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#32
10-24-2005, 03:39 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
[ QUOTE ]
My cats won't eat wet food, which is odd I think. [/ QUOTE ] Mine won't either. Also, of the 5 vets I've gone to, none of them have recommended wet catfood. From what I understand, vets will often get incentives to pimp certain brands of food. Mine get Iams Adult Hairball formula. (One of them is part Himalayan, and sheds like a beotch.) Kudos to the OP for getting two. One kitty by itself will be lonely when you are gone. 
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#33
10-24-2005, 03:48 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Get a laser pointer. Your cats will LOVE this. [/ QUOTE ] Mine used to go absolutely bonkers for it. Then they realized that they'd never be able to catch the light, no matter how hard they tried. I think they chase the light now more to humour *me* than anything. [/ QUOTE ] Heh, well that's why you've got to let them catch it once in a while! Everyone likes a reward for a good effort!
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#34
10-24-2005, 03:49 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
Lot's of good advice in this thread already. A few more things.
[ QUOTE ] 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. [/ QUOTE ] 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. [ QUOTE ] 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). [/ QUOTE ] 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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#35
10-24-2005, 03:54 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
[ QUOTE ]
As always, great advice from Blarg. There are only two points I'd like to make: 1) 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. 2) I've never bathed my cats. If you keep your cat from getting obese, and it's a short-haired breed, and you keep him indoors, there's no reason that the cat can't bathe himself. Cats obsessively groom themselves all day. 3) 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). 4) Don't get the cheap cat foods. Spend a few bucks more to get the good stuff. Your cat will live longer, have less health problems, and won't get fat (unless you overfeed it). [/ QUOTE ] 1. My vet never had a problem with it. But some of it is more dustless than others. Some is quite dusty indeed. I wouldn't want my cat -- or me -- inhaling the dusty stuff. You can get brands where the grains of the litter are quite large, and that's the kind I liked. 2. I had Persians. They needed a huge amount of grooming and bathing. That's one reason I wouldn't recommend Persians for anyone but someone prepared to spend as much time grooming their cat as the cat himself does. 3. Wet food is not the way to go and is usually not recommended by vets. Crystals in a cat's urine are idiopathic, that is, they depend on the cat and on the food. It's not that it's dry, it's what's in the food and how your cat reacts to it. The two main concerns with cat food are ash and texture. Wet or dry cat food can contain ash, which cats are incredibly sensitive to, and which can give them all sorts of internal problems. Most retail cat food is very high in ash; that's why a good Vet brand like Iams is the way to go. The texture problem is just my way of saying that it is much healthier for cats to give their teeth and gum adequate stimulation by making them crunch through a dry food than slurp up a wet one. Again, I'm sure your vet was right for your cat, but endorsing wet food is not the norm with vets - quite the opposite is true. 4. Damn right.
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#37
10-24-2005, 05:16 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
[ QUOTE ]
Wet food is not the way to go and is usually not recommended by vets. [/ QUOTE ] I hate to break the news but most vets (even really good ones) actually don't get much training on nutrition. For example, I go to the Cat Practice in New York which is considered one of the premier vets for cats and the doctors there really don't seem to know much about the ingredients in the food they recommend/prescribe. For example, my vet (who is otherwise excellent) suggested food for my cat with deteriorating kidneys (thankfully not yet in CRF) that was IMO of a very low quality (notwithstanding the fact that it was low in phosphorous as it should be for him) and said that the specialty dry food was as good as the wet. Even I knew that having a cat with kidney problems continue to eat dry food was crazy. Here is a really good article on the problems with dry food for cats: Feeding Your Cat I do agree that you need to monitor teeth and gums on a wet food diet. Then again I have never seen any convincing evidence (notwithstanding many claims) that dry food cleans at all a cat's teeth.
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#38
10-24-2005, 06:12 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
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They will be fixed (I think its required anyway), I will never declaw, although they will probably just be inside cats (although I may not fully appreciate the ramifactions of such a decision). [/ QUOTE ] fixed = good declawed = good I'm not a cat psychologist, so I don't know how it makes them feel, but I'll tell this: we had 2 cats they clawed [censored] (drapes, sofa, chair, other drapes, other chair, other sofa) I told my wife either the claws go or the cats go the claws went the cats came home and peed on a cushion as a protest we threw out the cushion nothing else was ever ruined if you're going to keep them inside they have exactly ZERO need for claws. safe your furniture! FishNChips
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#39
10-24-2005, 06:14 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
Just to throw a few extra cents in:
I would recommend getting one male and one female cat, rather than two females. Just like people, two women in the same house make for less happiness. Even if they are fixed. If you are getting siblings from the same litter, it might not matter as much, but female cats tend to be very dominant, and unless you get a VERY passive female, there will be issues. Male cats tend to be VERY laid back, so two male cats is a better choice than two female cats. At least that has been my experience over time....
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#40
10-24-2005, 06:17 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
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I would recommend getting one male and one female cat, rather than two females. [/ QUOTE ] This had been recommended to me as well. So I got a male to keep my female company. Well, they hate eachother. Go figure. I love them both though. If you get littermates compatability should be less of an issue regardless.
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