Picking up your kitten!

Things to bring:

1. Cat Carrier: A carrier will be needed to pick up your kitten. Your kitten has not been in a vehicle for a trip longer than to the vet. Also, this will be the first time your kitten has been away from his or her littermates, mother, and smells of home. Your kitten may not ride well or become nervous. A carrier, as a smaller enclosed space, will comfort your kitten.  At this age, your kitten will fit in a small carrier but within months will not. We use extra-large carriers, especially on longer trips. This allows for room for a small litter box in with your kitten. Also, we suggest a hard sided carrier if this is the carrier that you will use for trips and vet visits.  

2. Small Litter Box: Unlike a child, you cannot tell the kitten that it will be a long ride and to go to the bathroom before you leave… Easy as cutting down a cardboard box and adding some litter.

3. Two Blankets: One blanket for inside the carrier and one blanket for over the carrier if your kitten isn’t traveling well. Also, if the temperature is under 50 degrees, the kitten will not leave without a blanket over the carrier. The kittens are used to a very warm house. Even though they come with long fur, they will still catch a cold.

Introducing a kitten to your home

Your kitten will be used to eating Purina Kitten Chow, Nurture, found in a yellow package. We will send you home with some of their food.

Additionally, we also feed both kittens and adult cats cooked chicken and cooked egg as a high protein supplement.

Maine Coons will not be full grown until 5 years of age. This means they need plenty of food! Plenty of high protein food! They will not have an overweight problem for the first 8 years at least. We have dry food down at all times and give high protein supplemental food on average twice daily. Cooked chicken and eggs are the primary additions. We’ve noticed that a bigger chunk of chicken will keep your kitten eating longer. We think they like the thrill of having a large piece of meat to gnaw on, instinct. Also, this will be good for their teeth and might prevent the need for you to be their chew toy. Your kitten will be used to having Purina Kitten chow available at all times. If you choose to change the food that your kitten is on, be sure to do so slowly! Changing a kitten or cat’s food selection too quickly can lead to upset stomachs and loose stool. For a house cat, it is recommended to have your kitten on kitten chow for the first year, for Maine Coons, it is recommended for the first year and a half. Our cats eat Purina Naturals with vitamins.

Dairy

Your kitten will not be used to having milk or cheese. Giving lots of milk without working your kitten or cat up to it will cause the kitten to be loose which can lead to dehydration. Giving your kitten or cat lots of cheese will cause the opposite.

Litter

Our kittens are used to using UNSCENTED clay litter.

They have long hair on their paws and lick their paws clean so we never use scented litter. Some cats don’t like scented litter as well. If you are worried about the smell there are a few steps to take.

1. Use closed in litter boxes. This is easy to do, a large storage tote with a hole in the side can serve as a closed in litter box.  

2. Sprinkle baking soda, not much, on the litter. We do not do this often due to having kittens in the house but baking soda should counter the smell in the pan.

3. Wet food can also cause smell.

Due to the size of our cats, we use large litter pans! The large plastic storage totes mentioned above and large cement mixing totes.

Stow your valuables

Our kittens are used to having free range of our house. They go up and down stairs. They will find ways onto high shelves or behind your valuables. They will bolt from one end of your house to the other.  

Other Pets

If you have other animals, we recommend the following introduction process:

1. Animals should be on opposite sides of a closed door for a day

2. Animals should be able to see and smell each other for a day

3. After that, we switch. They will each get a safe chance to investigate and smell the other, and the other space.

4. Your kitten should adjust quickly due to their age and high energy. The concern will be more likely, your other pet’s adjusting to another animal in their territory.

Toys

Toys are VERY important, and fun. Toys will stimulate your kitten and keep you from turning into their chew toy!

Try different toys to see what your kitten prefers. Most of our kittens will pick a toy type or a few toy types and be more interested in them than others. If you find the right toy type, you may even be able to teach the kitten fetch! Others may prefer chasing strings. Hair ties, small stuffed animals, and plastic springs are the favorites for a game of fetch. Don’t forget the box. Cardboard boxes may be the best toy for your kitten. Whenever a box enters our house, we end up strategically cutting holes in it for our cats and kittens to play!

Catnip - If a kitten or cat over does the catnip, the kitten or cat may seem lethargic for the next day or two. You may want to limit the amount of time your kitten or cat plays with catnip.

