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Frequently
Asked Questions
How long will it take to house train my
new cat or kitten?
What should I feed him or her?
When should I neuter my cat ?
Should I let her have one litter before getting her spayed ?
When should the kitten be vaccinated ?
How long must I keep the kitten or cat in, before letting him out?
* * * * * * Very important
Will a fully grown cat adapt to a new home ?
How often should a cat be wormed ?
How about flea control?
How long will it take to house train my new cat or kitten?
Cats and kittens are amazing.
Small kittens will use a litter tray as soon as they
can walk, following their mother in and doing as she does. If the kitten is an orphan kitten, without a mother’s
help, all that needs to be done is to lift the kitten gently into
the litter tray, scrabble its front paws gently in the litter, and the
kitten works it out for him or her self!!.
Older cats will look for somewhere to use as
a toilet, (always supposing that they have never seen a litter
tray) and will be very pleased to find that a place is provided
for them. They may also ask, and prefer, to go out.
Litter trays should be kept clean – cats do not like to
use dirty litter trays. Cleaning out the tray once a day is a
must.
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What should I feed him or her?
Vets advise that it is better for cats to
have good quality dried cat food, which is formulated and balanced
to give good nutrition.
Cats MUST have meat, and all proprietary foods include meat
products. Many
cats are intolerant of lactose in milk, and generally it is better
to give fresh clean water only, as milk can give cats tummy upsets
and other problems. Try
to find out what the cat or kitten was eating before coming to
you, and if you want to change this diet, do it gradually over a
week or so, to avoid tummy upsets.
Big cats are fed once or twice a day.
Kittens are generally fed three or four times
a day, because they have small stomachs and cannot take in as much
as they need if fed less frequently. Generally very small kittens (under 4/5 weeks
old) are fed by their
mothers, but if they are orphaned, they need to be bottle or
syringe fed using kitten formula milk.
Very small kittens (under two weeks old) may need to be fed
every two to three hours, and they must be winded like babies, and
have their abdomens stroked with cotton wool or paper tissue or
kitchen towel to stimulate them to pee (mother cats lick kittens
here for the same purpose).
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When should I neuter my cat ?
Female kittens as young as 4 months old
can become pregnant during the summer.
However, normally it is safe to wait until a female is five
months old and a male is six months old to have them neutered.
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Should I let her have one litter before getting her spayed ?
Absolutely not.
It is better to spay a kitten before she has her first
heat, and letting her have kittens simply adds to the
overpopulation of cats. In addition, you cannot be sure that those kittens will
not go on to have more kittens.
An adult cat can have up to 3 litters of kittens a year,
and a pair of adult cats can have 20,000 descendants. .
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When should the kitten be vaccinated ?
The first vaccination is due at
about 8 or 9 weeks of age, and the second is due at 12 weeks or
older, but 3 weeks after the first vaccination.
It is essential to vaccinate kittens against infectious
enteritis (known as FEV or Feline Enteritis Virus) which is
related to the Parvo Virus that affects puppies, and has the same
devastating effects. This
vaccination also includes vaccination against the common flue
viruses. Other
vaccinations are also available, e.g. leukaemia, and this should
be considered if there is a population of feral cats in the area.
Kittens and cats should be kept in until the course of
vaccinations has been completed.
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How long must I keep the kitten or cat in, before letting
him out?
Generally, cats and kittens are kept in for
up to three weeks. Of
course, small kittens will need to be kept in for longer, or
allowed out after three weeks only under supervision.
The “keeping in” time also depends on
whether the vaccinations are completed, what hazardous may
be in the neighbourhood, and the time of year, i.e. in the cold
dark months, kittens should not be let out, unsupervised.
They are kept in for two main reasons –
1) because they will try to find “home”,
e.g. their mother, or their litter mates, and after three weeks
they will have forgotten that they had another home, and
2) because small kittens cannot fend for
themselves in a strange environment, and they will wander away and
get lost.
Generally cats do not “run away”,
but they can get lost, and they can be killed by traffic or dogs.
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Will a fully grown cat adapt to a new home ?
This depends to some extent on why the cat
was re-homed. If
it is lost, hungry, straying around, and lonely, then it is most
unlikely to leave a new warm welcoming home.
However, it the cat is happy where it lives, it may try to
return there, even if the owner has moved away, or died.
In either case, keeping the cat in the house for a longer
period is likely to help it to adjust to the new surroundings.
A few drops of Dr. Bach’s flower remedy “Walnut” can
also help the cat to adjust to change.
A few drops of Flower remedies in food
or water, such as “Rescue Remedy”
or “Mimulus” (used for fear) can often help a nervous
cat.
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How often should a cat be wormed ?
Kittens should be wormed with a
suitable wormer such as “Parazole” every three weeks until
they are six months old, and every three months thereafter using
either “Parazole”, or “Drontal”, or “Milbemax”
Care should be taken not to over-dose a kitten.
Use of a spot on treatment available at your vet and at some
chemists such as Stronghold for kittens and Frontline for kittens
can also be used and need only be applied once every 4 to 6 weeks.
Your vet will be able to advise you on the treatments.
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How about flea control?
There are a lot of very good
preparations available from your vet or veterinary chemist.
Very small kittens can be treated with “Frontline”
spray, older kittens and cats can be treated with a spot on
treatment such as
“Advantage”, “Stronghold”
or “frontline”. Newer
preparations are occasionally introduced to the market.
Cats should be treated for fleas as recommended by the
manufacturers – some products last for one month, some for two
months. Flea
collars are generally of very limited use and need to be a snap on
snap off type in case your pet gets caught up in a tree or fence
and therefore the collar needs to release easily for the pet to
get free.
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Cork Cat Action Trust registered charity number C.H.Y.
18345
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