So you’ve got a new Kitten? Congratulations. Let the fun begin!

Your new pet is an adventure! Keep things simple, plan to have fun and remember your new friend could be with you for 10-14 years, so it is important to begin with some planning and information.

Tea Tree Gully Veterinary Hospital is committed to providing quality, friendly care for the pets in the Tea Tree Gully and surrounding areas.

Each Veterinary Surgeon and team member is deeply committed to the health and well-being of your pet. We love animals as much as you do.

When choosing a veterinary surgeon for your pet cat, look to Tea Tree Gully Veterinary Hospital for veterinary excellence delivered by trusted, caring professionals. We are here to advise and help you every step of the way with your pet, so if we can offer any assistance, please don’t hesitate to call.

The following offers some advice on how to care for your new kitten.

Feeding Your Kitten

Feed your kitten commercially available food. It is essential to give your kitten a balanced diet containing the correct proportions of all the essential nutrients.

We use and recommend the Hills Science range of foods. These special kitten diets contain all the requirements for a growing kitten. Provided you are feeding at least 70% commercial food some supplementation is ok. Other useful foods are strips of meat (red meat or chicken) cut into 5cm strips to encourage chewing. They can be cooked or raw.

Avoid sudden changes in diet - change slowly, and remember that any sudden change in a kitten’s diet can cause a gut upset. Cats are obligate carnivores and can not survive on a vegetarian diet.

Worming

Worms are a fact of life in all immature animals (kittens, children, puppies) and we need to get rid of them regularly – we worm kittens at 8,10 and 12 weeks of age, then once or twice a year. It is important to worm all pets in your home at the same time. There are several types of worming preparations available. We can advise the appropriate dose rate and preparations for you to use. We usually use Milbemax Allwormer, a tablet that we can give while your pet is in for an appointment.

Vaccination

Keep your kitten healthy. New kittens will have some protection against disease from their mothers. However, this declines fairly rapidly in the first few months of life, so we need to actively vaccinate to give better protection. We vaccinate routinely against Feline Enteritis, Cat Flu and Feline Aids (FIV).

Full protection from vaccinations takes 10-14 days, so avoid contact with any unvaccinated cats during this time.

There are 3 primary vaccinations followed by annual health checks and booster vaccinations to ensure your kitten stays a healthy cat.

Behaviour

We recommend that you plan to make your cat an inside pet. If you keep your cat inside all of its life, it will not get in cat fights and be injured, it will avoid snakes and motor cars and you will not have to worry about your pet going missing. The inconvenience of changing a litter tray is far outweighed by the knowledge that your pet is safe. They will find a wide variety of activities within your house (or in a cat run that you can make by enclosing a verandah or pergola, or by purchasing / building one of your own.)

Inside cats need lots of toys – a cat scratch pole, a high vantage point, paper bags, cardboards cartons etc. We can give you some hints to make life more interesting for both of you.

Desexing

All dogs and cats in South Australia born after 1 July 2018 must be desexed before 6 months of age (exemptions may apply).

This is a day procedure and we operate Monday to Friday. Your cat will need be admitted some time between 8:00am and 9:00am for surgery. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your pets admission, as there is paperwork and registration that your admitting vet or nurse will need to go through with you. You will be allocated a discharge appointment for later in the day as well. Occasionally your pet will be kept overnight if they are slow in recovering from the anaesthetic.

When you ring the hospital to make the booking the Nurse will discuss the surgery with you, answer any questions that you have, and quote you the desexing fee.

If you would like a reminder when your cat is old enough for desexing please let us know and we will arrange to contact you.

Microchip / Identification

All dogs and cats in South Australia born after 1 July 2018 must be desexed before 6 months of age (exemptions may apply).

This is a day procedure and we operate Monday to Friday. Your cat will need be admitted some time between 8:00am and 9:00am for surgery. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your pets admission, as there is paperwork and registration that your admitting vet or nurse will need to go through with you. You will be allocated a discharge appointment for later in the day as well. Occasionally your pet will be kept overnight if they are slow in recovering from the anaesthetic.

When you ring the hospital to make the booking the nurse will discuss the surgery with you, answer any questions that you have, and quote you the desexing fee. If you want a reminder when your dog is old enough for desexing please let us know and we will arrange to contact you.