- Bedding
- Food
- Teeth
- Vaccinations
- Microchipping
- Litter box training
Bedding
When you have taken your kitten home, you must find an area where it will sleep. A kitten only needs a padded box or basket to call its own. Put their bedding in an out-of-the-way corner of a room.
After you have spent your hard earned money on their perfect bed & found the best spot for it – your kitten will disregard it and choose to sleep wherever it likes (which will probably be your bed!)
An outdoors cat needs a tight, dry house for protection from wind, cold and rainy weather. The cat house should be big enough for your cat to stand up & turn around easily. It needs to be easy to clean & treated regularly with insecticides to control fleas, ticks & worms.
Food
To get the best start & to ensure that your kitten is healthy, at:
· 0 – 6 weeks old - fed them continuously as they need it
· 6 – 12 weeks old - Feed them 3-4 times a day
· 3 – 6 months old – feed them 3 times a day
· 6 – 7 months old feed them 2 meals a day
The everyday diet should consist of canned or dry food, table scraps (incl. eggs). Cats do not need high levels of cereals in their diet.
Brands such as EUKANUBA, ADVANCE and IAMS are concentrated and contain only amino acids and proteins derived from animals, both are important in your cat’s diet. They are more expensive than the mall brands but well worth buying as you actually need less food (because it’s more concentrated), it helps clean their teeth, & their breath & results in your kitten/ cat having less smelly poo.
Cats should have raw meaty bones 3 – 4 times a week, the best bones are from the upper body of cattle or sheep (lamb cutlets, chops). Do NOT feed them chicken bones as there is a risk of gut infections in your kitten/cat.
Now everyone loves to give their cat a bowl of milk, but you should AVOID milk & other dairy products – as these can lead to stomach upsets. Water is fine for cats. Fresh, clean water should always be available.
Also avoid feeding your kitten or cat liver, raw fish or meat by itself regularly.
How to look after your kittens teeth
If you feed your kitten the raw meaty bones suggested above this will minimise the amount of dental calculus & gum disease.
Cats usually shed their temporary fang teeth at 6-7 months old teeth.
Quote:"It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens."Cynthia E. Varnado
This is essential – in the unlikely (but probable) event that your kitten goes wondering or gets lost (if you have just moved house or it freaks out during a storm & just runs & runs). Any vet or animal control can scan your pet & retrieve the number from the microchip & find your details & contact you so that you can be reunited. A scary statistic is that 80% of all pets without microchips who are separated from their owners never make it back home!
The microchip is a painless procedure that implants a microchip the same size as a grain of rice just under the cats skin around the back of the neck/shoulders area.
Keep your original paperwork when you microchipped your kitten & Don’t forget to change your contact information when you move or change your phone number. So that you can be contacted if your pet is lost – there is nothing worse for a vet than ringing the contact information and it is no longer valid!
Litter-Box Training
Mother cats usually teach their kittens to use the litter box.
You can reinforce this training by placing the kitten in the litter box after feeding or playing. Repeat this several times until the kitten uses the litter box automatically
Quote:"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." Hippolyte Taine
Vaccinations
The following schedule is suggested, but ask your vet for their advice & the vaccinations that they would recommend for your cat & your area.
8 weeks:
- Pneumonitis
- Distemper vaccine
- Intestinal parasite screen
- Worming (for intestinal parasites)
8 to 10 weeks:
- Calcivirus
- Feline Leukemia Virus/FIV test
- Feline Leukemia vaccine (only for cats at high risk)
- Panleucopia
- Rhinotracheitis
- Distemper vaccine
- Intestinal parasite screen
- Worming (for intestinal parasites)
12 to 14 weeks:
- Calcivirus
- Feline Leukemia Virus
- Panleucopenia
- Rhinotracheitis
- Distemper vaccine
2 to 4 months:
- Feline Leukemia Virus
One Year:
- One-year Rabies vaccine (For rabies, some states require annual revaccinations or revaccinations from 1 to 3 years.)
- Worming (for intestinal parasites)
- Feline Leukemia vaccine (only for cats at high risk)
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