Kitten Care - Understanding Kitten Care

Name: Veterinary Services
Brand: Crosslake Veterinary Hospital

What should I consider before adopting or buying a kitten?

It's very important to think about the cost of having a kitten. Unfortunately, pets are not free by any means, and there are some things they may need throughout their life to keep them happy and healthy, so make sure you have a little bit of a budget for your pet. Make sure your lifestyle is going to be amenable to having that pet for the next 15 to even 20 years some cats can live, so make sure that they're going to have a nice stable home for that time, and consider any other pets in the house and how they may respond to having another pet added.

Dr. Caitlin Bentz
Crosslake Veterinary Hospital

How do I introduce a kitten to other pets?

It's very important to do any kind of introductions between pets quite slowly, so start with just doing some scent swapping with towels or maybe blankets that each of them have been lying on and slowly work your way up to actual face-to-face interactions.

How often does my kitten need to go to the veterinarian?

Ideally, your kitten would come in every three to four weeks to get vaccine boosters as they age and their immunity develops until they're about 18 to 20 weeks of age, and then just yearly after that, as long as they’re staying nice and healthy for you.

What kind of preventative care does my kitten need?

It's very important that kittens get vaccinated so that we can make sure they’re not going to get any communicable diseases or diseases that they may already have harbored in their body. It's also very important to deworm kittens since they are very prone to harboring parasites, even if you don't actually see any worms in their stool at all. Additionally, it's very important to control fleas and ticks, as well as heartworm disease that can be spread by mosquitoes in the area.

When should I get my kitten spayed or neutered?

We like to spay and neuter all kittens by the age of about five months. At that point, we notice that they do start exhibiting some of those heat cycles and different kinds of sexually driven behaviors. By about five months is what is recommended at this point to make sure that your home and kitten stay nice and happy.

If you have any other questions, please give us a call at (218) 692-4400. You can also email us at [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as we are able. Don't forget to follow us on social media: Facebook and Instagram

Kitten Care - FAQs 1

Dr. Caitlin Bentz
Crosslake Veterinary Hospital

How should I feed my kitten?

It's best to introduce your kitten to both dry and wet versions of specifically kitten food that will have all of the nutrients in there for their growth. It's very important to measure how much they're getting so they don't get used to having food out all the time for them.

What are some products I might need for my kitten?

We definitely want to have multiple litter boxes in the house for them, multiple food and water bowls to ensure they have access at all times, lots of different scratching objects, things for them to get high off the ground, and also lots of different toys so they can practice that predatory behavior that cats have, which is very important to them.

How soon should I bring my new kitten to see a veterinarian?

The sooner, the better, so we can ensure they're free of any developmental health issues that we may need to worry about, and also any communicable diseases that can be spread to other pets in the house or potentially even humans.

How can I get the most out of my first vet visit with my new kitten?

It's always great to bring in a stool sample since kittens are very prone to having different kinds of parasites. It's also good to know what kind of food you're feeding your kitten and how much, so we can help you adjust that if necessary for the health of your kitten. Additionally, bring any veterinary records you have if your kitten has had any deworming or vaccines before in the past.

What will a veterinarian look for during an initial kitten care visit?

We look over the entire kitten to see how everything is going. Particular things that kittens are prone to include heart defects (so we listen to their heart very carefully), umbilical hernias, palate issues, and how their teeth are lining up. These are just some of the things we examine, in addition to many others.

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