Archive for the ‘General’ Category

If you love Maine Coon Cats, you might be interested in breeding them. However, Maine Coon Cat breeding is not something that one jumps into overnight. There are a number of things to consider.

First and foremost, it is not advisable to breed just any Maine Coon Cat. Most good breeders agree that only titled Maine Coon Cat’s should be bred, keeping the pedigrees incredibly pure. Breeders also work to breed out certain genetic disorders that are common to the Maine Coon.

 Also note that while Maine Coon Cats sell for a fairly hefty price - $600 to $1000 for 12 week old kittens – a lot of money is invested into them as well. For example, you will need to take the kittens to the veterinarian, at least once, before they are sold. You may need to pay for genetic testing as well to make sure that the kittens do not have any problems.

 Obviously, you must care for the queens and the studs, ensuring that they maintain good health as well. While there is still a profit to be made, in most cases, you should note that you will not get rich breeding these cats – and you may not make a full time living at it either.

 Even if you have titled queens and studs, you aren’t ready to jump into breeding. A good breeder will have numerous cat shows under their belts, and they will be highly knowledgeable when it comes to the breed. Current top breeders suggest gleaning as much information as possible and even asking a current top breeder to mentor you – first with shows, and second with breeding.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

You should always take your new kitty to the vet as soon as possible after you bring it home.  This acquaints you with the veterinary clinic you’ll be using and the procedures for getting an appointment there, and also let you meet the veterinary, and the veterinary meet your kitten!  It also means that your kitten can have an initial examination and get treatment for any kitty ailments that it might have if you have bought the kitten from a pet store or farm then it is possible it may have worms or ear mites that can be easily treated.  Depending on the age of you kitten it may also be time for any shots that haven’t already been administered before you took over ownership of the kitten.  One of the basic things that the veterinary will tell you at this visit is whether your kitty is a boy or girl ?don’t automatically assume the original owner got it right, it is not always easy to tell and it is easy to get it wrong!

Knowing when to take your kitty to the vet outside of a normal annual examination however is trickier.  Rather like when you are sick but unsure whether you are sick enough to warrant a doctor time, it is hard to ascertain if your kitten is sick enough to warrant a veterinary’s time ?not to mention the expense!  A good rule of thumb is to remember one very important fact is a kitten’s health can deteriorate rapidly within a few hours even so making a decision to think about it, can mean putting off for a couple of days, you are looking at 24 hours maximum, and if things don’t improve with kitty’s health then you make an appointment and tell the reception how old he is, how long he’s been sick and what the symptoms are.  If he gets worse before 24 hours are up, contact the veterinary clinic immediately and talk to the reception staff that may be able to connect you through to either the veterinary or clinic nurse who can discuss whether or not it sounds dangerous enough to require immediate veterinary help.

Knowing your kitty is part way to knowing when he’s feeling off-color.  By performing a regular informal examination of his movement, eyes, ears, mouth, and general appearance you can see when he’s not himself?  It may be that he be limping or scratching himself more than usual or it could be that a usually active cat is sleeping more than he normally does.  These are all signs that something is amiss and need you to start paying attention.  A kitten that is sleeping all of the time, or has a temperature should always go straight to the veterinary, as he should if you notice he has problems or blood with his urine.

For the most part, cats are quite healthy pets and by learning your kitty’s normal appearance and traits, you can soon pick up on when he’s not feeling well, and a quick phone call to the veterinary clinic can reassure you that he’s almost certainly going to be ok to monitor for the next day or so, or whether you should bring him into the clinic that day.

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

One of the most adorable things about kittens is the mischief they are capable of getting into – adorable in someone else’s home anyway! In your own home, where it’s your stuff that the kitten is rolling around the floor, ripping to shreds, or chewing to death, it’s not always as funny. But what’s a kitty owner to do?

Well the first thing is more of a “what not to do” – don’t yell at the kitty! Count to 10 and calm down, and then firmly take hold of your kitten, say “No” in a firm clear voice and put the kitty either in his bed – or in his safe zone if you’ve created one and he’s still using it. The next thing is to identify why your kitten has gotten into this particular mischief – is he bored, did it offer too much temptation, or is he pandering his hunter genes?

Usually it’s a mixture of boredom and practicing his hunting skills that gets a kitten into the most trouble around the house! The boredom leads him to find things like trailing plants, or apples that roll, and they tempt him to playful mischief. A cat loves to hunt however, and so occasionally he will “kill” the odd cushion!

