Steemit Engagement Challenge S3-W3|My Pets.

Steem to you all, lovely steemians of the Hot News Community. I am here yet again with my entry for week 3 topic of this prestigious Steemit Engagement Challenge. I hope to do my best as i did last week, not relenting no matter what! I would like to invite @moer, @temitopef, @beautiful12, @chiabertrand, @goodybest, and @tangwe-rene to come partake in this week's challenge.

My lovely pal is called Minamino but i call him Mino for short. He is a polydactyl cat covered in brown and black stripes of fur from the top of his head, all the way to the tail. His underlaying fur is mostly white, and it is so soft. There's a funny story that revolves around his name 😀. My mum got him 4 months ago, and since then we have welcomed him into our family. At first, we thought he was female, so we named him Mimi; after realizing that he was indeed male, we quickly changed his name to Mino, giving rise to the name Minamino. At first, the main reason my mum got Mino was because the rats in our area was a force to reckon with, so we needed rapid reinforcements 🐈. Getting Mino has greatly brought some peace and quiet within my vicinity 😍.

From the month we adopted Mino up till present day, so many activities have been carried out with him so much that, he has access to absolutely every corner/room of the house. I must say that he was quite shy as a very young kitten, but as the weeks passed, he grew to love us as much as we love him

• Grooming and Cuddling:
  This particular exercise is carried out everyday. He already knows that it is a must do activity, and he knows it is time whenever he sees me relaxing. I will groom him for as long as i am laying down. He loves to cuddle too.

• Exercises:
  Mino and i make it a routine to exercise everyday! He sometimes follows me when i take short walks around the street, unless there is rain or/and lightning that he hates so much. His favorite game is chase or grabber game. I use the term grabber gamer to refer to when i play the grab game with him using a single broom stick or my finger or feet. I sway it from side to side while he gets ready to pounce on it, the faster i sway, the more interested he becomes. However, he never seeks to hurt me as we train, compared to when he is hunting for real 😁.

• Feeding:
  As a kitten back then, Mino loved having milk for breakfast and supper. Right now, he eats almost every food i eat, although he doesn't like fruits, with pear being an exception. He loves to eat dried fish, pancakes, eggs, bread in chocolate, and almost everything i eat. He is a weird guy since he eats so many varieties, i am still baffled. He also goes on a hunting spring sometimes and comes back with his pray. He would sometimes play with his food before eating. Mino is an excellent hunter.

• Learns tricks:
  This part of our activities haven't made as much progress as i'd have liked because Mino easily gets distracted whenever an insect or a mouse runs by during training. So far, i have been able to implement obedience into him, especially when food is concerned. Mino never touches food that is not yet given to him; however, he can't seem to control himself when fish is concerned, but i am working on that still.

• Health:
  For those who do not know, cats are excellent when it comes to independence. It is quite difficult for them to fall ill, they are labeled as the cleanest animal in the kingdom. He hates water on his skin yet he takes a bath at least twice a day, by licking himself clean. It is amazing how he never develops odour.
  He always rushes out and digs a hole whenever he wants to stool or urinate. After easing himself, he covers it with ground and pats the top until the stench is gone. He is very neat so much that i clean only his plate.

Most cat related diseases affect only felines. Felines diseases are caused by small organisms such as viruses, parasites and bacteria, and just few feline-borne diseases can affect us humans.

Below is a list of diseases that can be contracted from cats. Most of these infections can't be seen on this cats. However, their symptoms can be seen on humans ranging from fever to stomachaches, to rashes, and so on and so forth, depending on the severity of the disease.
Some of these infections are:

• Roundworm
• Ringworm
• Salmonellosis
• Sporotrichosis
• Toxoplasmosis
• Campylobacteriosis
• Cat scratch disease
• Cat tapeworm
• Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus (MRSA)
• Rabies
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Giardiasis
• Hookworm

Some of the listed diseases (cat-borne) can be gotten from having contact with their saliva and/or faeces. We can also get them while changing their boxes, or picking up their faeces, or petting/carrying then, or grooming them, or touching the places they have been.

• Sharing utensils (plates, cups, etc) with them can lead to infections. Especially with their dirty paws and salivary tongues wavering over our food and water when we aren't attentive.

• Ticks from their bodies can be spread via grooming or carrying.

• Coming in contact with their faeces can even be in gardens when we kneel, creep, sit or even dig.

• Scratches that lead to wounds and swells can easily carry infections especially when the surrounding is all red/pink.

Many cat owners do not get sick as easily as one may seemingly feel, but measures can be taken to prevent these contractable infections. Below are some prevention measures set in place in my house.

• After every contact with our pet cat, or even the surfaces touched that was related to our cats, we make sure to wash our hands thoroughly with disinfectants.

• Raw meat is not fed to my cat

• We keep the vicinity of the cat sanitary.