The kitten is here!
You have just adopted a kitten, and are looking forward to many years of shared tenderness, providing it with everything it needs. Perhaps you are already well aware, or perhaps you only somehow feel, that this little ball of fluff is replete with mystery - and you are quite right. Most of all, a cat is not a little dog! Our two most familiar pets may have the fact of being carnivorous in common, but their behaviours are very different from one another´s. And if you want to make a cat happy, you need to respect its peculiarities.
A well-deserved reputation!
Rightly felt to be less demanding than dogs as far as training is concerned, cats enjoy the reputation of being clean and independent at the time of adoption. They seem to be the perfect pet: little bother, entirely able to cope with the many times when they have to stay alone, and giving love and affection while respecting the independence of their masters. But all that should not prevent the owners from getting involved in their new friend´s up-bringing.
Attachment, socialisation, familiarisation
A cat's entire capacity for socialisation depends upon the quality of the attachment it has formed with its mother, and on the degree of socialisation of the mother herself.
A cat develops much faster than a dog: where a dog takes about six months to become autonomous, the key period for a kitten to grow up into a well-balanced cat lies in the sixth week of life.
Of course, all is not lost, and it is still possible to enhance socialisation at the usual age of adoption: i.e., around two months. But it needs to be considered that cats are not always necessarily social creatures, and that certain are capable of spending their whole life without any social interaction at all outside of mating seasons.
In the life of a cat, the first period of attachment is primordial, and this capacity for attachment, which is a juvenile characteristic, needs to be preserved. If this first attachment is of a quality such as to allow your cat to feel confident with all the humans and often the other species of animal (such as dogs) which it may encounter, then it will be relaxed and glad to be with you. Otherwise, it will become familiar with just one or with just a few persons, and hide away whenever a stranger appears; it will always be chary of the unknown, although your presence can reassure it. This is the distinction between a social and a merely familiar cat.
If such a lack of socialisation is making your cat aggressive, do not hesitate to consult your Vet.
Training
During the period of development, the mother cat teaches her kittens certain "self-control mechanisms": i.e., how to regulate and co-ordinate their movements and the action of their teeth and claws.
A well brought-up kitten will always be careful with others´ faces, for example during games in which it is liable to scratch. If your kitten has not yet acquired this ability, you will need to teach it, and for this of course you will have to make use of behaviour patterns which it is familiar with.
If we observe a mother cat with her litter, we can see two means of correcting a kitten, and we can copy them with a little adaptation. Firstly, she paws the muzzle, claws retracted, when the kitten loses control. You can copy this by giving a fairly sharp tap on the muzzle with your finger to stop any unwanted behaviour, with no risk of hurting the kitten.
If the kitten is really turbulent, the mother sometimes grips it between her fore-paws and pounds its belly with her rear paws. Here again, if you lay the kitten down on its side and hold it there with one hand and scratch its belly with the other, you should succeed in inhibiting any movement.
It is important to understand that these two techniques are meant to teach self-control to the little cat and are not intended to achieve submission: in fact, the idea of submission and dominance does not apply in the everyday life of a cat.
If you suspect that a reaction is due to a vaccination you should consult your vet.
Territory organisation
While cats may not always be social animals, they most certainly are always territorial. For your cat to be emotionally well-balanced, harmonious territorial structure is essential, and the feline approach to organisation is most particular - Cats divide their territory up into a certain number of areas, each with its own specific function.
The isolation field is an area which the cat does not wish to share, unless it be with extremely familiar individuals, and then only when it so chooses. It is often a raised position, where the cat can feel perfectly safe. Activity fields may, on the other hand, be shared and are devoted to some particular occupation (bird-watching, hunting, playing or feeding, etc.).
These various fields are all inter-linked by pathways which are always the same, and which the cat traces with pheromonal markers whenever it takes them. When you see a cat rubbing up against a piece of furniture, it is placing its familiarity markers there which will act as reassuring landmarks for it afterwards. This very strict and most particular organisation is necessary if a cat is to be emotionally well-balanced.
You should not systematically remove all the marks made by the cat rubbing itself against things in its new home. It is very important for it to be able to find its pheromones if it is not to develop an anxiety state.
Right from the very first day, you should give it its isolation field: a place where no-one will come and disturb it when it is asleep. The children and the dog of the household will quite naturally want to explore the new-comer; but, if your kitten is to develop peacefully, it has to have its own private place- which it may later on decide to change.
Uncleanliness and marking
Cats are toilet-trained from very early on, and one is often struck by the sight of a little kitten three weeks old struggling to get up into its cat-litter to relieve itself there.
This reputation is a well-founded one, and so it is only all the more disappointing for a cat-owner to find that his or her cat is not clean. To avoid this, there are a few precautions to take. The elimination field should have certain features, and, however self-evident some of these may be, in practice experience shows that they are not always fully respected.
The cat-box with the litter in it needs to be constantly accessible, including at night. Remember that cats were originally nocturnal animals.
The place you choose has to enable your cat to relieve itself without any problems. If children are playing in the same room, or the dog is liable to come over and sniff the cat on its litter, then the conditions are not the best possible and accidents may ensue.
The litter should be changed frequently.
Finally, do not confuse uncleanliness and marking. Some cats use urinary marking -The cat stands up straight on its legs, rather than crouching down as it does to relieve itself, and sends shots of urine on to vertical supports - This is highly typical of a cat whose territory has been disrupted and who is failing to find its familiarity landmarks.
