Are you a first time cat owner, and wondering how to take care of your new pets? Look no more, check out the ultimate guide for first time cat owners!
Calculate the cost before bringing home a new cat
This is to determine how much you will need to spend when having a new cat at home.
In addition to daily food, you will also need to calculate the cost of buying fixed-cost items, for example: litter boxes, feeding bowls, flea and tick medicine and hair combs…
Averagely, you will have to spend at least 500,000 VND per month to feed and clean the cats regularly.
Note: This is an average cost in Vietnam.
Spay and vaccinate as soon as your cat’s home
This is another one of the most important things to know for first time cat owners, to keep your cats out of danger, also the contagious diseases. Those who have pets should keep the new cat in captivity for a short time (3-5 days) before joining the club, to ensure that that cat does not have any dangerous diseases, which could affect the health of the whole herd.
You should ask the previous owner or the animal rescue station to provide your cat’s vaccination record book. If you don’t have it in your hand, you should re-vaccinate for sure.
To check if the cat has been spayed or not, look at the incision on the cat’s abdomen (Image below).
Help your kittens with their usual routines
Here are some habits you should teach your kittens once they’re home:
- How to use a little box.
- Regularly pet and cuddle
- Help them get used with toys, then reward them with treats after training
- Limit biting and destroying furniture with clear, easy-to-understand actions.
- Teach your cats on every corner of the house
- Brush them weekly to deal with the amount of fur loss
- Cut their nails regularly
- Time for dry food
- Time for pate
- Time for taking medicine (if any), or to clean their ears and tooth.
To do this, the cat owner needs to have a certain amount of time to take care of the cat. For example:
- Make sure to change the water twice a day, change the dry food if it’s old, feed them with wet food or play with them at fixed time
- Sleep on time (Your cat may misbehave when she’s new to the house; but you can speak firmly for 1-2 sentences, so that the cat will gradually understand that it’s time for bed).
- Open and close the curtains on time
Those actions are actually very exciting, but those will require you to be diligent with a regular routine, to ensure that they can get used to it; so that they could grow and live the healthiest life possible.
Teach the new cats to use the litter box
Creating a toilet habit for kittens is definitely one of the most difficult things to know for first time kitten owners, because when they are new to the house, they will definitely pee or poop everywhere.
Cut a little bit of fur off their butt, then bury it in the litter box, lock the cat next to the litter box for several days, maybe 1-2.
The cats then will learn to use the toilet in the litter box. However, you should not be too happy, because the cats will still go to the toilet if the training isn’t long enough.
Changing the litter every day, making sure the toilet area is always clean, is the best way to encourage the cat to always use the litter box.
Cut the cat’s nails regularly to prevent them from scratching and damaging furniture in the house..
Choosing a suitable cat breed to your lifestyle
Many people make mistakes of having an active cat or dog as they love attention from their owner, but you’re too busy to take care of them, or to pay enough attention regularly.
The advice for first time cat owners here is to choose a cat breed that suits your lifestyle, as well as the Vietnamese wealth.
For example: British Shorthair cats are currently very popular in Vietnam, because British cats have thicker fur, but are short and easy to clean; they are also quite lazy, sleep during the day and can be alone for long time, as they don’t need too much attention from their owners.
On the contrary, cat breeds with longer hair such as British Longhair cats or Persian cats aren’t really fitted for busy owners, as you will have to clean them regularly. These cat breeds also carry many potential diseases, especially in the Vietnamese climate.
You don’t necessarily have to raise a purebred cat, but ‘crossbreed’ her a bit so that your cat is healthier and also can adapt to the climate better!
🎉 Check out: How to befriend a cat? Successfully adopt a new cat with ease today!
Choosing the right foods depending on their ages
There are many types of cat food, as they normally are divided into 3 types:
- Food for kittens under 1 year old; normally is wet food to benefit the digestive tract; then you can feed the dry foods for the 6-11 month-old cats. Kittens need a lot of nutrition, but when they get older, they can get fat easily; therefore you should tune the nutrition down after turning 1 year old.
- Cats over 1 year old are usually suitable for adult cat food, with larger grains, stable protein content and less nutrition, all to avoid obesity.
- Older cats over 3 years oldoften start to have urinary tract problems, partly due to the long period of eating too much dry foods before. Therefore, you should choose the dry cat foods – urinary type.
Then, you should start feeding your cats with pate and wet food after turning 5 years old, as their teeths are getting weaker.
Spend time with your cats
Although they don’t need as much attention as dogs, cats still like to be cared, petted, cuddled and shown affection. You don’t need to do this often (especially when your cats are sleeping and don’t like to be disturbed), but keep in mind to pay attention to them, clean their ears and eyes twice a week, to show that you really care about them!
Cats are less aggressive, but they are attachable to their owners, as they will miss you lots if you forget to pet them for just 2 or 3 days!
Take your cat to the clinics regularly
You should do these every year to make sure that your pets are healthy:
- Get your cats vaccinated every year
- Clean their ears, clean its teeth twice a month
- Check their liver and lung, make sure that their health are regularly checked up
Conclusion
Above are the 8 tips for first time cat owners. You should pick up your cat at 2-3 month ages, to make sure that she will be closed to you when growing older; also she will be easier to look after.
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