Special Care for Your Outdoor Cat

Dusty is our outdoor cat. I'm not a proponent of allowing cats to live outdoors due to the safety factor, but when Dusty showed up and decided to live with us, there was no way our older cats would tolerate an addition to our indoor family, so he has to stay outside. Fortunately, we live in the country on a dead-end road, so traffic is scant and Dusty is relatively safe. We've also discovered that he's a great mouser, so he certainly earns his keep around here.

If you have a cat who lives outdoors even part-time, here's an article that I found on Purina's Yesterday's News cat litter site that offers some excellent safety advice:

If your cat is allowed outdoors, train her to wear a safety collar with an expansion device and a tag that gives your cat’s name and your telephone number to distinguish your cat from stray cats. Proper identification enables someone to contact you if your pet wanders far from home. Cats who are allowed to roam may damage neighbors’ gardens or use planters as litter boxes. If you allow your cat outside, keep a watchful eye on her. If she leaves to visit a neighbor, bring her back to her own yard. Keep her vaccinations current and take her to a veterinarian regularly to be certain she is free from internal and external parasites and in general good health.

You'll find safety collars, Purina's Yesterday's News paper-based cat litter, and other great products for your cat at petco.com.