A cat makes a fine pet for all members of the family, including children.
Cats are affectionate, delightful when sitting on your lap in the evenings and are primarily hassle free pets.
But gradually there is a growing trend towards housing pet cats indoors 24 hours a day.
There is a number of reasons for this, however one of the major reasons is the tendency for cats to hunt, particularly at night, though during the day as well, and decimate the local wildlife.
Around where I live cats can do serious damage to our small native animals which will come out at night.
Experts now recommend that if you have a pet cat you keep him indoors at night always, and suggest that it is even better to keep him indoors during the day as well.
And that's fine, provided you understand that cats are extremely active animals, they love to run, jump play and climb.
If your cat is outside spend an hour or 2 sitting watching him and you'll get an idea of how active they are.
Watch him go up a tree and, if you haven't seen it before, you'll be surprised at how agile they are climbing and how much they enjoy it.
So if you're planning to keep your cat indoors it's important that you cater to these natural instincts in him to run, jump, play and climb.
Because by keeping him indoors you will be taking away all his opportunities to do so, and so you need to find a way to replace the opportunities for him to do what cats do.
The good news is that there is some excellent cat furniture which does the job very well.
There are now some very effective pieces of furniture variously called cat trees or cat gyms, or towers or condos, all of which refer to pieces of furniture which are specifically dedicated to providing your cat with a place to play, sleep and climb to his heart's content.
And once your cat gets the idea you'll probably find it hard to keep him off it.
They are strange looking things with all sorts of strange protuberances, nooks and crannies, places for him to lie, to climb and to sleep.
Whilst it might look strange a cat tree is one of the best things you can ever buy for your favourite friend.
And a good cat tree will also serve another purpose.
Cats love to scratch and it's in their nature to do so, so it's unlikely you will ever stop them doing it.
And as a result you may find that you get driven out of your mind from your cat tearing up the legs of your favourite table.
A good tree will provide your cat, provided you teach him how to use it, with the perfect place to scratch away and do all the damage that he wants.
So if you're considering keeping your favourite feline in the house do him a favour.
Buy him a tree so that all those things that have been taken away from him such as climbing are once again available, and watch him come to life on his new cat tree.
Cats are affectionate, delightful when sitting on your lap in the evenings and are primarily hassle free pets.
But gradually there is a growing trend towards housing pet cats indoors 24 hours a day.
There is a number of reasons for this, however one of the major reasons is the tendency for cats to hunt, particularly at night, though during the day as well, and decimate the local wildlife.
Around where I live cats can do serious damage to our small native animals which will come out at night.
Experts now recommend that if you have a pet cat you keep him indoors at night always, and suggest that it is even better to keep him indoors during the day as well.
And that's fine, provided you understand that cats are extremely active animals, they love to run, jump play and climb.
If your cat is outside spend an hour or 2 sitting watching him and you'll get an idea of how active they are.
Watch him go up a tree and, if you haven't seen it before, you'll be surprised at how agile they are climbing and how much they enjoy it.
So if you're planning to keep your cat indoors it's important that you cater to these natural instincts in him to run, jump, play and climb.
Because by keeping him indoors you will be taking away all his opportunities to do so, and so you need to find a way to replace the opportunities for him to do what cats do.
The good news is that there is some excellent cat furniture which does the job very well.
There are now some very effective pieces of furniture variously called cat trees or cat gyms, or towers or condos, all of which refer to pieces of furniture which are specifically dedicated to providing your cat with a place to play, sleep and climb to his heart's content.
And once your cat gets the idea you'll probably find it hard to keep him off it.
They are strange looking things with all sorts of strange protuberances, nooks and crannies, places for him to lie, to climb and to sleep.
Whilst it might look strange a cat tree is one of the best things you can ever buy for your favourite friend.
And a good cat tree will also serve another purpose.
Cats love to scratch and it's in their nature to do so, so it's unlikely you will ever stop them doing it.
And as a result you may find that you get driven out of your mind from your cat tearing up the legs of your favourite table.
A good tree will provide your cat, provided you teach him how to use it, with the perfect place to scratch away and do all the damage that he wants.
So if you're considering keeping your favourite feline in the house do him a favour.
Buy him a tree so that all those things that have been taken away from him such as climbing are once again available, and watch him come to life on his new cat tree.