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SETTLING IN • FEEDING • MILK • TOILET TRAINING • REST & SLEEP • PLAY • GROOMING & DAILY CARE • VETERINARY CARE • FLEAS • BREEDING & NEUTERING
Cats are territorial creatures and most of them find moving from one home to another very unsettling. Unlike dogs, who are generally much happier to stay with nice people who feed them, cats may well want to run away at first and try to find their way back to where they came from.
When you adopt an adult cat, it is most important to keep it safe in one ESCAPE PROOF part of the house, for example, the bathroom, kitchen, or spare bedroom for SEVERAL DAYS, PREFERABLY AT LEAST A WEEK until it knows you well and feels safe and at home. It will help to give it an old cardboard box or similar, with some soft bedding in, so it has a cosy place to sleep and hide. Make sure everyone in the house including children and any visitors know where the cat is and that you have to keep doors closed. Windows may need to be open to allow ventilation, but check that this is only a narrow crack and that the cat cannot push a loose window further open.
Once the cat realises this new place is home, you can allow it to explore more parts of the house and yard. Always keep a very close eye on it at first, especially if there are dogs or other hazards around. Cats will vary in how long they take to accept a new place as home. Watch your new cat. If it looks jumpy, nervous and edgy and if it is not eating well, it is still feeling unsettled. Wait a lot longer before you allow it more freedom.
If it is purring and lying about looking contented and eating well, then it is feeling more settled and happy and you can gradually begin to give it more space and freedom.
IF IN ANY DOUBT, KEEP IT CONFINED FOR A WHILE LONGER! It is easy to lose a new cat and it can be very difficult to get it back again! For the first week or so, always make sure it is safe in the house if you are going out for a while.
A healthy adult cat will be happy with two or sometimes just one meal a day. You can give it tinned cat food or dried cat biscuits. Biscuits are an economical way to feed the cat and the food is easy to keep fresh. Biscuits also help to keep the teeth clean. However, a completely dry diet can be boring, so some fresh or canned cat food will be appreciated too. The cat may like a little cooked chicken or fish or egg or rice. Feed the cat as much as it will eat, once or twice a day. Uneaten food should be put away where it will stay fresh and offered again later. WASH the food bowl daily!
DO NOT feed cats spicy food or cooked bones at any
time. Spicy food will upset the animal’s digestion and cooked bones
may splinter inside it and make it very sick or even kill it.
Larger, raw bones (like chop) may occasionally be allowed, as these will
help to clean its teeth.
FRESH WATER, IN A CLEAN BOWL, SHOULD ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE. This is most important. Animals which cannot obtain water when they need it will rapidly become dehydrated and die.
Once they are weaned, cats DO NOT NEED MILK. In fact, due to the lactose intolerance that some cats develop as they grow up, your cat may have an upset tummy with diarrhoea if you give it milk. If you really wish to give your cat milk and it likes it and does not get an upset tummy, then that’s fine. Just remember, it does not NEED it, but it MUST HAVE WATER!
Cats are naturally very clean animals. Most kittens will use a dirt tray from a very early age. When you adopt your adult cat, it should already know to go to the toilet in the yard or to use a cat toilet or “litter” tray in the house. Because you will need to keep your new cat inside until it settles in, you will have to make it a little inside toilet for the first week or so.
If possible, use a cat litter tray from the pet shop. This is a shallow, plastic tray. Line it with newspaper and then put a little sand or earth in it. If you haven’t got a tray, find an old, shallow cardboard box, or just put plenty of newspaper down in a quiet corner and put the dirt on the paper. Make sure it can’t blow away!
Show the cat where its toilet area is. When the cat needs the toilet, it should go to the tray and use it.
Because it is a bit nervous in a strange place it is just possible that the cat may have problems using its tray. If it goes in the wrong place, you need to remind it what to do, just like you would do with a young kitten.
Cats may need to go to the toilet after they wake from sleep and after a meal or a period of exercise. So, watch your cat at these times! If it wants the toilet it will probably go about sniffing the ground, then it will squat down. If it does not choose it’s proper toilet, gently lift it up and put it in the toilet tray. GENTLY scratch its front paws in the dirt. (This is what cats do when they dig a toilet hole.) Wait till it has gone to the toilet, then pet it and praise it.