Cat Trees and Scratch Posts

Regular store bought cat trees are great for kittens but you will be lucky if they seem to last a year. Our cats like high places, if you have a tall shelf, add a blanket or pillow and they will love it! Cats may find a way up to a tall place but you might want to make it a short jump to get back down. Scratch posts are great, the taller the better because our tall and long cats love to stretch. Plus, they can help save your couch. If you are bored, stand a mattress up on its side like you are moving it and watch them climb it. Although it might take a while for your kitten or cat to decide she/she is allowed to climb it.

Upset Stomach

If for whatever reason your kitten has an upset stomach, most easily noticeable in loose stool, giving your kitten/cat only boiled chicken and rice for a day or two will help. You should contact a vet to ensure everything is okay. Causes can include, but are not limited to, rapid change in food, rapid changes in temperature, and ingestion of other things (such as certain plants, human food they were not supposed to get into, non-edible materials that they found) that they should not have access to.  

Plants

Be careful of plants in your home. Many house plants, such as lilies and poinsettia, are toxic to cats. An animal can be near a plant for years then decide it is a good time to go try a bite. Don’t assume just because they haven’t bothered it before they won’t start.

Bathing and grooming

Nails

Declawing is a dangerous procedure to put your cat through. It is risky and terribly painful for the cats.

You can clip nails easily and there are step by step instructions online. We can show you some tricks when you pick up your kitten. If you would like the kitten’s nails trimmed before pick up let us know. We recommend playing with the kittens paws often and not only when they are being trimmed. Also, try to trim their nails when they are sleeping. If you attempt it when they are hyper… it will not go well. Trimming your kittens nails regularly and getting them used to the process will help you develop habits of the kittens behaving for this process.

There are other options, such as nail covers, available. Scratch posts and spray bottle training will help prevent destruction of furniture. Other tricks to protect furniture exist. Double sided tape, foil, or other items in the location of where you don’t want your cat to scratch may deter them. Certain smells added to the location can deter them. Remember that these cats will be very long when full grown so a short little cat scratch may not be their ideal way to stretch. Multiple tall cat scratches or even carpets hung on the wall can allow your cat to have a great space to stretch.

Bathing

Your Kitten/Cat will not need to be bathed often. It is unhealthy for your cats coat to be washed regularly. Normally, wiping the coat can clean most things stuck to them. We prefer to wash our cats with Ivory, Dawn, or Head and Shoulders. Always be careful of getting water or soap in the eyes, mouth, or nose. This can cause health problems for your cat. Cats can catch a cold from getting water up their nose and this can lead to more health problems later on. Be sure to dry your cat or kitten thoroughly after washing, especially they will be in a cooler area.

Upkeep of the Coat

Brushing will help prevent knots from forming in your kitten or cats coat. A location to make sure you are brushing is the arm pits of your kitten. If you start brushing your kitten early in life and keep it up regularly, your cat shouldn’t have a problem with it.

Spaying and neuter

We recommend waiting as long as possible. Maine Coons develop very slowly compared to smaller breeds. Your Maine Coon could easily be 15 pounds by one year of age where a normal house cat should top out at about 8 pounds before becoming overweight. There are bad habits that males can developed if not fixed before hormones start taking over but head development, joint development, and hip development are risked when fixed early. We recommend fixing your cat (male or female) between 8 to 12 months of age. We haven’t had a Maine Coon kitten younger than 9 months of age go into heat or spray. There is a slight risk of cancer if a female goes through a heat cycle which is why your vet will push for fixing the kitten early, but we believe that chance is less than 10% by age 10 but the increased risk of hip and other joint issues from fixing a Maine Coon early can lead to more severe problems earlier in life. Do some research on Maine Coons before fixing your kitten under 8 months of age.

Pests:

Anything which comes inside your house from outside has a risk of brining parasites into your home. This includes you! Dogs and rodents are the most common, but if you step in something, you can track it into your house. Even if you don’t wear your shoes in your house, parasites can come in on your pant legs. For example, fleas and ticks can attach to your clothing and enter your house that way. Even the food you feed the cats or that they steal can be a source. Raw food always has a risk of parasites.

Fleas and Ticks

We recommend Advantage II. We use it as a preventative measure. Advantage II does not have a formula for younger kittens, Revolution and frontline do have products which can be used starting at 8 weeks of age and 2 pounds.

Worms

Regular stool sample checks are an important part of your kitten and cats care. Some parasites are detectible rarely in your animals stool due to “shedding” cycles.

Safe-guard has a product which contains Fenbendazone. This is one of the few non-prescription products which cover multiple parasite types while other may only cover one or two worm types.

As always, feel free to reach out to us regarding any questions, issues or to share cute pictures! Thank you!

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