It sounds so enticing right?

Your cat being a famous Instagram model, you taking photos of her on a daily basis and receiving a bunch of cash for it. Wow, what a thought!

But wait a minute...

There are people actually doing exactly that! Some cat owners made their kitties so popular on Instagram, they are now earning more than some business men! So how was that possible?

We sat down with a famous cat influencer on social media and compiled the ultimate step-by-step guide on how to make your cat a model on Instagram.

Let's dive into the first step!

Take a look at the picture above. Do you think it's good?

It sure is. The lighting is great, the cat is beautiful, and she is sitting in a cute & funny way. Perfect picture!

In order for your cat to take of on IG, you need do know how to take solid photos that people will love and share. It's not easy, but it's certainly possible!

Granted that your cat likes when you take a picture of her, there are several things to consider. There are in-depth guides out there on how to snap the perfect shot of your cutie, but we find this video summarizes the most important things pretty well:

It sure takes practice, but you will be a great cat photographer in no time!

​Let's move on...

Instagram. What an incredible platform that is growing by the thousands each day.

There are ways to make your profile attractive to both users and the Instagram algorithm. We are not going to cover all the details in here though and instead provide you with a quick overview:

• Swap your profile from personal to business
• Get an enticing, fitting bio
• Upload frequently, at least once per day
• Use all hashtags that you can (30)
• Captions are important! Be creative
• Leverage the power of stories
• Create story highlights
• Try out IG TV
• Engage with your audience

If you are new to the platform, this may seem a bit overwhelming because you don't know the context of some of these statements. Don't worry though! You can read more about all the details in this Instagram guide.

Now that you know everything there is to know about setting up your profile and running your account, let's take a look at how we can get those followers in!

Acquiring followers is the hardest but also the most rewarding part of growing your cat's Insta account!

The challenge that you will be facing with your new account is simply this: Nobody will ever find or see you! 

New post? 0 Impressions!

So we have to get in front of the people so they can actually assess our profile and potentially follow us!

There are three ways of getting in front of Instagram users:

1. Paying for promoted posts to show your content to people
2. Following people who love cats so they check back who followed them
3. Reaching the explore page 

You may realize that each of these phrases include a link to another page. This is because all of these ways are totally legit and can be executed to make oneself famous on IG!

The thing is ...

Each of these ways resemble a science on their own and are not easy to understand let alone master. This is why we decided to link to posts that were specifically created to help you rock that one way that you decide to focus on.

Your cat's Instagram page can be a great way of extra income. It's not easy, but hard work, discipline and consistency will get you there!

I hope this guide on making your feline famous on IG helped you out and I hope you will stay around to check out our other blog posts!

With love,
​Nicole

Are you ready for the fluffiest, softest cat breed on the planet? Because we found it.

Almost every cat owner who we ever spoke to said that their cat was amongst the fluffiest of the world. 'He is so soft!' they say.

But is it really?

Let's take a look at what makes a cat fluffy and then we will show you which breed wins the race.

You probably already suspected it, but Sphynx cats do not belong to the fluffier cats...what a surprise!

Why? Simple.

In order to have that nice, soft touch to them, cats need to have long hair. Slowly sinking one's hand into the fur of a kitty is only possible because of the amount and length of hair the cat has.

But wait, there is more...

Not only does it have to be long hair, but also the thickness and the amount of hair plays a huge role. In a nutshell: The longer, thicker and the higher the amount of the hair, the fluffier the cat. Easy!

Now we know about the hair that a certain cat breed has to feature in order to be amongst the fluffiest in the world, but is there something else?

​Yes! Let's take a look:

Ladies, what happens when you don't brush and clean your hair for 3 days? It starts to stick together, becomes oily and overall not very nice to look at.

That's why we put in so much effort into our hair, right?

Well cats have to be equally responsible when it comes to their hair-hygiene. If cats would stop cleaning themselves - which they usually never do - they'd get gross to touch after just a couple of days.

Not only that, but if a cat goes out a lot, there is more cleaning work needed and sometimes...

...your cat is lazy!

The constant dusting and brushing of its hair can be too much and your cat will simply go:
​
'Meh'.

