Anything For Animals

posted by admin on Sep 16

So, you have all the essentials worked out for your new little kittens - but there are still several things that are virtually essential although they don’t contribute to just keeping your kitten healthy - they keep them happy and safe.

Toys - Yes, you can drag old shoelaces along the floor, or you can roll a screwed up piece of paper across the floor - but nothing beats a few specially designed kitten toys to entertain your ball of fluff.

Catnip filled toys are almost an easy answer - as the kitten will just play by itself for hours with these, same goes for a ping pong ball that bounces of everything and gets moved by the wind or passing feet!

Gloves with toys dangling on the fingers makes for a toy to use while you are watching TV and a fishing-rod type toy is perfect for those folks who want to play but can’t bend all the way to the floor!

Scratching Post - Not everyone thinks that these are worth getting - but I always say that a kitten needs to grab with it’s claws and if you don’t supply it with something to use - then it will find something else: your couch, table leg, bed post, staircase, etc - they will use them all.

You don’t need to get a 4 storey one with a bed and rope ladder, but at least get a simple post of around .5 of a meter so that they can stretch right up. And it’s tall enough to wedge infront of whatever it is that they were scratching instead as a diversion!

Collar & Tag - Some people don’t want their kitten (or cat) to wear a collar everyday.

There are stories of them getting snagged or caught (which they do) and there are pussy cats that shed their collars almost every week (which there are), and you can identify your kittens with micro-chips anyway (which you can) - so why make your kitten wear one?

There are so many cats in built up areas these days that it is almost certain that you will come home one day to find someone else cat in your house eating your food of spraying up your counters! And the only way to stop this is to either close all your doors and windows and board-up the cat flap - or get a magnetic cat flap.

Which means your cat needs to wear a collar to put the magnet on.

Therefore, if you have got your kitten used to wearing a collar when it is younger, it won’t mind wearing one when it is older - saving you the effort of training your grumpy older cat to stop pulling his off with the expensive magnet on it!!!

Some people also like their cat to wear a bell on it’s collar to prevent them catching birds and bringing frogs home (which they will)! You’ll find them in your house!

Cat Carrier - You can make do with a large cardboard box when you first collect your kittens, but it is in no way suitable for continued use. For a start you can’t wash it!

Ideally, once you have found your kittens for sale and have agreed a collection date, you should head out to a pet store and buy a plastic cat carrier.

Ideally avoid the wire-cage style as if can be very worrying for your kitten to be so exposed - particularly at the vets where they are on the floor surrounded by legs, people, telephones and (worst of all) loads of dogs!

The more suitable plastic ones have closed in but vented sides and just the one open end for entry. The whole top unclips so they are ideal for storage as well, and with the door detached, they can be used for a cosy kitten bed allowing your felines to get used to using it rather than having an almighty struggle when you need to go to the vets!

Kitten Food - Although this is essential for your kitten - and it will be discussed in detail in a later article - you should really continue to feed you lovely kittens on the food that they are already eating. For at least 4-6 weeks really.

That way they won’t get an upset tummy when they move to your house. They will already be a bit nervous of leaving their mom and starting out in a new home - so the last thing they need is to be fed a totally different food as well.

You should decide what premium kitten food you want to move your kittens over to and have that already in stock after collecting your kittens. Make sure that you have read up all about weaning them over onto it so it all goes smoothly.

posted by admin on Sep 9

Using the list from the introduction, here is a summary of what you need and why you need it. They are covered in 2 groups: Absolute Essentials and Useful Additions.

Absolute Essentials: Your kittens cannot do without the following items (even if they are second-hand). And there are a few tips for each to make sure everything runs smoothly for your new addition!

Water Bowls - It is essential that your kittens have at least one water bowl with clean fresh water in it at all times. Many felines prefer bathroom water or rain water to kitchen tap water as it contains less chemicals - so maybe try different options to see what the cuties prefer.

Also a combined food and water dish is not the best option as the food can fall into the water while eating and then the kittens won’t drink it. And all the while you are washing the food dish - which with wet food can be several times a day - there is no water bowl anyway!

Food Bowls - Each kitten should have their own food bowl - and it only needs to be a small one. Avoid buying dual feeding dishes as many felines prefer not to eat face to face with another feline - it’s like us eating off the same plate as our sisters!

Dishes that are too deep are no god either as they can affect the amount and frequency your kitten eats - imagine having to scoop your dinner out the bottom of a big barrel at meal times! And kittens need to eat a lot of food spread over the day, so it is essential to get the bowls right otherwise they won’t gain weight at the correct rate.

Bed or Blanket - Many kittens won’t always sleep in a bed just because you brought it for them. They like to sleep in a high location out of the way - and preferably somewhere warm and cosy.

So if you decide that you want the cat to sleep in the hallway on the floor and stick a bed there - if it’s too busy, too cold, too low or too near the dog (!) - the cat probably won’t use it. It will just sleep wherever it wants to. And this is where the blankets come in.

You can lay a blanket over the back of the couch, on a window ledge, book shelf, airing cupboard or your bed and it keeps off the hairs!

Litter Tray - As the little kittens will be too tiny to go outside for the first few weeks (and it isn’t advised until after their vaccinations anyway) - they will need a place to go to the toilet in your house somewhere.

It needs to be in a quiet location ideally and away from their normal eating place.

Depending on your needs there are many different shapes and sizes of litter tray available, some are small trays, others and protected tray and others are fully hooded contraptions (which might frighten smaller kittens). It all depends on how clean and scent-free you need the tray to be.

