Monday, November 26, 2012

New Addition: Part Two

Greetings Animal Lovers, and welcome back to an extended post dedicated to bringing the new kitten in your home.  As I mentioned I've recently helped rescue an abandoned kitty, and I wanted to share some of the techniques I used to make her feel comfortable and well taken care of.  After developing the proper feeding pattern, I mentioned it's important to remove fleas and bathe your kitten with Dawn dish soap.


After that: Potty training your kitten is probably the second most essential task to complete, right after developing a feeding pattern.  It has never proved too difficult, but does take some patience and undivided attention.  In order to avoid smelly accidents on your brand new carpet you should place your kitten inside the litter box at least once an hour, in addition to a few minutes after it wakes up and after it eats.  I found it beneficial to scratch in the litter myself to show her how it's done.  Cats have a direct instinct to dig so once they realize what to do with the litter its pretty much smooth sailing.  For the first couple weeks, after your kitten uses the litter box, you may want to take him/her out and cover up the droppings yourself.  Although your kitten will scratch to cover it themselves they tend to either completely miss or end up scratching in their own poop; this just gets the mess on their paws making more work for you later. Make sure the litter box is not in secluded or hard to find places while your kitten is young.  Its important that they know exactly where it is without having to walk far to get there.

Finally: We can focus on recreation time for your little one.  Its good to release their energy during playtime to avoid bad behavior when your away.  I find it very unnecessary to purchase bunches of kitten toys, because they always end up finding interest in simple things you probably have laying around your house.  I tied a fishing buoy to a shoe string and my kitten loves it.  Cutting a Mardi Gras necklace so that it's just a string of beads will also keep kitty entertained, especially on tile floors.  Other things I've noticed kittens like are socks, small stuffed animals, graduation tassels or any type of small ball.  Greater than all these things however are on our bodies.  I've found my kitten loves to chase my legs while I'm walking, fingers while I'm typing, and my hair while I'm laying down.

My new addition enjoying her homemade toy

Last: After your kitten has reached 10 weeks you want to take them to the vet for the usual vaccines and shots.  Places like the ASPCA and Humane Society offer kitten packages that include the necessary boosters.  Also spaying or neutering your kitten should be done to prevent multiplying.  A healthy kitten is a happy one, although this will likely be the most expensive task, it proves most beneficial for a long living cat.

6 comments:

  1. Awww! Congratulations on your new addition, your kitty is beautiful! I remember when I got my kitty, we had to go through the same process. But I'm glad you shared this because we had no idea what to do and how hard it was going to be. Great post!

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  2. Congrats on your new kitty! I was so excited when I got my puppy and I couldn't wait to get him trained. I think this is a good post, I learned things about cats that I never knew. I really never gave any thought to the training of a baby kitten, but there is more to it than it seems. I'm happy I read this, very informative.

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  3. Thanks for the support ladies! New additions can be tedious tasks but in the end the loyalty of any animal in my opinion is well worth it.

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  4. Awe so cute and congrats on your new kitty! I am a huge cat fan and when it comes to kittens my heart melts entirely. Congrats again and good luck with your new baby.

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  5. I was so lucky to have adopted a kitten who was already litter box trained! I would have never known what to do if he wasnt. As soon and we got him home and all set up with his litter box, he immediately went to use it. I couldnt tell you how relieved I was to see he was trained. I tend to spoil him a lot though. We've spent so much on toys for my crazy little kitten. Mostly because I think he'd like Angry Birds toys over a shoelace but that's just me. He does play fetch with his little toy mice we got him though so that was definitely worth the price. Congrats on the new kitten! She's absolutely precious.

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  6. She is adorable. I had a cat in the 90's named after the cartoon Top Hat, which in spanish they translated it to Don Gato. I haven't had a cat since, but they are awesome. I don't know how well a cat could get along with my german shepherd though, :-).

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