Then you have got yourself a not-so-fluffy-anymore cat at hands that you need to take care of yourself.

So now we not only know that the softest cats on earth have long, thick hair, but also are very diligent when it comes to their hygiene.

Is there more? You bet there is!

Cats are similar to humans after all, at least in some circumstances...

The truth is: The smoothest kind of cats in the world are rather clean, generally more resilient against parasites or bad bacteria and have the energy and will to exercise.

What does that have to do with anything?

Simple! Healthy cats are generally cleaner and in better shape than unhealthy, low-energy cats, which leads to a sleeker fur - a necessary aspect of fluff-ness.

Now that you know everything there is to know about fluffy cats, here is the answer you are looking for:

Look at this amount of fluff in this cat...look at it!

Ok back to the topic: After having worked intensively with over 100 cats during my time in a local shelter, I came to the conclusion that Maine Coons are - generally speaking - the fluffiest cat breed.

Not only do they have excellent hair in terms of length, thickness and amount, but they are also very fond of staying inside. This is overall a better attitude regarding a cats hygiene, because even though they clean themselves regularly, they don't have 'fluffy' as their main criteria.

Exploring the outside usually results in rough hair that is harder to clean over time, so staying inside comes in handy here.

This concludes our blog post of which cat is the fluffiest of them all! 

Now you know which cat to pick if fluff-ness is your highest priority and you know that the effort and money you put into raising your sweetheart will result in a super-duper soft and loving cutie!

We hope you enjoyed the read and stick around for our other blog posts.

Talk to you soon!

Cats are so cute, we just love taking pictures of them. That's a fact. But did you ever ask yourself, whether your cat likes it when you take pictures of it? 

In this blog post, we will finally explain how your kitty feels in front of the camera and also how you can make it feel better during the next photo shoot.

Your cat neither has bad hair days, nor does it know what cameras or photos are. So don't be afraid of your cat being insulted after you just snapped a picture of it doing something awkward - cats neither like or dislike you taking a photo of them!

For cats, cameras are just one more object in your hand that you are interacting with. They luckily can't grasp the concept of photos and honestly, even if they could, they probably wouldn't care. 

Our cats, for example, see us walking around with our phones so much that they don't even recognize it as something unusual anymore. As you will see when you continue reading, this is actually a really good thing!

... the circumstances matter!

Just like with any object or behaviour that you expose your cat to, you should be mindful of their feelings.

A good example is documented in an early blog post by Catster. In short, if you hire a photographer that your cats aren't familiar with and that uses gear that does 'weird sounds', don't expect them to pose like models!

A simple sound like a camera click can scare your cats away if they have never heard it before. 

The same goes for a new, huge camera that you just bought and want to try out on your kitties. They probably won't even want to get close to you while you hold that scary thing!

So be mindful of the set, setting as well as people and objects involved when taking pictures of your cat. It will show its grattitude by giving you wonderful pictures - believe us.

Cats generally don't react well towards objects that you stick right in their faces. We consider this a fact.

So please, use a zoom function or buy a small camera that you can wrap a toy around if you want a close up of your kitty.

You don't want your cat to scratch your camera lense. Cats are expensive enough on their own.

So, we now explained to you that your kitty doesn't mind it when you take pictures of it. Let's take a look at what you can optimize to get Instagram-worthy shots that last a lifetime!

1. Place something interesting on the top of your phone to make your cat look into the camera
2. Don't use flash, it will scare your cat. Instead, use gentle, soft lighting that shows your cat's contours. This is usually achieved best by three point lighting.
3. Take pictures when your cat is in a good mood. Cats have a lot of ways to show off their mood to their surroundings and you want it to be at its best when you snap that photo. Treat her with cuddles, playtime and treats right before the photo shoot for relaxed and cute poses.
4. Make sure your cat is clean. Although cats clean themselves with their tongue regularly, quickly make sure its clean anyway. A small residue can ruin the whole photo, remember that.
5. Take the pictures of your kitty in an area that it knows and with gear and people it is familiar with. We wanted to re-mention that to emphasize this point's importance!

These quick tips should help you get the best possible picture of your cat!

Now you know everything that you need for your next photo shot with your cat. We really hope you found this article valuable and that it helped you answer your question whether your cat likes to be photographed.

