Instantly Improve Your Cat's Life with these 7 Things

so here's what i was thinking i wanted to make something here where if you were someone who just had a cat for the first time in your life you've never had a cat before you're like oh what do i do but this video would help you and then i thought why wouldn't it apply to everybody maybe there's something you never thought of before that could instantly make your cat's life better i mean instantly like this what i was really hoping for was to do the nose wiggle from bewitched and listen these are some things that you may not want to try you may be skeptical you may be like um jackson i think you're going too far on this one i think you're wrong whatever you're entitled to that but what do you got to lose you know your cat may be sitting there going would you please you know there's only one way to find out so without further ado the seven things that will instantly make your cat's life better coming in at number seven for the things that will make your cat's life instantly better is feeding a variety of foods now let me give you some context when i was growing up my dad owned a cookie factory yes think about that fine i would accompany my dad to work and as i grew up i worked there during the summers and then by the time i was about i would say 12 years old i never wanted to see another cookie like ever because the smell of just coming home covered in cookie smell it was just too much to bear point is that because it was something that was just pushed into me all the time finally i was like no if you had the choice of eating an apple every day three meals a day for the rest of your life or a whole smorgasbord i know what you would pick and your cat would pick it too that is how to instantly make them happy but beyond that there's other reasons to consider not having a variety is sort of a breeding ground for food intolerances and allergies if you want to know more about that just go check out my old business partner dr jean hoby and her writing on littlebigcat.com link in the description and the other thing about this is that if you just feed the same thing over and over and over again then what happens if god forbid something happens to you and your cat winds up in shelter rescue foster or friends and family and they don't know what to feed your cat that coupled with the stress of not being in their normal world leads cats to just basically going anorexics they stop eating and i saw that over and over again in the shelter that i worked in for 10 years so that's another reason to just feed a variety of foods and listen i'm not going to go into the types of foods that are the best for your cat because i made a whole three video playlist right here about that very topic but the bottom line is don't feed your cats dry food at least feed them a wet or a raw diet because again they'll thank you once they get over the fact that you're not feeding them the cat food equivalent of twinkies anymore they will totally like you for it and live a longer life oh and ps please don't send me any cookies number six on the things that will make your cats instantly happier and that is spread out your cat's resources so we think about it cats are as we all know very territorial but beyond that we're talking about their mojo we're talking about their their their raw cat like what is going to satisfy that wild cat who is all about where is my sense of ownership and that's about resources and by resources i mean obviously food and water because those are crucial but also the scent soakers things like beds and cat trees and yes the king of all sensors the litter box but more about that in a bit these things are your cats territorial signposts so what is a territorial signpost i mean think about it in human terms so you know you're walking through the living room you walk by the mantle and the mantle has all these pictures of your life you know everything from high school graduation to your kids or your animal kids and and everything in between and you'd stop by and adjust a picture but there's that sense suddenly of and that is because your existence is validated every time you walk by there that's a signpost and that's what i'm talking about put cat trees in socially significant areas and spread them out all over the house it shouldn't just be in the quote-unquote cat room if you know what i'm saying beyond all that there's uh again speaking to the raw cat we tend to jumble up things like food and litter boxes no no cat is not going to want to eliminate right where they eat food and water why would we put the food and water right next to each other they're both important but they're they're they're two separate entities and they should be spread out as well cats just have a natural need for a personal bubble around where they eat cat mojo is territorial security a sense of ownership of that territory if you want to see your cat's confidence start to bloom spread out those resources not for nothing but if you really want to make your cat's life better learn more about them on this channel the way to do that is subscribe to the channel hit the bell so you know when new things are coming up including giveaways and lives and all types of good stuff make sure to hit that bell and give us a thumbs up too so speaking of resources and spreading them out litter boxes and spreading your litter boxes out i know people hate when i talk about this