Month: August 2021

Why a Kitten Rather Than A Cat?

Kittens are adorable, hard work, entertaining, often destructive, and usually delightful. It is a joy to own one at least once in your life. Many people take on older cats, often because there are many more of them needing a good home than kittens, find homes more easily because of their appeal. It is hard work – they keep you on your toes like any baby or toddler. Indeed, many people taking on a kitten for the first time after many years of owning adult cats comment that they had forgotten what hard work it is!

Some aspects of your personality may also affect the type of kitten you choose, or should choose, and the lifestyle you will have with it, such as whether it goes outside or stays indoors.

Are you patient?

Kittens do require patience, and if you are taking on a long-haired cat you may have to spend a great deal of time grooming – Persians especially will not be able to look after their coats on their own.

Are you house-proud – do you mind accidents, scratched furniture or wallpaper, hair on the furniture, litter boxes, etc.?

Tales of kittens climbing up curtains are based on truth -they may well shin up anything they can and in the process knock off ornaments or pull down curtains that are not securely fixed! Remember when you had children or friends visiting with children and put all the valuables away? Time to do it again. Cats do shed hair, and longA�haired cats shed a lot of it.

Are you overprotective?

Some people could not bear to take on a cat and then let it face the risks of going outside. They may want to keep it indoors – but there are things to consider if taking this option, both at the outset and as it grows.

What sort of owner will you be? What do you want from your cat? Do you want a close relationship, or are you happy to live with it and respect it for its independence? Owners can be dissatisfied with their cat because they have unrealistic expectations of how it might live with them or because the cat does not fit what they want. One such story was told to me recently by a member of a rescue organization. A very nice lady came in and adopted a beautiful tortoiseshell-and-white cat. She brought it back the next day because, as an artist, she could not cope with the fact that the markings on its legs were not symmetrical – she had even considered coloring it in! Suggestions by staff that she could use artistic license when she was painting it fell on deaf ears!

OK, self-analysis finished – you have thought it through and are ready to choose your kitten. It may have seemed a little labored but, if a dog is for life, then a cat is for even longer! Many cats live for fourteen years and upward, so they are potentially with you for a long time, sometimes longer than children. What are the choices available to you?…

The Mystery of Kitten Behavior

When I watch my little kitten sometimes I think that he has unlimited energy. He loves to play, is very curious, and exploring is his favorite thing to do. Sometimes it gets him in to trouble so I gave him things to play with to prevent it. Kitten behavior can be a mystery to us humans.

Although toys are good there is something better you can give to you kitten. Your time and friendship is something that is most precious to your cat. Through playing with him you will develop a relationship that is necessary for you to live together happily. Of course, that is not saying that your cat needs more than your play ideas.

Your kitten needs you to develop instincts that are natural for him and to learn how to play safely and act on his instincts in a way that is acceptable to you. You will probably find your cat off hunting or jumping on things; this is an instinct that he needs to act upon. You should not get mad at your cat when he does it. Your cat will attack your legs to play with you. Learn to like it. Your cat does this to develop his instinct to hunt.

Little kittens are like children: they will test you to know what is allowed. If you do not teach him properly when he is young, you will have a problem when he is older. And just like the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, it is very hard to change a cat’s behavior when he is an adult. Use common sense to determine what kitten behavior is acceptable for you while keeping in mind the welfare of your cat.…

How To Introduce An Orphaned Kitten To A Foster Mother

Have you ever faced the daunting task of introducing an orphaned kitten to a foster-mother? It is not the easiest task in the world, but it is still doable with lots of time and commitment from you. In this article you will find a proven way to do this, as I had success with this method three times with three different mother cats and kittens.

It is only required to have a foster-mother feed the kitten if it still has not been weaned or it is too small or weak to eat on its own. You need to ensure that the mother cat has kittens of its own who still feed on her milk. You also need to ensure that she is healthy enough to feed another kitten before trying to get her to adopt the orphan. It is also best if she has more than one kitten as she will tend to notice the new addition much less if her brood is greater than one. However this method has worked well for me even with cats who have just one kitten with them.

First you need to ensure that the mother cat has a safe and comfortable place to feed her kittens. While she feeds her kittens. It is also good to introduce an object, which has the smell of the new orphan and let her sniff at it. When she has settled down to feed her kittens it is good to introduce the orphan to suckle from her. You may need someone to guide the orphan to suckle, while soothing the cat if she starts to get agitated. Do not use force on her, but you should proceed to soothe her by rubbing her head or the underside of the chin. This will calm her down.

However if she moves away do not worry, she will be back to feed her kittens again need to repeat the process again and again until she stops becoming agitated and settles down to feeding this kitten. You will need to be here each time it happens. If the kitten does not get much milk, you need to feed it with some formula for kittens or even babies if it is all you can get. I have used a pipette to do this for one of my kittens.

You will gradually find that the mother cat will take to licking the kitten. Sometimes she may hiss and take a spat at it. When this happens remove the kitten to stop it from getting hurt. Reintroduce it later so that it gets another chance. Eventually the mother cat will come around to licking it and before long she will not be able to make it out from her own litter.

This may take two or three days at the most even with the fiercest mother cats and the most wayward kittens. All you need is some patience and time to achieve success. So, next time you find an orphaned cat do not shy away from it you could follow the above steps and get a foster-mother to adopt it as her own.…