New Kitten Care -Ten Tips For Raising Your Kitten

You've picked your brand new kitten from a litter, and you're now ready to bring him home. You naturally want to give him the best possible start in life. Here are 10 tips to help him develop into a confident, affectionate adult cat who'll give you years of stress-free pleasure.

1. Make sure you're fully prepared for his arrival. Have his toys, food, litter box, scratching post and bed all ready for him. This will help him to settle in more quickly.

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2. Handle him - a lot. If kittens are handled a lot when they're young, they get used to it and learn to enjoy it. As a result, they're much more likely to turn into affectionate adults that love to be cuddled and stroked. Your new kitten should always be handled gently. If you have young kids, you'll need to supervise them with Kitty at first, to make sure they don't accidentally hurt him.

3. Get him used to receiving everyday care from you. This includes grooming him, washing his face, bathing him and cleaning his ears and eyes. If he gets comfortable with all this when he's a kitten, you'll have few problems with it when he's an adult.

4. Safely introduce him to the everyday things that will form part of his world as soon as possible. This may include other people, kids, other pets, travelling in your car, boarding at your sister's house when you go on holiday etc. etc. Doing this will turn him into a confident, happy, adaptable adult.

5. Play with him and talk to him every day. Bored kittens and cats often seek amusement in activities that you won't be too keen on, such as destroying the furniture. Playing with your kitten will build your relationship with him and help to prevent boredom.

6. Feed him a wide selection of foods that are suitable for kittens. This gets him used to a varied diet, and reduces the risk of him becoming a gourmet cuisine snob who'll only eat fresh wild salmon caught in the Scottish Highlands...

7. Gently and calmly set boundaries. Kittens are like kids - they'll push their luck to see how much they can get away with. Common naughty kitten behavior includes scratching, biting, jumping on the kitchen worktops, scratching the furniture and abseiling the curtains. If your kitten is being naughty, stop him, say "no" (don't shout) and move him away from the scene of his crime. It's much easier to train a new kitten to be good than an adult cat, so setting the boundaries whilst he's young can save you years of frustration in the future.

8. Don't give in to vocal blackmail. Some kittens try to get what they want by meowing non-stop. If you keep giving in to this, your kitten will turn into a very vocal adult cat who'll drive you nuts with his constant noisy demands.

9. Keep him safe. Nasty frights - for example falling down the toilet, being tormented by a kid or having a dog bark in his face - will have a negative impact on him. The more unpleasant experiences he has as a kitten, the more likely he is to become a nervous, mistrusting adult.

10. Accept that your new kitten is a baby with loads of energy. Whilst you can discourage him from acts of willful destruction, you'll need to accept that your house is unlikely to survive completely unscathed. But hey, he's worth it!

New Kitten Care -Ten Tips For Raising Your Kitten

Liz Allan is a cat behavior expert with 25 years experience of caring for cats. She lived and worked in a cat rescue centre for 3 years, and has fostered hundreds of cats at home. Click on this link for lots more useful tips on kitten care.

For advice on cat care, breeds, illnesses and behavior problems, visit her website: http://www.cat-behavior-explained.com/index.html

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Kitten Bad Breath

Kitten bad breath is not a common problem for new kitten owners, but some people do find that their kittens breath smells bad. Not surprisingly, bad breath in cats and kittens can be caused by the same things that cause halitosis in humans - gum or dental problems, respiratory problems, or underlying disease. There are also a few things particular to cats that can cause an unpleasant odor on the breath.

Feline bad breath is often caused by tartar build up on the teeth. Just like in dogs and humans, tartar on the teeth fosters the growth of oral bacteria that produce volatile sulfur compounds, airborne molecules that smell very unpleasant. Although tartar has not generally had time to accumulate enough to cause kitten bad breath, you should check the condition of your kitten's teeth and gums to be sure there is no tartar or inflammation there. If you see signs of trouble, a trip to the vet is probably in order.

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Respiratory problems can also be a cause of kitten bad breath. This is usually easy to pinpoint because it will be accompanied by signs of respiratory illness. Again, like humans and dogs, cats can get viral or bacterial infections of the nasal passages, throat and lungs. In turn these infections can encourage the growth of bacteria and may cause feline bad breath. If your cat has a respiratory infection accompanied by bad breath, the breath problem should resolve as soon as the cat recovers.

Another unusual cause of feline bad breath can be underlying illness - some metabolic disorders and organ problems such as kidney disease can cause an unusual odor on the breath. In most cases, the odor will not the typical sulfur smell of classic halitosis, but may still be quite unpleasant. A kitten bad breath problem that can't be attributed to any other common cause may be a sign that your kitten has a more serious problem that should immediately be assessed by a vet.

One cause of feline bad breath that is particular to cats is feline acne. If your cat has feline acne, you will see black specks or bumps on the cat's chin. These black spots are a buildup of secretions from the animal's glands, and the affected area can also be a site for the proliferation of colonizing bacteria. This unhealthy area can be the source of an unpleasant odor around the mouth, so part of your search for the cause of kitten bad breath should be an examination of your cat's chin. Feline acne can be treated with disinfectants: consult your vet for professional advice.