Buying a few cat toys will help teach your kitten what is acceptable to play with and what’s not. A soft ball, not necessarily a small one either – some kitties are quite happy to push something that’s about half their size but not too heavy around the house – is a great toy. A ball made out of scrunched up newspaper is another good way of getting your kitten to play – but make sure that you scrunch it quietly because loud noises will probably scare him. Any toy that has been filled with catnip – some kind of dried herb that cats go crazy over – is destined to keep him amused for hours, but often the most entertaining of all for kitty is a box with large holes cut into it that he can jump in and out of.

A kitten getting up to mischief can often be frustrating, but given the right toys, he’ll not only entertain himself, but he’ll also keep you entertained watching the antics he gets up too. Remember, he’s not intending to be mean when he does something he shouldn’t, he’s just bored, so find something to occupy his mind!

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

There’s a huge array of resources that will help you to keep your kitten healthy. What you need to know is which ones will help you to keep your kitten healthy!

One of the best sources of information is your veterinary clinic. Not only will they be able to provide you with free leaflets and information, they may also have their own guide they give out to new kitten owners, and books that they suggest you read or have on your reference shelf in case of emergency. There are so many books published on the subject of cat and kitten care that it’s easy to get lost, or pick up a book that’s not quite as comprehensive as it could be, and a recommendation or two from your veterinary can allow you to choose between books that he thinks are the best ones available for your situation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

When you look at the new feline addition to your home, it’s hard to imagine that it could have anything like fleas. Unfortunately, it’s not unheard of for a very young kitten to have fleas; it all very much depends upon the environment in which it lived before you brought it to live with you. For example, if the mother cat had fleas, then there’s a huge possibility that all the kittens will have fleas. If there was another pet in the home such as another cat, or dog, then again, there’s a possibility that even though the mother cat wasn’t allowed out while she was nursing her kittens, fleas were brought in by the other pets. Even humans can bring fleas into a home on their shoes or clothes.

One of the first things you should have in your home is a flea comb. As soon as you bring the kitten home, take it to the bathroom and gently talk to it as you glide the flea comb through the kitty’s fur. Pay special attention to the area at the base of the tail, or behind the ears – if kitty has fleas, you’re bound to find one here. And at this point, one is all you need to find out that you have a problem that needs immediate attention.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

The short answer to this is YES! Even if you are going to allow your cat to be outdoors whenever it wants, you need to be sure that if ever there was a time when it couldn’t get outside for whatever reason, it’s already potty trained and can use the litter tray whenever necessary. It may not be happy using the litter tray but you probably don’t care about that should you find yourself in a situation where allowing your kitten outside isn’t an option.

It could be that you need to be out of town for a few days and you don’t want to leave your cat door unlocked for security reasons, so your kitten needs to kept indoors. It could be that it’s too cold, especially at night in the winter, so you want to keep him inside so he doesn’t come to harm in sub-zero temperatures. It’s even more possible that at some time in his life, he will need a surgical procedure that will result in him being kept indoors for at least 24 hours. If you have trained your kitten to use a little box, the cat he grows into won’t have a problem if he finds himself locked inside with no means of getting out.

When you first bring your kitten home, have a litter box ready for him to use. You won’t be letting him out for those first days when he’s tiny, so use this time to “potty train” him. Use a shallow tray that he can easily get into and put a layer of kitty litter into it. As he grows, always have a clean litter tray available, even if he doesn’t use it he’ll learn where it is and when the day comes that he finds himself lock inside, he’ll know where the “bathroom” is and how to use it.

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

Cats and kittens in the same household can be the best of friends, or the worst of enemies, and occasionally, both at various times of the day!  One of the main problems is that cats are very territorial and if one cat thinks that a particular part of the room is his alone, he will soon show his displeasure if the kitten should dare to walk anywhere near it.  On the other hand, a kitten will sometimes do just that in order to get the older cat’s attention.  In some ways, kittens are not unlike small children!

To ensure that your cat and new kitty get off to the best possible start socially, you need to go against what your heart intuitively wants to do.  Really, this is in kitty’s best interests even though it may make you feel heartless at the time!  Bring the new kitty into the room and leave it in its travel carrier for a while.  Allow your cat to wander around the carrier and get accustomed to the new kitten’s smell – stand nearby and monitor the situation so that the cat doesn’t try attacking the kitten through the bars!

