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My New Addition
Hi Ladies, I'm not sure if everyone saw the picture of my new little addition on facebook. Yesterday while waiting for my son's school bus I heard a little noise coming from the bushes. After putting Tay on the bus, I turned around and there was the cutest little kitten sitting there looking at me. I brought her inside and at first my BF wasn't sure if my mom would let me keep her (yes I know it sounds juvenille lol) but she said the same thing any mom would say." As long as you clean up after her and I don't wake up with a cat on my chest" So with that having been said, I know most of you on here have cats, so I need some advice from on the basics. (Feeding, healthcare, bathing, etc). Here's her pic, hopefully you can get an idea of how old she is…without at least an estimate of her age, I'm not sure what kind of foods I should be giving her…Thank you in advance ladieshttps://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201745141652925&set=pcb.10201745145333017&type=1&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201745144572998&set=pcb.10201745145333017&type=1&theater
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11 Replies
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The links aren't working for me so I can't see the pictures. If she's eating solids, go for kitten food, I like Purina. If she isn't, you may need to give her food with water in it to make it a little mushy until she can chomp. For young kittens, gentle dish detergent like Dawn is the best for a bath, after that, they should pretty much keep themselves clean. If she is young, it will be a bit before you can use flea and tick preventative. And get her spayed and kitten shots and everything when shes 8-12 weeks. They will usually do fecals, make sure she doesn't have worms or earmites (common in kittens). Annual visits usually do well after the initial kitten stuff. Some vaccines if you choose to get them will need booster shots. Rabies is needed to keep up to date, often by state or local law.
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My son took in a stray and was only to keep it a few months and then asked me to take it. I did reluctanlty, but she has been such a good cat! I just got in from taking her on a walk outside on a leash. She was about a year when I got her so I think starting with a kitten, I would for sure start with leash training. Introduce it to water, my cat LOVES bath. Cats are smart and if you work with them at all times being gentle, it will do a lot. I feed my cat BLUE brand cat food. My son was feeding Purina, and since I got her, her coat is much better due to the blue. ALSO, my cat had a few litter issues, non use of the box. After problem solving, I found out it was the litter……it was a fragrence litter. Cats have a very high smell and littler that has smell can be too much for them. We now buy unscented litter from Petco in bulk. It clumps great and is about half of the Arm and Hammer or any "brand name". Good luck! Oh, for the nails, I just have some good scratching posts and if the nails ever have to be clipped, just use regular human clippers. The ones made for pets puts unnatural stress on the nail before it cuts and my cat freaked the few times I used that. She does just fine with regular clippers.
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I've never cut my cats nails, but they do have scratching post and a flat kong cardboard scratcher. I don't like letting the cats outdoors so I never did leash training, but a friend has two cats and they both like leashes. My cats have a waterfountain pet bowl they LOVE water. Every cat I've ever had, stray or not, has used a litter box naturally. Only my oldest will go outside of it if I did a bad job keeping it clean…
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Even though I cleaned out the box every few days, my cat DID refuse to use it due to the floral smell. As for letting any cat outside to roam, please don't. There is just too much that can happen. So plan on a strict house cat or get going on a leash. At least your starting young! 🙂
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I personally only give Elle all natural food like Wellness and Blue. There is a whole natural section in Pet Smart. Give them a little of wet and dry food. To much dry and they become dehydrated. Do NOT use plastic bowls. A lot of cats have allergies to them. My Elle does. Keep her pan clean or she will not go in it. I like Fresh Step scoopable. Make sure she goes to the vet for a check up, shots, and to get fixed. Make sure you treat her for fleas when she is big enough to prevent skin disease. Get a stick mousey toy and play with her with it on the pole on spin mode!!!!
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Also, they are VERY playful and will jump at you. They are just playing but do have sharp claws. I trim Elle's myself but you only want to ge tthat very end tip. No further. Message me if you have any questions. I have had cats 32 years! My whole life!
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You girls have been so helpful. I've written everything down, so it'll be easier when we get to pet smart. I forud the BLUE brand for a decent price at walmart as well as a litter box that'll fit between my bed and out of sight (in case Tay thins its a sand box lol). I'm gonna post some pics of her today and we've decided on the name "Meme" https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif
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Dirdy Birdy taught her cats to poop in the toilet
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Meme how cute love the name. I LOVE cats. I second the idea of toilet training your cat, my BFF trained hers & it saves a shit ton of money & saves you from smelly cat litter! If you google toilet training your cat, all sorts of resources come up!
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Yeah there is some sort of toilet seat adapter to help them be able to stand on the toilet better.
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Take the kitty in for a vet visit. Make sure it has all its vaccinations and tests (fleas, fiv, worms, etc), is spayed/neutered, and if you're planning on keeping it yours get it chipped. Before you do anything drastic, make sure it's a stray and doesn't have a family somewhere near by.
Decide if this is going to be an indoor or outdoor cat. There are pros and cons to both. Since this cat started out in the streets though, it may be a good idea to keep it outdoors if it was doing well out there. If it wasn't then it may be a good idea to keep it indoors. Whatever your choice, make sure you give it the right tools to be happy and healthy.
If it's still a kitten, it might be a good idea to incorporate wet food with dry food. They may not be getting enough water as a kitten so the wet food ensures hydration. Wean off wet food around six months. Go for a quality food source. Purina, friskies, fancy feast, and Iams tend to have more filler, at least they did when I got my cat five years ago.
Decide how you're going to potty train, if you want a litter box or train it to use the toilet. Yes, it's possible to train it to use the toilet but it could be a long process and mistakes will be made (so don't get mad at it!). I attempted to toilet train my cat and it was successful for awhile except it went back to the litter box whenever we had someone cat-sit for us and that caused her to regressed. She's now a box kitty again. If you decide to toilet train, I recommend the litter kwitter system over a disposable system. If you decide to box train, get one of the mats for the outside of the box that they can clean their claws on and catches the litter. Also look into the type of litter you're getting. Some clumping ones produce dust that kicks up during cleaning that's not so good for you.
If this cat is still a kitty, you will want to buy it toys! Cats can become restless by not getting enough attention/play time.
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