new cat or kitten advice (merged)

BaileyB

Just got 2 kittens Abigail and George both 7 weeks old and Brother and Sister. Now this is the first time we have had pets together (me and gf).

We need to find a vet so what do people recommend in looking for a good vet. Also they were fed whiskers cat food (wet), but want to get them on dry if we can whats the best way to do this?

Will post pictures in a little while, they are very cute Abbey is a right little devil while George is very shy atm.

And what do people look for in insurance for them, can they be insured together or separate for them? (we could do quidco for each etc)

suki1964

Congrats on your new additions to the family

I would say slowly move them to dry food over a period of 5 - 10 days, reducing the wet and increasing the dry till fully changed over. If you do get runny bum syndrome just stick at where you are for a few days till it settles before moving forward.

Vets - like doctors really. You need to have a good relationship with them yourselves. Also you need to think how you are going to get to the vets, if you don't drive then one close is a good idea. Personally I have always taken pets for their inoculations, seen how the vet treats the pet and speaks to me before I decide if I'm staying or finding another - so far have only ever had one bad experience

Cant help with the insurance but I'm assuming you have to have to separate policies although a lot of companies offer a discount if insuring more then one pet

BaileyB

We have got a very local vet (about 2/3mins in the car, 10mins walk) but a friend had a bad experience there. When would the best time to get them jabbed up? They have been wormed but thats it.

Mice_Elf

Some cats don't like having just dry food. Especially if they're used to wet. We tried that with my cats (I have 4) and while they ate the dry food as they were hungry, it wasn't what they wanted and just kept miaouing at me. Once I fed them wet again, they were much happier.
On the other hand one of them won't touch wet food at all and will only eat the dry, even though she will happily eat chicken, ham, fish etc and will catch herself rabbits, mice and stuff from outside.

Insurance has to be separate policies for each cat and a good vet is one that will listen to you if you have concerns. It's probably easiest to ask around your area who has a cat or dog what their vet is like.

dannytoffee

Ours have dry for breakfast and then half a sachet of wet food each at tea time with a bit more dry. They moan and nag for the wet food in the evening. We cut them back from a whole sachet each at night as it was costing a fortune.

We don't have insurance as my boyfriend doesn't believe in insurance for the sake of insurance.

We asked around friends that had animals to get a vet. They are lovely at our vets, saw one of them the other week on a Sunday morning as one of ours had a urine infection.

BaileyB

Here are our 2 Abigail is the black & white and George is all black.




When is the best time to get all the jabs that they need?

kr15snw

Adorable!!

Go see a vet asap, just for a check up. They will also talk to you about basic kitten care etc. Ours gave us a free pack with some kitten basics. They can answer all your questions aswell Jabs are asap aswell, but vet will discuss this.

shoperholicnot

i would advise against putting your kittens on a totally dry food diet.
they need to have a certain amount of moisture in their diet to protect their kidneys. they are unlikely to drink enough water themselves, wet food obviously provides moisture.

jannyannie

Am so jealous! I want another one (already have two). I would keep them on a moist diet at the mo. Biscuits seem to upset their tummies. As you have two kitties you might want to see if your local vet does a pre-payment scheme. I pay £16 a month which covers worming and flea treatments, two health checks each, reduced costs on any treatments. I've also had mine spayed and microchipped as they go out a lot.

Enjoy the entertainment. You will never want to watch TV again :A

Cerenia

I always provide a mix of both with our lot - we leave a bowl of dry food for them to eat during the day, and mealtimes for wet food (with gravy currently due to having new kitten and we give them all the same to stop arguments).

Remember a lot of cats are lactose intolerant as well!