Talk gently to your cat about the newcomer.  Tell him that it’s a playmate.  Reassure him that the kitty isn’t going to take his place in the household’s pecking order.  When the cat finally stops pacing around, and perhaps even stops any verbal complaints he has, bring the kitten out of the carrier.  Keep a hold of the kitten but fuss the cat.  If possible try and transfer the scent of one to the other – once they’ve lived together in the same environment, they’ll have a similar smell and “belong”, although this is no guarantee that they’ll ever be the best of pals!

Never leave the kitten alone with the older cat, especially at night when all humans are asleep, until the kitten is big enough and secure enough to defend itself.  It will probably be used to pushing siblings out of the way to get milk from its mother but the sheer weight and size of your other cat is a threat to the well-being of the kitten.

Acceptance will come slowly and friendship ever slower.  They may even have a love-hate thing going where you think they can’t stand each other, but remove one of them for any length of time, and the other will start pining for him.  By introducing them to each other slowly and not forcing them together, you allow each of them to weigh-up and observe the other, and this is the best way of ensuring that every won’t be a survival battle for either of them!

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

One of the good rules of thumb to apply here is to think about having a toddler around, only a toddler in miniature size – mobile, curious but tiny!  This means that you need to consider your home in terms of potential kitty hazards before the kitten gets too old and “into everything”.  Although there are some thing that you’d have to do to create a safe home for your toddler that aren’t necessary for a kitten (such as power sockets and drawer locks), there are a few things you should take a look at with a critical eye as to whether or not they present a danger to your kitty.

If it’s hanging, or trailing, and it moves then it’s a toy to your kitten!  Make sure that you tie up all loose wire and cables, or use cable tacks and attach them firmly to walls or along the baseboard, counter top, up desk legs, etc so that there’s nothing to attract your cat’s attention.  If he pulls a cable on your tea kettle, or computer keyboard, there’s a big possibility that the item will end up on the floor and need replaced even if the kitten is unharmed so it makes sense to prevent this happening.  Trailing plants such as ivy may also need to be secured, although if kitty finds it, this could be just as hazardous to the plant as the kitten!

A kitten can also easily find itself entwined in – and possibly choke with - hanging fixings such as those on window treatments and lamps, so tie these up out of the kitten’s way – if he doesn’t see it moving, he won’t be attracted to it.

Like magpies, kittens are also drawn to small things that sparkle but which can be lethal if they swallow them so put your jewelry away in a box where he can’t see it.

Other small things such as paper clips, rubber bands, thumb tacks, threads from a sewing box, are all possible toys that are dangerous to you kitten so use commonsense when finding a place to store these once you have a kitty in your home.

Although kitty’s can’t open bottles or containers which have poisonous liquids in them, it is possible for them to poison themselves by consuming toxic substances in other formats so be careful where you spray bug spray, and cleaning materials.

This may seem like being overly cautious, but before you switch on any appliance such as the microwave, oven, washer or dryer, make sure that the kitten has found its way inside!  What a kitten loves as much as his toys is warmth, and it will seek out the warm places in your home.  A quick check will ensure a tragic accident doesn’t occur.

Kittens are tiny and fragile, and they have no concept of danger, so limiting the amount of potential hazards will create a safer environment for your kitten to explore.

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

The first visit to your local veterinary’s clinic should be as soon after bringing her home as possible.  The vet will be able to assure you that she’s in tip-top condition, advise you on the kind of food and how much she should be having, what shots she should have now, and whether or not she’s currently a home for fleas and worms.

This is a good opportunity for you to see how the vet handles the kitten, and also to ask any questions you may have about your cat’s health in general.  Use your time with the veterinary wisely.  Whilst the vet examines kitty, ask if there are any kitten care leaflets you could have, or any books she recommends.  Ask when the kitten can go outdoors, what’s the best way of litter tray training her, how to stop her from scratching your furniture, does she need any vitamins added to her food, how much milk does she need – any questions, it doesn’t matter how dumb you think they may sound to a professional, you aren’t a professional and you need the answers!

Once the initial examination is complete, the essential question that you should ask the vet is when you should bring the kitten back for her next “check-up”, and write that immediately into your day planner.  In kittens, some veterinary clinics may want to check on your kitty every other month or so – or they may recommend a series of weekly shots to boost your kitty’s immune system ready for all those birds and mice she’s going to chase once she’s allowed outside!   Once you get through this feline baby stage however, you’ll probably be advised to bring your cat into the clinic once a year for an annual shot and general health check-up.

