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| English: Animal Rescue (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| A six-week old kitten. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| An adorably curious kittyyay its adorable, i love it, its called tricky nathen maister (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
If you wanted a cat
when you grew up you may be tempted to adopt one at the holiday time. The
holidays are not the best time to adopt a cat and you should never give a pet
in a household you are not the head of. It may end up at the animal shelter
after Christmas. Still if you are adding a cat to your household in the New
Year there are things you should know.
First provide a homeless cat a home. Unless you are
looking for a pure bred breed of cat, there are lots of great cats available
from the local humane society, shelter, or animal rescue. Consider adopting an
older cat as they will already be litter box trained and socialized. If you
have to adopt a kitten; get one that has been spayed or neutered. If you adopt
a smaller kitten get the cat spayed or neutered as soon as it is old enough.
Many a cat owner has been surprised by kittens because they thought their cat
was too young to get pregnant. Plan from the start to be a responsible pet
owner and have your new cat spayed or neutered.
If you have younger children make sure they understand
that the cat or kitten is a living thing not a toy. Some experts believe that
older cats are better around younger children because kittens tend to nip and
scotch. It all depends on the personality of the cat and the child. An
energetic child and playful kitten might be a match made in heaven. Just don't
leave a cat of any age unsupervised with younger children. Also note that the
kitten will attach and want to be with the person in the family who pays it the
most attention.
If you already have older cats or dogs take your time
introducing the new cat to the house hold. Yes, there will be some kitty drama,
but generally in the end it all works out. Dogs will generally adapt to cat,
but if you have an aggressive breed you need to carefully monitor the
situation. If the dog is overly aggressive with the cat, don't risk the cat
being killed or injured. If you cannot keep an aggressive dog out of the way of
the cat, it may be the wrong time to be adopting a cat. It is true that dogs
and cats raised together tend to bond, but a young puppy and kitten can be a
lot of work and something you will not want to take on during the hectic
holidays.
If you do adopt a cat during the holiday season don't
forget to have it see a veterinarian as soon as possible. You may end up having
to wait a while because many veterinarian clinics are closed during the
holidays. Pick your veterinarian before you bring a new cat or kitten home. Get
suggestions from friends or even the shelter that you adopted the cat at. You
should be able to get a fairly good history on the cat you adopt from the
shelter and the cat should be healthy. Never adopt a cat or kitten that appears
sickly. A reputable shelter only adopts out healthy animals and fully vets them
while they are in their care.
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