All parents get excited about the process of preparing for a newborn. You start thinking about things like clothing, bedding, feeding utensils, and a place for the baby to sleep. That process isn’t that different when preparing for a kitten.
You don’t want to be overwhelmed when the kitten arrives. Your fur baby deserves some special preparations too. Most importantly, you need to find a vet.
And then you will need to prepare a space (kittens require a large space to run around in). After that, work on food, grooming, socialization, vaccinations, insurance, and more. Up next, we’re going to tell you exactly how to prepare.
Home
Before you think of bringing a kitten home, you must have sufficient space. Kittens love to run around, hide, jump and climb. If you want your kitten to grow well, you need to have a large space for them to explore.
However, when your fur baby has just arrived you want to keep them in a small space until they have adjusted. If you expose them to a big space immediately, they will get overwhelmed which will stress them out.
Kitten experts recommend a ‘slow-release plan’ which begins with stationing the cat in one place/room. Here you provide food, litter box, water, scratcher, and toys. Let them meander and move from this place with supervision.
When you go to sleep or leave the house, return him to ‘his’ place. After a week or two, allow him to explore more places but return to his ‘safe place’ after. This helps him to adjust easily.
Use Cat Toys
Teach your kitten that human hands are not playthings, this will prevent them from attacking people later and scratching them. When you allow your kittens to play rough with your hands, they will claw and scratch not only you but visitors too.
Moreover, it might be hard for them to grow out of this habit. To avoid this, play with your kittens using cat toys and don’t tolerate him putting his mouth on you.
Proper Nutrition
At three months old, you want to feed your kitten veterinarian-recommended foods that are loaded with essential vitamins and nutrients essential for their growth. There is plenty of kitten food is stores that you can choose from.
To make mealtimes even better, you can mix your kitten food with taurine for better heart functioning and eyesight. There is also kitten wet food to improve hydration. Don’t forget plenty of water to drink for further hydration.
Socialization
Kittens are social animals and hence you need to groom them at a young age. You need to expose kittens to new people, other animals, and new experiences to help build a solid foundation for a lifetime.
You don’t want a kitten that will go into hiding or scratch and claw at your visitors. The main socialization period for kittens is between 3 and 9 weeks of age. However, socialization opportunities should continue throughout the first year of life.
Handle Your Fur Baby Regularly
As part of socialization, kittens that receive human contact are most likely to get along well with humans. Handling is best done around 10 to 12 weeks of age and keep doing it till about the age of one and then continue regularly.
Help your kitten get used to being carried, patted, picked up, and groomed. If you regularly do it, he will eventually get used and you won’t have problems handling him at the vet.
Grooming
You must keep your kitten well-groomed from a tender age. If you have a long-haired kitten, you will need to regularly brush and comb his hair to avoid entanglement that can lead to painful matting.
Regular grooming is essential as it helps you check for signs of illness. You might not want to bathe your kitten every day as it might cause distress since they can wash their coats themselves. Your vet may recommend a shampoo to avoid skin infections.
Vaccinations
Kittens need a course of two vaccinations to keep away infections. Common kitten infections that they should be immunized against include feline infectious enteritis that causes diarrhea and severe vomiting.
The other common infection is feline influenza which a serious cat flue. Other vaccinations are against feline leukemia that affects your kitten’s immune system.
Final Remarks
Just like you prepare for a baby when pregnant, you should do the same when planning or acquiring a furry one. If you do the things mentioned above, you should be well on your way to having a healthy-kitten.
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