|
Care
Recommendations: Updated on 01/11/12
Taking Your Kitten Home
The most common question is what to
feed your kitten when you get them home. Follow
these recommendations:
1) We will send you home with
Babycat by Royal Canin and Wellness kitten wet food.
2) Put out the Babycat so they can
eat it any time they want to.
3) You can feed them about a
spoonful of the Wellness one or two times per day.
4) Continue this until they are 4
months old.
5) After 4 months go to the feeding
instructions further down on this page. Those
instructions include the foods we use. You don't
have to use those foods but be careful about the quality
of the food you are feeding them.
When adoption day arrives you will
be
given the following items to help make the transition
for your new family member as smoothly as possible.
o - Pet Carrier
o - Medical Record
o - Supply of food the kitten is
used to eating. We feed them Royal Canin's Babycat
and Wellness kitten canned food.
o - Security Blanket - Has the
scent of the kitten's litter mates. Use this blanket
especially at night while sleeping to give them
something familiar.
Before you come to get your kitten
spend some time at home preparing your home for the
kitten's arrival. You can save yourself some
anxious moments by doing the following:
1) Make sure your kitten cannot get
into any type of chemicals or pest control substances.
Animal Poison
Control # 888-426-4435
2) Limit the kitten to one room
when left alone and then let them branch out to the rest
of the house. Remember they love to explore and they
will find every hole you have in the house.
Sometimes it is not so easy to get them out. Bathroom's,
kitchens and utility rooms are the worst for small
places to hide and dangerous chemicals. I have
towels stuffed in holes up underneath cabinets in every
room.
3) Check for access holes to hot
tubs and Jacuzzis. Check around your dishwasher,
refrigerator, washer and dryer.
4) We will send you home with
Royal Canin's Babycat kibble and Wellness Grain Free
Kitten wet food. This is an excellent nutritional food and
made just for kittens at this young age. Notice
the size of the kibbles. It is easy for them to eat and
they love it. You can purchase this food at Petsmart or Petco.
If you want to change their food now is the best time
to do that. Simply introduce the new food as a small
part of the food you are presently feeding and then over
the next 5 days increase the new food and decrease the
old food until the transition is done.
Feeding your kitten: Use a
glass, ceramic or metal bowl with Babycat in it for the kitten to graze
on all day.
This will help them put on some weight for good growth
and health at this young age. Feed the Wellness wet food in the morning or at night, whichever fits your
schedule best. They will come to expect it at
whatever time you choose to feed them. Feed the wet food
twice a day until they are 1 year old. Then one
time per day afterwards.
5) Things to look out for: If
you have done all of the above then the only thing you
need to look out for is this. If your kitten is
not eating, drinking, using the kitty litter,
playing and grooming then something is wrong. If
your kitten has diarrhea then there is something wrong.
Remember that
the kitten being sick one day is like you being sick for
a week. You cannot wait to act.
Diarrhea can be serious and should be
looked at immediately. Sometimes the move to their
new home can be the cause. Take a stool
sample to your vet right away to have it checked.
Do not let the diarrhea go for more
than one day without being checked.
Most newly adopted kittens go home
and have no problems at all.
Lastly, you should make an
appointment with your Vet to have him checked as soon as
you get him home. Take a
stool sample with you even if everything looks fine. They have been
checked several times prior to you picking them up.
FOOD CHOICE
Food choice for your Silver is as
important to their physical health as eating the
right food is for you. Remember that foods
you buy in a grocery store
are not the best. Think about it this way.
The manufacturers of pet foods are not held to the same
standard that your food is so manufacturers have more
latitude to make it to their advantage and not
your pets. Therefore, you have more grains and
preservatives in most pet foods than is necessary.
That is because the shelf life of most pet foods needs
to be longer as the average age of these foods is 12
months or more by the time you open the bag.
So where do you get fresher foods
with less grains and less preservatives? It stands
to reason that if that is going to happen, you will not
find those fresher pet foods in grocery stores.
Not even in places like Petco and Petsmart.
This is what we do at Shensilvers.
