Kitten’s care and preventive measures

Grooming and sleep are one of the main activities of a kitten. Two weeks after its birth, the kitten is already beginning to comprehend the ritual of washing up. It wets with its rough tongue fore legs and with a "sponge" cleans its body, reaching even to the ears. A cat uses hind legs to scratch the back or clean its ears.

Combing hair with a brush will soon become one of the rituals in your communication with your pet. Neat cat usually has a beautiful and shiny coat - it is a "mirror" of its good health and a pride of the owner. In addition, combing is a good opportunity to hold regular thorough inspection of your pet for the presence of external parasites.

Why does it need combing?

Use the brush to remove dead hair that kittens swallow, licking itself. If your fluffy darling devotes this procedure too much time, too much hair gets into its digestive tract often making clump clumps of hair in the stomach. It can cause vomiting and other health problems, and sometimes, in the most serious cases, even complete blockage of the intestine.

The kitten should be as soon as possible accustomed to combing hair. This ritual will soon give a pleasure and joy of communication to the cat and its owner. It is always recommended to finish combing with play.

Choose brushes carefully. Keep in mind, the cat with short hair can be combed once a week. The main principle of grooming British cats - the maximum removing of guard hair and minimal injuring thick undercoat. Therefore, the most suitable are the various bristle brushes, metal combs, which represent the number of metal teeth with a plastic handle. An excellent choice is a rubber massage brush and gloves, they collect and massage at the same time, which cats enjoy. All of them do not electrify hair and easily remove hair. Be careful with hair picks.

Hair picks penetrate the hair of your pet's deeper than the brush, and there is a risk to hurt the skin. Therefore, you should carefully select the hair pick during the purchase. After combing and removing dead hairs, you need to use a natural bristle brush in the shape of a classic massage combs, or simply hold with wet hands against the hair to gather all faded hair and give volume.

Always brush your kitten along the hair, and then against it, to gently remove dead hair. If you find small mats, which you cannot cope, be patient and careful; do not pull hard so as not to hurt your pet.

Hair lumps. Vomiting of swallowed hair is a physiological feature; do not confuse vomiting because of illness or poisoning. Adult cats can need a special diet to improve the intestinal transit and elimination from the body of the hair clumps. Shedding periods. In the spring and summer, the cats need more intensive care. First, they are massaged using rubber gloves and then combed to remove dead hair easier. You can also use cloth made of suede.

How to cut the kitten's claws?

Claws' trimming is not painful, but cats do not usually like this procedure. Therefore, it is important to accustom your cat to this procedure as soon as possible, to gain its confidence.

It is preferable to cut the claw gradually, in stages, otherwise you can damage the sensitive part (nerve and blood vessels).If you provide your cat's trimming, it is better to do it after bathing. Sit, putting a cat in your lap, where you will be comfortable. After trimming each claw, it is recommended to calm down the cat, stroking its tummy.

It is better to use special "guillotine" type tweezers. Push the claw as much as possible and cut only the white tip of the claw, do not approach the pink triangle, the fleshy part at the base of the claw. If you invade this zone, you risk to cause bleeding and pain in the kitten.

Status of the kitten's claws is a reliable indicator of its health. Too hard or too soft nails may indicate improper feeding or bacterial diseases. Warning. Not all cats like water

Many cats cannot stand bathing, however, it is an important component of care. You should teach a kitten to bathing from an early age.

Act gently but decisively

It is necessary not to frighten the kitten at the first acquaintance with the water. First, soak the hair of your pet with a damp sponge. If it resists, do not insist. Repeat the procedure at intervals of a few days, until the baby gets used to the water.

Rinse the hair well

Pour into the bath or basin warm water (36-37 ° C), so it covers the bottom. Constantly encourage your kitten by stroking and caressing words, when it would be in the water. Pour it back with water from the scoop, being careful not to pour into the ears and eyes, do not wet the head of your pet!

Skin pH of cats and humans is different, so it is important to use a special shampoo for cats (you can buy it at a pet store).

