeth are its second line of natural defense, especially its fangs. A cat's teeth are better adapted to seizing, shredding, and tearing prey than to chewing food, which is often swallowed whole.
Water
Some cats may be good swimmers, but they are fairly rare. Cats' general aversion to water is evident in their behavior while drinking. Cats probably originated in the desert and drink very little. Their urine is highly concentrated. Cats that consume prey also drink water, but not as much, since 60% of the prey's body is water, whether it is a mouse or a bird. Similarly, cats that eat wet food from a can tend to drink very little or not at all, while those that eat dry food drink in addition to eating. Cats will consume water in small quantities, drinking from ten to twenty times per day. It is therefore essential that cats have access to clean water at all times. The belief that dry food promotes disease, kidney-related disease in particular, is absolutely false. Still, it is essential to make sure that the cat drinks enough water for proper kidney functioning.
Spaying and Neutering
Approximately 50% of domestic cats, both male and female, are altered. Altering poses no particular problems, except with regard to diet, since the change in status causes an increase in appetite and a decrease in caloric requirements, both in males and females. Consequently, altered cats should either be given less food or a food lower in calories to prevent them from becoming overweight. Owners can even accustom their cat to receiving less food one to two weeks before the scheduled operation. Thus accustomed, the cat will adapt even more easily to its new status.
Life Expectancy
Although some cats reach the record age of 30 years old, a cat's average life expectancy is ten years for altered cats. In whole cats, life expectancy decreases to six years for females and five years for males. This difference can be explained by the tendency of whole cats to stray and therefore be more exposed to risks including both traffic and contagious disease, infections, parasites, etc. Indeed, whenever cats have access to the outdoors, they tend to come into contact with other cats either to reproduce or to fight for territory or mates. These close encounters promote the spread of disease and ultimately shorten the cat's life. Still, the number of elderly cats continues to rise, indicating a better adapted diet, vaccinations that are more common and more effective, and improved medical care.
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