We actually feed two different dry foods - Life's Abundance &
Science Diet Hairball . We mix
4 parts of Life's Abundance with one part of
Science Diet Hairball dry. I am reviewing whether or not
I am going to continue the Science Diet. I have asked
Dr. Bicks about the hairball properties of Life's
Abundance. More to come.. We put this mixture into the appropriate type
of bowl for them to
graze on all day. We have never seen a fat
Silver and cats are by nature grazers.
We feed
the kittens and the adults in the
morning Life's Abundance
Instinctive Choice wet. The kittens get the same thing
in the evenings as well. They really look forward to this every morning
and evening. We are including the
Web Site of Life's Abundance for you to
look at if you like. They use human grade
ingredients with no grains or fillers and no
preservatives. It is only slightly more expensive,
a dollar or two, but I think it means less visits to the
vet in the long run.
IMPORTANT: Wet versus dry
food. First of all let me tell you that the
instinctive Choice wet is NOT to be fed as the only
thing you feed your cats. It is NOT made as 100% of
their daily needs. The reason I use this
particular food is that it is as close to feeding your
cat raw meet as you can get and be safe doing it.
You have to take great care feeding your cats a raw
diet. This is why we feed them the dry foods that
we feed, so that they are getting the best nutrition
possible. You need to feed both to get the meat
that they need and the dry for the other things
that they need in their diet plus the Life's Abundance
will keep their teeth cleaner. A diet of just wet
food can lead to dental problems, plus a cat would have
to eat 3 cans of wet food per day to get their daily
nutritional needs.
Life's Abundance is only available by ordering it.
That is why it is so fresh and preservative free and
worth the effort. Also Life's Abundance has a 30-day
money back guarantee.
They must have
fresh water and plenty of it every day. It needs to be
changed every day.... They put their paws in the water
and food gets in there as well. If it is not
changed, clean bowl also, it becomes a germ farm....
This is important.
Feeding them a diet of wet and dry
food is important for clean teeth and also the wet food
is about 40% water and some cats don't drink enough
water. Feeding them some wet food insures that
they are getting the moisture they need to be healthy.
Follow the link below for Life's
Abundance. If you are interested, get on their auto
ship because they alert you to
the upcoming shipments. You can call or online and delay it
if you want or even tell them to stop until
you notify them to start shipping again.
Just click on the Life's Abundance
logo and it will take you to their ordering website.
When you get there click on cat food and place your
order today. Use autoship and you will get
wholesale prices. Don't be afraid of autoship.
This is how it works. They send you an email
10days in advance of the ship date. You can change
the ship date ie.. you have enough food for
another couple weeks so you push the ship date out two
weeks. You want to change the order. ie..
get a bigger bag, you just change the order. You
can also order additional items. It can be stopped
at any time, you are under no obligation to continue.
If you are not satisfied with these products there is a
30 day money back guarantee. Any questions please
call me.
Supplements
We have been using the Life's
Abundance supplements and highly recommend them to you.
We use the Skin and Coat supplement and also the agility
supplement. I crush them up to dust and mix it in
their wet food. They are made like treats.
Sometimes they eat their treats and some times they do
not. That is why I grind it up into their food.
They get it and don't even know it.
Life's Abundance also has treats
that are good and nutricious.
Eye Care
Silver Persians have varying
degrees of eye staining. If done as needed it
takes a very short time to clean them. If you let
it go it can take a few days to a couple weeks to
get them back in good shape. This is what we do to
clean the eyes:
We use Eye Envy (www.eyeenvy.com)
liquid and powder. Use either a Q-tip or makeup
removal pad and saturate the stain with the Eye Envy
liquid. Then use a Q-tip or the tip of your finger
and pat on some of the white powder. Leave it on
the stain and it will help to lighten the stained area.
If you would like to talk to a representative at Eye
Envy you can call them on the telephone number listed on
their web site. Or call Brenda.
