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Did you know that…
Neutering your cat
is the ‘right’ and
responsible thing to do.
There are organisations
who are willing to
provide financial
assistance in meeting
some / all of the cost
of getting your cat
neutered (Contact Mark /
Stella for further
information). Neutering
a cat will cost you
around £30-£50. This is
a tiny fraction of the
cost of caring for a
pregnant cat and her
many litters. It is also
much less than the vet
bills you could face if
your un-neutered cat
contracts one of the
many diseases entire
cats are at risk from.
If you haven’t got pet
insurance for your cat
and are ever landed with
a vet’s bill at a time
when you can least
afford it, the vast
majority of vets will
let you pay in
instalments.
Girl cats can have three
litters a year
(typically 3 -7 kittens
per litter); resulting
in weakness, thinness
and often ill-health. In
her lifetime, a single
female cat and her
offspring can be
responsible for around
50 million kittens.
This may seem like a
ridiculously high number
but consider the facts:
a cat can breed from
about 4 months of age, a
female cat can have 4
litters a year, a single
litter usually contains
up to 7 kittens, when
each of those kittens is
4 months it too can
breed etc.
The figure for tom cats
is impossible to
estimate because there
are no limits as to the
number of females a
single tom can
impregnate.
If you're
thinking of getting a
cat or kitten then go to
an animal rescue, (we
are always happy to
help) and we will advise
you on all aspects of
caring for your pet. But
here are a few practical
thoughts:
From
birth to around 3 /4
weeks kittens get all
their dietary
requirements off ‘mum’;
so it is essential that
she gets the best of
everything – forget ‘eating
for two’
she’s ‘eating for
(typically)
three to
five’!!!!
From
about 3/4 weeks kittens
will need to have extra
food provided by their
human helpers. Kittens
have tiny tummies and
need to be fed ‘little
and often’ generally
around a teaspoon of
tinned kitten food /
cooked chicken (no skin
or bones) / cooked fish
twice a day in addition
to the milk provided by
mum puss.
By eight
weeks, they will need to
be fed 6 – 8 times per
day, typically consuming
around 200 grams of
kitten food per day in
addition to the milk
supply still being
provided by mum puss.
Kittens should also have
access to a shallow
container of fresh clean
water at all times.
At 10 /
12 weeks mum puss will
be becoming fed-up with
the demands her babies
are making on her for
milk and will start to
wean them. (At this time
she is also preparing to
come into season again
if not neutered).
Consequently the babies
will need 250 / 350
grams of kitten food per
day divided between 4
meals.
Follow
this advice, and behave
responsibly in terms of
regular worming,
neutering and
vaccination and you can
usually look forward to
the pleasures and
pressures of being owned
by your kitten for the
next 15 years!!!
reproduced by kind
permission of Oakwood
Veterinary Centre.
Contact: 01691 679699
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