Kitten Care
1. The best way to acclimate a new kitten to your home is to choose a bathroom or a small area where there is no where for her to hide and put her food & water and litter in there. Leave her in this small place for a few days. Take her out as often as you wish but keep her on your lap and pet her. When you cannot hold her put her back in her safe place. Once you are sure she is eating & drinking & using the litter box correctly and allowing you to give her affection then you can slowly open her up to the rest of the house. It can take up to a week for kittens to get over the stress of the flight and start settling in .
2. Gradually let him explore the rest of his new home. We actually have a variety of litter boxes scattered throughout our home so that they are never that far away from relief, particularly for kittens that, like little children, can get distracted playing.
3. Introduce the other pets in the household gradually. Ragdolls typically are fearless and love everyone so this is as much for the current household as it is for the new one. We actually have a variety of security doors in our house that are mesh so they can get to know each other, sniff noses and the like with the safety of a barrier between them. Again, your Raggie is an individual and may just take over upon arrival. It happens often. Your older cat can take 2-4 weeks to accept a new kitten this is normal cat behavior they will eventually fully accept the kitten but it takes time please be patient with your resident cat(s).
4. Toys - they love toys. I get many of their toys off of either Amazon.com or eBay. They love anything with feathers and ordinary cat toy balls with a bell in them. They love fake mice. Don't ask me why but many of our kittens LOVE these mice but they periodically drown them in their water dish. Oh, and you can never have too many toys because they will all end up under your couch.
The problems with laser play: it’s not news that lasers are hazardous. Shining laser beams into eyes — human as well as feline can cause permanent eye damage. Equally as important is that lasers really are only amusing to the humans and not the cats. Here's why.
People typically play with cats using laser pointers in a way that frustrates and teases cats. Laser players usually point and dance the beams randomly on the floors and walls for their cats to chase. Certain of a successful catch, they pounce only to find there is nothing under their paws. The bright red dot disappears, or it lingers on the wall or settles for an instant on a paw. Cats are left frustrated, without the opportunity to feel the tactile sensation of their hard-earned prey. Felines need to have the satisfaction of the hunt — to catch and feel their prey beneath their paws.
There are many other ways to play with your cat, like toys that dangle from small poles. Just be sure to not leave those such that your cat can get tangled in them while you are away.
Birdfeeder as cat entertainment. We've had ours up for over a year now and it is on a window that has a cat perch sized ledge. One with suction cups will hold up to bad weather, wind and a multitude of birds. They are easy to fill, and provides great entertainment for both your cats and you. No creatures are harmed (well, except maybe the egos of the cats that just can't get those fluttery creatures just inches away).
The safest way to take your furbaby out into the great outdoors is with a pet stroller.
5. Scratching posts - buy a nice one there are many different types try a few different kinds or you can make your own if you like by wrapping sisal rope around a board, or one might come on your cat tree
6. Cat tree - Your kitten is very active. She needs opportunity to scramble, scamper and generally be a happy, busy kitten. We highly recommend some kind of cat tree. Amazon has tons to choose from. We prefer the brand Lazy Buddy or Lazy Buddy Tall it has no carpet and washable pads instead.
7. Litter
Your kitten will have grown up with Feline Pine. However, we have learned that they very easily transitioned to normal clumping clay litter if that is entirely your choice (and your kitten, of course). Also, if you frequent a farm store, there is a Feline Pine equivalent (Pine Pellets) which is bedding for barn animals, that works just as well and will save you a few dollars. (Like Tractor Supply Horse Pelleted Bedding) We no longer use clumping litter because of its dust factor and its lack of biodegradability and baby kittens eat it. If you choose to use a different litter purchase a small bag of Feline Pine and pour it over your litter so the kitten gets used to the new litter.
8. Litter boxes
We use a flat pan litter box. It is easiest if you start with a typical flat litter box. When you are sure the kitten is using the litter pan properly you can start to introduce litter boxes with flaps or cubby hole entries. The most frightening for a kitten in the flap style litter box so I do not recommend this type until the kitten is older, otherwise the kitten may be too scared to go through the flap and start using the floor for a litter box or some other obscure location, like your bed.
9. Cat food
We mix all the different types together so that our cats are accustomed to different protein sources. We feed our kittens Royal Canin Mother & BabyCat Dry food. We leave the dry out all the time and we mix water in the dry food for a moistened food option as well. As for wet food our kittens are eating 4Health Grain Free Wet Food and Blue Buffalo Wet Food twice a day. We feed several other different types of wet food twice a day to include: Royal Canin kitten, Pure Balance, Blue Wilderness, Nutrish, Wellness, Earthborn, Weruva, TikiCat, Halo, Applaws, WholeHearted, Soulistic, ect. Some of our kittens are eating only wet food and some of ours are eating only dry food and some eat both. Our kittens will transition to dry food as they grow older but exactly when depends on each individual kitten. You can leave dry food out but continue to feed wet twice a day. Some kittens do not realize dry food is actually food and will starve themselves to death. So we give a variety of dry, moistened wet, and wet food to tickle every kitten fancy.
