New Kitten - Best .................

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Ok so we got our gorgeous little boy TEDDY yesterday and i was after some suggestions on:

Best Food
Best Kitty Litter
Toys
Introduction Techniques To Our Dogs

We don't have a lot of $$ but we want whats good for him as we do with our dogs, with the wet food does he NEED kitten food or is that a gimmick to get me to spend more on smaller packets?

Also once i know he's ok with eating the biscuits without being a little soggy what else can i feed him, steamed chicken, mince???

I am going to do 1 dry meal 1 wet or should i do a mix of both in the morning and night?

How do i introduce him to our dogs, we took him near them last night he hissed, backed away and bit me (not his fault our big dog is 10x his size)
So whats the best way to to do?

Also is there any truth the the PUT BUTTER ON THEIR FEET SO THEY DON'T RUN AWAY???

We will get him desexed when he's older and right now outside time will be limited to once or twice a day while we are out there, i hope he's careful near the road if he gets over/under the fence.. ahhhh

We are getting him a scratching post, i have scratched his feet through the kitty litter box, should i get him a collar and is he too young for a flea collar?

Thanks in advance.

[Sibbie]

Yay! Boy cats are great, so much more affectionate than females!

Best litter I found is the recycled paper one, it doesn't smell like the others. Foodwise - I give my kitty optimum (I think?) and the little sachets of whiskas. Mind you she only ever has a teaspoon of that, and mostly just licks the gravy off lol she likes her dry food better. I think the kitten food is good for them while they're little, when I was giving my cat the adult stuff at first she had a bit off an iffy tummy so I just kept her on the kitten stuff before settling on the optimum and she seems ok (she's almost 12 months now). Sometimes she has chicken or other meat but tbh she's never that interested in it. So I guess just offer him food and he'll decide what he likes

Wrt the butter thing, I don't think that works. I would keep him inside mostly, and when he's a bit bigger let him out on 'supervised' visits lol till he's used to it. Then when he seems ok let him go for it, but feed him around dusk so he knows to come back in at night

Don't get him a flea collar, they aren't very good for little kitties, can be toxic!! I think they make kitten spot ons for fleas

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Enjoy your new friend!!

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Thanks hun... he's eventually going to be an outside cat then he will sleep in the laundry or bathroom at night (well i think the whole house now he's here and so damn cute) so i will def get him used to coming back for food at night.

Will just see how he goes, i bought the kitten sachet for the wet food, gave him a little of it then put it in the fridge, i think those will last a couple of days.. i just got the whiska's dry kitten food for now but will check out prices and go from there.

[PumpkinZulu]

Definately yes to at least one meal of wet food! Not whiskas!!! We do mince, sometimes chicken, and one meal of advance dry food, but that is pretty exxy. Make sure he always has a full bowl of fresh water! Cats need lots of water lol. We use a crystal litter, it works well but our kitty spreads the little crystals around the house when they get stuck in her toes. A bit annoying! Enjoy, cats are THE best pet!

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Any reason NOT WHISKA'S hun?
How do you cook your mince, do you just steam your chicken.. listen to me i sound like a mum starting her bub on solids.
The cheeky little bugger is hiding in the house somewhere he must be content he's not sooking..

[PumpkinZulu]

Whiskas is soooo nutritionally unsound, it's pretty much kitty junk food, full of salt and crap. No need to cook any meat you give your cat, just raw like nature intended. Chances are as an outdoor cat, he'll be eating few birds and things anyway. It's very important that cats eat wet food, as a diet of just dry food is very bad for their kidneys, as it's not how they are built to et and digest. Kitty will love raw food, meats etc. Depending on what he was fed prior to getting him, he may turn his nose up at it at first, as it won't have all the preservatives, flavours etc, but all cats are notorious for being sensitive to food changes

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Thanks hun, i will give him these bicuits and try the wet food we bought him and then will introduce mince and chicken, atleast the nights i cook those he will be eating well

[Cranky Kitten]

We use crystal litter and a high sided tray for our cat Finn, which works well and he doesn't spread it too far (usually just the laundry).

He is an indoor cat though, so his food requirements are a lot less, he does well with just a bowl of dry food every night but enough so he takes the next day to eat it as he wants to. Definitely make sure you have plenty of water available (Finn has his bowl but for some reason prefers to lick the floor of the shower after we get out in the morning, the weirdo).

Have you thought about keeping him indoors though? Reason I ask is that cats are natural hunters, which is bad for any native wildlife in the area and male cats (even desexed) can get territorial. Which may result in some hefty vet bills from him getting into fights with other cats in the area, or the danger of him running across the road at the wrong time.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Have you thought about keeping him indoors though? Reason I ask is that cats are natural hunters, which is bad for any native wildlife in the area and male cats (even desexed) can get territorial. Which may result in some hefty vet bills from him getting into fights with other cats in the area, or the danger of him running across the road at the wrong time.

We would like he to be an outside cat, we live on 4 acres and we would like him out there with the girls and the dogs to watch for snakes, we also want him catching any of the field mice that are running around the place.
He will be kept inside over night and TBH i don't think he will be catching anything our dogs aren't already trying to
I haven't really seen any cats around so am hoping once he's desexed he's not wandering off a couple of k's away into paddocks looking for trouble.

I guess we just have to wait and see how he is, hopefully he is a well behaved little man.

[skybie]

our cat only gets dry food, he's allergic to fish and gets whatevers on special with no fish in it when i go to the shops, and then i mix it in with a bag of optium.
litter wise i just use the no name stuff, but for a little kitten i'd go dr harrys recycled paper so the dust doesnt go up his nose.
and having seen ur precious teddy i would highly reccomend visiting ur vet and getting some sunscreen for his nose and ears, do not put human sunscreen on him!! he's honestly not really suited to be an outdoor cat given how white he is, but if u want him out there then u really do need to protect him from the sun, would hatet to loose him due to skin cancer b4 his time is up