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Dear Smartie Pants,
I got a kitten and I named it after my dearly
departed Uncle Nick. What's the 411 of kitten ownership?
Truly,
Mr Ciderapples
Dear Mr Ciderapples,
Food
Try dry kitten food and wet it with water or kitten formula if he's tiny.
When they are small they don't eat much but will eat instead of starve. Always
leave him a little food. Don't give him cows milk-it'll give him the squirts.
If he gets the squirts real bad-call the vet. Purina kitten chow is fine,
but whatever you pick - stick with it.
Water
He'll need water-good luck finding a dish he won't tip over but can drink
out of. Maybe a shallow bowl in a plastic tray?
Sleep
Give kitty a warm place to nap, a shoe box with a sweater, wadded up towel,
one of your big slippers, a place they can cuddle in, doesn't have to be fancy,
and they'll outgrow it quickly but they sleep A LOT. It's ok to keep a little
guy in one room for a few weeks. Might be safer-keeps the mess down. You'll
know when he's ready to roam around!
Dookie
Litter training really is an instinct.
If he has accidents-move the mess to the litter box. Let him see & smell
the mess in the litter-he'll get the hint. He may even like to dig in the
litter box for fun and scatter stuff everywhere. Try placing the litter box
in a tray or on lotsa paper. Kitten dookie stinks worse that cat dookie I
think. Arm & Hammer Super scoop is the best litter I've found.
Toys
Does he like feathers? fur? string? bags? You'll find out. Make your own toys,
empty spools of thread, super balls, paper bags and even paper towel tubes
can be great toys. Catnip is for later-did you smoke pot when you were a baby?
Doc
You'll need a vet, for shots and to get fixed one day. Prices for neutering
vary greatly. Places with "shelter" or "humane" in their
name may be hundreds of dollars cheaper.
Make Your Mark...Behavior
Get him used to being held, brushed and having his nails trimmed. (to trim
his nails, hold him and gently press on his paw to make the nails pop out-use
a clipper to trim the tips-you can see a white bit in the middle-don't cut
that it'll bleed)
Want a cat that likes people? Pet him, play with him. Want to be able to dress
him up? Start now. Don't want a cat that jumps in your lap when you eat-when
he does it say NO. Don't want a cat that begs for YOUR dinner? Don't feed
him food off your plate-take it to his bowl.
Noisemakers are a good way to tell a bigger kitten or cat he should stop what
he's doing. A can with coins works, so does a party noisemaker.
You can train Neeko to respond to simple commands. My cat knows "down/back".
I say it with a stop hand gesture and now at a little over year she responds
to just the hand gesture, sometimes. And she's learning "I want to pet
you" where I cup my hand and shake it sorta like the Oringina thing.
Consistency and persistence are the key.
Good luck!