We feed our adults Earthborn Holistic (Feline Vantage, Primitive Feline, Wild Sea Catch). We mix all the different types together so that our cats are accustomed to different protein sources.
You can find good quality wet food at Petco, Petsmart, Tractor Supply, and surprisingly some of these brands are even at Walmart. Go to their website to find a local distributor or you can order it off of Chewy.com. Any well balanced food that is formulated for kittens will work. Ideally, if you will not be using our food then a gradual transition of a week or two would be the easiest on your little kitty. We recognize there are many different belief systems when it comes to what and how to feed your Ragdoll, including the argument of only feeding "raw". We suggest working with your veterinarians and follow their advice.
As I said, there are many articles and lots of controversy over the best foods for your kitten. I thought this snippet was useful. For the full text:
What is the best type of cat food?
It is recommendable to feed your pet Super Premium types of foods. This means they are “meat based” and also more nutritious and good balanced, with a higher quality of proteins than “meat meal” and including a package of “vitamins and minerals” that has been designed to be more thoroughly absorbed by your pet’s body.
What to absolutely avoid in the main 5 ingredients:
- Proteins from corn (“corn gluten meal” “corn meal”)
- Proteins from soy (“soybean meal”, “soy flour”, “soy meal”)
- Grains such as wheat, white rice. They are high in gluten.
- Rye. It is very harsh to digest and pets don’t like it.
- When 3 of first 5 ingredients are grains
- Potatoes (except sweet potatoes). They are high-glycemic, causing peaks in sugar blood.
- Tapioca, is high-glycemic.
- Artificial preservatives and colorants
A grain-free dry cat food does not mean is healthier than a cat food which contains grains.
Some grain-free cat foods use starch such as tapioca or potatoes in the main 5 ingredients and that means they have as much carbohydrates as the food which contain quality grain sources (and sometimes even more).
For example, some cat foods contain grains such as peas, oats or barley in the first 5 ingredients, while a grain-free cat food might contain sweet potatoes and potatoes or tapioca in the main 5 ingredients, which means the grain-free recipe has as much carbs as the recipe containing grains.
Finally: Does the “perfect cat food” exist?
There is not a “perfect cat food” because there are so many factors involved when it comes to nutritional needs for cats. The best cat food will depend whether the cat is indoor or outdoors, age, medical conditions, even depends on the breed and genes.
Some cats do very bad with dry foods containing any grain while other cats live until an old age eating foods with grains with no problem. The important point here is to choose ameat based dry cat food with no by-products or fillers such as corn or soy, wheat, white rice, artificial flavors or colorants, etc.
Also, you need to find: 1) a good balance between dry and wet food, 2) a price that fits in your budget, and 3) a cat food that will make your cat healthy and happy. Most likely you will need to go through the trial-and-error method to find the best dry cat food for your cat.
Sometimes, even with an excellent cat food, cats still get diseases. Cats, as people, get sick and you need to try to do your best to keep your cat healthy but nothing can be guaranteed, even stress can get your cat sick to the point of serious illness (Ohio State studies).
9. Nail trimming - While this isn't necessary, it keeps kitty from getting her nails caught in fabric which can be painful to both the fabric and the kitten. When the kitten is quiet, we gently massage her feet (usually just the front) to get her use to being handled. Then we gently push the claw forward and use ordinary people nail clippers to nip off the end being careful not to get too close to the quick. DO NOT declaw your cat it is very painful and unethical and they suffer for the rest of their lives!
10.) Vaccinations
We only recommend the core vaccines which are FVRCP & Rabies.
We DO NOT recommend
- FIP
- FELV
- FIV
- Bordetella
- Chlamydia
The most common reactions we have seen in Ragdolls include:
- Fever
- Weakness
- Lethargy
- Diarrhea
- Coughing
- Sneezing
- Watery Eyes or Eye Discharge
- Mouth sores
- Pain at injection site
- Limping
Please visit this website below for more in-depth information on vaccinations from Cornell University :
https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/feline-vaccines-benefits-and-risks
Feline herpesvirus (viral rhinotracheitis): This virus causes upper respiratory infection with fever, sneezing, eye and nasal discharge, conjunctivitis (inflammation of the inner eyelids and mucous membranes around the eyes), inflammation of the cornea (keratitis), and lethargy. Kittens have an increased risk of infection.
Calicivirus: This highly contagious and ubiquitous virus is one of the major causes of upper respiratory infection in cats. Affected cats may experience sneezing, eye and nasal discharge, conjunctivitis, lethargy, loss of appetite, sores on the gums and soft tissues of the oral cavity, and lameness. In some cases, affected kittens may develop pneumonia. In rare cases, a much more virulent strain of this virus can cause inflammation of the liver, intestines, pancreas, and cells that line the blood vessels. This severe form of calicivirus can be deadly in up to half of affected cats.
Rabies virus: This deadly viral infection most commonly spreads through bite wounds, but can also be transmitted to any mammal by exposure of an open wound to the saliva of an infected animal. Skunks, raccoons, coyotes, foxes, and bats are the most common wild carriers in North America. Humans are at risk of infection if bitten by an infected animal or if the saliva of an infected animal comes into contact with an open wound. Rabies is routinely fatal once symptoms develop.
