Having decided to pick up a stray cat on the street, you need to take care of the health of the street animal and protect other pets. Otherwise, this noble act may lead to negative consequences. For example, a foundling brought into a house can infect its other inhabitants with fleas or a dangerous infection. This does not mean that you should pass by stray animals indifferently. A selected street kitten will give you a lot of love and joy, the main thing is to do everything right.
In this article we will tell you how to act in such a situation in order to avoid possible troubles.
Why take trash cats at all?
I don't know the motivation of people who adopt cats from the street. In fact, it has its own dangers like cat diseases, worms and everything else. I love animals very much, I regularly donate money to shelters and the Wildlife Fund, but I’m also very squeamish. One day I was in a cafe in Budapest and someone else’s dog came up to our table and stuck its nose on the table, and I couldn’t eat. I don’t like wool, I don’t like it when animals climb on the dinner table, and I wash my hands every time I pet a cat or dog. At the same time, it’s completely normal for me to clean up poop and scattered food after them. I just like to maintain hygiene.
I didn’t plan to have kittens, but a cat settled in our yard and recently gave birth to four. I also have a daughter, and she is three years old. And I thought that one day she will bring the kitten home anyway, we better be ready for this. In addition, the kittens were very cute, and one of them had some kind of eye injury, I felt sorry for leaving him to live on the street, I thought that he might not survive:
This is Dymka, her right eye cannot see, so it is better for her to live at home, where they will look after her. And it looks like her mother sinned with a Siamese cat
I didn’t want to just drag the kittens home when nothing was ready for this, so the procedure was as follows:
- consultations with cat owners,
- purchase of accessories,
- trip to the vet,
- kitty's housewarming,
- adaptation of the family and kittens to the home.
- I’ll tell you everything I learned at these stages.
What should a stray cat be treated for?
First, show the animal to the veterinarian, he will palpate it, look at the ears for the presence of parasites, assess its general condition and give recommendations.
According to Angelina Sirotina, a cat taken from the street must first be treated for internal and external parasites - worms, fleas and ticks. “Perhaps we should give her some sedatives. They are sold in veterinary pharmacies, you can ask consultants and they will offer you relaxants to make it easier for the animal to adapt. You can use catnip, this is also very attractive to them and helps them in an unfamiliar environment,” the specialist recommends.
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First purchases
I wanted to create a place for the cats before we took them home, so I made a shopping list first. Here's what came in handy:
- bed,
- food (dry food and pate for kittens),
- bowls for food and water,
- tray,
- filler,
- tray mat,
- cat litter scoop,
- game balls,
- carrying,
- scratching post
I also ordered animal shampoo and a clicker for training. We are just starting to use the clicker, and the veterinarian did not recommend washing the cats, so the shampoo has not yet come in handy.
I ordered everything except food and carrying on Ozone. For two kittens it cost 4,799 rubles with free delivery.
I had no idea what a tray should be like, what kind of fillers there are and how many bowls are needed for two kittens, so I consulted with friends and read reviews of products. I spent a total of four hours on this.
Here's my favorite review of the tray:
We bought one tray for two kittens, and overall it’s enough for now. The tray had a grate, but a cat lover we knew said that we would be too tired to wash it, so we took it off.
We made a mistake with the filler. Friends advised me to take wood or clay litter, because such litter smells familiar to cats and they get accustomed to the litter box faster. I bought a clay one, but it was too strongly scented and the cats somehow didn’t like it. So two days later we bought another one. And during this time I had to clean up after them in the apartment a couple of times.
Feeding a cat taken from the street
Any homeless animal, and especially a kitten, needs special nutrition. Hunger, poor quality food and parasites greatly harm the stomach. The best option for feeding is wet food; it has an accurate dosage and a balanced composition. Table food and canned fish are not a good idea. A cat exhausted by hunger will not refuse such food, but it will all end with constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. It is best to entrust the preparation of your pet’s diet to a specialist.
The cat brings joy and positivity to the house, fills it with comfort and warmth. An animal rescued from a homeless existence will never forget your kindness and will repay it with its devotion and tenderness.
A brief algorithm for the actions of a person who picks up a kitten on the street looks like this:
- visit to the veterinarian;
- treating the animal against fleas, worms, ticks according to the recommendations of a specialist;
- two-week quarantine for foundlings;
- vaccination, sterilization;
- monitoring the general condition of the animal, proper feeding.
A trip to the vet
When we had all our purchases, we could go to the vet. In general, I was afraid that while we received all these things, one of the neighbors would take the kittens. Therefore, it may be easier to do the opposite: take the kittens, take them to the veterinarian, and on the way back stop at the pet store for everything they need. In addition, the veterinarian may advise you to buy something in addition, and you will still have to stop by.
