How to CARE for a KITTEN - Food, Education and Health

Adopting a kitten is a wonderful experience, but we must remember that kittens are sensitive creatures which need special care for proper development. This is why Animal Wise explains what you need to know to look after a kitten. If this is the first time you've adopted a kitten, you will need to take care of some basics before they arrive. If you prepare, the kitten is likely to adapt more quickly and your relationship will be much more positive. Cats are scrupulous animals, so we recommend you leave their food dish, water bowl and litter box in separate areas. If you have other cats at home, or you plan to adopt more than one kitten at the same time, we recommend you have a box for each one. This way you can help avoid conflict. You will also need to clean all the utensils every so often and renew the water regularly. It's also important to get a scratcher. This way you can prevent your cat from scraping their claws in the furniture. Check the description for more info on scratchers for cats. Finally, you will need to leave them a bed somewhere quiet and away from disruption. We also recommend a quiet nest somewhere else for them to hide when they are afraid or if they simply want some peace. If we have adopted a one month old kitten or younger, it is imperative we go to a veterinarian to obtain artificial kitten formula which will be their entire diet. It is important to emphasize that you should never separate a mother from her kittens unless it is strictly necessary. From birth, the kittens need colostrum and then breast milk to receive various benefits, particularly for their immune system. After two months of life, we can start weaning them onto solid food progressively. We should offer them daily small portions of wet food or kitten specific pate. Later we can wet their dry food with a little water to help them ingest properly. After we can switch to dry food completely. The optimal age of adopting a kitten is at three months of life. This is when they are completely weaned, immunized and have learned necessary behaviors from their mother such as grooming, basic hygiene and feline body language. At this stage, the kitten should eat solids without a problem. There are several types of feed we can offer kittens, each with advantages and disadvantages. It will be the decision of each guardian what type to offer. While their feed provides all the necessary nutrients for the feline, it is not always easy to find quality commercial product. On the other hand, homemade diets can help guarantee we are using only quality natural products. They will need a veterinary follow-up to rule out the presence of parasites or nutritional deficiencies. If we have adopted a kitten older than three months which has stayed with their mother, we can virtually assure they will be properly socialized with other cats, preventing fear and aggressive behavior. Socialization is also fundamental for learning other habits typical of their species. We need to be aware that socializing an adult cat is complicated and sometimes practically impossible. This is why we need to continue socializing the kitten when they arrive, introduce them to all kinds of people, objects, sounds, environments and, where possible, other animals. Brushing both helps keep their fur clean and strengthens our bond with the kitten. It is also useful to monitor them for parasites or specific health problems. We can use a rubber brush for short-haired cats, a carding brush for medium-haired cats and a rake-type brush for long-haired cats. Offering our kitten environmental enrichment is important to prevent problem behavior. It also helps stimulate their intelligence and avoids stress, anxiety and depression. We can enrich their day-to-day with intelligence games, food vending toys or catnip. Even a cardboard box can provide plenty of stimulation. Apart from intelligence games, encouraging physical activity is important for developing muscle. It also helps to prevent obesity. We can buy our kitten tunnels or cat trees or even simply place treats up in high places so they have to work to get to them. A cat may not actually enjoy a toy you buy them because you don't engage with them in the right way. They need to play and have fun with you. Especially if they have no other feline friends, you will need to spend time with the kitten playing and bonding together. In addition to these activities, they will need one thing above all, love. Your kitten will never be happy if they do not have a loving and caring family by their side. They will want to sleep on top of you and lick you as a sign of affection. It is false to say that cats are not caring animals which, given the right opportunity, can become your best friend. Deworming our kitten will be a fundamental aspect of their health, especially if they have access to the outside or other animals. This will help to prevent infestations by internal or external parasites. Deworming should start at one and a half months of age and be supervised by the veterinarian. It is recommended we deworm the cat every 15 days until the kitten reaches 3 months of age. Then deworming should be done once a month until the cat reaches 6 months of age and once every 3 months thereafter. We need to bear in mind the advice of a professional veterinarian since both internal and external deworming should be done with specific products for kittens with the correct dosage. We will also initiate the vaccination schedule at about 2 months of age. The first vaccine for cats is often the feline trivalent, which is used to protect the cat from feline panleukopenia, feline rhinotrichitis and callosivirus. These vaccines will need a booster shot on an annual basis and we will need to strictly follow these schedules. If we want our cat to grow up healthy and happy, it is essential to take our cat to the vet every 6 to 12 months. Here is our video for today. Leave a comment below if you have your own helpful tips to share. Give a like if you found the video useful and subscribe for more to come. We'll see you next time.