What food should I feed my kitten?
A cat is classed as a kitten up to the age of 12 months. Kitten food has different levels of added benefits which are different from the adult food. It is a good practice to give your cat both wet and dry food with a high meat content. Cats response to low moisture foods is to concentrate their urine rather than drink more water. It has been suggested that feeding wet food would be a more appropriate way to provide water to cats rather than relying on drinking water.
Dry food allows for free- feeding and the food can be left out for prolonged periods of time. Some cats prefer grazing their food over the day rather than at specific mealtimes, which is the main feeding method when wet food is used.
In our household we keep dry food available at all times and we feed our adult cats wet food twice per day.
Which litter should I use?
The one which your kitten will actually use. :) Cats have their preferences: some will like the large pellets, some will love to use and dig up in the fine litter which feels like sand. Your breeder should be able to advise you on the litter which kitten prefers and give you little bit of used litter when you collect your kitten. Put it in the new litter tray and keep kitten in the limited space, until they have used the litter tray couple of times and are confident in finding it.
Regardless of which litter you are going to use you need to ensure that the litter tray is cleaned on the regular basis.
Are cats any good with small children?
Cats are wonderful companions for children young and old. Not only are they a great influence, teaching empathy, compassion and responsibility, but also some cats will strike a particular bond with a child. We personally have experienced this many times where kittens were introduced to the family with young children and they grow up to be the best friends.
Kitten should come from the breeder well socialized with humans, so they are not afraid to be picked up, stroked, kissed and have human face close to them.
One of our personal advise would be to teach your children not to pick up a kitten or a cat when they are on their way to the litter tray. Cats are not very good at "holding it" and this might prevent them to go to the litter tray in the future, as they want to do their business uninterrupted.
You can find more information on cats and children at www.cats.org.uk
How do I introduce new kitten to my cat?
It is important not to rush. As cute as your kitten is, cats do not see the beauty like we do and everything is based on the territory and smells. Your kitten should come with some toy or blanket with their home scent. It is good idea to keep them separated in one room with the item from home for a couple of days, and let them sniff each other from under the door. Then you can swap the items between them, so they get used to each other's smell.
If possible - you can create a divider between them once you open the door, either with the transparent, mesh or cage style divider so they can smell and see each other.
Some hissing and growling might be expected - after all, to your cat kitten is an intruder.
Every cat behaves differently. Some can accept kitten from the first moment they see them, for some it may take some time.
When you kitten is let out, make sure you do not neglect your existing cat(s). Spend twice as much time with them as you do with the kitten so they don't get jealous.