It is better to go to the veterinarian immediately with a carrier, because otherwise they will run away. Although, if the kitten is alone, maybe it’s okay. And all the way I tried to pack the kittens into the basket, and they immediately jumped back out. And the mother cat didn’t really want to ride next to them. If there is only one kitten, then at least for the trip you will need a disposable absorbent diaper, or better yet two.
When we arrived, the veterinarian weighed each kitten, examined it and gave medicine for worms. It turned out that there are no parasites on the kittens, their ears are clean, and they can take them home.
Here's what else I learned from the vet:
- Kittens should be wormed twice, ten days apart, and repeated every three months. If the cats were given medicine for the first time on June 10, then the second time should be given on June 20, and then at the end of September.
- Even pets that do not go outside should be vaccinated. Vaccinations are given 10–14 days after worming.
- There is no need to wash kittens that have been taken from the street. If they have shingles or parasites, washing them will spread them. Kittens wash themselves and very quickly become completely clean.
- Kittens should not be given milk, as it gives them diarrhea, but fermented milk products can be given.
- It is better to wear a mask and gloves when cleaning the litter tray, because the waste may contain infectious viruses.
- Kittens of different sexes can have children, even if they are brother and sister; if you don’t want this, then the cat is neutered closer to a year, and the cat is sterilized after the first heat. Although they may have time to have kittens earlier.
We paid 504 rubles for a visit to the veterinarian, this is for all four kittens and the deworming medicine that we received with us. I think such a low price is due to the fact that we live in Ryazan and it’s inexpensive here. Surely Moscow prices are much higher.
The next stage is vaccination, which is just ahead of us. In the same clinic, it costs up to 800 rubles for one kitten.
Clinics usually post prices on their website. Here is an example of prices for vaccination at the Vetbro clinic in Moscow:
After the veterinarian, we went to move the kittens home and on the way back we stopped for food and a carrier.
My cat-loving friends gave advice on food, and I followed them. Gradually we will select the optimal nutrition, but for now we started with what we learned from friends:
Here are the links from the message: Felix food and canned food for training
I know that there are people who are very responsible about the nutrition of kittens and buy a mother’s milk substitute:
We didn't buy a milk replacer, but just took kitten pate and dry kitten food. Four cans of pate and two kilograms of dry food cost us 800 rubles.
We bought only one carrier and put all four kittens in it to take them from the veterinarian home. It cost 1750 rubles. This is not a good purchase because the carrier takes up space. If we had bothered earlier, we would have ordered a folding one from Ikea, with delivery by mail.
Care and education
At home, the kittens needed to get used to the litter box. I’ll tell you in order what we have done or are doing now.
We created a cozy place. The kittens were uncomfortable the first day because their mother was not around and the whole environment was unfamiliar. We specifically picked them up on the weekend so that we could spend time with them and look after them. On the first day, we tried not to tug, squeeze or stroke them, so that they would stop being afraid of us, and we set up a bed for them in a corner where no one would disturb them.
The black and white cat's name is Quar the cat
True, in the end they found a place behind the washing machine and slept there for the first nights, and then under the sofa. So they rarely use the bed in a cozy corner.
Many cat owners tell how they set up a nice place for their cat, but the cat ends up sleeping on the rug because it’s more comfortable there. So it’s better not to spend too much on a bed.
They taught him to go to the litter box. The issue with the litter box bothered me the most, but training the cats to use the litter box turned out to be easy. The first time, fifteen minutes after eating, we brought them to the tray, sat them down, took their paws and began to dig a hole with their paws ourselves. The cats didn’t understand anything at first, we sat there for an hour, and in the end they succeeded and they both went to the toilet. Since then there have been problems a couple of times, but only because of the filler. When we poured just clay instead of flavored, the cats immediately began to go to the litter box as they should.
We clean the litter box 3-4 times a day, although experienced cat owners say that once is enough, even if there are three cats in the house. It seems like we're doing something wrong.
The main thing is to learn to remember to leave the bathroom door open so that the cats can get to the litter box.
We teach you to stop tearing and biting furniture. There is no point in swearing at cats, they don’t understand this. Therefore, if they tear up the wallpaper, experts advise spraying them in the face with a spray bottle. It doesn't help yet. But we don’t have wallpaper, the walls are painted, and, in principle, the cats have not yet done anything in the house that I would regret.
We train. Conversely, to teach them to do something good and train them, there are special techniques, and they are quite simple. You need to give the cats something tasty and click a special clicker at this time. This way they remember that the click is associated with some kind of reward. And then with a click you can encourage all sorts of tricks. For example, if the cat stands on its hind legs, immediately click the clicker. You can find many articles about this. They say that you need to train cats for five minutes a day, the more they get tired.
