Adopting a cat or kitten?

Adopting a cat or kitten

Before you get a new kitten or adopt an adult cat, make sure you complete your education about kitty education. If you are already living with an untrained cat with existing problems, simply designate today as the first day at Kitty College for both of you. Kitten training techniques work perfectly well with adult cats.

Check that the kitten was raised indoors, around human companionship and influence. Ask the breeder how many strangers, especially including men and children, have handled and gentled the kittens. Spend at least an hour observing, playing with, and hugging and handling (restraining and examining), your prospective kitten. At eight weeks of age, kitten activity recycles every 40 minutes so.

To get a representative feel for your kitten's overall demeanor, make sure that you observe her while she sleeps, when she plays, and when she is wild. Check that the kitten already uses a litter box and plays with her scratching post. 

Choosing an adult cat is a very personal choice: choose the one that likes all family members best, and choose the one you all like best. The secret to adopting the perfect cat is patience, patience, patience, and selection, selection, selection. The perfect cat is waiting for you somewhere, and so take your time to choose with your head as well as your heart. 

The first week your kitten or cat spends in your home is the most important week of her life. 

From the very first day, start an error-less, house training and scratching post training program so that you prevent any house soiling and destructive clawing or chewing problems.

When you are not at home, leave your kitty cat in a long-term confinement area (cat playroom), which has a comfortable bed, fresh water, a litter box, and a scratching post with several cat toys and chew toys (stuffed with food) hanging from the top. Long-term confinement prevents mistakes around the house and maximizes the likelihood your kitty cat will learn to use her toilet and learn to play with her toys and scratching post.

Confining your kitty cat while you are away, prevents any mistakes around the house, maximizes the likelihood she will learn to play with her toys, (Nothing she can swallow though!) and allows you to predict when she would like to relieve herself. Knowing when your kitty cat wants to go makes litter box training easy, because all you have to do is show her where to go and reward her for going. 

Closely confining a kitty cat temporarily inhibits elimination. Give her hourly access to the litter box, and she will promptly pee (and sometimes poop). Then voice gentle appreciation and give her three liver treats as a reward.

Confinement is a temporary management and training measure. Once your kitty cat has learned where to eliminate and what to scratch, she may enjoy full-run of your house for the rest of her life.

When cats are scared, they run and hide, sometimes remaining in hiding for several days. Indoor cats are especially scared if they escape outdoors (usually when strangers visit the house). Whether you intend your cat to be allowed outdoors or not, safety training is essential. At the very least you should teach your cat to come when called. The process is simple. 

Before every mealtime, call your cat and have him follow you from room to room before putting his food (and the following cat) in his confinement area. From time to time throughout the day, call your cat and handfeed a piece of kibble or freeze-dried liver when he comes. Back up and repeat the process several times. If you like, you can use a silent dog whistle instead of calling your cat.

Indoor cats have a longer life-expectancy than indoor-outdoor cats. If you intend to let your cat outside, you must teach him to remain in the yard, otherwise you will take several years off his life-expectancy. First, neuter or spay your cat and he or she will be less likely to want to roam. (Circulating sex hormones fragment normal brain function.) If your super ambitious you can build an outdoor, screened in, cat room!

To learn more, there are several cat Behavior Booklets available from dogwise.com. To raise and train your cat, you will need a cat-carrying crate, a very comfortable cat bed, water bowl, litter box, scratching post, hollow chew toys, catnip toys, and healthy treats; all available from your local pet store or online at www.amazon.com.

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