Bathing & Drying ( READ ALL OF
THIS BEFORE STARTING)
Your kitten has already had more than one bath and we do use a blow dryer. I
did not say they liked it but they have already been
exposed to bathing and drying. Basically it
depends on your kitten. When they get dirty wash them...
I would not bathe one of our cats more than once every 2
or 3 months unless they get unusually dirty. Some
cats keep themselves so clean you may never need to
bathe them however I would bath them at least twice per
year.
If your Silver seems to mat
quickly you need to comb them out completely and bath
them.. They get oily hair and that is why they are
matting.
We use Blue
and only Blue Dawn
dish detergent diluted to 50% water and 50% Dawn and
wash them in that. Rinse completely and then
shampoo them in a quality shampoo.
WE USE: Matrix Shampoo and
Conditioner.
It is for adding volume to their hair. It makes
their coats amazingly soft... You can use any other
quality pet shampoo from your local pet store. Get
one that is made for white hair..
What ever conditioner that you use
DO IT THIS WAY. Use an 8oz water bottle, put a dab
( like a teaspoon size) of conditioner in the bottle,
fill it with warm water and shake it to mix completely.
Put aside for use with the bath.
We use Johnson & Johnson Tearless
shampoo for around their head and ears so their eyes are
protected from the other shampoos. Make sure you rinse
thoroughly after
shampooing.
The Process
Gather what you need.
1) Your choice of shampoo,
conditioner mixture and the Blue Dawn mixture.
2) A large towel. You can put the
towel in your microwave for 20 seconds and it will make
it nice and warm to wrap them in. Do this right before
use.
3) Put on your kevlar vest, heavy
leather gloves and helmet. LOL..... Just
kidding.
Begin washing.
1) Find your best patience...
LOL... you are going to need it!
2) Don't show any fear. If
they can sense it and you are done.... LOL
I wish I could video this... LOL.......
3) OK, just having a
little fun.
4) Clip their nails, they will try
to escape and in that process will scratch you.
You just hold them firmly in the sink. They will calm
down if you remain calm.
5) COMB them out completely.
Any knots will become worse with washing. BEST TO
COMB THEM IN ADVANCE, let them totally relax and then
proceed. Best to do both nails and combing prior to the
actual bath. Maybe an hour or so.
6) Put them in the sink and wet the
hair using luke warm water.
THROUGH OUT THIS
WHOLE PROCESS KEEP IN MIND HOW WARM YOU ARE
KEEPING THEM. DO NOT GET THEM TOO HOT, ESPECIALLY
WITH THE HAIR DRYER..
7) Use the 50/50 Blue (only) Dawn
and lather them up from the neck down. DO NOT use
anything but the tearless on their ears and head.
8) Rinse Completely.
9) Use the shampoo ( of your
choice) and then Rinse completely.
10) Then use conditioner ( mix as
per instructions above ). You pour it on and and
rinse it off immediately.
RINSING. Each time you rinse
it has to be completely. Rinse and then when you
think you are done. RINSE
some more. Not good to leave soap in
their hair. They will lick it off and it will dry
their skin out.
Drying after the bath -
BE AWARE OF HOW HOT THEY ARE AND
YOUR BLOW DRYER IS AT ALL TIMES.
1) Use a hair dry and preferably
one with cool shot.
2) Put it on warm setting and use
highest setting for airflow.
3) Have a comb at hand.
A word about drying. This is the
part in which they feel the most vulnerable and fear.
I find that if you hold them close and talk to they,
"it's OK Rhiley" ( obviously their name). They
will calm down. Get them to where they are semi
dry and comb their hair out to separate it and it will
dry faster. The dryer you make them with the hair
dry, the fluffier their coat will be. dry them
good underneath and between the hind legs and in back of
the hind legs for less tangles. Comb them out good
afterwards to get any loose hair out of their coat from
the bath. Don't give them a break. It just
prolongs something they don't like. You can stop
for a moment to reassure them or as I do, I reassure
them as I am doing it by talking to them and holding
them close if they really begin to struggle. You
must realize that they are going to try to escape this
whole time. Talking with them can calm them way
down.