Toilet areas should be kept clean at all times. Remove what the cat has done immediately and if necessary change the dirt. Cats and kittens will not use a wet or dirty toilet area. If the cat goes to the toilet in the wrong place, DO NOT punish it. This will only frighten and confuse it. Just clean up the mess and watch it more closely next time. Very few kittens and cats have toilet training problems and even if they do, they will normally learn to be clean if you are just that bit extra patient with them. If the cat persistently toilets in the wrong place, try putting a little pepper dust down, or a little shiny kitchen foil. Another idea is to put the cat’s food bowl down where it is toileting. Cats do not like to mess up their feeding area and this trick may break a bad toilet habit. Once the cat can be allowed more freedom, it will probably start to go to the toilet outside without any encouragement from you. If it is slow to start to go outside, you can move it’s toilet tray gradually nearer the “great outdoors” and then move the tray into the yard and away from the house. The cat will eventually get the idea.
NEVER use Ammonia based cleaners to clean up cat wee
etc. off furniture or carpets. Ammonia smells like cat wee to your cat
and it will be encouraged to use that place again.
If necessary just use a mild household cleaner to clean up after accidents.
Moving to a new home is very unsettling for your cat. It will need time to adjust to the change. All cats need time for rest and quiet. Allow your new cat time to sleep. Do not disturb the cat when it is sleeping. Remember, do you like to be woken abruptly from sleep? No? well, that’s how it will feel to the cat, too, and you cannot blame it if it is cross and scratches you.
Many adult cats love to play just like kittens do. They can be given simple toys like balls of rolled up newspaper and old cotton reels to play with and big paper (NOT plastic!) bags to hide in. Have fun and use your imagination! The more time you spend with your new cat early on petting and playing with it, the faster it will settle in with you.
Cats may have very sharp claws and many love to run them up and down the furniture, if bored and confined to the house. Try to be patient if you see a few scratch marks. The cat will become less wild when it can go out. In the meantime, it may enjoy a piece of rough old matting to wear its claws down on, or a piece of wood with rough bark on it. Once the cat is running about outside its claws will wear down naturally.
Cats are clean animals and will wash themselves. If your cat has an unusually fluffy coat, however, it may need regular brushing and combing to stop it matting. Even short coated cats may well enjoy to be brushed and combed. It gets the dead hair out before it comes off on your chairs! Try a gentle brush and comb from an early age. It will also help your cat to get used to being handled.
Check your cat daily for any problems such as a dirty bottom or runny eyes or nose. These may be signs of serious ill health. Dirty areas should be cleaned very gently with a damp tissue and the animal taken to a vet for a check up as soon as possible.
Your cat should be vaccinated for the first time at about 9 and 12 weeks. There are many diseases that could kill your cat. Yearly vaccination will help to prevent them. Check if your cat has had any vaccinations yet. If not, you will need to take it to a vet soon after you get it. If you have any doubts about your cat’s health, seek the advice of a vet. Most vets will be happy to give some advice over the phone and can decide with you if the cat needs to be seen immediately or if it is a problem that might clear up without needing veterinary attention.
Fleas can cause many problems in cats, such as nasty itchy bald skin, tapeworms and infectious anaemia, which can be fatal. You can prevent your cat from getting fleas by using a chemical on its skin regularly. Frontline Spot On is available from good pet stores and vets and is one of the best products to use. Supermarket products are not so good. They are not so strong and do not do the job so well. If in doubt, ask your vet.
Female kittens can come into heat and become pregnant at only 6 months of age! There are far too many unwanted kittens in Trinidad and Tobago and if you adopt a female cat you will need to get her spayed at 6 months so she will not have babies. This is a simple operation that will involve her spending one day at a vets. It is not necessary for her to have “just one litter”.
Male cats should be castrated when they are over about 7 months. This will prevent them weeing in the house to mark their territory, roaming and getting into fights. Male cats often catch fatal illnesses from cat bites, so it is vital to castrate your male cat to prevent this. Castrating a male cat is a very quick, simple operation, and does not affect your cats “self image”.