Kitten Bad Breath

R. Drysdale is a freelance writer with more than 25 years experience as a health care professional. She is a contributing editor to Bad Breath, a blog dedicated to the treatment of bad breath.

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When Can a Kitten Be Spayed?

The number of people getting their feline spayed is increasing everyday. It prevents pet overpopulation and also prevents unwanted animals from getting killed by euthanasia. Every year thousands of animals get killed because of the insufficient amount of homes. Responsible and caring owners of pets must spay their female pets.

The benefits of getting a kitten spayed are many; the kitten can lead a healthier and longer life, chance of the pet straying on the street to find a mate and getting injured in the process can be avoided. There is improvement in their behavior and they also become more responsive to human family members. Chances of mammary cancer, uterine infections common among unaltered cats also diminish.

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In simple terms, spaying removes the ability of an animal to reproduce. Spaying is considered safe and painless. This surgery is performed under anesthesia. Normally, the animal is home within a couple of days.

A kitten should be spayed when it reaches the age of six months, before its first heat. This surgery involves removing the uterus and ovaries through an incision; the incision is later closed either by sutures or non-absorbable or sub-cuticular stitches. Another procedure performed on kittens is tubal ligation; this surgical procedure makes the kitten sterile and prevents heats and thus coming in contact with males. Tubal ligation is not extremely popular.

Spaying in kittens should be done before it reaches puberty. Six months is ideal for female kittens to get spayed. They recover quickly at this age and very few negative concerns have come to light.

There are some who feel that it is safest to allow the kitten to grow stronger and larger before performing the surgery. This allows the urinary tract to develop. If you have doubts, it is best to consult a veterinarian to determine the correct age for spaying. Unless the cat has some health problems, spaying is considered to be safe for a kitten of any age.

When Can a Kitten Be Spayed?

Katie Appleby is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about when a kitten can be spayed [http://spayandneutersite.info/when-can-a-kitten-be-spayed], please visit Spay and Neuter Site [http://spayandneutersite.info] for current articles and discussions.

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Neutering Or Spaying Your New Kitten

There are just too many cats that are either homeless or feral, and people are starting to notice that it is important to neuter their pet cats. Cats mature quickly and can reproduce several times every year, so two feral cats can soon produce twenty or more.

Most feral cats are often pet cats who were not neutered or spayed, and released by their owners when they couldn't take care of them any longer. Feral cats live in colonies, and they can spread diseases to any pet dogs and cats in their vicinity. Even if they are otherwise healthy, they may be flea-infested. When the females come into heat, the colony can disrupt the sleep of an entire neighborhood with their crying and fighting. Cats who are hungry enough will raid garbage cans. Feral kittens can destroy landscaping and soil your yard or outdoor furniture.

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Neutering or spaying your new kitten in the long run can obviously reduce the number of unwanted kittens that are produced, but it also can provide other benefits. A female cat in heat is very loud. Her crying is quickly drowned out by the fighting and yowling of any local tom cats in the vicinity. Toms that are not neutered tend to roam far away from home if they are allowed outdoors and may get injured or killed. Unaltered tomcats that are kept indoors or outdoors will tend to mark all objects in their territory with urine, which is extremely strong-smelling.

Cats who are unaltered may come down with some types of cancers more frequently than altered cats. These cancers affect the reproductive organs. They are extremely rare in cats that have been altered by the age of one year. Unaltered cats may also catch any of several contagious diseases of the reproductive tract.

Unlike some animals, neutering or spaying your new kitten can be done at a very young age. Some humane societies and rescue groups recommend altering kittens at the age of eight weeks. Many veterinarians, however, suggest you wait until five or six months of age in most cases. The exceptions may be feral kittens who are trapped and then taken to be altered before being re-released to their colonies. By the time they are five or six months old, they may already be pregnant.

However, that doesn't mean that you can't alter your adult cat, it is just better to do it as young as possible.

If you have both male and female kittens in your home, you may want to neuter the males at a younger age, and wait until the girls are around six months old. This is recommended in many cases because the procedure is more difficult for females than males.

Most cats rarely have any problems after neutering, but sometimes incisions can become infected. Be sure to check your cat daily to make sure the incision is healing well. Symptoms of infection are puffiness and redness around the incision site. If your cat is licking or chewing at the stitches, you may need to have the cat wear an Elizabethan collar. This will prevent them from being able to reach the stitches. Male cats can go about their business quickly after the surgery, while females should be kept indoors for up to five days afterwards as they may injure themselves.

As with any type of surgery, there are some risks. In very, very rare occasions, cats might be allergic or have a fatal reaction to the anesthesia. However, statistically, the risk is minimal.

Neutering or spaying your new kitten is really a rather simple procedure. With a little extra care during recovery, your pet will have a happy, healthy life without worrying about unwanted litters and reproductive health.

Neutering Or Spaying Your New Kitten

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