Hint: Comb them out completely
before the bath. If you don't they will be matted worse than they were before the bath.
Grooming
The only 4 combs
you will ever need!
The two combs on
the left are made specifically for matts. The two
on the right are made for maintenance work on the coat
and head.
We are making these
combs available at a price I don't believe
you can match. The Matting combs you will probably
not be able to find.
The whole set for $40 plus $5
shipping. Just send a note to
shensilvers@yahoo.com
with combs in the subject line, your name and address
and we will finalize the sale.
The combs
separately sell for as follows
From left to right:
Large Mat Comb $14, Small Mat Comb $12, Small Straight
Comb $9 and Large Straight Comb $11
When you write your
note just let me know if you are interested in the set
or which individual combs you are interested in.
We ship immediately
by 2 day Priority Mail.
Grooming guide
1) If done daily it
will only take a couple minutes. Your Silver will
enjoy the time with you as long as you are not pulling
their hair out. Use the two combs on the right to
accomplish this. First using the wider tines then
go to the smaller ones to get the small beginnings of
mats out of their coats.
2) If Mats
develop the combs on the left are designed to help you
pick at the matts got them apart. Notice the long
and wider apart tines so that you can begin to pull
apart the matt.
Hints
1) If the mat is
bad you can take the matting comb and go at the mat with
just the tooth at the end of the comb to start pulling
it apart.
2) You can take
your thumb and fore finger of each hand and pull at the
matt to help break it down. If you do not pull the
hair at its base your Silver will not pay too much
attention to what you are doing because you are not
pulling at their skin. Pull at it from all
directions and when you have broken it down a little,
start to use the big matting comb again.
3) After you have
gotten through the mat with the large matting comb then
pass the small matting comb through the same area to get
out the finer hairs left by the bigger comb because any
loose hair left behind is the start of another mat.
The most tender
area of all. Underneath between the back legs.
Some Silvers comb through that area as easily as on top
and some have a cottony hair underneath that just mats
no matter what you do.
Hint
1) Take them to a
groomer and have them shaved underneath from mid belly
back to between the back legs and both you and your
Silver will enjoy grooming together. It is a great
bonding time. When done correctly by you, you will
both enjoy the time spent together.
Litter
We use Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat for
Seniors.
This is an excellent litter because of how it handles
the urine and fecals. You remove the fecal
like normal but the urine stays in the litter and
is absorbed. It does not clump the urine like the
other litters. Don't worry, this will not cause
your litter box to smell. The litter box itself stays cleaner, there is no smell
and it kills the bacteria.
This aids in keeping bacteria exposure to a minimum and
less likely for your Silvers to get Urinary Tract
Infections as well as other infections. The Longhair
formula also helps in keeping the litter from sticking
to their hair but our cats prefer the Senior so that's
the one we use.
Advantages: First and
foremost it is healthier for your cats.
1) Less weight for you to handle.
2) Less to dispose off.
3) No smell from litter box. Litter
box stays cleaner on the inside. And the litter
scooper never gets messy.
4) You will spend less time taking
care of the litter box.
How to get started using it.
1) Precious Cat recommends mixing
your old with this and then gradually get to 100% PC.
I did not do this. I put it in their boxes and they
never had a problem
with using PC. Of course, this is a great time to
disinfect the box with a mixture of ammonia and water to
clean the box.
2) Put 1-1/2 to 2 inches of
Precious Cat in the litter box.
3) To clean the box just remove the
fecal and stir up the urine in the Precious Cat
with your scoop. The urine ball is very soft and
will break up and disappear
into the litter.
The cost is not as expensive as you
might think. 8 lbs is about $14 but you use less of
it. One bag of Precious Cat will last us longer than a
40 lb box of the other clumping litter.
You need to at least give this
litter
a try. We love it!
Go to
www.preciouscat.com
to check out this product. We use no other litter
in our cattery.
 
Show Scenes
Alexandria VA Cat Combs |
Kitten Care Alexandria VA |
Alexandria VA Persian Kittens for Sale |
Kitten Combs Alexandria VA
 |