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Old 10-24-2005, 03:49 PM
colgin colgin is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 311
Default Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week

Lot's of good advice in this thread already. A few more things.

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I've read a bit about clumping litter, and some vets are totally against the idea. The reason is that after the cat uses the litter box, he'll proceed to clean the dust off himself. The clumping litter that the cat injests can clump up in the cat's bowels and cause a blockage. That being said, I've used clumping litter for years and neither of my cats have had any issues.


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Cheap clumping litter made from clay (e.g., Fresh Scoop) is bad fro several reasons. However, there are certain clumping litters made from safe products that are fine. World's Best Cat Litter is simply the best. Made from corn it is safe to ingest and produces virtually no dust. I recommend the Multi-cat Formula.

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I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this, but wet food is the way to go. Dry food can cause crystals in the cat's urine, especially in females. My female cat had crystals in her urine, but once I switched to wet food (as recommended by my vet), she was fine. The only problem with wet food is that it doesn't clean your cat's teeth. You can get crunchy treats that clean your cat's teeth, though. You can also brush your cat's teeth if he's really docile (I've never seriously thought about doing this, though).


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There is a big wet food/dry food debate. The dry food people are wrong (and I used to be one of them). Feed your kittens wet food 4 times per day (when they are fullgrowm it can be twice) and clean their teeth regulalry and have professional dental cleaning done when necessary (your vet will tell you if it'd necessary.

Also, buy a premium cat food. Try to finda specialty pet shop rather than a Petco if possible. You can always go mailorder. Some of the best premium brands are Abady, Innova, Merrick's, Wellness and Halo (Spot's Stew). You can always get Nutro Max at Petco and that is pretty good too (I used to feed my cats tha brand until they needed a more specialzed diet).

Avoid anything with fish in it. Cat's don't need fish and it is not good for them notwithstanding the huge number of foods that have them in it. Cats don't eat a whle lot of fish in the wild. Stick with chicken, beef, turkey and other meats.

Change the water twice per day and clean the litter box twice per day.

Halo makes a very health freeze dried chicken treat that my cats love.
Get a good book on cat care so that you will be prepared.

Enjoy the added company. You will be very happy you did this. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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