Cats & Kittens
It is important to give your cat and kitten time to settle
into its new home, don’t crowd it to much and try not
too make loud noises as it will be easily frightened. If you
have children or other animals introduce them slowly and watch
them all the time. Keep your new cat in doors for at least
10 days, give the cat or kitten a place of its own inside
the house to escape to, for peace and security. Place a litter
tray near the outside exit it will eventually use, don’t
move the litter tray around try and be consistent. If you
have a young kitten use a shallow litter tray, you can line
this with newspaper and a small amount of kitty litter, you
will need to change the litter at least twice a day. Show
the kitten the litter tray several times a day, especially
after meal times and naps. You can encourage the kitten to
use the litter tray by gently taking its paw and scratching
the litter. Give the kitten lots of praise for using the tray.
Never punish a cat or kitten for toileting in the wrong place,
this does not work and can make the situation worse.
Kittens should be kept indoors as they have no sense of direction
when young and can easily get lost. Watch your kitten closely
when you let it out for the first time.
Housing
Cats are best kept indoors after dark, so they don’t
get hurt by vehicles, other neighborhood cats or dogs. Keep
your cat or kittens bed in one place away from children, draughts
and noise.
Diet
Up to the age of six months, kittens need three small meals
a day, a good quality tinned kitten food is suitable. The
Wellington SPCA recommends Hills Science Feline Growth, but
other premium diets are also available. Cats can be fed some
fish or offal only once a week. Don’t mix raw and cooked
food together and never feed cooked bones.
Avoid giving cows milk or changing the diet suddenly this
may cause diarrhoea.. Adult cats can be fed twice a day after
the age of six months. Make sure your cat or kitten always
has access to fresh water.
Handling and Grooming
Pick up very young kittens with one hand around its chest
and the other hand supporting its hindquarters. Never pick
up a cat or kitten by its scruff, this places great strain
on kittens in particular.
Regular grooming helps to prevent furballs, get your kitten
used to being brushed while it is young, especially if it
long haired. In warmer weather a cat may shed more of its
coat, so brush it more frequently.
Health
You should check your cats teeth frequently, a sign of dental
problems includes dribbling and bad breath.
Worming
An adult cat should be wormed every three months with Drontal
All-Wormer for cats this will control roundworms and tapeworms.
Kittens should be wormed every two weeks from two weeks of
age until they are twelve weeks old, Cancare tablets can be
used in kittens to control roundworms. Pregnant female cats
(queens) should be wormed ten days before birth and again
2-4 weeks after giving birth – use Drontal All-Wormer
for cats.
Vaccinations
It is important for cats and kittens to be vaccinated to prevent
the spread of disease. Kittens should be vaccinated at 8 and
12 weeks of age, then boostered yearly. They should be kept
indoors and away from unvaccinated cats until their vaccination
program is complete. Cats and Kittens are vaccinated against
Feline Calicivirus, Feline Herpes virus and Feline Enteritis.
Flea-control
Cats and kittens should be protected against fleas, a good
product to use is Frontline. Frontline spray is licensed to
use on two day old kittens and Frontline topspot can be used
on cats and kittens over 12 weeks of age. One application will last two months. A flea comb is useful
to brush out fleas and eggs. Treat your pets bedding as well.
Desexing
It is strongly advised that you have your cat desexed if this
has not been done already. Cats and kittens rehomed from Wellington
SPCA will already be desexed. The Wellington SPCA desexes
kittens at a early age if they are in good health, desexing
prevents unwanted litters, decreases the risks of females
getting mammary tumors, infections of the uterus and prevents
males from fighting and spraying.
Other important points:
• Don’t accept a cat or kitten as a gift unless
you are sure you want it and intend to care for it for the
rest of its life
• When you go on holiday, make proper provisions
for your cat. Either board it in reputable cattery, or arrange
for a reliable friend or neighbour to feed it
• Cats cannot survive on birds and mice. They may
hunt and kill them but will only eat them if they are starving
• Never abandon your cat. This can lead to the destruction
of bird life and contrary to popular belief domestic cats
do not have a good survival rate in the wild.
|