Wash its hair with special emphasis on dirty places, and then properly rinse with water from a bucket or a weak jet shower. Prepare a clean warm towel to wrap the cat in it and wipe it gently, drying its hair. For complete drying, use a hairdryer. However, be careful not to overwarm it or put too close to the kitten.

Discharge from the eyes can leave traces of tears in cats. Wipe them with a cloth moistened with a lotion for the eyes, but it is better to use special pads sold in drugstores. Often, the owner uses for this piece of cotton wool, but then on the muzzle of the kitten fiber will remain.

There are special facilities for pet’s eyewash. Saturate a swab and wipe the area around the eyes in the direction from the inner to the outer corners. If there is redness or the discharge has an unusual appearance, contact your vet.

The nose of a healthy cat should always be clean, without any discharge. Some kittens at the corners of the nostrils have dry scabs formed in the nasal secretions. They can be easily removed with the swab moistened with lukewarm water.

Normally, a healthy British cat's ears are cleaned if necessary. However, inspect them regularly to notice signs of illness - dark brown spots of earwax, red ear canal, edema, acne and sores. You can do this, for example, during combing. If there are any signs of ill ears - immediately contact your vet.

However, there are cases when the cat's ears must be cleaned:

If the cat from the nature has high earwax discharge (it's not a disease, it is especially the body, and to avoid inflammatory diseases of the ears regular hygiene is necessary, about 1 time per week).

After bathing the cat. After bathing, get wet cotton swab into the ear. Otitis may develop if you do not do such a procedure.

To clean the ears of a cat, it is better to use a cotton swab, oiled with vaseline or liquid paraffin. You can also use the facilities for care of ears of such firms as «Yves San Bernard» - Klin Ear; «Bio-Groom» - Ear Care, Ear Fresh (powder); "8-in-1" - Ear Clear, Ear Powder (powder), Ear Cleansing Pads» (napkins); «Hartz» - Ear Mite Treatment with Aloe;Beaphar and others. Do not enter a cotton swab or sticks too deeply into the ear canal (about 1 cm), so as not to damage the eardrum. If the ear is very dirty, treat it with 3% hydrogen peroxide solution.

Hold its head with one hand, fixing face and jaws, and remove the ear "inside out" with the other hand. Examine the ear and clean it one way, depending on how you use the tool (see "The instructions of funds"). Some tools recommended dripping 1-2 drops into the ear, massaging the base of the ear and cleaning with a cotton swab. Some tools can moisten a swab and wipe the ear. The method is not important, important is the result - a clean ear. In conclusion, we can sprinkle a disinfectant ear with ear powder «Bio-Groom» or "8-in-1".

Do not clean the ears without the need - the protective micro flora of the ear is removed. The optimal frequency of cleaning ears is selected individually from once a week to once a year (and this happens if the pet has an ideal health).

Baby teeth are cut in cats between the second and sixth weeks of life, the secondary teeth - from four months. They, like humans, can have the teeth tartar, which causes inflammation of the gums, foul odor from the mouth, and even tooth loss.

Your vet will give you the necessary advice about oral care, and if necessary, will remove your pet's tartar with ultrasound.

It is important to know that cat's quite constant and significant odor from the mouth is not something out of the ordinary, since it mainly eats meat food. The evidence of trouble is another unpleasant odor, the cause of which is the proliferation of a large number of bacteria in the mouth. Peculiar smell occurs when a cat suffers from diseases of the urinary system, because through the oral mucosa toxic substances are partially derived.

Plaque and slowly decaying food debris cause destruction of teeth and gums. Tartar, which can be very intense, is due to the deposition on the enamel mineral salts (mainly calcium) from saliva or food remnants. It is noted that cats, which eat wet feeds, are more prone to periodontal disease. Croquettes require longer chewing and provide easy abrasive effect. Tartar can happen very quickly and lead to inflammation of the gums. Oral examination permits to evaluate the need of the removal of tartar.

It may seem strange that cats, carnivores, like to eat grass. These features of feeding behavior are inherited from their wild ancestors. Cats are sensitive to tastes and smells of some plants, and grass allows them to clean the stomach, causing regurgitation (spitting up), necessary for the health of the digestive tract.

Kitten’s care and preventive measures