Kitten Care

Your family has decided that you all want a pet cat and are prepared to care for it for perhaps the next 20 years. You carefully arrived at a particular breed, colour, lifestyle, sex and future for your pet. You have actually chosen a particular kitten from among its litter mates for its glowing health, good looks and sweet temperament. Now it is time to think of what you will need in the way of equipment before your kitten arrives.

First Day Home
Now comes the big day when you bring it home and introduce it to the household. It is best to introduce it to one room at a time, starting with the room that contains it's litter tray, food dishes and other items. If it has just had a long journey, the kitten will probably be wanting to use the litter tray. When it discovers the litter tray it may perform at once. All doors and windows should be shut and any chimney blocked up before the carrier is opened. It is wisest to let the kitten come out in it's own time. Just open the lid and wait, perhaps making encouraging noises.

At last it will jump out and begin to investigate, discovering all the places where it can retreat in an emergency, for example behind a boiler or refrigerator, under chairs or in cupboards. Resist the temptation to pick it up before it has finished smelling everything and getting it's bearings. It is unlikely it will be hungry, but once it sits down to wash you can be sure that it has made itself at home and you can then try offering food. Water should always be available and changed frequently: Regular feeding times should be established from the start and stuck to religiously.

Offer no titbits between meals and serve all meals in the same place. This will encourage the kitten to learn that food served in the dining room is nothing to do with it. Feeding it before you yourselves eat will help to stop it begging food meant for others. Food not eaten in 20 minutes should be taken up and not offered again until the next mealtime. Once the kitten has grown used to one room, you can gradually introduce it to others, but always allow access to it's room to avoid accidents. You can assure this by inserting a cat door in the door between the two rooms. Using it's 'mini' door the cat can go from room to room without obliging you to keep getting up to let it in and out. However, do not allow your new kitten out of the house for several days and even then make sure she knows where she lives in relation to the immediate surroundings. If these are safe and quiet you may decide to let your pet have full freedom and insert a cat door into an outer door of the house, so that it can come and go as it pleases.

The first night in a new home will be the most traumatic for your kitten. It will be missing it's mother and litter mates and be surrounded by strange smells, sights and noises. Comfort your kitten by holding it, stroking it gently and talking to it softly. This is the time to build up it's confidence and begin to develop the loving relationship, which you both hope for with your family from now on. The first night is the time to decide whether your pet will sleep for the rest of her life in it's own bed in the kitchen or in your bed or one of the children's beds. Left to the kitten, the choice would be to sleep with one of the family. In fact, it's ideal would be all the family in a heap in one bed, cat style. It does not understand this strange human habit of each person going to a separate, cold, lonely bed. for it was brought up to lie in a heap, and knows that the centre of the heap is the warmest place. So if you allow it into your room, a smart cat will soon be in bed, not just on it.

Be not deceived once you allow it in for just one night, it will be a difficult task, indeed, to persuade it to sleep alone there after. Much better to harden your heart from the outset and put her firmly down in it's own bed (with lots of fussing and stroking, of course), then turn out the light and shut the door. For a time it may wail for company, especially if it is a Siamese or Burmese but the second night it will have received the message. On the other hand, if it has spent the first night with you, it will take up to a fortnight to learn that you don't really want the kitten and during that time it will spend the nights telling you where it is so that you can come and get it.

Handling
Normally it is wise to use both hands to pick up a kitten. Place one hand under the body behind the front paws to lift her and use the other hand to support the hindquarters. In this way the kitten will feel secure and not struggle. If children are shown from the beginning the correct way to handle a kitten, they will not get scratched. It is when a kitten feels it's is about to fall or lose it's footing that it struggles to get a foothold and is liable to scratch someone in the process. Always support a kitten's hind feet so that it feels secure.

Grooming
For a very young kitten brushing and combing generally turn into a game, with the kitten biting the brush and comb. Later she learns to appreciate that she feels better for grooming, and really enjoys it. Cats love routine, and regular grooming like mealtimes and playtimes helps to enliven the day.

Naming your Cat
Your cat will learn it's name as you repeat it each time you call it for food, grooming, playtime and so on. It is important for it to have a name that it responds to. In naming a cat, therefore, make sure you choose a name you can shout over the housetops without embarrassment when it has strayed and you want to recall it. For this reason it is easier to shout vowels rather than consonants, and two syllables rather than one. Yours is the pet name by which she will be known to all the family. Teaching her to respond to this name could save her life in an emergency.

However, if you allow her out and she wears a collar and identity disc, this should not include her pet name the thief could entice her away with that. The disc should carry only the owner's name, address and telephone number.

Inoculations
Once your kitten has settled down in her new home, have her checked by a veterinarian and given any inoculations that may be needed. The breeder should have supplied a certificate showing what injections, if any, the kitten has had before leaving home and there should be a note saying what other action should be taken and when. The veterinarian will want to see these certificates before he decides what else needs to be given. He will also say when you should bring your pet again, as an adult, for a booster injection.

Spaying
If you have not obtained your kitten for future breeding or showing you should have her spayed (or him neutered) when about six to eight months old, or earlier if the cat is one of the precocious Foreign Shorthairs: their females sometimes 'call' and males may spray as early as four months. These are perfectly normal functions for entire adults, but it is advisable to spay or neuter before these habits are established in a kitten kept just as a pet.

Relationships
As one of the family, the kitten will probably develop different relationships some closer than others with human members of the group. If grandma is the only human at home while the others are at school or work, the kitten will talk to her and may curl up on her lap after lunch at the same time every day. The two will have that kind of understanding. When the children return from school, it may be playtime for the kitten, and time for teaching tricks with rewards. As she hears the children come in, the kitten will bound towards them, ready for this next part of her daily routine. Later on, or perhaps first thing in the morning, the grooming session takes place with maybe yet another member of the family who has a different but equally meaningful relationship with the little feline member. Lastly, at night comes the final cuddle of the day, eagerly looked forward to by kitten and owner.

Discipline
Physically punishing a cat for some misdemeanor is pointless, the creature simply does not associate the punishment with the crime and just thinks you are being unpleasant. The best way to show your displeasure is a loud 'No' If your usual voice is soft and cooing, a harsh command should be enough to make the animal stop doing whatever it is that displeases you at least while you are there! Many Americans swear by a water pistol if all else fails and I am assured that it is very effective, although British cat lovers may think it unsporting. It should be aimed at the body, never at the eyes, where it might cause serious injury. As with children, keep the list of forbidden activities short, but enforce discipline firmly. Remember, though, that a cat is a cat and no amount of trying to make it behave like a child will succeed. It can act only within its animal framework of instinct and intelligence and should not be punished purely for being a cat. Thoughtful owners will study cat nature and reach an understanding of what can and cannot be expected from cat behaviour. If you or your family cannot tolerate normal cat behaviour, you probably should not have a cat.