Kitten Care
Food: Nutri Source
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I use the “Country Select Recipe, Grain Free (the green bag)” for the dry.
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I will send you home with some Nutri Source dry cat food that will last 1-2 weeks.
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Put out the Nutri Source dry so they can eat it at any time.
Adoption Day
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:
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Make sure your kitten cannot get into any type of chemicals or pest control substances.
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Animal Poison Control # 888-426-4435
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Limit the kittens 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. Bathrooms, kitchens, and utility rooms are the worst for small places to hide and dangerous chemicals.
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Check for access holes to hot tubs and Jacuzzis. Check around your dishwasher, refrigerator, washer and dryer.
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Feeding your kitten: Use a glass, ceramic, or metal bowl with Nutri Source dry 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 Nutri Source wet food in the morning or at night, whichever fits your schedule best. They will come to expect it and whatever time you choose to feed them. Feed the wet food once a day, 1/4th of a can (one spoonful) until they are 1 year old.
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Things to look out for: If your kitten is not eating, drinking, using the kitty litter, playing, and grooming then something is wrong.
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If your kitten has diarrhea then there may be something wrong. Often times, especially kittens, your silver will find human food and if they eat it, it may make their tummy upset causing diarrhea. Give your kitten a probiotic, I use Nutramax Proviable-DC, he/she should start having normal stools within 1-2 days. If your kitten does not improve, you will need to have your vet see your kitten.
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You can buy Nutramax Proviable on chewy.com
Diarrhea can be serious and should be looked at if it does not resolve within 1-2 days. 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 1-2 days 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/her home. Take a stool sample with you even if everything looks fine. They have been checked prior to them going to their new homes.
Food Choice
Food choice for your Silver is as important to their physical health as eating the right food is for you.
We leave Nutri Source dry out all day for them to graze on.
We also feed Nutri Source wet (pork and duck grain free) to our Kittens and the adults once a day (in the evening). They really look forward to this as a treat and it is good for them.
Here is the web site to Nutri Source for you to look at if you like. They use high quality ingredients with lots of prebiotics and probiotics.
Click on the tab above and it will take you to their website. When you get there click on cat food and place your order today.
Life’s Abundance also has treats that taste good and are nutritious. I give them to our cats and kittens after their grooming and eye care is done.
IMPORTANT: Wet versus dry food. Wet is NOT to be fed as the only thing you feed your cats. It is NOT made to be 100% of their daily needs. 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.
I do not feed my cats or kittens canned cat food. I grind up their hard cat food and sprinkle about a tsp of goat milk powder to it. Add warm water and mix it up to a nice soft consistency. They love this and it is good for them.
Cats must have plenty of fresh water every day. It needs to be changed every day… The bowl needs to be cleaned every day also or it becomes a germ farm… This is important.
Ear Care
You will not have to clean their ears often but if you do Life’s Abundance Ear care Formula works great to dissolve the wax and cleans up really easy.
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. I have trained them nearly every day in this process so I highly recommend keeping this routine when you take your kitten home. By doing this your Silver will continue to tolerate it and likely enjoy all your attention. This is what I do to clean the eyes:
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I start by cleaning their eyes from any dried tears with a Q-tip.
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Using clean warm water use a Q-tip or makeup removal pad to gently clean away the tearing/stain.
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When you finished with this step use a dry Q-tip or pad to soak up the remaining moisture.
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Once you have the eyes clean, then go on to the Eye Envy Products. I use the Liquid and powder most often. The Foaming Cleansing solution works very well for stubborn stains.
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Use either a Q-tip or makeup removal pad and saturate the stain with the liquid.
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Gently rub the solution into the area, any staining or residue will gently come off. Remember the kitten’s eyes are very sensitive so apply it as you would apply it to yourself.
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Once clean pat the area with a dry Q-tip or make-up removal pad to soak up the excess liquid.
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Once the eye area is mostly dry pat on some of the white powder. Leave it on as it will help to lighten the area and soak up tearing throughout the day.
Bathing and Drying
Your kitten has already had two baths before she/he leaves our home. We do use a blow dryer. They do not like their baths but they have already been exposed to bathing and drying. When they get dirty wash them… I do not bathe our cats more than once every 2-3 months (often times I only bath them 1-2 times a year). If I am “showing” one of our cats/kittens I do bathe them much more often.
Before bathing your Silver make sure you have combed out ALL the mats. Also clip their front and hind nails (you will wish you did if you hadn’t).
The Process
Gather what you need.
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Life’s Abundance Cat Shampoo (or any other cat/pet shampoo) and Blue Dawn dish soap. It must be the Blue Dawn. Dilute the Blue Dawn by 50% with water
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A large towel.
The bath
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Put them in the sink and wet the hair using luke warm water.
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Wash them twice. Once with the diluted Blue Dawn. Rinse it our completely. Then wash with the shampoo and rinse thoroughly.
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Throughout this whole process keep in mind how warm you are keeping them. Do not get them too hot, especially with the hair dryer…
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Rinsing- Each time you rinse it has to be completely. Rinse and then when you think you are done RINSE some more. It’s not good to leave soap in their hair. They will lick it off and it will dry their skin out.
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Dry after the bath- Do not get them too hot with the blow dryer. Start at the back and slowly work your way up toward their neck. The cool setting is the best.
Grooming
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If done daily it will only take a few minutes and your Silver will enjoy the time spent with you.
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If mats develop use the matting combs they work very well getting the matts out!
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These 4 combs come in your kitten kit and will be the only combs you need!
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The two matting combs are great for getting matts out or when they are shedding, the two steel combs are great for daily grooming.
Litter
We use Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat for Seniors. This is all we use. Choose what works best for you and your kitten. I use it because it is much cleaner for my cats and does not have irritants that can cause your cats eyes to tear and water more unnecessarily. You can buy it at Pet-co or Chewy.com