but you know what come on just buckle in with me man don't skip over this all right so here's the thing we first of all and again we're talking whether it's a single cat or multiple cat households you go with that old formula you have one cat two litter boxes two cats three litter boxes etc etc etc and we do that thing or you do where you say okay i need three litter boxes for my two cats so i'm gonna jumble them all together make this one big sandbox and throw it into the garage or the mud room or whatever where i don't have to look at it no no no my good friend if you want to make your cat really instantly happy now you gotta just go with me here and and remember that the litter box is the king of the sense soaker signpost that i was talking about in the previous point with that being the case a litter box is not just where your cat poops or pees a litter box is validation territorial validation in the biggest way so that when they walk by that area they go yeah that's right i own this place you know and that is cat mojo right there what's the sacrifice you have to make the aforementioned everything but there's also putting those litter boxes in socially significant areas please out of the garage out of the mud room put them you know even if it's in the corner of the living room somewhere just so they are complimenting their scent with yours because again territorial security is is communal scent that's why your cat could feel so confident sitting where you sit couch bed and they leave their scent there and they're like compadres number four on our wonderful instantly better life hit parade this is the one i said number four will blow your mind or number four will shock you ready avoid that old devil whisker stress yes whisker stress okay it's a it's a real thing because and now listen i made a video about this even the wonders of the cat whisker check out that video right here link in the description but in the meantime just a very brief summary and i mean brief cats whiskers are not just hairs that come out of their face they have their own blood supply and nerve endings they vibrate to just pick up movements in the air they can actually help a cat to tell the temperature of the air and navigate the world around them and and they do these things i mean oh and even it will help because they're roughly the the width of a cat's body it'll help them if they're going into a place that's a little too tight to fit so if the whiskers start telling them hey we're rubbing up against something here okay make that choice you want to go in or do you not want to go in so where am i going with this whisker stress the the place where whisker stress happens is when your cat eats those normal little kid round cat bowls think about it if your cat wants to eat especially those deep ones they go in their whiskers basically have to fold in half in order to get their food how pleasant do you think that is actually not and if your cat is exhibiting symptoms like clearly avoiding their dish or going in taking a few bites walking away going in taking a mouthful putting that mouthful on the ground and then eating it taking it out with their paws that kind of thing putting it on the ground all different types of symptoms that you didn't even know was a symptom it is it's whisker stress shocking now what do you do the best thing to do is there are bowls on the market that are just wide enough that your cat's whiskers won't touch you can also think about feeding them on a plate you know everyone's got old plates in their house that they don't like do you risk having some cat food on the floor because there's no ridges you'll figure it out but the best thing is your cat can go and eat and not feel those warning signs that happen when their whiskers are basically bent in half to get their food did that not blow your mind did i not live up to my promises in my thumbnail or whatever the hell that was i know i did number three on our list is one of those things that i was thinking about when it comes down to something that would work for first-time cat people or long-time cat people and every stop in between but it will make your cat's life better is for you to get good at the difficult things flipping claws and giving medicine you got to do it there's no choice really because it's dangerous for them if you don't do it their claws can grow long enough that they start to curve back in on themselves they can even go back into the pad and imagine stepping down like that they get caught in the fibers of rugs and and furniture and by the way if your cat gives you a little tiny little swat it's all of a sudden like you know edward scissorhands or something you know because uh and believe me i know because every cat that was aggressive on my cat from hell they were afraid to trim the nails and that's why it bled so much anyway that was a side note and i mean you can go the route of you know going to the vet once a month because really you shouldn't be going any longer than about four weeks uh you can have groomers come over that kind of thing or you can do it i know you can do it and another thing that you can do is give them medicine i know i know this all sounds really difficult here's the thing number one of course better if you start young because we can do positive associations with the feeling of having paws touched uh or mouths open by constantly rewarding but beyond that i think the biggest