Will my new kitten Play? Is so, what sort of play will I see?
Stimulating play is important during the first week being home. Stalking and pouncing are important play behaviors in kittens and have an important role in proper muscular development.
Offer a variety of toys for these behaviors and your kitten will be less likely to seek family members for these activities. The best toys are light light and movable. These include wads of paper and small balls. Kittens should always be supervised when playing with string or ribbons to avoid swallowing them. Any other toy that is small enough to be swallowed should also be avoided.
There are many diseases that are fatal to cats. The vaccines must be given as a series of injections so they are effective. They are given at about 6-8, 12, and 16 weeks of age, but this schedule may vary somewhat depending on several factors.
Routine vaccinations will protect your kitten from five diseases ~ distemper, three respiratory organisms, and rabies. The first four are included in a combination vaccine that is given at 6-8, 12, and 16 weeks old. Rabies vaccine is given at 12 or 16 weeks of age.
The leukemia vaccine is necessary if your cat does or will go outside or if you have another cat that goes in and out since this deadly disease is transmitted by contact with other cats, especially when fighting occurs.
A vaccine is also available for protection against feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) this vaccine is not necessary for all cats and is recommended in selected situations.
Intestinal parasites are common in kittens. Kittens can become infected with parasites almost as soon as they are born. The most common source of roundworm infection in kittens is the mother's milk. It is important to deworm and then deworm again in about 3-4 weeks, because the deworming medication only kills the adult worms. Within 3-4 weeks the larval stages will have become adults and will need to be treated. Cats remain susceptible to reinfection with hookworms and roundworms. Periodic stool analysis and/or deworming throughout the cat's life may be recommended for cats that go outdoors.
Tapeworms are the most common intestinal parasite of cats. Kittens become infected with them when they swallow fleas because the eggs of the tapeworm live inside the flea. When the cat chews or licks its skin as a flea bites, the flea may be swallowed. The flea is digested within the cat's intestine; the tapeworm hatches and then anchors itself to the intestinal lining. Therefore, exposure to fleas may result in a new infection which can occur in as little as two weeks. Cats may also become infected with tapeworms if they hunt and eat mice.
Cats infected with tapeworms will pass small segments of the worms in their stool. The segments are white in color and look like grains of rice. They are about 1/8 inch long and may be seen crawling on the surface of the stool. They may also stick to the hair under the tail. When this happens, the segments will dry out, shrink to about half their size, and become golden in color.
Tapeworm segments do not pass every day or in every stool sample ~ therefore, inspection of several consecutive bowel movements may be needed to find them.
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