Animal Talk

1

Introductions

When introducing children to your kitten

ask the children to sit quietly and offer the

kitten tasty treats for coming near them. They

must be told not to grab at or hold her, as this

could result in the child receiving a nasty

scratch and the kitten having a lifelong fear

of children. Children should never be allowed

to chase the kitten; however, having said all

this, children and kittens generally get on well

together and form a strong bond.

Introducing other cats

The introduction to other pets at home must

be done slowly. When introducing your kitten

to the resident cat, start off by keeping the

kitten in one room and not allowing your adult

cat access. Start feeding both cats on either

side of the interleading door. If they are both

comfortable eating there – great! If not, move

their food away from the door to a distance

where they both can eat, then gradually move

the food back to the door.

This builds a positive association of something

nice (food) with the smell of the kitten or cat.

Once they are both comfortable with this, swap

the cats over so the older cat is in the room and

the kitten is in the rest of the house. This way

they get used to each other’s smell without

actually meeting.

From here put both cats in separate baskets

and put them in the same room, while

constantly feeding them both treats to build

up the association that the smell of the other

cat equals good things. If all goes well, let

them out in a closed room. A good idea is not

to feed them before the meeting so they are

both hungry and will be ready to eat the food

you give them, from a suitable distance apart.

They must be well-supervised and gradually

these times together will get longer until they

are comfortable together.

Meeting the dog

Meeting your dog is the next thing your kitten

needs to learn about. Most dogs chase cats

because cats run, however there are some dog

breeds who are more intense in their chase.

These are most commonly the sighthounds –

Greyhounds, Whippets and Afghans.

If you have one of these breeds you must be

super vigilant when your kitten is small and

provide her with lots of safe places where the

dog can’t reach her.

When introducing your kitten to your dog it is

of utmost importance to keep your kitten safe.

Place the kitten in a large crate that she can’t

get out of and your dog can’t get into. Inside the

crate have a box where your kitten can hide if

she feels nervous. You need two people for this

introduction. Have your dog on lead and allow

a calm meeting of the two. If your dog is over-

excited, move him away from the kitten, to a

distance where he can still see her but is calm.

Give him treats for not reacting at this distance.

At the same time, the second person gives the

kitten treats to build up a positive association

with the dog. Slowly bring your dog closer to

the crate, all the time rewarding for not reacting.

You eventually want them to meet nose to nose

through the crate.

Once you have done this a few times, have

your dog on lead, a pocketful of treats, open

the crate to allow the kitten to wander about,

and keep treating your dog for not reacting.

Do these introductions a few times and make

sure your dog is calm and comfortable around

the kitten before letting him off lead. If you

experience any problems with either of these

introductions split them up and contact a

behaviourist to help you.

2

Litterbox

Her second big lesson is to teach her about

the litterbox. You need to give your kitten a

litterbox in her room. Put the litterbox in a quiet

area, but not next to her food, water bowl or bed.

There are many types of litter, however the

one that all cats seem to like best is plain

old sand.

Most kittens will instinctively scratch in a

litterbox, however some of the longhaired

breeds may require a little assistance. Gently

hold their paw and make a scratching motion

in the litter – they will soon catch on.

If your kitten has an accident do not punish

her, clean up the place with biological washing

powder, rinse it well and leave to thoroughly dry

before allowing the kitten back there.

Dogs and cats can

have very good

relationships if they

were introduced

properly.

If the kitten doesn’t know how

to use the litterbox yet, you

should teach her how.

▲

training

CATSLIFE

Kittens should stay with

the mom until they are at

least 12 weeks old.