If you want, you can stick around for more blog posts or follow us on our Social Media!

Thank you for reading and talk to you soon!

With love,
​Nicole and Robert

Do you wish you could talk to your cat sometimes? What if we told you, you actually can! In this blog post, we are going over 5 ways how you can communicate with your cat properly. Methods backed by scientific studies, years of experience with multiple cats and opinions of renown cat experts, you will know exactly how to make your cat understand you after reading this.

Cats seem to have limited ability to communicate at first glance. However, when looking into their behavior more closely, we can see that they are very flexible and talkative!

One way cats talk with other animals, cats and us is with their eyes.

The first way they do that is simply by not looking at us. This might seem weird but bear with us here. Cats used to be home to a very competitive environment and attacks by other animals were happening every day. Therefore, feral cats needed to pay close attention to their surroundings at all time.

By walking, sitting or even eating next to you without eye-balling you the whole time, your kitty tells you that it deeply trusts you. We can implement that way of communication and mimic it to convey the same thing towards our cats.

The next time you have eye contact with your cat, close your eyes for 2-3 seconds and open them again. Repeat a few times. This way, you signal your cat that you don't perceive it as a threat but rather a close friend. Your cat will notice that.

Cats have very sensitive ears and can detect your mood by the way you speak to them. Be sure to speak in a calm, loving way so your cat feels like it is welcome around you.

If your cat miss-behaved, never ever scream at it. In your cat's world, there is no such thing as miss-behaving, so it will just see you screaming at it without any reason. You don't want that.

Make your cat feel loved by a loving tone in your voice, warm words and corresponding face expressions. Your cat will feel it and respond accordingly with loving behavior.

This is rather a long-term method of chatting with your kitty, but it's just as important as the instant methods. In a nutshell, with this method it's important to be consistent and congruent with the ways you inform your cat about play time, lunch, dinner, cuddle time and literally anything else.

This way, you and your cat will understand each other better and better over time. For instance, if you want to cuddle up with your cat on the couch, always use the same phrase. Your cat will perfectly understand and react accordingly.

The same goes for everything you do with your cat. It may feel weird blurring out the same phrases over and over again, but it will definitely be worth it. 

We have mentioned it before in this article, but it deserves its own section: Disciplining your cat is part of living together but do it the right way!

Never be physically or verbally abusive to your cat in the attempt to teach it what to do and not to do in your household. There is no right or wrong in a cat's mind and you will hurt it emotionally when doing so.

Instead, act like you are kind of offended at a wrong doing of your cat. Voice your pain, ignore it and walk away from it. Be passive and refusing for the next couple of hours. This way, your cat will learn that whatever it has done, it wasn't ok and it hurt you.

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood" - Dr. Steven Covey

Cats often seek communication with their humans but never get listened to. If your cat is approaching you, take a few seconds to observe your cat's behavior and draw your conclusions from it.

Don't go on your knees and expect that your cat wants to cuddle with you every time it approaches you. Listen. Look. Your cat will appreciate it and you will get better and better at understanding it. Win-Win.

To conclude the article: Utilize your eyes, be soft and consistent, never discipline physically and listen to your cat. If you keep all these things in mind, you will improve the communication with your cat by a huge fold.

Keep in mind that communicating with your cat takes a bit of practice and experience. Don't expect casual chats with your cat after a week of consciously observing your cat and sticking to the points I have mentioned. But be patient and good things will come. You spent all this money, time and energy into your cat already, you might as well do more now, right?

Thank you for reading this article and we hope you stick around for our other blog posts! Until next time.

​Nicole and Robert

It can already be tricky to make your own cat to like you at times, but what about if you want to get somebody's cat to like you? In this blog post, we are covering exactly that and showing you 5 proven methods that will make any feline love you! Let's jump right into the first method: 

We know this sounds weird at the start, because you are seeking for advise on something that you can actively, not passively do, but bear with us for a moment.

Just like humans, cats sometimes take their time on getting to know somebody. If a person is first introduced to the environment of a cat, it's quite common that the feline is standing back and investigating the person from a distance at first.

In this blog post, even Petful states that it's very important to give a cat some time and room in order for it to get to know a new person.

