Welcoming a new kitten into your home

What to get in advance…

1. In advance, purchase
2. a litter tray, litter, and a ‘poopa scoopa’! (I scoop litter morning and evening and keep a room spray to hand.)
3. a cat carrier.
4. Royal Canin Kitten Second Age Food (at least 2kg, plus some sachets/ pouches of Kitten wet food). Please remain with Royal Canin for the first two months at least. If you select a different brand, add the new brand very gradually to Royal Canin, increasing the percentage of the new brand very gradually to avoid upset stomachs. Breeders use Royal Canin or Hills.
5. Food and water bowls.
6. A comb and a brush for grooming your kitten.
7. Bottled, still water if you think there may be issues with your water.
8. A scratch post/cat pedestal.

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Preparing your home for your kitten …

• Plan which room you will first introduce your kitten to. (I recommend that at first you keep your kitten in your bedroom as our kittens have been sleeping on our bed. Having you in the room with them all night will help comfort your kitten during his/her initial period of separation anxiety. Our kittens love human company!) 

• Have a litter tray ready for him/her, along with food and water.

• Think about how you will keep your other animals separate from your new kitten for the first few days. For example, dogs should not be waiting to greet you, barking excitedly, when you get home with your new arrival. That would be terrifying for your new baby.

• Bring a cat-carrier to collect your kitten.

• Take the kitten to the prepared room. Take the gate off your pet carrier and sit back to allow your baby to come out when he or she is ready. Allow the kitten to explore but do not remove the pet carrier for the first few days as this has become the kitten’s safe place – his/her last link with his/her previous home.

• Build your relationship with your kitten with PLAY. Like a human baby, he/she is probably cautious with strangers. Attract him with a feather toy or a ball. Once he/she trusts you, he will soon come to you willingly for cuddles.

• If you have children, or if young children visit, don’t allow any excitable behaviour around the kitten until he/she has become confident and feels at home. Always supervise initial contact.

Introducing your kitten to other animals:

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• Do not introduce other animals to your kitten for the first night and a day. (Clearly, if you have a dog or a ‘loner’ cat that may attack a kitten, you should not adopt a kitten and should certainly not introduce the dog to the kitten.) There are ways to test whether your dog will accept a cat in his/her life.
• Once your new kitten feels at home (after at least a day or two), put him/her into the pet carrier with the gate closed. Allow your other animals (one at a time) into the room to sniff each other. No doubt there will be hissing and spitting. Repeat this over the next day or so. Once your animals have become accustomed to the newcomer, open the gate of the pet carrier, and allow your cat or dog into the room to meet the new baby. Be around to quietly observe what happens. Continue the integration programme as seems best to you.
• If you have any doubts at all, never leave your kitten alone with another animal.

Feeding:

1. Always have a bowl of dry food and a bowl of fresh water available for your kitten. (Change the water twice a day. Cats like fresh water. Discard stale food – don’t simply keep topping it up. It’s expensive, so try to work out how much food your kitten will eat every 12 hours so as not to waste much.)
2. Your kitten enjoys some baked chicken breast and a heaped teaspoon of wet food twice a day.  (If you don’t have baked chicken, a dessert spoon of wet food will do. Water it down with a teaspoon of water and sprinkle a few pellets into the wet food.
3. Please do NOT give your kitten any treats or other food for the first three weeks. He/she may develop a runny tummy as re-homing is stressful and the diet must remain exactly what he/she has been eating.
4. I am registered with Royal Canin. Your kitten has been fed Royal Canin products and a little baked chicken. A representative from Royal Canin may call you to encourage you to continue with Royal Canin. I believe that their food is amongst the best available and I highly recommend it, but after your kitten is established at home, the choice will obviously be yours.

Potty Training:

• Your kitten has been completely potty-trained since he/she was four weeks old.
• She/he is accustomed to Bentonite (clay) clumping litter, as well as wood chips. Bentonite litter lasts for months – scoop it morning and evening. Your baby is accustomed to a clean litter tray and may hesitate to use a dirty tray with accumulated waste in it.
• Please ensure she/he has bentonite litter available for the first months. If you wish to switch to another litter, put that litter out in another tray as well, and allow him to transition gradually
• Have a litter tray in her primary room and another one elsewhere in the home. Do not put her food next to his litter tray.

Playing:

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1. Please ensure your kitten has lots of company in your home – loneliness is a sickness for kittens. Don’t leave him/her alone for long periods If you are away a lot, get another kitten! They have been used to playing with their litter-mates and their mother.
2. A scratch post with a pedestal is essential – and will help keep your furniture from being scratched. Your kitten will be able to escape to the pedestal if he/she feels unsafe.
3. Our kittens love table tennis balls, small balls of any variety,  a feather wand, chasing bits of string and a laser-light, any old boxes upturned or with a ball in them … they also enjoy a crumpled up scrap of paper! Put one toy out each day, then remove it and replace it with another one. That way, toys retain fresh interest.

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Grooming:

1. Your baby will love being brushed and combed when he/she is feeling sleepy. (Don’t bother to try to groom when playful!) If you brush your kitten for a couple of minutes every day, knots will not form.
2. Knots can be gently teased apart before they become matted.
3. Matted fur can be carefully snipped into and teased.
4. Nails need to be clipped – be careful not to clip too close to the quick. Please watch your groomer or veterinary nurse do it – or Google it!
5. For grooming, I recommend Wampum products. See: http://www.wampum.co.za/ (Conditioning Shampoo Concentrate & Magic Rinse Concentrate. If you are in the Cape Town area, contact the Wampum Agent, Suzelle Kruger: 083 4060555 or suzelk@sun.ac.za.) Using these products, our cats go for weeks without getting knots.

Innoculations & Health Care Advice:

1. Your kitten has had his/her 9 week injections. A further vaccination will be required a week after you home your kitten (refer to the vet card.)
2. I recommend micro-chipplng your kitten when he/she is older.
3. Your kitten was dewormed at 9 and 11 weeks. Deworm regularly, following your vet’s instructions.
4. Gently wipe sticky eyes from the outside in: I use colloidal silver, but you can use either rooibos tea or a little salt in cool, boiled water. (Rooibos stains.)
5. Slightly runny tummy – include a probiotic in their wet food: Protexin Soluble. Diarrhoea with a young kitten is unusual. Take him/her to the vet.
6. Fleas: If you suspect there may be fleas in your environment, I highly recommend a Seresta Collar.
7. Sterilization: As you will see from your contract, sterilization is required between 4 – 6 months. Consult your vet for best timing for your kitten. Your pedigree papers will be issued once proof of sterilization is available. Please scan and email proof to vgjenkins7@gmail.com. A photo will also do.

Pedigree Registration and Papers:

When you have chosen a name for your kitten, I will complete your kitten’s registration with CASA in cooperation with the owner/breeder of your kitten’s father. You will receive your pedigree certificate once you have scanned and emailed me your vet’s certification of sterilization.

Thank you for choosing this precious new member for your family. My responsibility has been to love your baby with all my heart, to protect him from harm and provide him with the best start possible. I know he will bring you lots of delight and joy.  

God bless.

Vivian Jenkins

Vian-Zelle

CASA WCF 11717-2017

Our two queens – Princess Bella and Lady Arwen Evenstar.

We adore our gorgeous cats. Bella is black silver tipped, and Arwen is   black silver shaded.                                

Studs – thank you to their breeders!