The ultimate guide on how to plan for thanksgiving as a cat owner
Thanksgiving is finally here! Time to celebrate and be thankful for everything in your life one of them being your fluffball. While you might get caught up preparing for the celebration, it is essential to also factor in your cat as you make your preparations as a cat owner.
While you plan for Thanksgiving as a cat owner, factor in your cat’s space and comfortability. Make sure you keep your fluffball away from tabletops and provide a quiet, safe place where your cat can stay away from your guests. While preparing Thanksgiving dinner, make sure to also prepare something special for your cat too.
Factors to consider when planning for Thanksgiving as a cat owner.
1. Is anyone allergic?
Check-in with your guests to find out if anyone is allergic to cats. Seeing your fluffball is always at your home, they might have left some hairs all over the place. Even the smallest amounts of cat hair can trigger allergic reactions if one of your guests has a severe allergy to cats.
You might opt to forgo hosting the Thanksgiving party if one of your guests has allergies.
2. Can all your guests tolerate cats?
It is common knowledge that not everyone is a cat lover and you might find some of your friends are not so much into felines. Some might not have a problem with cats, but they are also not so fond of them.
You might want to keep your cat away from the kitchen table tops as not anyone would like to your food if they experience that!
More like, although I am obsessed with cats and I can eat at any home with felines, I am not that into other amphibian pets and would prefer not to see them on kitchen table tops when I visit a home. Well, it’s the beauty of life, everyone has their cup of tea!
How to prepare for Thanksgiving with a cat.
Hosting Thanksgiving as a cat owner, you have to consider your cat throughout the process. Understand that your feline best friend is not a human and needs special care. To make a pawesome thanksgiving, you need to:
1. Provide a safe space for your cat.
By nature, most cats do not love to be around people. Well, maybe your cat is like my Chacha who doesn’t mind being around people.
But wait. Picture this. You are 11 inches tall, and suddenly your home is full of feet walking around and disrupting your everyday routine. To make it worse, there are noisy kids who just won’t put you down no since they want to ‘play’. The situation keeps on getting worse after you realize some of the visitors have also brought other animals to your home. Sigh, this does not sound good at all!
That’s why you should provide a safe space for cats where they can be able to live out their lives normally and take that much-loved nap away from strangers. Don’t forget to include a litter box in the room.
To protect your cat from the rest of the crowd, it is best if you include a ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign on the door. This will also give your cat plenty of time and space to catch its much-loved sleep.
Related: Why do cats sleep so much?
Keep visiting your cat throughout the thanksgiving celebration to remind him that you still care!
Tip: You can also play some cool relaxing music for your cat while you host your celebration. This will help real your cat while drowning out some of the noise coming from the merry.
2. Offer Thanksgiving treats.
Hosting Thanksgiving as a cat owner requires you to also factor in your fluffball when planning on the thanksgiving treats!
I honestly feel it wouldn’t be fair to prepare all those nice smelling food for guests only. Your feline friend should also have some Thanksgiving treat! While some turkey stuffing and spices are dangerous to your cat’s health, you can remove the outer skin and feed them some turkey. Whenever we have celebrations, I always feed Chacha some of our food though it is crucial to remove the skin.
Remember, most spices are most concentrated on the skin of the turkey. I know, I know, someone might say it’s not suitable for your cat. But sometimes caving in to forbidden pleasures is so fulfilling. The key is to keep it moderation. Two pieces are enough.
Avoid spiced or extra salty meat. It’s best if the turkey is plain so that your fluffball does not get ill.
3. Show some love.
It’s Thanksgiving, time to be grateful for your cat!
Granted, successfully planning and hosting Thanksgiving as a cat owner may be stressful. However, cats are brilliant and will quickly sense your stress. In turn, they will also get stressed and agitated.
To deal with this, you need to snuggle with your friend so that they can still feel your love. You can take some time before guests start arriving and cuddle with your cat or pet them. Playing with the furball also makes them feel loved. Occasionally check up on them while they are in their safe space to make sure they are comfortable.
Petting them will let them know that you visited and they will not feel lonely or left out of the celebrations.
4. Provide some cat toys.
A cat calling out every 2 seconds would be a nightmare when hosting Thanksgiving as a cat owner. To avoid this, provide a toy to keep your cat busy during the celebrations. You can create some DIY cat toys and add a string to make it more engaging for your cat.
A maple leaf with an attached string would be a good idea.
Which Thanksgiving foods are safe for cats?
Cats can eat the majority of our favorite Thanksgiving foods as long as they are not too spicy. However, some human foods are dangerous to felines. Some cat favorites are;
- Turkey breast (Make sure to remove the spicy skin)
- Turkey Gravy.
- Mashed potatoes.
- Sweet potatoes and/or yam
- Cranberry sauce.
- Plain rolls and bread.
What should I avoid while hosting Thanksgiving as a cat owner?
Too much salt and spices are dangerous for your cat and may lead to illness. Here is a list of items you should not give your cat during Thanksgiving:
- Foods with garlic.
- Bean casserole (the canned onions are not suitable for your cat).
- Turkey stuffing.
- Food with chives.
- Bones.
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