So the first and most important method we are giving you here is: Relax. Respect the cat's privacy and give it some times. Good things will come from there on.

Once you made a positive first impression by not overwhelming the cat, you can probably pet is in some time. Don't worry if this takes a while, it will eventually allow you to pet it.

Now is the time to shine with your professional petting skills! Before you start, it is best to avoid some mistakes here. The following video by Jackson Galaxy tells you a bit more about the things to avoid when petting your new kitty friend:

So now, as you know how to not pet a cat, it is time to learn the basic and advanced techniques on how you can make a cat love you by stroking it the right way:

1. Wait for it to come to you
2. Be gentle. Only use 2-3 fingers at the start
3. Let the cat guide you (as seen on the video)
4. Never touch the feline's belly without its permission
5. Paws, tail and face are a nono
6. Go for the top of the head, neck and lower back
7. Don't over-do it. Leave the cat after a maximum of 2 minutes.

When done right, the first stroking session you two share can leave an amazing impression of you, so make sure you follow these steps strictly.

This is a simple and easy one to do: Feed your new kitty aquaintance some delicious food when it's hungry!

A study found that cat behaviour is strongly connected to the way they are fed by their humans. The study even concluded that if you feed felines less, it leads to them showing you more love.

This is due to the fact that like this, cats get hungry more often and are therefore craving the food even more than when you overfeed them. When this hunger is then satisfied, they are more grateful than ever!

The best way to go about feeding your new sweetheart is following these steps:

1. Ask the owner to let the cat get hungry before you arrive
2. Now, as the cat is craving food, ask the owner to hand you its favorite food
3. Visible to the cat, put the food in its bowl
4. Let the cat eat in peace!
5. Afterwards, stick around for it to show you some love

If you follow these steps attentively, you will surely elevate the relationship to the cat to the next level.

Generally speaking, playing with a cat is super important for releasing energy and developing usefull abilities like jumping. It's so important, VetStreet even recommends a minimum playtime of 15 minute per day!

Now, you can leverage this importance for your plan to establish a loving relationship with a cat. For this to work, we again gathered the following steps that you need to consider:

1. Play like it is hunting time.
2. Play at the right time. A rule of thumb when chosing the right time is to play with her when the cat is very active (i.e. running around the house).
3. Never use your fingers. This will hurt. Use toys or strings instead.
4. Let the cat win.
5. React to the cat properly. If it's starting to slow down, slow down as well.

Again, when followed and done correctly, these steps will help to establish a strong bond to the cat.

After all this effort, it is possible that you still don't receive the love you deserve. We know this can be a tough pill to swallow, but it's entirely possible that a cat just doesn't like you despite you behaving properly.

Just like with humans, some friendships are simply not going to happen. Be it because the cat is jealous of you when cuddling with its owner or you having a scent that it doesn't like, you can't really change these things.

Don't get us wrong, it's very possible to change a cat's attitude towards a human being. It's just super hard if you do not own this cat and only see it occasionally. How are you going to convince the cat that you are actually cool when you only see it once a week for a couple of hours? 

So don't fall into dispair when you realize that you efforts and favors are not being returned. Our advise here is to accept the fact that you won't be best friends afterall. 

Maybe it's a sign that you should get your own cat! The costs aren't that high and you will have an amazing friendship that you will never forget. 

So that's it everybody! We hope the methods mentioned in this blog post are going to help you build up a beautiful feline friendship.

Let us know what you think about the whole topic! Did you have any stories to tell about befriending another cat? We would love to hear!

As always, thank you so much for reading and talk to you soon.

Best regards,
​Nicole and Robert

Love is in the air! Although cats don't tell us 'I love you' straight to our face, they show their love in their own way. In order to recognize and appreciate these messages from your cat, we have collected the following 5 signs that your cat loves you, so make sure to read on.

Oh, how we love the sound of purrs when we stroke a cat, isn't that right? Even if a cat is just sitting next to us on the couch, it sometimes purrs without even being touched.
​
It has been proven that cats mainly purr because they feel comfortable, content and simply happy in their present situation. For a cat, this means that you don't pose a threat but instead are a nice environment to be in. Although this may seem trivial, it is something that you should be happy about, because cats don't feel comfortable around everybody.