There are different types of cat litter available as well, but your kittens will soon tell you whether they like it or not! It’s best to start with a wood-based or paper-based litter for ease and for absorption, but some older cats prefer the heavier clay variety - so it depends if they have to share!

Even if they intend to be an outdoor cat it’s always good to have trained them to use a litter tray when they are young incase they are ever house-bound due to illness or house-moving and need to stay indoors. Some older cats just won’t be trained!

Other additional accessories for litter trays can include filters, odor eaters, fresheners and litter bags as well as scoops and exit mats! All designed for human comfort. They mean that not only do the owners not have to smell a fresh stool - but they can put the litter tray in places where it otherwise wouldn’t be suitable.

For example, the hooded litter tray with odor eaters and litter bags could be left in the kitchen as an alternative to an open shallow tray with a fresh doodle sitting in it! And when ready to change, just lift the bag out and throw away - no spillage anywhere.

Also, the exit mats and high sided litter tray would mean that litter wasn’t tracked or kicked all over the carpet after each visit!

See you next week to complete your Perfect Kitten Essential Kitten Kit!

posted by admin on Sep 4

So, you have decided to get yourself one or two cute kittens at last!

Great choice - so now you need to start getting everything ready for the big day when you collect your little kittens and bring them home.

Whether it’s a flame point Himalayan kitten you want or just a ginger tabby, they all need the same basic care when they are young - and their first 12 months could influence the rest of their lives - and yours!!

Planning:
There is nothing worse than getting the kittens first and then having to rush around buying whatever you think you need there and then.

Not only will the kittens become stressed at your rushing around with them, or at being left at home alone while you drive around the stores - but you may end up buying the wrong things simply because they are the only things you can find in time!

Not a very good start to your lives together.

So it makes sense to plan ahead and get the essentials ready in advance. And here’s the basic list for starters:

Water Bowls
Food Bowls
Bed or Blanket
Litter Tray & Cat Litter
Scratching Post
Selection of Toys
Safe Cat Carrier
Collar & Tag
Kitten Food

Obviously there are many things to consider with all of these items depending on your requirements, the number of other pets and children in the house and the requirements and choices of your kitten over the first few months.

And this series in the Perfect Kitten Guide starts with Part 1 of your Essential Starter Kitten Kit starting next week.

posted by admin on Jun 29

So, what is the best Flea Product to use?

As with any flea control products or flea treatments, it depends on how you use them as to whether they appear to work, so comparing individual products is very hard. Don’t forget that fleas do not live on the pet itself, so the following product in the example below could have 2 very different results in the eyes of the untrained ‘flea’ owner:

House 1: You can use flea spray A on a pet in a house with no infestation or flea eggs present, and that will be it - no more fleas on that pet.

House 2: You can use the same flea spray A on a pet in a house with an infestation and/or flea eggs present, and soon enough that pet will ‘have’ fleas again.

But aren’t some products stronger than others?
There are flea treatments for pets that are ’stronger’ than others in terms of the chemicals present, and those from your vets normally contain stronger insecticides than those you might find in a pet store and even stronger than those in a supermarket.

However the reason the ones from the vets normally ‘work better’ is due to the information that the vet gives you.

A good vet, when confronted by a flea problem in a client, will not only recommend a treatment for the pet, but will usually not let you leave there without a product for the house too, therefore killing the flea cycle completely - clearing out your house and clearing your pet at the same time - they may well even sell you a wormer that you think is more money but it will actually benefit your pet long term.

Compare this to when you go into a supermarket for your pet supplies. There is no one trained there to help you choose the best flea control program, so you will usually pick up the one your friend recommended - even though they may have just been House 1 in the example above (and you may be house 2).

Or if not, you may select the cheapest one thinking they are all the same, just different brands (like bread or washing powders) and get home with just one step of the recommended flea control program - to just kill the fleas on your pet - the ones you can see!

Either way, it’s probably not going to work.

Why Won’t It Work?? 
I’d like to go back to friends recommendations above, as they are often based on no real evidence either, just what that friend saw. For example, what if that friend from House 1 found several fleas in their house the following month, they could take one of the 2 paths here:

Path A: Buy the same product they brought last time, but as the fleas are in the house now not just on the pet, this will appear not work. The friend will be confused and probably think that they didn’t use enough, so may respray the pet.

Path B: Buy a different product, as their usual one wasn’t available, but this will also not appear to work - as the owner hasn’t realised the fleas are in the home not just on the pet. They will therefore assume that this product doesn’t work but the last one did.

There are no actual facts involved in either of these recommendations, just a lack of knowledge about the flea cycle, and sadly it will not only be them who is wasting money experimenting in this way, they will be helping you to make the same mistakes.

So, the best products are…….
In conclusion, I can only say that the only products you should use for your pet to rid your home of fleas - and which should be all be applied at the same time - are the following:

• Any brand of insecticide household flea spraythat kills all flea eggs, flea larvae, flea pupae and adult fleas and lasts for at least a year.
• Any brand of insecticide cat or dog products, including flea shampoo, tablets, powder, drops or spray (only use the dog products on dogs NEVER CATS).
• Any brand of tapeworm and roundworm killers that contains enough to treat every pet you own - check the weights and 2 in 1’s are easier to administer.

If you can find a product brand that does all 3 stages above, it would be best to use all their products for the 3 stages above. You can rest assured then, that they are professionals and dedicate a lot of their funds to researching flea treatments, and that their products have been tested together, and so should give the best flea control.

Don’t cut corners here, as you may well waste all the money you spend if one stage is not used properly - see ‘How to get rid of fleas in your home’ for more details.

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