This is what a clicker for training looks like, if you want to buy it, here is the link to Ozone
If we sum up the expenses, we spent 8,000 rubles on purchases, a veterinarian and food. We will have to buy food and litter for the tray regularly; we have budgeted 3,000 rubles a month for this in the family budget.
What's good about cats
It seemed to me that cats are good because they are easy to care for and do not need to devote too much time to them. I want a dog, but I understand that I won’t be able to walk it two or three times a day for an hour and a half, play at home, train it and work with a dog handler and animal psychologist. And you can pet cats, play with them, record silly GIFs with them, and type hearts on Instagram.
If there is a small child in the house, then he learns to take care of living beings, understands when he can squeeze them and when he can scratch them. Well, the plus is that it’s fun and interesting for the child to play.
Of course, if the child is small, then you should not expect him to clean up after the animals. Probably, this can be assigned from the age of five or six, we will try later.
I think that in order for cats to be a joy and not become a cause of disputes in the family, you need to follow these rules:
- The decision to get a cat should be unanimous, and not by majority vote. After all, everyone will live together, and it is important that each family member is comfortable;
- Agree on how the responsibilities for caring for the animal are divided. In our family, we divided the responsibilities like this: I do daily care, clean the tray, feed, and my husband buys food and cleans the tray completely every few days. If someone can't do something, someone else will take over. And without reproach: “But you should have, but didn’t.” If you should, but didn’t, it’s okay, someone else will do it. If someone is not consistently doing their part, then this is a reason to talk and redistribute responsibilities.
- Decide what to do while traveling. We have relatives who are ready to look after the cats if we are away, so there were no problems with this.
- Be prepared that the cat will not want to be petted. Our cats do not sit on hands and run away when petted. They can come and sit side by side, follow on your heels, but they scratch if you sit them on your lap. Well, it’s okay, but they have fun fighting among themselves.
In general, the hassle with cats can be greatly reduced. There are cat litter boxes that connect to the sewer system, and owners don't even have to clean the litter box. There are water fountains that run on electricity, and there are automatic feeding systems. And in the end, you can just enjoy the fact that sweet pies live in the house.
Happinnes exists
Happiness comes in different forms, and sometimes it’s your own apartment, where you feel good.
If you want one, come to the Airplane. Look at this happiness
Why should you take a street kitten home?
Nutrition
On the street, animals are forced to fight for survival. Of course, kind people constantly feed them, and many cats live close to shops, canteens and cafes, where they are given constant food. But the conditions in which animals eat do not meet sanitary standards. They feed from the ground. Possible parasite infection.
Housing
Living conditions for street animals are poor. They live in the basements of residential and public institutions, and can often be found on lawns. In winter things get worse. Cats escape the cold by hiding in hallways and warm basements. However, housing and communal services, in order to insulate houses, seal all the cracks and holes through which animals enter. Finding housing becomes difficult, some die from the cold.
Having taken a kitten from the street, the owner must take care of it . A small organism may not be able to withstand the frosty winter, but nothing threatens it at home.
Protection
Nowadays, violence against animals is especially active. News about flayers, many of whom are young, is becoming increasingly common. A law was passed to toughen penalties for such actions. Fortunately, there are caring people who save animals from torture and death.
Stray kittens become victims of larger and more predatory animals - dogs. Attentive owners will not allow their pet to tear apart a defenseless street kitten. However, cruelty is still expressed. At home you can protect your cat from a negative attitude.
Replacement
Most modern people prefer purebred beautiful cats . They are not stopped by chronic diseases (for some breeds this is the norm) and high cost. However, the same living creatures live on the street and need care and protection . They (or their parents) were also taken home by their owners, but then thrown out into the street because they could not cope with taming.
It is better to take a kitten from the street than to buy it from another owner, since it is deprived of human love .
New family member
Having a pet in your home is a significant event, although a kitten fits in the palm of your hand. Cats are considered the most unpretentious to care for: they do not need to be walked like dogs, they eat a varied diet, without requiring a special diet.
If the owners treat the new tenant with love and care, he will respond in kind. The cat family has well-defined personalities, just like humans. This makes the pet a real member of the family .
Manifestation of compassion
In the modern world, goodness and love fade into the background; they are pushed aside by universal consumption and the desire to get rich . Positive feelings lose priority. In such a society, showing kindness becomes unusual, but we need to fight it. Adopting a kitten from the street is a small part, but it makes the world a little better. Thanks to such people, human feelings do not die.
Example
Most people hide their true feelings. They want to help, but don’t know how, they think about the possible consequences. They are tormented by uncertainty about the correctness of their actions . They need support. If a person takes a kitten from the street, another may follow his example, for example, feed homeless animals. Good deeds should be expressed in society so that more people become better people.