Only a person that they have gotten to know over some time, that emits positive vibes and is familiar in terms of scent is accorded the honor of a nice, long purr next to him or her. That may not be a definite love sign for everybody, but it sure is the first step towards a deep love between the cat and the human.

For cats, if they don't purr next to you, they don't love you. Period.

Your cat probably has a secret stash of favorite things somewhere hidden around the house. If it truly feels like you are worthy and a friend, in rare ocassions, it will head out and hand you over one of its items to you as a gift! 

Now this may seem very odd but mind you that these items are super precious to your cat. It is regularly updating and cherishing her stash, so receiving a gift in the form of a plastic cap should make your heart melt!

Needless to say that in order for you to be applicable to receive a gift like that, it must really, REALLY like you. These items are the most valuable thing your cat possesses, and your cat really hangs on to them. At least if it is mostly a house cat. If not however...

If you love somebody, you like to spend with him or her. The same applies to cats when the love humans: If your cat has positive feelings for you, it wants to see what you are doing and how you are feeling, hence following you around through the house. 

This doesn't mean it will permanently sit on your shoulder though. Cats love to  observe from a save distance and simply sit there looking at you. This may be weird for us humans, simply staring at your partner from 3 meters distance, but it's definitely how cats like to do it.

Therefore, don't close the doors behind you. Instead, let your cat follow you around as it pleases. It's a nice thing to know that it is doing that because of the affection it feels for you, isn't it?

While it's still not entirely proven why exactly cats knead, it's an established scientific belief that when it comes to kneading their humans, they are doing it to express affection.

Now as you can see in the video above, a cat sometimes does use a little bit of claws here and there, so it's understandably hard to enjoy the kneading. Bearing the kneading when raising a small kitten is no problem, but it's different with an adult cat. Unless it really hurts, don't stop it though!

Imagine your partner giving you a nice, heartful massage and you are jumping away while screaming - doesn't really inspire sweet acts of love in the future, does it? So, don't hurt your cat's feelings and endure the pain for a bit. Your cats loves you and that's just how they interact with you if that's the case. Don't stop it from doing so.

Cats usually headbutt people and other animals in order to bond and socialize with them. This means that you are actually worth socializing with - yey!

But it actually goes a little bit beyond that: Since cats used to be predators in the past, they were always on the lookout for prey, but also for enemies. Obviously, the act of headbutting is very dangerous in the wild, since it makes the cat vulnerable to attacks.

This is why cats only headbutt people or animals whom they dearly trust, thus making you a trustful person from your cat's perspective!

So if a cat headbutts you, it trusts you, feels comfortable around you and wants to bond with you. That comes pretty close to the definition of love, doesn't it?

When looking at the behavioral habits of cats, there are several things cats generally only do while in a comfortable, calm environment. 

If you are with her and your cat can ease up around you, purr, have a quick nap and hand you over a gift afterwards, it likes you a lot. Adding acts of love like kneading and headbutting, you are definitely being loved!


This wraps up today's blog post where we talked about the 5 signs that your cat loves you. We hope you liked the blog post just as much as you cat like you. Please make sure to stick around for our other blog posts.

Have a great day and talk to you soon,
Nicole and Robert

Whether you are adopting a kitten from a local shelter or are buying one from a breeder, kittens cost money - a lot. In this blog post, we not only break down the costs of raising a kitten starting right from birth until they are grown, we also show you handy saving tricks that we gathered throughout the years. We wished we would have known these tricks from the start and they will definitely help you avoid some extra costs, so make sure you read on.

Note: The post is structured chronically, so if you are owning a kitten that is 3 months old, you can gladly scroll down and proceed from there. 

