Health care advice for your kitten

Feeding

Ideally you should feed your kitten a complete commercial, good quality food in frequent small meals. At 8-12 weeks kittens should be having 4 meals per day, this can be reduced to 3 meals per day at 12 weeks and then by 5-6 months they should be receiving 2 meals per day. Some people prefer ad lib feeding, however this can encourage continual “grazing” behaviour and weight gain, especially as cats get older and more sedentary.

Vaccinations

To avoid your kitten contracting potentially fatal viral infections such as feline enteritis, feline influenza and feline leukaemia they will need to be vaccinated. The first vaccine is routinely given at 9 weeks of age and the 2nd at 12 weeks. Your kitten should then stay indoors for 14 days after the second vaccination to ensure that their immunity is complete before venturing outside.

Yearly boosters are then required to ensure that your kitten’s immunity against these viruses remains high.

Worming

It is important to ensure that your kitten/cat is treated regularly against internal parasites including roundworms, tapeworms and hookworms. Roundworms are most common in young kittens and can be transmitted to humans, therefore a rigorous worming protocol is important.

Fleas

Preventative treatment against fleas will stop your kitten from getting a potential infestation. If your kitten has fleas they may show signs of being very itchy and irritable, suddenly turning around and biting themselves. When searching through the coat of your kitten, you may be able to spot the fleas, but more likely you will notice small black specks (flea dirts). When placed on white paper and dampened with water, these flea dirts will create a red spot, as they are composed of dried blood.

Neutering

Neutering is essential to prevent unwanted kittens. Male and female kittens can be neutered at 5-6 months of age. Entire male cats are much more likely to stray and get involved in fights than neutered males. They are also more prone to urine marking due to territoriality.

Females will spend long periods calling when in oestrus (if not neutered) and are very likely to become pregnant if allowed outside. Neutering also prevents uterine infections.