Happy Kitten - Basic Cat Care

Congratulations on being a cat parent. This page contains various topics on basic cat care, before proceeding make sure you know and remember cat’s basic vital signs.

Essentials Checklist

Basic list of essential things to get for your cat:

Dry and wet food, treats
Litter box and litter
Grooming: brushes, shampoo, cleaning supplies
Toys
First-aid

Feeding

You can feed your cat wet or dry or mixed (wet + dry) food. You can purchase the cat food (both wet or dry) online or from your local vet/petstore. You can also homecook meals, or mix homecooked meals with branded cat foods. If you do buy branded cat food, check the expiry dates! In addition, you can buy treats (both dry and creamy) but feed treats in limited quantities, certainly not as a meal portion. Several (human) foods are toxic for cats/kittens such as milk/dairy, chocolates, coffee, tea, onions, garlic, chives, alcohol, raw fish/eggs/meat/bones, dog food, yeast/bread and fruits like grapes, raisins. Too many treats could be toxic and can lead your cat to diabetes and obesity. Human medicines and certain plans can be toxic as well.

Consult your vet about feeding option, schedules and setting up a routine.

Whatever you do decide for your cat, keep in mind that cats are very picky eaters so start small especially when you’re changing the diet/brands, and change the diet very slowly and gradually over a period of time say 2 weeks.

Get stainless steel or ceramic bowls for feeding your cats. Stainless steel utensils recommended. Always serve food in cleaned and dried kibble or bowls. For kittens consider getting kibble or bowls that are shallow and not deep.

Always, ALWAYS, always have fresh, clean and potable water for your cats. Consider changing water in the bowl 2-4 times a day. You may also get a water fountain suitable for cats that has an in-built water filteration system.

NEVER keep food and water bowls near the litter box!

Handy foods:

Dry treats: these are usually meat jerkies or flakes, once opened consume that packet soon or they go bad fast.
Creamy treats: useful when your cat stops eating, for both kittens and cats.
Curd: in summers, small quantities can be given during day time.
Honey: can be used as treats or when your cat is hypothermic. Honey has a heating effect and is not easily digestible so give in small (2-4 ml or less) quantities.
Critical care food: keep few cans of A/D, critical care food around that can be useful especially when your cat stops eating or becomes ill.

If your cat or kitten has not eaten for 12 hours or more, it is an emergency! Get help fast or it could be fatal.

A common issue with kittens and cats is they often stop eating which can be a sign of illness, stress, trauma, etc. More often than not, such a situation can become an emergency fast especially for kitten. Be very cautious. You may find more about this and other issues on the health page.

Litter Box

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Grooming

Identification

Housing

Playing

Safety

Supplies

Health

Work in Progress…

Revolution (Selamectin) spot-on for fleas, heartworms, roundworms
Deworming, feli-D? etc.

TODO: first-aid, tonic/supplements and essential medicines etc.

Medicines and Poisons
Spaying and Neutering
Vaccinations and Deworming
Pest control: fleas, ticks and mites
Force Feeding
First Aid and CPR
Pain Management