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

Brining home your young kitty is very much like bringing home a newborn baby from the hospital. They both have very simple requirements. Both of them need to have the following basics covered: food, a place to sleep, and love.

Food is the first thing that you need to consider, and one way of quickly adjusting your kitten to his new home is to feed it. Make sure that you have a few days supply of whatever food the kitten is used to eating so that there’s no break in nutrition. Once kitty is settled, he’ll eat other things, but one way of providing security and showing that not everything has changed is by providing him with the same food he’s used to eating. Once he’s content enough to eat, then you can relax a little because he’s feeling secure. An insecure cat will not usually be so keen on eating in a strange place.

Apart from the actual food, kitty should also have his own tableware! A dish for his food, another for water/milk and something for chopping his food up with is usually the minimum. If you are buying canned cat food, then you should also buy a plastic top for the can as in the early weeks there will be several meals in one can, and so the can will be stored in your refrigerator.

For a cat, a place to sleep can be anywhere! Once it’s feeling safe, it will wander around the house and eventually chooses a spot or two that it prefers and you’ll often find him in one place or the other. For a physical bed, there are many types you can buy from beautiful wicker baskets of various sizes to beanbags and quilt type igloos, but a cat is a very independent animal with opinions about all things and so when first bringing your tiny kitty home you could consider just having a large box that it can’t escape out of without help, and placing a blanket that has his mother’s scent on it inside the box.
Read the rest of this entry »

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

You aren’t likely to get two for the price of one, and when it comes to kittens it’s not cheaper to buy them in bulk when it comes to food and kitty litter either, but there are some compensations that make it worth thinking about. Aside from saving you the initial indecision of whether you want the smart talking black and white kitty, or the cute fluffy ginger tabby, buying two kittens together can actually make sense.

Taking a kitten away from its mother can be traumatic for the kitty. Suddenly, everything is strange. There’s a stranger person fussing it and it’s not fun anymore because it can’t see its momma. The siblings aren’t there and they are sitting alone in a box, in a place they don’t recognize, and they’re terrified! Buying two kittens from the same owner should mean that you are buying siblings, or at least two kittens that have been in contact with each other during their first wobbly weeks.

Aside from creating this security blanket of familiarity, the next best reason for buying two kittens is that you’re less likely to turn your home into a cat war zone! Instead of waging war against your sofa, rugs and drapes to relieve the boredom, the kittens will chase each other. Ok, so they may chase each other up the drapes, but that’ll soon wear off (about the time they get too heavy to hang there without gravity pulling them downwards) and it’ll be fleeting as they run around the room rather than literally hanging there looking for the best vantage point to view the birds outside!

The kittens will play fight and then they’ll snuggle up together. They’ll both vie for your attention, and yet maintain a united front as they stalk about your home and yard daring other intruders to enter. They’ll share a dish of milk and food, but fight over the same toy. Two kittens may require more money to keep than one, but they provide twice as much love and amusement, and great company for each other which is the best advantage of all if you’re out at work most of the day.

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

Cats are, by nature, clean animals and don’t like being dirty. This is also true about kittens. Even the youngest kitty can be seen trying to wash itself. There are instances during your cat’s life however when it will be unable to groom itself, or it could be that the kind of cat you choose has high maintenance fur (such as a long hair Persian) and needs a little extra help to keep its fur in good condition.

Despite not wanting to be dirty, and despite the constant self-grooming, this does not automatically mean that your kitten is going to enjoy your interference in its personal grooming routine. The best way to avoid this is to introduce your kitten to being groomed by you from the very start. If you get into an immediate habit of combing and brushing kitty once or twice a week, then if the day comes when he’s just in too much mess, or too sick to manage himself, then he won’t mind your intervention.

Although you won’t be able to introduce him to a bath, you can introduce him to the idea of a bath using a dish (without water) and a damp face cloth, but this should be done every few weeks. Grooming in the form of brushing however should be done more frequently. One perfect time for this is at night when you’re watching TV and kitty crawls up onto your lap. Have a brush to hand (a baby brush is fine for a short haired kitten) and gently brush the kitten in the direction his fur grows. He’ll get used to how this feels, and often will start to purr his approval. If you have a longer-furred kitten, set aside half an hour at least twice a week to thoroughly comb through his coat. This will ensure that tangles don’t build up and his coat will remain healthy looking.