As between uncleanliness, elimination and marking, the easiest and most effective thing to do is to talk with your Vet about it right away. He or she will be able to distinguish between the different hypotheses and to suggest a solution to you.
Playing and hunting
No doubt being more naturally a predator than dogs are, cats need to play, miming hunting and predation. It is very important that you should join in these games so as to check your kitten´s self-control mechanisms. It is by playing with you that your kitten can learn to control biting and scratching and to be careful with certain parts of your body. But it is equally necessary to let your kitten have plenty of opportunity to play at hunting.
A lack of stimuli and of imaginary prey can cause the animal to show aggression to the sole mobile features to be found in its environment: viz., its owners´ feet and hands. If you encounter this problem- especially with a cat living in what is a favourable environment- do not hesitate to speak about it with your Vet.
Neutering
We support Cats Protection who give the following advice in their neutering leaflet:
Getting your cat neutered before it can breed is an essential part of responsible cat ownership. Cats are very effective breeders and the number of kittens they produce increases in line with the amount of food and shelter available. Without neutering, the UK’s cat population can quickly get out of control. Overpopulation increases feline infectious disease, stress- related disease, feline conflict and compromises cats’ welfare.
What is neutering?
Neutering is a surgical operation which stops female cats – queens – from becoming pregnant and male cats – toms – from making females pregnant.
- A female cat is spayed – her ovaries and uterus (womb) – are removed
- A male cat is castrated – his testicles are removed
Cats Protection generally recommends that kittens are neutered at around four months of age or younger – although your cat can be neutered at any age. Neutering is the best way to deal with the problem of unwanted pregnancies. Neutering also prevents some cancers and infections, reduces straying, fighting and spraying.
When to neuter?
Traditionally, cats were neutered from six months of age. However, current scientific data indicates that there are no disadvantages in neutering at a younger age – for example, from eight weeks onwards. As kittens can reach sexual maturity and breed from four months, Cats Protection generally recommends that kittens are neutered at around four months of age or younger.
Why neuter?
Neutering has many health benefits, as well as helping to reduce the number of unwanted cats in the UK.
Unneutered – ‘entire’ – male cats:
- are more likely to end up injured or catch diseases from fighting, with subsequent suffering and vet bills
- routinely travel a large territory of many miles in search of unneutered females, risking road accidents and injury and meaning you miss the contact of having a pet cat
- will spray smelly urine to mark territory and attract females
- are at risk of tumours of the testicles
- may experience a high level of stress akin to frustration if unable to find a mate
Conversely, neutered male cats:
- are less likely to roam, reducing the risk of them suffering from car accidents are less likely to fight; which reduces the risk of them getting injured or contracting serious diseases such as: Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) or Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV)
- are less likely to spray
- are unable to develop tumours of the testicles
- make better pets and are more likely to be ‘homebodies’
Unneutered – entire – female cats:
- frequently become pregnant from four months of age
- will often have litters of kittens three times a year. This adds to the overpopulation problem and increases costs for the owner, especially if there are complications during pregnancy or birth
- will call and wail every three weeks during the breeding season – January to August – to attract a mate, until they become pregnant
- are more likely to contract diseases spread through sexual contact and mating behaviour
- are at risk of cancers of the ovaries, uterus and mammary glands, as well as developing pyometra, a serious infection of the womb
Conversely, neutered female cats:
- won’t become pregnant, so there will be no expense associated with litters of kittens
- do not call or wail as unneutered queens do – so less disturbed sleep for the owner and neighbours!
- are less likely to contract diseases such as FIV and FeLV; spread by bites and mating behaviour
- are unable to develop cancer of the ovaries or uterus. They are also at greatly reduced risk of developing mammary cancer.
The kittens born following an unplanned pregnancy:
- may be at risk of disease
- cost a lot to look after and be provided with veterinary care – far more than is likely to be recouped from trying to sell them in a market where there are plenty already
- may find themselves homeless
- may deprive another unwanted cat or kitten from finding a new home as there are not enough homes to go around
Many owners don’t know which roaming ‘stranger’ cats their unneutered pet may have mated with, so are unaware of the potentially fatal infectious diseases that the cat may have been infected with. Also, the temperament of the tom can affect the behaviour of any offspring which are born. Risking mating with an unknown ‘stranger’ can lead to the birth of kittens that are unsuitable as family pets.
The operation
Your cat will need to spend a day at the veterinary surgery and will be given a general anaesthetic, so no food should be offered after 10pm the night before the procedure. The operation for both male and female cats is very simple and usually you will be able to drop your cat off and pick them back up on the same day.
Afterwards, a female cat will have a small shaved area on her side or on her abdomen – this hair will grow back in a few weeks. She will also have stitches and if these are not dissolvable, they will be taken out by the vet around 7- 10 days later.
Cats are very resilient and stoical – far more so than humans – and usually recover very quickly from the operation. All cats are given at least 2 painkillers on the day of their operation.
Advice on the best care for your cat as he or she recovers will be given when you collect him/her in the afternoon or evening.
It is worth bearing in mind that your cat will require much less food after neutering, as his or her body has less work to do, so you will probably need to monitor your cat’s weight and reduce the amount of food provided to prevent your cat from becoming too fat. This will also save you money too!
How much does it cost?
Please call the clinic to obtain an estimate.
Cats Protection offers financial assistance to cat owners on benefits or low income in some cases. For more details visit www.cats.org.uk/neutering or phone 03000 12 12 12.