I'm getting a kitten, what do i need to know?

[Fenntastic]

when choosing a kitten

- make sure you can see the mother and litter mates
- check that none have runny eyes/nose or dirty/smelly ears
- ask if the kitten has had its first vaccinations*
- ask if the kitten is litter trained (many are, as by the time they are ready for new homes they have been copying their mother and most kittens take to a litter tray quite well)
- make sure the kitten is lively and not lethargic

taking your kitten home

- make sure you have a litter tray and cat litter ready, as well as a food bowl and a bed
- check with the breeder as to what type of food the kitten is on. its a good idea to use the same type of food as changing it might upset the kittens tummy. a kitten should be on kitten food until it is 1 year old
- make sure the kitten knows where the litter tray is, and keep it in the smae room as they are sleeping in.

vaccinations*

- if your kitten hasnt had its first vaccinations, get them done as soon as possible (between 8 and 12 weeks old). the vaccinations will protect the kitten against:
feline enteritis
cat flu
feline leukaemia
- if your cat is going to be an indoor cat, it doesnt need vaccinated against feline leukaemia, but must be vaccinated againt the other 2. however if its going to be an outdoor cat it will need protection against all 3 diseases.
- if you are not willing to get your kitten vaccinated, dont get a kitten. feline leukaemia and feline enteritis can be fatal and cat flu can permenantly damage your cats sinuses.
- the kitten cannot go outside until it has been fully vaccinated. feline leukaemia can be picked from from mutual grooming and fighting with and infected cat

[Charlicat]

Kittens are absolutely lovely.

[Jaemi]

Good input.

[Warped]

Mon the hoops!

[Charlicat]

They like it when you put a small red towel around their neck and call them Supercat. This combats low self esteem issues they may have after being kicked out by their birth mother.

[LesMTS]

"Like having boxes of shit lying around your house? Get a cat!"

[Charlicat]

"Or just print out your collection of posts made on the forum and like, put them in a box!"

[Warped]

mon the hoops

[Charlicat]

Robb Idle impression extraordinairre.

[Warped]

I was gonna say something, but im a nice guy now.

[LesMTS]

If it's female remember to have its ovaries removed or otherwise ablated if you don't want to have to endure a nerve-shredding wail several times a month.

[Charlicat]

Nice guys aren't necessarily mutes, but it helps.

Originally Posted by LesMTS

If it's female remember to have its ovaries removed or otherwise ablated if you don't want to have to endure a nerve-shredding wail several times a month.

X-posted to wellbeing & parenting forum.

[ozer]

As a teenager living in Cyprus, we had 8 cats in our house - but their living accomodation was in the garden. When we first moved in, we found out a one eyed green/grey female cat came with the property. For those who do not already know about it, cats by nature are attached to the property/geographical location rather than the owners.
She would have 5 kittens every 5-6 months, and once they grew up to be 2-3 months old they would all leave, except one of the young males would stay behind and become part of the family (except on one occasion we had two stay behind). Each kitten was of different colour and/or pattern, which did not speak much for the morals of the nyphomaniac of the mother they had!


Over the next three years or so, I watched every move, behaviour of the mother and offspring with great interest. It included watching her hunt, mate, fight off dogs, give birth, clean herself, sleep, and even learning what the sounds she made at specific times actually meant.

I could write a whole book about the cats' behaviour and their lifestyle so I shall stop here before I bore you to tears.

The point I really want to make is, We never have vaccinations or medicare for cats in Cyprus, they all live a very healthy and happy life, spending time more outdoors than indoors. No one buys cat food, they eat the leftovers from lunch and dinner (and still hunt the lizards, snakes, grasshoppers whatever they see in the garden or fields around us.) They love liver, meat and chicken bones,and also eat left over bread mixed in stew etc. I actually witnessed the mother eat grass in the garden, duringthe later stages of her pregnancy!

Again, someone is making a lot of money out of cat food and cat health care, at the expense of poor cats (no one asks them how they feel).

Cats are not really meant to live indoors - so my suggestion is do not have one unless you have a garden. It is very selfish to imprison a cat inside a house, and in my books a life as such would be analogous to torture.

[crusher]

I'm getting a kitten, what do i need to know?

If they get wet, never dry them off in the microwave oven