As he gets older, and is allowed outdoors, make sure that you spend 5-10 minutes with him every week to gently put the flea comb through his fur. This means that you are sure that he remains flea-free, and at the very least, can initiate a flea-removal treatment should your comb find something.

The time you invest grooming your kitten will pay dividends when he becomes a cat that needs help with cleaning his fur. A cat that is used to being groomed is far easier to maintain than one who turns every grooming session into a battle of wills!

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

If you’ve bought a pedigree kitten, it should already have had its shots.  If you’re thinking about buying a pedigree kitten, make sure you get paperwork proving that the vaccinations have been given and they’re all up-to-date.  If you’re buying a non-pedigree cat, a moggy, then you will need to consider the issues surrounding each vaccination yourself.

All kittens ought to be vaccinated before they are allowed outdoors.  This is to build their immune system up.  The vaccination program for kitties starts between 6-8 weeks, so it’s possible that if you take kitty home at 8 weeks, he’s already had his first shot.  The shots are given 2-3 weeks apart, and there are usually 3 shots in total.  As a rabies shot is not always included in the initial kitten shots, if your kitty is going to be going outside, then this is an additional vaccination that you should discuss with your veterinary once kitty is 4 months old.

The shots that young kittens get will cover them against such diseases as:

Rhinotracheitis which is characterized by symptoms such as sneezing, fever, ocular discharge, and coughing.

Calicivirus- which affects the respiratory system, and has symptoms such as pneumonia, diarrhea and even arthritis.

Feline Distemper which is associated with diarrhea and vomiting type symptoms.

Feline Leukemia Virus, otherwise known as FeLV – this destroys the cats immune system and is responsible for many feline deaths as it leads to fatal infections.

Feline AIDS – like FeLV this destroys the immune system of a cat leaving it open to fatal infections.
Feline Infectious Peritonitis, or FIP - this incurable disease attacks the cat’s abdominal area.
Chlamydia – affecting eyes and respiratory area, this disease is both common and contagious.
Some of these vaccines will need to be given annually to ensure that your cat remains immune so check with veterinary clinic to ensure that your cat’s vaccinations are always kept up-to-date.

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

There are ways of getting around this, but sooner or later you will probably find that you need to purchase a pet carrier so you may as well put it on your initial kitty expenditure list.  That way, when you go to pick up your kitten, you’ll know that you can transport it comfortably home without the kitten being hurt or causing an accident by jumping off your lap or out of your arms and distracting the person driving you home – you could even drive yourself if your kitty’s locked up safe and sound in a carrier!

There are many different pet carriers on the market.  Choose one that fits your preference but which has enough room for a fully grown cat to be able to stand up and turn around in.  Also choose a pet carrier that allows air to circulate on all four sides, and if possible has a place to add a water dish.  You may not immediately have a need for the water dish but if you purchase a pet carrier that has this feature, you’ll be ready should a need arise during your cat’s lifetime.

If you are buying two kittens, rather than just one, then one pet carrier between them is usually enough.  As kittens they’ll be happiest traveling together, and as adult cats you’ll rarely be taking them anywhere at the same time.  When taking your kitty(s) home for the first time, put a layer of newspaper on the bottom of the pet carrier to absorb any “accidents” and place a blanket or towel that they are familiar with on top of this so that they feel a little secure because they know the smell of the fabric.  You should also use this set-up any other time you use the carrier throughout your cat’s life.

There’s a knack to getting your adult cat into a pet carrier that comes with practice (and patience) but kittens will usually just allow themselves to be placed inside without too much resistance.

Cat Lover

Post a Comment

The smaller your child, the more interested he will be in the new kitty. It will be his baby, his companion, his toy ….only the kitten isn’t a toy and that’s something that you need to make very clear about right from the get-go. Even a toddler can understand that they are not to pick kitty up if they are told firmly enough.

Your child is fragile against the outside world, but the kitten is fragile even against a small child and can easily be hurt by simply being loved too much! Young kids have a habit of wanting to hug the kitten tightly, and this can be fatal as it’s easy to restrict cat’s air supply. Picking up the kitten in a rough way, or by its legs can create the need for a visit to the veterinary where you and your child (if there) will be admonished for ill treating the kitty. It can also create internal injuries on a young kitten that doesn’t have much body fat to protect its internal organs.
Read the rest of this entry »

Cat Lover

Post a Comment