Caring for your kitten

There are many important things to know about caring for your new kitten, and we are always happy to answer questions about your Kwinana baby even after you have taken yours home. Here are some of the basics:

• Diet: we recommend you feed your kitten a high quality, vet-approved diet, such as Royal Canin, Advance, or similar. They should always have access to water and dry food. You can supplement this with fresh meat or cooked boneless chicken if you want to treat them.
• Play: Siberians are lively and love to play with you and other pets. Toys as simple as a scrunched-up ball of paper will keep them happy for hours -- just be sensible and don't leave anything lying around that they could choke on or eat if they're not supposed to.
• Rest: never wake a sleeping kitten. Cats sleep a lot (16 hours a day is pretty standard!) but it is especially important to let them rest when they are young and still growing. 
• Introducing kittens to other pets: the best thing is to have your new kitten and existing cat in separate areas to start with, so they can smell but not see each other. Once they're familiar with each others' smell, they should be allowed to see each other but not touch. Once they are used to seeing each other you can remove the divider between them, but it is a good idea to make sure there is a safe spot your cat or kitten can retreat to if they've had enough of company for a while. It might take a few days, but they're sure to be friends before long if you take it slow.

All of our babies go to their new homes at a minimum of 12 weeks of age, desexed, wormed, litter-trained and up-to-date with their vaccinations. We sell to indoor homes only.

The benefits of keeping your cats contained

Cats are very happy living an indoor life. From decades of having cats we can be very sure that they are not "missing out" by not roaming free outside. The benefits of keeping your cats contained include:

• They are safe from cars and other man-made hazards
• They are protected from wild animals, snakebite, strays and other people's pets running loose
• They are safe from theft
• They have a much lower risk of getting ticks, fleas, worms and other parasites, as well as diseases spread through contact with other cats
• They cannot kill birds or other wildlife. A cat's natural instinct is to hunt, and there is no way of preventing them from doing this if they are allowed to roam outside (even a bell collar makes no difference). In fact, feral cats and uncontained pets present one of the greatest risks to Australian native wildlife and our ecosystem.

Our cats have access to an enclosed outdoor run or "cattery", which allows them to enjoy the outdoors safely and without endangering any wildlife. Building a cattery is not very expensive or difficult, and definitely worth it. If you would like more information about making an outdoor run for your cats, please feel free to contact us.

Click here to see more videos on the ways different people keep their cats contained.