I do prefer your cat/kitten to be an indoor only cat , an indoor cat is a safe cat.

Cats should be kept indoors for fear of getting lost or injured or being exposed to diseases carried by outdoor cats.

It is crucial to keep them indoors for at least 3 to 4 weeks to give them time to re adjust to their new territory. 

 

Transport

Always transport your cat or kitten in a pet carrier for safety and security. Holding your cat in your arms outside the home or in the car can lead to your cat getting loose. Cats that are loose in a car may get under the drivers feet and cause an accident.

 

I recommend a “slicker brush”, bought from a pet shop for grooming your british . For grooming, brush with a down ward stroke at least twice a week. 

 

It is important that children do not rush up to a kitten or cat and grab at it as they soon cringe when they see them coming and even run away. Try and encourage the children to be gentle with then and talk to the kitten softly, encourage them to call the kitten to come to them and pat them before picking them up. If your kitten is a little timid when it arrives at your house, try sitting on the floor and allowing it to come to you. 

 

All cats need socialisation and supervision-kittens more so than adult cats. Pet proof your home and keeping all household cleaners, electrical cords, garbage, and breakable objects safely away from your cat. Also, many common house hold plants are poisonous to your cat. 

 

Although a kitten does not take long to adjust to a new surroundings, it often helps to put a hot water bottle under its blanket for the first few nights, warm it up and put it under its blanket in its bed. Then put the kitten in its bed and watch it curl up and fall asleep.

 

Worming 

Worm your kitten every 2 weeks up to the age of 12weeks, then once monthly to 6 months of age. From then on it is recommended to give an all wormer every 3 months. If your cat is isolated from other cats and lives in doors, you can worm your cat less frequently. Worming medication is available as a paste and this is the easiest way to use with young kittens. 

There is also a top spot preparation called Revolution available for cats and kittens. It is active against fleas, heart worm, ear mites and intestinal worms (except tapeworm). Since cats become infected with tapeworm by ingesting fleas containing tapeworm eggs, a flea-free cat is at low risk of having tapeworm. When starting kittens on revolution, it is recommended to give a worming tablet against tape worm in case your kitten is already carrying the parasite. 

 

Desexing  

In Australia and throughout much of the world it is currently recommended that male and female cats be neutered at around 6 months of age and older .  The reasoning behind this 6 month age specification is mostly one of anaesthetic safety for elective procedures.  The theory is that the liver and kidneys of very young animals are much less mature than those of older animals and therefore less capable of tolerating the effects of anaesthetic drugs and less effective at metabolising them and breaking them down and excreting them from the body.  Younger animals are therefore expected to have prolonged recovery times and an increased risk of suffering from severe side effects, in particular liver and kidney damage, as a result of general anaesthesia.  Consequently, many vets will choose not to anaesthetise a young kitten until the correct age being 6 months of age for an elective procedure such as neutering.

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Fleas

There are many different flea preparations available, some of which combined with other parasites control. Early treatment is recommended since fleas reproduce at astounding rates. Ask your vet for the most appropriate flea control for your kitten. 

 

Litter Tray Rules - We use & recommend the OZ Pet Litter system

* clean litter tray regularly 

* keep the litter tray spotless 

* remove solid waste at least once a day 

* empty and wash tray at least twice a week 

* clean the tray more often if the cat is sick or if more than one cat is using the same tray 

 

Reasons for cat not using a litter tray 

If all the litter tray rules have been followed and your cat is still not using the litter tray then there most likely to be another culprit. 

 

Privacy 

Put the litter tray in a quiet, low traffic area away form the cats food or bed. Some people place the tray in a dry comer of the bathroom. Where ever you place the litter tray always remember to keep the door open so that your will have access to the tray whenever she needs it. 

 

Keep litter tray in the same area 

Once you have found a suitable place for the litter tray keep it there. Moving the tray from place to place will only create confusion and your cat may decide to eliminate where the tray used to be. 