Chapters:

• Overview of expenses for your kitten 
• The costs of your kitten in the first 4 weeks
• The costs of your kitten from 1 to 3 months
• The costs of your kitten from 3 to 6 months
• The costs of your kitten from 6 to 12 months
• The costs of a grown cat
• Conclusion

Before we jump into the actual calculation of expenses according to the age of your kitten, we will quickly summarize the type of expenses you need to be aware of. How much the following expenses fall into account is completely up to you:
​

• Veterinarians: Your kitten will need to visit the vet at the start of its life very frequently. Be it routine checks, emergency visits or regular treatments, these costs can stack up quickly.
• Cat food: Putting food in your kitten's mouth does not cost that much at the start, but it will raise to quite a substantial amount when it grows older and bigger. It's up to the breed of your kitten, your budget and your vet's advice how much you spend on cat food per month.
• Cat toys: As we have written out in a more detailed manner below, your kitten will get very playful when turning older. It's on you to take care of its needs in this regard! However, the cost of cat toys is very difficult to calculate. Do you prefer crafting toys for your feline or buying them in the store? This is only one aspect that will greatly influence how much you will spend on cat toys.
• Cat gadgets: There are some tools and gadgets out there that will help you out in your daily life with your cat. Whether it's a sticky hair roller, a special litter mat or simply a regular cat bed from Walmart, you will spend money on these kinds of products.
• Cat fashion products: We love our cats and to embrace the feline lifestyle, we are almost obligated to let our surroundings know that we are who we are - cat lovers! We think that over time, this is the most expensive, but most rewarding expense category, simply due to the cuteness of these products. 

Kittens are very susceptible to infections and illnesses at the beginning of their lives. It takes around 4-6 weeks for the kitten to become fairly independent from its mother, so you need to be extremely careful during these times. 

The main costs that you will have to take care of are for regular visits to your trusted vet, a microchip identification and a pet license. Food barely falls into account as your tiny kitten won't consume substantial amounts of milk. 

During these weeks, calculate with around $400 to $600 USD. This should definitely be enough to cover the regular costs and leaves enough room for emergency treatments of illnesses, should they occur.

Saving advise: Ill cats are expensive cats. As mentioned above, small kittens are very susceptible to illnesses at their early stage of life, so make sure to protect it from catching a flu by regulating the temperature accordingly: 

1. Have the temperature at around 88-92 degrees Fahrenheit the first week.
2. Have it at 80 and up until week 3 to 4.
3. Afterwards, slowly lower it to room temperature week by week.

Note: Usually, you should never encounter a situation where you need to take care of a kitten that is so young as an individual! We simply added the information to make this a complete guide.

TOTAL COSTS so far: $400 to $600 USD.

Now, as your kitten is growing older, its behavior changes dramatically - mostly to the better! This is the time when the fun comes in: Your kitten will start to explore everything it can, climb up walls, furniture and even you!

During these times, your kitten has its most playful time considering its whole life. Enjoy this time to the fullest and have fun with your kitty!

When it comes to the money, your kitten needs a bigger bed, its first bowls of foods and its first few toys. These things are not expensive individually, but they are going to fall account in total! This is mostly due to the fun you are going to have with your tiny little feline. 

Mind that you probably will return from the pet store with heaps of stuff that you didn't want to buy. That's normal. Calculate around $100 to $200 USD for all these accessories.

Also, as the number of visits to your vet will steadily decrease over time, we suggest you plan less money than before. A total budget of $100 USD should be sufficient.

Saving advise: Plan ahead! Most of the time, you can get extremely cheap cat toys and gadgets from China. Big brands simply buy these in bulk and put up a bigger price so they can make a profit, but you can outsmart them by simply buying the toys 4 weeks ahead so they arrive just in time when your kitty gets playful!

Is your kitty continuously scratching and chewing its new bed? Does it looks like it won't last a lifetime? Go up and buy a new one from China for $10 USD. It will probably arrive at your doorstep in the exact moment your kitty tears the old bed apart.

TOTAL COSTS so far: $600 to $800 USD.

Just like human beings, kittens do teeth. Usually, this is just a short phase without any issues, but sometimes kittens do have discomfort due to swelling gums. If you spot your kitten chewing slower than usual, inspect said gums for redness and swellings. A costly trip to the vet will have to be done if you find any of these signs. Plan $100 USD for a vet visit into your budget just to be on the safe side.

​After your kitten has her new teeth, it will want to try them out! Prepare for extra chews on literally everything - even yourself! Plan ahead and buy some kitten chew toys. If you don't invest this money into some toys, you may need new furniture, which is exponentially more expensive of course. Set aside around $50 USD for heaps of toys and chewing gadgets.

