by Awesome Author | Dec 28, 2021 | Cats & Cat Breeds
You might be feeling tempted to get along with your feline partner while planning some traveling for a few days of vacation! The presence of any adorable four-legged partners transforms the travel into a memorable one. And, what more can you ask for when your feline is sitting next to you when you are on the wheels! Irrespective of planning for a car trip or a train, cats are averse to the same. They are not in favor of shifting places, unlike any canine companion. Instead, they love to remain inside their domain and follow their fixed schedule.
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Thus, traveling turns a bit more stressful for these furry felines. To make your dream come true of tagging along with your cat buddy on your vacation, you should follow specific steps and keep in mind the important things related to their well-being. Read below the seven things you should take care of while planning to travel with your feline mate. You should take the initiative in making your and your partner’s travel more enjoyable and build memories worth cherishing.
Carry them well
Irrespective of traveling for a long or short distance, placing your feline partner inside a cat carrier is any day a wise decision, as compared to just putting them at the back seat of your vehicle or under a leash. So, cat carriers stand as the safest mode of traveling with your pet buddy. Cater to a sturdy carrier will protect these four-legged souls and keep them safe from any unnecessary jerks or tangling. Keeping your cat buddy devoid of any guard might cause accidents too!
Most felines turn overly anxious when they sit inside the car back seat or are kept under a leash for a long while traveling. You can follow them steady by making them lie inside the cat carriers and securing the same with the seat belt. It will act as an add-on safety measure and keep them in place for long hours. Try not to cover the front portion of the carrier and let them get a glimpse of the world outside.
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Keep Snacks
Always carry your kitty’s favorite kibbles and treats while on the move. They go under mood swings and might not prefer having a daily diet. So, you have to cater to varieties. Plan to travel light by transferring their assorted treats in small zip-pouches or containers. This way, you can note how much to give to your fluffy feline each time. Never give her a considerable amount of food, especially when they are traveling. It might lead to stomach upset, lack of appetite, or vomiting.
Hygiene Sources
Bathroom and water breaks are a must, and you should stop for the same after every couple of hours while traveling. Maximum felines never relieve themselves like a canine buddy, which is very problematic while moving. It never sounds pleasant, but you should keep a small scoop, cat litter-box, and a few disposable packets with you. They might not agree to relieve themselves at each break, as training the felines is not as easy as you can teach a canine. You have to have some patience, as your fluffy pet buddy might require some time to adjust to the new situation.
Keep them busy
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Yes! Your feline buddy’s toys are a must, and you should carry them while traveling with them! You should enjoy your travel as much as possible, and remain stress-free till you reach your destination. You do not have to get along with all their jingling toys to let them play throughout the journey. Collect a few of their favorites and stack them well, but away from their view. Give them one at a time to keep their interest alive.
Keep all Documents updated.
Update your feline buddy’s ID card and photo before planning for a trip with them. It would be best if you always got the proper documentation done for your furry partner to avoid any unfortunate situation. For instance, while on the move, you still have their photo with you if they escape, which you can share with the security officials and locals. Cater for an updated micro-chip and place the same along with their collar. It will assist in tracking your feline buddy and getting her back! Feed the details on your smartphone, which will keep you posted with their actual whereabouts.
Vet details – keep it handy.
Your travel with your feline buddy should be fun and not full of confusion. You have to be aware of all the nitty-gritty while planning for the same. As mentioned in the last point, you should update all the documents of your feline partner. Before moving out, get all the quarterly or yearly vaccinations done from your nearest vet before moving out. Keep the contact details of your vet handy always. Also, conduct a little research regarding the availability of vets at your vacation spot.
Featured Image Credits: Pixabay
by Awesome Author | Jun 3, 2019 | Hobbies
Gardening, bird-watching, stroking your cat – whatever it is you like doing, just go for it. It’s officially good for you!
‘Pastimes for which your friends would previously mock you start becoming acceptable as you age.’ Photograph: Rob Stothard/Getty Image
It’s a bleak Monday in January, and you have spent half the morning trying to come up with plausible excuses to get out of doing any work. But I have some good news: the key to a happy life – and I know you were wondering about that – is, apparently, spending more time on your hobbies.
New research published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (and not the Institute of the Completely Obvious, as you may have expected), says that valuing your time more than the pursuit of money leads to feelings of greater wellbeing. And by valuing your time, they mean spending it wisely on hobbies, exercising or being with your family.
The researchers even invented two characters, “Tina” and “Maggie”, and asked people who they preferred – money-grubbing sociopath Maggie, who would rather work more hours and make more money, or workshy hippy Tina who wanted to work fewer hours and make less cash. The option of working less and making more money was strangely absent, although that is of course the obvious answer, as evidenced by the hordes of people who bought lottery tickets this weekend.
My main issue with the research is the idea of adults having hobbies. What are hobbies anyway? Pastimes, suggests my boyfriend, which makes them sound marginally less awful. But is eating biscuits while watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians a pastime? Because if so, I am very serious about it, and presumably I am very happy too, although I wouldn’t know it, because I have given up my favourite pastime (drinking) for January – and perhaps for ever if the government’s draconian new guidelines are to be believed.
After all what is the point of being an adult if you can’t gleefully cast off hobbies? Most of them not only smack of Victorian ideals of self-improvement, but are basically activities adults made you do when you were a child so they could get you out of the way for a few hours. If you have been a Brownie or a Scout you will know what I am talking about. Here’s what happened when I was a Brownie: I was awarded a badge for collecting scented erasers (a 1980s hobby if ever there was one) and I was made to do Brown Owl’s housework, under the guise of gaining another badge.
There are very few hobbies that are acceptable as an adult. None involve mindfulness colouring-in and most are a way of life: drinking, eating, listening to music, perhaps a bit of yoga. Of course, there are ways to pass off these everyday activities off as “hobbies”, mainly by making them as complicated and time-consuming as possible. Cooking is brilliant for this. Simply choose an extremely complex recipe with many obscure ingredients – anything by Yotam Ottolenghi is perfect, and I can’t recommend Donna Hay’s beef rendang enough – not only do you have to find fresh turmeric, galangal and kaffir lime leaves, it also takes three hours to cook. Bingo!
Pets are also useful. Dogs – walks, obviously. Cats – well, if stroking cats isn’t a hobby then I don’t know what the world is coming to. Pets with ailments are fantastically time-consuming. My own cat has inflammatory bowel disease, it turns out. I can’t recommend it, but it certainly necessitates spending several hundred hours away from my desk and at the vets.
As with so many things, there is an age dimension. Older people questioned for the study were more likely to say they valued their time compared with younger people. This can only be good news – pastimes that your friends previously mocked you start becoming acceptable as you age – birdwatching, for example. This seems to be fine after the age of 40. Ditto gardening.
So there you have it. Faff around doing anything you like, really, and you may even fool yourself into being happier. After all, isn’t the study basically saying that the more time spent away from work the better? Common sense, really.
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