Clean water bowls regularly and change water at least 3 times a week 

 

Dealing with furballs 

Vomiting furballs are a common problem for cats. To reduce this problem you should brush your cat regularly to get rid of excess hair. Also you can buy products that will help pass the hair in its intestines. 

 

Vaccination

Your kitten has already received one - two vaccinations buy the time you get it..

If your kitten will be exposed to other cats that go outside it is advised that you give your kitten a 3rd

vacination.

 

Stress 

Stress can certainly affect a cat’s behaviour. Has there been a change in your cat’s routine, a house move, a new baby or a new pet? If this is the case then try giving your cat extra attention until she grows accustomed to the changes. You could also try feliway, a plug-in diffuser, which is used to reduce stress and can be purchased from 

the vet.

 

Outdoor Dangers 

All cats and kittens should be kept indoors at all times. Cats allowed to roam outside are not “free”--they are in great danger from cars, other animals, poisons, excessive heat and cold, and abusive people, to name but a few. Furthermore, make sure that all windows in your home are securely screened so that your cat cannot slip out or fall from great heights.  The myth that a cat always lands on its two paws is not always true, a bad landing can cause severe injury to your cat. 

 

Nutrition and Feeding

The general rule for feeding kittens is, little and often.  A kitten only has a small stomach and can only eat small amounts of food. 

We recommend a diet combining meat ( we use roo ) and dry food. Soft moist foods  ( supermarket canned foods) are extremely high in preservatives, sugar and calories but have little nutritional value. The foods you feed to your adult cat should have a low magnesium content and prevent urinary tract infection. Kittens should be fed a kitten formulation food for their first 12 months. Once your kitten is 12 months old, it may be switched to adult food. 

 

Proper Nutrition is Essential for your cat’s Health

Cats are true carnivores. Their natural food is small rodents. Cats require high levels of animal protein and some animal fats in their diet, unlike dogs they cannot survive on substitutes of vegetable origin such as soy bean meal. Cats do not consume much of the intestinal and stomach contents of their prey, nor in their natural state do they eat other vegetables or cereals to supplement their diet.  Because there are certain elements cats must have that can only be supplied from animal flesh it is not possible to raise a cat as a vegetarian. The cat eats only until its energy requirements have been meet, this is on average 250 to 280 Kcal a day for an adult cat.  If the diet is well structured, or what nutritionists term balanced then by the time the cat has consumed his 250 Kcal he will also have consumed his daily requirements of protein, vitamins, minerals and fats.  Unfortunately many diets are not well balanced, if fed an un balanced diet the cat may consume his required energy needs and therefore stop eating before he has met his protein and other requirements. Diets excessively rich in fats and carbohydrates can therefore lead to protein deficiencies. When choosing brands of food for your cat you might bear in mind the fact that fats and carbohydrates are cheaper than animal protein.  Some manufactured cat foods contain a relatively high percentage of these fats and carbohydrates, so although they may be cheap they are not necessarily good value . Other foods may claim high protein content, but this protein content may only limited use to the cat because cats cannot adequately digest protein of low biological quality much of it passes undigested through the gut and is wasted. 

 

Regarding Dry food

Dry food is the most beneficial to your cat/kitten.  Good quality dry food such as Royal Canin is a complete food.

You must only use tinned cat food  in an emergency as it doesn’t contain much goodness, use fresh roo beef or chicken meat as an extra as well.  If you feed to much tinned food or meat to your kitten it will refuse to eat its dry food.  If this happens do not offer your kitten the tinned food or meat and just leave your dry food out.  Your kitten will eventually eat it, when you are satisfied your kitten is totally back on its dry food you then can reintroduce the softer food, but only at one meal per day.  You can also add a little grated cheese to this as well.

