Kitten Care

The rewards of raising kittens are immense from the amount of playtime they love and need to the joy of watching them grow into healthy adults. The sections below provide mountains of knowledge on giving your kitten(s) the best start in life to ensure they reach their potential. Much of this information can be applied to any cat new to your household.

If you have kittens that need a home, please don't give them away for free to members of the public; this is because some people get free cats / kittens and do the most horrendous things with them. Please find a local shelter / rescue and surrender the kittens there : )

Settling In

It's best to have as much as possible set up for your new kitty before they arrive.

Your kitty will feel most at home with its own bed, litter tray, toys, feed / water bowls plus a scratching post. Take a look at our site partners where you save between 5% - 15% storewide.

To make your home kitten-safe, we recommend:

Put away anything on which they might hurt themself

Put away any chemicals they might swallow / lick including essential oils, many of which are toxic to cats.

Talk with small children about being gentle with handling the kitten and allowing the kitten time to explore as well as rest.,

Check to see if you have any plants that are toxic to cats.

Wrap electrical cables in foam if your kitten wants to chew on them.

If you have other pets, introduce them slowly. Make sure the kitten doesn't use the other pet's bed,, food bowl, toys or favourite human. Cats are naturally jealous / possessive animals that don't like to share so make sure existing pets don't lose out on any attention from humans or access to their usual routine. Also be observant of how much attention your kitten is expecting from the older pets such as in play or grooming and limit this if the older pet is displeased.

Consider adopting two kittens at the same time so they can entertain each other and teach each other how to cat.

Feeding

Ideally, kittens should have access to food 24/7 for at least their first three months whilst they're growing rapidly.. If this isn't possible in your household perhaps due to other pets or small children, feed your kitten several small meals throughout the day. If no-one's home for long stretches, it will be worth investing in a microchip feeder that's set for your kitten.

There's much debate on whether raw feeding is suitable for kittens; please do your own research on this matter. If you decide to feed raw, make the change as early as you think is wise.

If you decide to feed your kitten with pre-packaged kitten-specific food, please buy the best you can afford so that your kitten has the best possible physical start which will set them up for a long and healthy life ahead.

Ask the people who give you the kitten what they've been feeding; start with that and slowly transition over 10 - 14 days by adding a bit extra of your preferred food each day.

Take a look at our section on feeding for tips as well as discounts from our site partners.

Litter Training

In general, kittens take easily to using a litter tray and will likely have already learned at their previous home. If your kitty does have a couple of accidents, simply clean them up without fuss. To encourage your kitty to use the tray, place them in it several times each day and praise them when they do use it.

It might be a bit of trial and error to find a tray and type of litter with which your kitten is happy. Start with a tray that's not too tall so your kitten can easily climb in and fill it to around 3cm deep with tofu litter. We recommend tofu litter as it's the one the majority of cats like best.

Place the kitty litter tray in an out-of-the-way place so that kitty won't feel any pressure of human traffic whilst getting the hang of using the tray. You also don't want dogs or small children accessing the litter tray.

It's so important that you keep the litter tray clean. This means scooping out solids twice per day, placing them in a small, lidded bin that's lined with the plastic bag in which the kitty litter arrived.. Another reason to go with a clumping litter so it's easy to keep it clean.

If you have more than one cat, you will need one more litter tray than there are cats. eg two cats = three litter trays; three cats = four litter trays.

We have a whole page dedicated to kitty litter and trays with links to our site partners who provide us with discounts.

Play vs Sleep

It's natural for kittens to sleep A LOT just like a human baby.

When we consider that they are growing rapidly, learning so much and playing with all their energy, it's no wonder that when they sleep, they really need to. It's important to allow you kitten to sleep as much as it wants to.

Make sure you kitty has its own bed when it can burrow into a blanket or feel secure in an igloo-type bed. Our site partners have a large range of bedding with discounts available.

Please take a look at our section on routine to learn how to have your kitten fall into your household routine rather than waking you up at all hours for food and attention.

When your kitten plays, encourage them to play with you as well as alone by providing a variety of toys. Our section on Kitty Entertainment discusses this as well as cat scratchers / towers.

Other health Consideration

Ask the person giving you the kitten whether the kitten has had:

microchip
vaccination
flea treatment
worming
desexing

You can take care of worming and flea treatments at home.

Call your vet to discuss schedule for vaccination and to make a time for having the microchip. Cats that are 100% indoor still need to be vaccinated and microchipped in case of escape.

Desexing is a must for cats' health and happiness. Male cats that are undesexed (toms) are often aggressive and resort to urine marking (including inside your home) to warn off other tomcats. Undesexed female cats suffer the constant frustration of wanting to find a tom to make babies. Your beautiful little female kitten can become pregnant as early as four months old : (

Desex your kitten as young as possible; most vets will desex a cat as soon as it weighs 1kg.

Consider taking out pet insurance or setting up a savings account for your kitten in case of an emergency expensive situation.

Cat Lovers' Advice