The Purr-fect Kitten is Definitely “Pawsible”
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Summer is “kitten season.” That’s because most unspayed female cats start heat cycles in the late Winter, as the days get longer. With a feline 63-day gestation period , that means most kittens are born during the Spring and Summer.
If you are considering adding a kitten to your household, some thoughtful planning needs to be done prior to bringing home your new little friend. As a cat specialist, I am particularly interested in making sure that the kitten is not only healthy, but is socially, mentally and behaviorally sound and an excellent companion. With many cats now living well into their late teens and even to the early twenties, there is the potential for your new kitten to be part of your life for the next two decades.
Starting off on the right “paw,” gives the best chance for a great life-long relationship with your new friend.
First Things First
Much has been written about the importance of establishing proper veterinary care, feeding schedules and cat box routines in our kittens. Regardless of where you get your kitten from (and I do hope that you’ll check your local shelter for homeless kittens and cats), taking him or her to the veterinarian within the first 72 hours is important. Feeding your kitten a proper diet, which most veterinarians now recommend as including a larger amount of canned food and a smaller amount (if any) of dry food, also is a must for the new kitten. Because intestinal upset can result from a diet change, keeping your new kitten on the diet that was fed at the shelter or in the home from which he or she came from during the first week or so, will eliminate the potential for problems. Any new diet, which should be chosen in conjunction with your veterinarian’s recommendations, can be slowly added.
Choosing the proper cat box (having one more box than there are cats in the home and using an uncovered one that is roomy enough for the kitten to turn around in) will help to establish proper elimination habits for your kitten. Using a soft, scoopable cat box filler, like Feline Pine Scoop, will aid in your kitten’s consistent use of the box. Remember that no one — including your kitten — likes to use a “dirty bathroom,” so removing wastes at least once daily and cleaning the box completely once a week is mandatory. In previous columns Cat Box Blues, I have addressed how to trouble-shoot cat box problems and ensure that your kitten or cat is properly using the boxes.
What often is missing from most kitten care recommendations is how important it is to choose a social kitten and what steps to take to make sure that the joys of having a kitten in the home won’t be marred by shredded curtains, destruction of cherished household objects (your Mom’s beautiful antique vase) or a life-threatening emergency with your baby feline.
Is Your New Kitten’s Brain Properly Hard-Wired?
Regardless where you get your kitten (shelter, private home , cattery or pet shop), it’s important not to make an impulse “purchase.” Kittens are some of the cutest beings on the planet, and it’s easy to fall in love with one (or two) and bring them home; only to have second thoughts about the lifetime commitment. Fortunately, most adoption agencies and catteries screen interested parties well, to try and avoid “buyer’s remorse.”
Making sure that your kitten has interacted with other kittens and has been lovingly handled is key to choosing a well-socialized new friend. Kittens who lack proper socialization with other kittens often make very poor companions. The rough-and-tumble play of the litter actually “hard wires” kittens appropriately. The little orphan kitten who had to be bottle fed or the one who was an only kitten (singleton) often develops into a cat who is needy, afraid of humans and other cats, high-strung, poorly trainable, responds poorly to novel sights and sounds, and is very “high maintenance.”
Love Is The Answer
Gentle stroking and handling of kittens by humans actually accelerates their physical and central nervous system growth, makes them less afraid of humans, causes them to approach strange toys and people more readily.
Kittens are most receptive to socializing from other kittens/cats and humans from two to seven weeks of age. The more gentle handling they have from people at this stage, the friendlier they will become. A kitten who is older and who didn’t have this type of handling often can make a very good companion, but it generally takes a bit more time and more patience. I generally do not recommend adopting kittens younger than eight weeks of age, since that ensures proper time spent with litter mates, full voluntary control of elimination, and that weaning has been completed.
Look at a litter of kittens and you’ll probably see three distinct personalities: There’s the confident and easy-going kitten; the timid and nervous one; and the active playful and aggressive one. It is thought that the father’s genetics play a very important role in personality development of kittens.
Play Time Is Kitten Work Time
Kittens need to play and if not provided with appropriate play opportunities, can resort to very aggressive play, destructiveness and excessive night-time activity. In households where there is no adult or older, responsible child home during the day, a kitten can languish and become destructive. Because of this, most shelters will not adopt out kittens to households where there is no human presence during the day.
Multiple play sessions not only help to bond the kitten with the family, but also provide a much-needed outlet for the little one. Kittens (and cats) generally love toys that can be batted, swatted at, or rolled. Feathers on a stick, ping-pong balls, wiggling ropes, etc. all are great kitten toys. Avoid all toys with parts that can be loosened (and swallowed) , as well as those that contain yarn, string or ribbon. Medical catastrophes can result from a kitten ingesting these. Allowing kittens to explore large paper sacks, purchasing a “cat tunnel” or “kitten activity center” provides excellent stimulation.
Because kittens engage in much stalking and other predatory play behavior, they are prone to ambushing feet and legs of humans in the household, biting hands and climbing up the legs of humans. Shaking the leg or arm in an attempt to remove the kitten, typically only reinforces the biting and hanging on. It’s much better to stand still, remove the kitten and either give him or her a “time out” for several minutes in a quiet room or re-direct them with a toy.
Faster Than A Speeding Kitten…
Many new kitten companions are dismayed to find their kittens leaping up on draperies, jumping up on countertops and tables and sliding across shelves and mantles. The fact is that kittens and cats do jump and climb. If you cannot supervise your kitten at given times, placing him or her in a quiet room or a large cage with food, water , toys and a cat box is an option. Jumping up on countertops and tables can be discouraged by using double-sided sticky tape or using a water pistol or loud noise (pennies in a can) when the unwanted activity is seen.
Physical punishment (hitting, slapping or shaking) a kitten should never be done. Punishments must be done at the time of the unwanted behavior. Late punishment is confusing to the kitten and often counter-productive.
Your kitten’s penchant to climb can be addressed by the purchase of a tree. Many of these also have built-in tunnels or cubby holes for relaxing or sleeping.
Kitty Yoga At The Scratching Post
Scratching is a normal behavior and is used to mark territory, remove nail sheaths and provide some exercise (think of it as “kitty yoga”). From Day One in the new home, kittens should have access to one or more large, rope-covered scratching posts and should be shown how to use it. Scratching is typically done first thing in the morning and upon waking a kitten should be taken to the scratching posts and gently have their claws moved up and down . Kittens who use furniture or other off-limit objects to scratch should be taken to the post and shown how to use it.
Using a synthetic facial marking pheromone spray (available at many pet supermarkets, on-line or through your veterinarian) can make the scratching post your kitten’s favorite go-to spot. Cats rub their faces on preferred areas and these sprays mimic that “feel good” aroma.
Learning to trim your kitten’s nails and/or having your veterinarian show you how to use plastic nail caps for cats, will keep destructive scratching to a minimum. Declawing should be done as a last resort. With a bit of effort on your part, your kitten will be able to keep his or her claws and you’ll have furniture that won’t look like the work of a kitten “fiber artist.”
Kitten Kindergartens
Many veterinary hospitals and animal shelters are now offering kitten kindergartens, where new kitten companions can join others and learn about their new friends, while the kittens interact with one another. These programs not only allow for kittens to socialize with others, but give the humans an opportunity to learn about those endlessly entertaining little balls of fluff who eventually do grow up and become the graceful, loving, always fascinating companions we know as cats.
