Tips and rules for a new kitten adoption

The kitten will never be delivered before three months old. This time must be passed with its mother and brothers to learn about the habits, ends the breastfeeding age and socialize correctly with other animals and humans. It is a crucial age for its behaviourbeing a loving and friendly adult. It will also ends its vacccines and deworming treatments during this time before leaving.

There is a false belief about as younger as better to educate and let it think we will be their adoptive parents. Nothing further from the truth. Until three months old the kitten is still a baby and it depends totally of its mum to learn about hygiene habits and behaviours. If we get it away from its mother it may have behaviour issues when adult.

We will join a complete life together, let it pass its childhood with its mummy.

All of our kittens are always delivered with its pedigree, only valid certificate of race.

At the time of delivery the kitten will be already vaccinated with the double trivalent vaccine (Rhinotracheitis, Panleukopenia and Calicivirus), dewormed internal and externally and with its health book in order. All of our cats are tested by DNA as PKD negative (Polyquistic Kidney Disease), common in persians and only genetically transmissible.

If the cat will be living in an open space in contact with other stray cats (like a garden, field house, etc) you must warn us about it to vaccine of other diseases and give you some other tips.

If you are thinking on travelling with your new friend you must also warn us to vaccinate it from mandatory diseases and give you an international passport.

The animal should visit a vet at least once a year for a revision. It is very important to find a veterinaty of trust to go to in case of emergency.

If you live in València we reccomend you our owns vets Clínica Veterinaria Russafa (C/ Cadis, 56 València), they are authentic passionate cat health proffesional and lovers .

Pic Paul Downey (flickr cc)

All of our pets will be always be sterilized before delivery.

For all those pets not destined to breeding, sterilization will always give them positive things. In case of females will avoid their noisy heats and suffering on males researches, as well as avoid uterine diseases. In case of males will avoid its bad habit of marking with urine and its sweet songs looking for a Juliette in the middle of the night, they will live always happier and with less stress.

If this is your first cat at home, your new guest will need some things at home. This could be a basic welcome kit:

• Two bowls (one for food and other for water), the best are those classic ones made in stainless steel with rubber above.
• A litter tray and a scoop to pick up its wastes. Buy one big enough thinking on when he would be an adult. In our cattery we use covered litter trays to avoid bad smell.
• It is highly reccomended also a scratch post (look at Education section) and some toys to let it spend hours hunting balls.
• A carrier for its vet visits and trips. There are rigid ones, flexibles in fabric, cushion ones, etc. It is important to evaluate the size (in case of travel confirm the maximum sizes with the company) and its comfort. Bring it with you the day of the delivery.

The cat should have at least one litter box for its bowel movements and should be placed in any room out of its food. The kittens have already learnt to go there by themselves so you should only be worried about to let him a good litte rbox around. In the cattery we use and reccomend agglomerate sand (bentonyte). The bowels should be cleaned daily.

Overall long hair cats, should be brushed if possible daily to take its death hair away and avoid knots or ball hairs into its stomach. There are too many different brushes, each one has its function, with the experience you and your cat will find your favourite. Your kitten will appreciate it purring you, and even more if you reward him with a malt snack after!. With the early summer the hair starts to shed, so it’s normal if your cat loose its hair just stroking. Brush him more on those days and give him some malt to avoid hair balls, he will love it!.

Our cats are used to bath from kittens. They should be bathed at least once every 3 months (or when he gets dirty!). He should be previously brushed to untangle his hair and after, carefully dried with a towel and hair dryer to assure he’s not wet to get cold. Bathing him we won’t only help him on his hygiene but taking away a lot of death hair, overall on shed days.

Ximo bathing. Pic P. Arce

Nails should be cut regularly if we don’t want our arms and furnitures scratched by accident. There are special nail scissors for pets easy to use. Pushing on his pads we will see his nails. Take care to cut them always over its pink line where they have veins. Never remove his nails by surgery, that’s an abomination!.

Ears should be regularly cleaned to avoid mites. It is enough by passing a tissue with our finger inside and rub it softly.

It is normal if we see him tearful some times. We can clean them with a gauze. If he has dry rheums, you can remove them easily with a little bit of serum or ophtalmologic tears. If our cat tears too much or we see him always with huge rheums you should check with your vet any possible ocular infection.

In Narf Cattery we use Farmina dry food, with a cared composition with high protein proportion. If you are thinking on change to other feed brand check it would be a good quality one with a high content on proteins, overall till one year old. A feed change should be done gradually by mixing proportionally from one to other. It is good if he can regularly eat cans, humid feed or meat (minced meat, leaver …) so they would have a better diet and it would be easier when your vet would prescribe some medical food for any reason.

The kitten must have always fresh water, in our cattery we use motorized fountains, but a bowl with daily clean fresh water would be enough.

Pic Ben124. (flickr cc)

The kitten should learn there are rules at home (and he is not the ruler!) so he should be rewarded or punished in case of. If we don’t want him to climb to the table, ask us for food when dining or lye in our bed we should avoid reward him that actitudes stroking him immediately after. Clap the  hands, do some noise at that moment or he wouldn’t understand what was wrong.

If we don’t want him to sharp his nails in our pretty sofa we should place a scratcher in his living area. Some kittens love rope scratchers, other raffia, other cardboards… you should discuss about it with him!. If he has already started to scratch our sofa a good tip is to cover that corner with cellophane for some days, he would hate it and he will look for another place to scratch… his scratcher for an instance.

If you detect he is not using his litter box there is maybe something wrong there. Bring him to the vet as he may have any digestive or renal issue. It may be also a conductual issue, maybe it’s the kind of sand, the placement of the litter box or any other change at home he’s not liking. Always remember he’s an animal so be patient and try to help him no to doing any more. Contact us if you have any question or issue and we will try to help with pleasure.

Pic summer park (flickr cc)

If you already have more cats or animals at home you must be careful when introducing him to the others. Try to keep him for the very first days in an isolated room with no contact to the others. They will small each other throw the door without visual contact and they will be more calm after to that smell. After some days exchange the positions at least for a day. After that let them take their time and you will see how in some days they will be loyal friends for ever.

As in human beings, our cat will show different behaviours during his ages. Till one year old he will climb, play, run, jump, (crash some things) and also sleep so many hours. When adult he will show us his personality, he may love loneliness or at the contrary he will love be always close to our feet, he wil lsleep less hours and he will pass more hours just watching the life goes by. In any moment it would be good if we play daily with them, with a ball, a feather, toys, it will generate a mutual affective link and it will keep him physically active. At elder ages he will loose the interest on playing with that toys but his hunting instinct will be always active and ready.

Cuco and Niloh sleeping. Pic P. Arce