In addition to that, you need to start asking yourself the question whether you want 8 more kittens in your home. Do you? Because if not and you haven't done it before, it is now the time to spay or neuter your kitten. This will cost up to $200 USD, so be prepared.

Saving advise: Monthly cat food costs will keep on increasing during this time. Plan ahead and figure out your cat's favorite food as soon as you can. Create a diet consisting of that food and stick to it. Otherwise, food that you will constantly throw away because it is left over or was not eaten by your kitten at all can cost you up to $50 USD per month.

TOTAL costs so far: $1000-$1300 USD.

By this time, you will realize that your kitten is growing into a mature cat with more muscles, thicker bone structure and an overall older appearance. Big costs like neutering, chip inspection and maybe teething infections are off the table, so there are no major expenses anymore that you need to worry about at this stage.

One thing you could start to look into is a pet insurance (Click here if you are unfamiliar with that). These usually save you a lot of nerves and can also be super helpful financially if your cat suffers from a serios disease or injury. Cat insurance can cost up to $40 USD a month covering all sorts of incidents, so choose wisely.

In addition to that, your kitten is now consuming regular amounts of food, so you should be calculating between $70-$100 USD per month for that. When choosing the brand and type of food, we recommend one trial week where you put everything on the table you can find. Your cat can communicate well with you and it will signal you which food it prefers.

Moreover, as your cat is a grownup now, it needs mature sizes for everything. Scratching trees, litter boxes and cat beds should all be decently sized, so you probably need to buy a few items again or for the very first time. Please plan with at least $100-$200 USD because you won't want to save a few bucks at a cost of your cat tearing the scratching tree apart within a week.

Another thing that you may take into consideration will be your obsession with all sorts of feline accessories for yourself. T-Shirts, cups, jewelry, wall stickers... your eyes will probably start to lid up when seeing these products with a cat on them. Personally, we think it's a great idea to express one's love for cats this way. We think it's very well invested money and occasionally, we treat ourselves with some jewelry pieces from KittySensations. 

We advise you calculate $10-$20 USD per month for these kinds of products. It heavily depends on the individual, but we love getting ourselves a new accessory with tiny little kittens on it every now and then.
​
TOTAL COSTS AFTER 12 MONTHS: $1500-$2500 USD.

After the first 12 months, it will get a little bit cheaper. You probably realized that a lot of the expenses for a kitten will not continue to come up. We generally would advise a budget of around $1000 USD per year to keep your cat healthy and happy. With that kind of budget, you will also have enough room to treat yourself with some awesome cat shirts or similar items.

This video wraps up the yearly costs of cats pretty well:

Depending on your purchase behavior, the food of your kitten, the possibility of unplanned vet visits (and so much more), having a kitten can cost you up to $2500 USD in the first 12 months. For a short and concise overview, we found the following infographic by TailSmart to be very helpful. The blog post continues afterwards.

If you are not that much into cat accessories or thinking about training your cat to be a home cat, which would make the insurance pretty much obsolete, you will still need at least $1500 USD in the first year.

We have risen up 3 kittens on our own and know how big these numbers may seem, but please believe us and calculate your budgets accordingly. There are way too many shelters being full of abandoned kittens, so the best thing you can do if you are not willing to spend that amount of money for a cat is not getting one in the first place. 

If you do however agree that the value of a kitten at home outweighs the financial expenses by a huge amount and that they are the cutest beings in the world, then we wish you all the best wish your kitten! Raising a tiny feline into a grownup is a wonderful, life changing experience and we sincerely hope that you will have this opportunity.

​
This wraps up our blog post about the costs of raising a kitten. We hope you enjoyed it and if you want, you can tell us about your experience and stories down below in the comment section! As always, stick around for more blog posts and share this post on Social Media - it helps a lot.

Thank you for being with us and we wish you a great time,
​Nicole and Robert

In this blog post, we have written out the steps and methods you need to know in order to properly introduce another animal to your cat(s). If you are facing the situation of welcoming another pet member to your family soon, make sure to read on because there are some serious issues to consider.

My husband and I love animals. Period. I am sure the fact that you are reading this blog posts tells the same about you. 

