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INTRODUCING THE KITTEN TO ITS NEW HOME

By selecting a kitten as your pet, you have chosen an extremely clean pet with legendary skills for hunting-and one that usually needs little housetraining because its mother usually has already taught it to use the litter box. All these advantages come in one furry package that requires little care but provides excellent companionship. Cats, however, demand that their love and loyalty be earned.

Cats must have regular meals, clean litter, grooming, and attention in the form of play. A cat will be quite content to live its entire life indoors provided that its owner offers companionship.

Male or female, kittens and cats are affectionate, intelligent, and playful. However, unless you plan to breed the cat, Neutering is recommended to keep males from spraying, and females from producing unwanted litters. Neutering should be performed at 5-6 months of age.

Needed supplies for a new kitten include a proper health record with dates of vaccinations and dewormings, high quality food, bowl for water and food, a litter pan with litter and scoop, kitten shampoo, grooming tools, a pet carrier, and of course, toys.

Prepare your home for the new kitten before letting it loose. Be sure all doors and windows are closed to prevent escape. Place the kitten's bed (crate) in a secluded area and the litter box in another secluded area. Take the kitten out and let it explore the room where it is to stay. Kittens and cats will explore endlessly until it feels totally comfortable in the surroundings.

When the kitten becomes comfortable, its tail will go straight up. Once it feels comfortable, it will start to groom itself.

Show the kitten the litter box, and place the kitten in it several times. It's rare for a kitten to reject the box. If this does happen, the litter box should be moved to another more secluded area. If the problem continues, it may be necessary to place several boxes around the home. The kitten will find one that suits its need for privacy within 24 hours. Remember, cats are extremely clean pets.

It is surprisingly easy for kittens and even dogs to adapt to each other - if they are introduced gradually and gently.

Unlike most pets, cats remain true to their "meat-eater" heritage, and have special food requirements.

Cats cannot process vitamins directly from vegetables, so a cat must eat the meat of animals that can convert vegetable vitamins to a digestible form. That's why, in the wild, a cat will eat ALL of its prey's carcass to derive essential proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Taurine, for example, is an amino acid that is vital to eyesight. Non-meat eaters can make taurine in their body, but cats cannot. Therefore, they must eat foods that contain taurine.

Commercial diets for cats must be balanced and nutritional, specialized, and concentrated in small portions. Therefore feline foods are slightly more expensive than dog foods. Wet or dry food for a cat should contain 30-40 % protein.

We highly recommend High Quality Kitten Food for all kittens. It can be fed free-choice. Only put out what the kitten will probably eat in the one-day period. We prefer to put fresh food out every day. Some canned food should be fed for the first couple of weeks if the kitten is small or does not eat well.

Water is extremely important to the cat. Insufficient fluid intake can cause the urine to become too concentrated leading to urinary stone problems. It is interesting to note that cats do not have a "thirst" reflex. This makes it easy for the cat not to drink sufficient water each day, since they do not sense the need to drink since they are not thirsty. Grown cats should drink a cup of water daily.

If the kitten does not eat well within the first 36 hours in the new home, it may be that it misses familiar surroundings. It may be necessary to force feed the kitten to stimulate appetite. We also recommend feeding some strong smelling canned foods during the early growing months.

The major appetite stimulant for the cat is SMELL!! Since dry foods do not have as strong a smell as canned foods, some cats are more reluctant to eat dry food.

Make diet changes slowly. Any abrupt change can cause digestive upsets resulting in vomiting
and/or diarrhea.

Milk is NOT necessary in the diet. Never feed milk without first diluting it at least half with water.

Allow the kitten plenty of REST TIME. Cats sleep about 20 hours each day. Adequate rest is necessary for optimum growth and development. Shaking when sleeping is "Mother Nature's way" of exercising the muscles.

Guard against the kitten swallowing foreign objects. Quite often, we must perform surgery to remove foreign objects from the stomach and intestinal tract. These objects include string, fishing line, marbles, needles, or just about any other small object you can think of.

By reducing stress and allowing the kitten to feel comfortable on its own terms, you will enjoy many years of affection, love, and loyal companionship.