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Health and Care The kitten should have received its first series of shots*** 8 and 12 weeks of age It is strongly recommended, and some cities and/or states require that a Rabies vaccination. Be given to this animal between 6 and 8 months of age. Check with your Vet about requirements and booster shots. It is advisable to discuss with your veterinarian about vaccinations against Chlamydia, Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) or any live (modified or attenuated) virus vaccines are not recommended. There have been complications with these vaccines. Homecoming Information It is advisable to get your kitten slowly used to new surroundings. Your home will be a huge new world for your kitten to discover, and when he/she first arrives he/she will be afraid of the strange new world. You might confine him/her to whatever room you are in and let him/her get used to the new environment one room at a time. If you are a working person you may want to confine the kitten to one room while you are at work, especially in the beginning. Provide him/her with food, water, litter box, toys, and a scratching post. The kitten has been permitted to sleep on the bed with us since they were old enough to climb on the bed, therefore they will probably sleep with you. Your kitten is litter trained and will use the litter box. We have found it best to use a medium size litter box with about 2 inches of litter, changing it a least every other day to minimize cat box odor in your home. Your kitten will go to your home in good health, however the stress of the trip to your home, the change of drinking water, and of an unknown environment will probably cause the kitten to quit eating, have an upset stomach and sneezing for a few days. This is natural. However, if the condition persists consult your Vet. The breeder should also be available for consultation. Introducing your new cat to other animalsYou may need to introduce a cat to other animals (but first make sure the new kitten or cat has been seen by a vet to reduce the risk of transmitting illnesses or parasites to your other animals). The key to this is patience. It may take several weeks to a month to achieve desired results; it may take overnight. Do not give up and don't lose your temper. It depends on the temperament and ages of the animals involved. In most cases, you can simply introduce them, let them work it out, and after a week or so, things are fine. However, sometimes this is a lengthy process that you will have to work through. In general, the following procedure will work: Put the cat in its own room, where the original pet can smell it, but not see it. After a day or so of this, remove the cat from the room and let the original pet smell and explore the room thoroughly. Put the cat back in. Depending on the reactions involved, let the cat out and meet the original pet under supervision. If there is some hostility, separate them while you are gone until you are certain that they get along. It is best if you can arrange a "retreat" for each animal. You can modify the length of time and amount of supervision as you see how two cats react. Some forms of cat playing can appear hostile but are not. Look at the ears for a clue (standing up or forward when grappling is trouble, flat back when standing and staring is also trouble). If the fighting immediately stops when one yelps or squeaks, they're OK. Introducing a puppy or kitten into a household with an elderly animal already present can be stressful to the older animal. The best way to handle this is to make sure the older animal does not feel threatened by the newcomer. Lavish attention on the older animal, not the new kitten. Make sure the older animal has a cozy place to retreat to, and undisturbed time to eat and relieve itself. A puppy introduced to a cat will quickly view it as another sort of dog and leave it alone or, more often, want to play with it. The cat will view the dog as a nuisance for some time, but will eventually learn to ignore it or even to play with it. Introducing a kitten to an older dog will depend on the dog's temperament. Many dogs are good with cats, such as Labs or Newfies, and will present no problems whatsoever. Other dogs with high prey drives may need to be taught to leave the kitten alone. Soon enough, the kitten will be able to get up out of the dog's reach when it wants to be left alone. Providing the cat with a place the dog can't get to is always helpful. This can be achieved by placing a childproof fence in the door of a room high enough for the cat to get under but not for the dog. Do trim the cat's claws to minimize damage to the dog's nose. According to humane society studies, these are some combinations of animals that tend to work well:
LITTER PANS Litter pans should be pooper scooped daily. Every other day or so (depending on the number cats and/or a cat's habits) the litter pans should be emptied, rinsed, and washed with a diluted Clorox solution (the suggested use is a strong solution, about one half cup to a gallon of water). This will disinfect and deodorize the pan. Once the solution has dried on the litter box, there is NO danger of toxicity. We do not recommend the use of Lysol or any other disinfectant derived from coal tar, this is TOXIC to cats if in any doubt consult your Vet.
KITTENS Kittens are constant balls of motion, but not destructively so. You will want to cuddle your kitten, but will find that most of the time he/she is zipping around and will give a kiss in the middle of a zip, then off again. Don't despair. There's nothing like the love of a cat for his/her person. It is a love that deepens and develops over the months and years. Cats truly give love as well as take it. Most males glory in their majesty and want the world to share it, but they are guileless. Not so with the ladies, females are less predictable. They get coquettish with you and run when you try to pick them up (they are playing a game) and will be all over you the next moment. Male or female you have the most wonderful, beautiful, and intelligent pet in the world.
NUTRITION Korats are very active felines with a lot of muscle mass. Let your kitten snack as often as possible when young (up to 8 months old), after that feed twice a day. Liquids. Keep fresh water out at all times! Milk should be avoided at all times as it gives them diarrhea. Canned foods. Vary the kinds of food for your pet, both for his/her enjoyment and for health reasons. Use Nutro’s Natural Choice Any canned food must contain Taurine, for a healthy cat, Refrigerate the unused portions and warm them in the microwave before the next feeding. Minimize fishy foods because they have a high ash content. Dry foods. Use the better quality dry foods, such as Nutro’s Natural Choice for kittens. All food should contain a low content of ash and magnesium, less than 4%. Some of the commercial cat foods have a high content of both and this can lead to Cystitis (similar to kidney stones in humans). All foods should contain TAURINE, which is required for good cat health absence of Taurine can cause blindness Vitamin Supplements. You can supplement canned foods with vitamins. You can use a commercially prepared dry vitamin powder such as the Fauve, Kitty Bloom products, or Wysong products which can be ordered, or purchased from a pet supply store. Vitamin C. Vitamin C crystals are essential to your cats health. A scant 1/8 teaspoon daily is adequate. Use either Kitty Bloom or a product from a health food store. Vitamin C helps your cat in time of stress and helps fight off viral and bacterial illness. Precautions If you have ever been around toddlers, you will have observed, that anything that will fit in their little mouths, will go into it. Kitten and young adult cats are no different. If you enjoy sewing or other needlecrafts, PLEASE, make sure all sewing threads; needles, straight pins, and safety pins are out of feline reach. They can be fatal or create severe medical problems. The same thing goes for buttons, small paper clips, staples, rubber bands and dental floss. I don't even like for them to play with the tie-offs from breads, etc. The wire portion might puncture their mouths They love to play with paper balls, that is fine but avoid tin foil. When buying toys, avoid the kind that has plastic eyes and noses sewn or glued on, they will chew them off and swallow them. Christmas is another time for caution. So many of the Christmas decorations are plastic, fiberglass, or string, each of them could be hazardous to your cat’s health. When cleaning carpets confine kitten/cat in a safe place until carpets are completely dry. Kittens and some adult cats love to hide in drawers and closets or any other place they can hide. So make sure all closet and drawers are closed and the cats are not in them before you leave your home. If you are like us, all dangerous items are well put away, but the little imps can give you a few premature gray hairs with possible hiding places. Buy or make a scratching post, a square block or tunnel type affair covered with carpet. If they are used to their own things it saves on your couch and chairs. carpet cleaning solutions contain toxic chemicals. Above all, be loving and happy with this most beautiful and heartwarming
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This page was last updated on 12/11/2005 |