​When we faced the challenge of introducing a bunny to our cats in 2013, we really wanted this to work out. We researched everything we could find and through the research we did and the books we have studies there is one thing we need to tell you upfront: Your cat might not like the animal, and that's not your fault.

Not everything is sugar and candy in the animal world. It doesn't matter whether you expensively raised your cat or adopted it at later stages, cats used to be predators and no matter how cute they seem, they will fight for their territory if needs be. 

BUT: There are a few things you can do to set up a beautiful friendship instead of ferocious fights that nobody wats to see. Let's start with a few obvious arrangements:

Make sure that before the 'new' animal and the cat(s) have any contact, your cat is fed, well rested and in a nice mood. This is due to the fact that cats can be extremely moody, just like human beings.

Once a cat has decided that it doesn't like somebody, it's quite hard to change its mind. So, make sure it's all happy and relaxed before you even mention the name of the new pet.

When it comes to exactly how to make your cat happy: Every cat is different, so that's up to you. A rule of thumb is to treat your cat with some snuggles in your arm and spoil it with its favorite food. Your cat will love it and thank you with a calm attitude.  

Before you visually show the new pet to your cat, make sure to lock it up in a separate room where your cat doesn't have the access to. Because of the fact that cats have extremely good noses, your cat will start to pick up the new pet's scent and get used to it.

This way, your feline friend can slowly get used to the smell. 

We recommend doing this for at least three days to make sure your cat is familiar with the animal even before being in contact with it visually or physically.

Guess what, your cat is probably a jealous animal. This mean that you playing, speaking or interacting with somebody or something else can make it extremely jealous.

This is why it is important that when you first introduce your cat to the new pet, you are showing affection to your cat that day. Just as we have written above, make sure to snuggle and play with it a lot in these days.

Otherwise, you risk it being jealous of the new animal and this can get out of hand quickly! Remember: Cats used to be predators and you don't want to have a jealous predator around.

Now, after you have set up your cat properly with a good amount of snuggles and got it used to the other pet's scent, you need to make sure of the following: Your cat MUST understand that the new pet isn't an intruder!

Your cat loves you and it's important for it that you are safe. If it feels like there could be some kind of threat imposed on you, it might take harsh actions.

So make sure you are gentle to the other pet when first introducing it to your cat. Talk to it softly, carefully stroke it and smile throughout the process. This is quite significant as a recent study found out that cats can actually recognize human smiles.

Once you are all set up with your cat being in a good mood, being familiar with the other pet's scent, feeling loved and understanding that the new animal is a friend - leave them to it.

Animals, felines especially, communicate in a different way than humans do and it's usually best if we leave them to it while they do so. Simply sit back in a couple of meters of distance and let them to the talking.

You will see that they will get along just fine by simply looking and sniffing each other.

Now that they have gotten to know themselves, you can prepare for the daily life of having different animals.

First of all, have pre-defined sleeping positions for all of them. Don't let the new pet sit on your cat's stuff. Due to their territorial behavior even at home, cats don't appreciate that kind of behavior at all.

Second, have them all eat at the same time. This is a big one as schedule is very important at home. You can't feed your cat at 7 and the new pet at 8. Not only does your cat get suspicious when you do so, it's also a struggle in regard to time management. Save yourself the hustle and get them used to a strict schedule.

Make sure they get used to playing together! No matter which pet you introduced to your cat, if your feline friend gets used to the 'other one' being around during playtime, they are way more likely to become friends.

This is simply due to the fact that cats always play with their friends. Your kitty simply loves playing with other like-minded souls. Why not use that to everybody's advantage?

To recap the article, make sure your cat is in a good mood, feels loved and got used to the scent of the pet you want to introduce before actually seeing it.

Then, after showing your cat that the new pet is you friend by gently stroking it, leave the introduction to themselves. Simply stand back and let them do their thing.

In the daily life, treat them equally and let them play together. This embraces the bond between you all and will lead to a happy, healthy and loving atmosphere at home.

Thank you everybody for reading and let us know what you think about introducing any pet to one or multiple cats down below in the comment section! Also, check out our other blog posts if you enjoyed reading this one: The Casual Cat Blog Posts.

Warm regards,
​Nicole and Robert