Archive for the ‘Kitten Care’ Category

Socializing kittens is probably one of the most enjoyable parts of raising cats. Introducing them to people will make a huge impact on their lives. Even if they are barn cats and never leave the farm they were born on. Being friendly and relaxed with people will improve the quality of their lives. It will make it easier to find new homes for them when it is time for them to move on. It will also make having them more pleasurable for their owners.

Socializing is not only enjoyable, it is very important. Before a kitten is ready to leave home she should have learned that people are good to have around. Petting, playing and good food all happen with people. Purring, not hissing brings these good things her way. Fortunately, cats are smart and observant creatures. It is really very easy to instill this attitude in a kitten. It just takes a little bit of patience and perseverance on your part.

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Your cat is expecting kittens. How exciting! Raising kittens can be a highly rewarding and enjoyable experience. What should you expect? What will you need to make sure the little tikes grow up happy, healthy and strong?

Let’s start from day one. Most likely, you walk in and find your cat already nursing her new litter. As there will be a bit of a mess where she is, you will want to move her and her kittens somewhere clean and safe. Mother cats prefer a darkened den, so putting a blanket over her box and lining it with nice clean bedding will do nicely for a nursery. The nursery should be set up in a quiet area, away from traffic.

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You don’t often hear about or see information for special needs kitties. These may be blind, very old (with limited mobility), or disabled in some way. Disabled cats may be amputees, or even paralyzed. There are special mobile devices you can purchase for your paralyzed cat.

But this article will talk a little bit about the cat litter box concerns for special needs kitties. Due to their limited mobility or lack of site, litter box type and location are absolutely critical.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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