factor here is you is us is the energy and the stress and the consternation and the guilt that we put into doing these things and so what what happens then don't forget cats are highly energetically sensitive beings you create this sort of field around you of all of those emotions and all of those fears and and as you approach them they're like what's going on you know and then on top of it you do that thing where you're like okay honey it's not a big deal this is all fine this is you're gonna like it and all your cat is doing at this point as you come in with those hands is like okay it's go time you know and it's either fight or flight at that moment the way you approach it is you just do it don't apologize beforehand don't bring this heaviness to it it's hey baby how are you doing pet pet pet keep those those trimmers near you you know like on the couch when you're trimming nails what you're gonna do you would touch right here and boop claw comes out great thing about cat claws is that they are totally transparent as opposed to a lot of dogs that way you see exactly where the blood supply ends and again all you have to do is take the tip off you don't have to go all the way down there just take the tip off and you know when it comes to the mouth thing it's just open treat have those treats at the ready and save those treats for these times so they understand that reward now as you're sitting here i know you're thinking of other difficult things and there are plenty of difficult things but they can all be approached the same way and that is be methodical about it you know do it slowly the vibe man it's all about the vibe we're going to bring these nice little om vibes to everything we do and you will get good at the difficult things and you'll make your cat's life better i mean this one is a little different it's not that immediate like oh human being you just made me so happy kind of thing so it's maybe not immediately make their life better but it'll immediately make their life longer so that's a good thing so number two is cat proofing your house i'm not gonna go all the way into it man cause as always there's a video for this and the link is in the description and i go way into it but just look at it this way as i always say cats are like toddlers that can reach the ceiling that means that everything needs to be looked at and i mean everything from where you store cleaners and foods that they might uh that might be toxic to them plants that are toxic to them banisters that they can fall down from and yes windows uh i mean can they get out the window screens can be pushed out easily and they can get out that way candles candles candles and there's other things as well i'll give you some easy tips to get through it so check out that video when you have a chance and help them live longer because your house can ambush your cat number one how to instantly make your cat's life lighter brighter happier instantly what is it play with your cat what are you waiting for like now press pause come back okay you back now play with your cat play with your cat play with your cat here's a wand here's a string here's a feather and we do all kinds of things like air prey and ground prey once again i got lots of videos on playing with your cat so check it out but really you want to use an interactive toy so that you can control the experience you can connect with them they can connect with their raw cat i'm not just saying this because this is my toy although you can get it on jacksongalaxy.com i love this toy but have something like this i don't care if it's a stick and a sock but honestly if you do this every day with your cat you will instantly see a difference if you get them to hunt something on the ground in the air grab it wrestle with it put it in their mouth walk away with it do anything with it even if it's five minutes ten minutes it raises confidence in cats that i call the wall flowers it drains that unnecessary incoherent destructive light out of the bullies and it brings everyone to that center of the mojito cat that most common see how i'm doing this right now that cat play with your cat play with your cat play with your cat hopefully right now you have a game plan to make your cat's life instantly better what have you discovered that has instantly made your cat's life better i want to know all about it so please do tell me leave it in the comments down below don't forget all the links in the descriptions that i have in here taking you to other videos and playlists where you can learn more about your cat and deeper into some of these topics that's what we're here for man we've got over 300 videos that are here for what for the love of cats all right that's it you guys until the next time we meet all light all love all mojo tea bye [Music]

Channel: Jackson Galaxy

Views: 2,632,532

Keywords: jackson galaxy, cats, my cat from hell, animal planet, cat whisperer, cat guy, cat guy animal planet, cat expert, cat advice, cat health, cat behavior, cat breeds, types of cats, cat care, cat training, cats and kittens, cat psychology, taking care of a cat, cat behavior problems, jackson galaxy videos, cat daddy, improve, your, cat's, life, instantly, unhappy cat, depressed cat, bored cat, my cat is bored, my cat won't play, whiskers, cat food, play with your cat, play

Id: 2Ex99RuKqAw

Length: 15min 44sec (944 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 17 2022