 

Recommended Dry foods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kittens                                                              Adult

Royal Canin Kitten 36                             Royal Canin British 34 (adult)

 

 

Chicken necks and wings

It is important to train your kitten to eat raw chicken wings and necks from a young age. This is to keep their teeth and gums healthy throughout life. Give them the wing tips first, although most kittens are happy to tackle the whole wing. Periodontal disease is an important disease of middle-aged to older cats, and training your kitten to chew chicken bones from the start will help your cat avoid developing this potentially life-shortening disease. It is recommended to give a chicken wing at least twice a week, although daily is even better.  To prevent dental disease and tartar build up on your cats teeth prevention is the best approach, a sensible diet is the key.  If the cat is fed only soft caned or minced food (meat) there is little natural cleaning of the teeth instead, food debris accumulates and bacteria can flourish. By feeding chunks or strips of meat and dry food you will promote the natural abrasion of the tooth surface and stimulate a good flow of saliva.  Both these actions aid in removing debris. 

 

Switching Food

When switching a cat from one type of food to another it should be a gradual process, over at least a 10-day period. Changing a cats diet abruptly could result in diarrhoea.

 

Do's and Dont's of Feeding 

Don’t feed your cat raw egg white. It contains a chemical that can destroy important vitamins.

 

Don’t feed dog food to your kitten. Dog food does not contain taurine, which is an amino-acid required in a cat’s diet to prevent illness such as blindness. 

 

Don’t give a kitten cow’s milk; this can cause indigestion and diarrhoea. Instead give it one of the lactose-reduced brands (pet-milk)

 

Don’t serve cold refrigerated food to a kitten. Always serve it at room temperature.

 

Don’t feed Liver/heart/kidney to your cat/kitten more than once a week, as to much vitamin A can cause loss of appetite, pain on handling and bone malformation. Once a week is fine, deficiency in Vitamin A will cause Night blindness, skin sores, behavioural changes.

 

Trimming your cats nails

To decrease the need for your cat to scratch and trim its nails, trim them.

Make sure you do not cut into the pink portion of the nail.

Clean your cats ears once a week with a damp tissue, being careful not to poke anything into the cats ear canal.

 

Scratching Post 

A cat will scratch furniture to sharpen its claws and to mark its territory. If you want to protect your furniture you must provide your cat with a scratching post. In most cases you will have to train your cat to use the scratching post.

 

Cat Behaviour

The body language and the vocal sounds of a cat can help us understand their mood, whether it be aggressive, happy, frightened or defensive mood. It is also important for us to understand why a cat may behave in either a good or bad way. Why does a cat mark, hunt, and scratch? Cat behaviour will try to explain why cats behave in certain ways.

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Health Guarantee

Our kittens are thoroughly checked by Dural Veterinary clinic before leaving. 

As a Breeder we guarantee that the kitten/cat is in excellent health at the time of purchase, is free of  Ringworm, Catflu and FeLV, FCoV, PKD. 

 In order to qualify for this guarantee, the kitten must be examined by a licensed veterinarian within 72 hours after delivery.  If the vet feels that the animal is ill and that the illness was present prior to sale, the Breeder should be contacted at once, before any major treatment is begun (except in an emergency situation). 

The total liability of the Breeder shall in no case exceed the total price listed on the information page. 

We guarantee this kitten/cat to be PKD, FeLV, FCoV Catflu negative at the time of sale. 

If you do not have your kitten seen within the 72 hours of purchase for a full veterinarian health check replacement or refund will NOT be available. 

The seller guarantees that the kitten/cat is free of congenital or hereditary defects, which are life threatening. 

If the kitten/cat dies within the first 9 months of life due to hereditary or congenital defect, the kitten/cat will be replaced with another kitten/cat when one is available.  An autopsy must be performed by a licensed veterinarian provided to the seller showing the cause of death to be due to hereditary or congenital defect. 

Buyer will not hold the seller responsible for any veterinarian bills or expenses incurred. 

 

 

Shikobee Cattery has the right to refuse return of a sick or infectious cat for any reason at any time.

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