Vaccination, worming & Microchip
Your kitten will vaccinated twice with an F3 vaccine.
F3 helps protect kittens & cats against: Feline Herpes Virus (cat flu), Feline Calicivirus, Feline Panleukopaenia. We do not recommend F4 or F5 vaccines due to risks of side effects, nor are these necessary for indoor/enclosure access cats.
Your kitten has been vaccinated at 9 & 12 weeks of age. Many vets do a 16 week old booster so please check with your own vets on their protocol.
Milbemax is a broad spectrum worming tablet that protects against round worm, hook worm, tape worm & heart worm and should be used every 3 months.We recommend either Milbemax (90 day treatment) or Drontal tablet wormers (90 day treatment), or Profender spot on (monthly treatment) all can be purchased online via Budget Pet Products.
Your kitten has been wormed using Milbemax kitten at 8 and 12 weeks of age.
Your kitten will be microchipped and registered with Central Animal Records in your name.
http://www.car.com.au/
You will receive confirmation of registration via email with Central Animal Records with a printable certificate for your records.
Trupanion Insurance
Your kitten will be covered under Trupanion Insurance for 30 days, effective immediately after leaving Zayenah cattery.
Your certificate provides immediate cover with no waiting periods.
With 90% cover and no payout limits for all new injuries and illnesses. $250 per condition excess is included with your cover.
This is a no obligation plan, should you choose to continue you may contact Trupanion.
For further details consult the Trupanion website
https://trupanion.com.au/
Cat Litter
We use wood pellet litters in OzPet or CatMate sieve litter trays. We use CatMate litter, though there are various other brands readily available online or in pet shops such as CatMate/HorseMate and Kitter.
A small amount of wood pellets are used to lightly cover the top sieve tray, with a small handful of pellets underneath to absorb liquids.
Urine falls through the sieve, any wet pellets on top turn to saw dust and fall through the tray with a quick shake. Solids must be removed daily. Bottom tray rinsed every other day and top pellets topped up as required.
We also have a tray of Breeders Choice paper pellets (or the Woolworths/Coles alternative) for kittens.
We recently started trialling the Ezi Lock Odour cat litter system. This consists of a top tray filled with clay pellets in a sieve with a bottom sliding tray that uses a puppy pad to hold urine which gets changed every few days.
So far we are finding the system easy to use and for a smaller numbers of cats it would be an economical alternative to traditional litters.
We purchased the system from Pet Circle.
Diet
Diet:
Your kitten has been raised on 4 meals per day, along with a small amount of dry food left out at night. We feed a varied diet so the kittens are used to several different foods. Raw and Wet food makes up the bulk of the diet.
Raw Meat:
We feed a balanced pre-made raw from Pet Zest and The Natural Canine, there are various raw food outlets in each state, and frozen patties Leaps & Bounds, Dr B’s & Big Dog for Cats from Pet Barn or Pet Stock.
The kittens also enjoy cooked fish – usually Hoki or Salmon served warm once or twice a week.
While we do not currently feed Raw Meow mix, it is an easy alternative for making raw meat balanced if you are unable to easily source such meals elsewhere. It is a powder added to water and meat that contains all the vitamins and minerals required for a balanced meal.
If feeding commercial wet, dry or balanced raw then Raw Meow is not needed to be added, it’s only for human grade meat purchased at the supermarket.
We also feed some freeze dry raw from Complete Pet and Raw Meow.
https://www.completepet.com.au/product-category/product-category/cat/complete-meal-freeze-dried-for-cats/
https://rawmeow.com.au/collections/freeze-dried-complete-meals
Raw bones:
Your kitten has enjoyed raw chicken wingettes (half sized wings) several times a week. Bones must always be fed raw.
Cubes of meat and raw bones are good to reduce the incidence of dental disease in cats, such as inflamed gums and plaque build-up. Stewing steak cubes are great for chewing and can be fed as a snack or meal once or twice a week.
Wet food:
Felix pouches, Fancy Feast tins, VIP Fussy cat grain free pouches, Nood pouches, Ultimates grain free pouches – all available from the supermarket.
Wellness Shreds and Gravy pouches, Leaps & Bounds tins, Paw & Spoon tins – available online or from Pet Barn & Pet Circle.
You will receive a selection of these foods in your kitten pack, enough to last several days.
Dry Food:
We feed Vetalogica Naturals grain free kitten food & Vetalogica Biologically Appropriate kitten food. Your kitten pack will contain samples of Vetalogica kitten food.
We generally purchase direct from the Vetalogica website.
We occasionally feed Royal Canin kitten food and Purina Pro Plan kitten food.
Treats:
We feed various freeze dried treats from www.freezedryaustralia.com they particularly like the chicken breast and chicken hearts, or the cat box selection with a variety of treat flavours.
Meat Mates treats available at Coles and online websites.
Vetalogica cat treats from Pet Circle or Vetalogica website.
Hemp Pet Hoki fish treats from Pet Circle.
Fresh Water:
A dish of fresh water must be made available at all times for your kitten. Your kitten is also used to drinking from a pet water fountain – these can be purchased online or from pet shops, they keep water fresh and cool with their constant movement.
Auto Feeders
Auto feeders are a great way to give your cat a meal while away at work or out of the house. They can be programmed to open at certain times (digital) or certain amount of hours ahead (non-digital), some also include ice packs for freshness. Food can also be put inside frozen, then will be defrosted by lunch time.
Pawise brand comes with an ice pack.
Nail Care
Clipping your kittens claws helps stop accidental scratching, and them getting caught on things.
We cut kittens nails weekly from around 4 weeks of age (kittens nails seem to grow in faster than adults).
There are various styles of nail clippers around, whatever is most comfortable to you.
We like to sit the kitten or cat in our lap like this, giving easy access to all 4 paws and tummy for a rewarding rub afterwards:
Only the very tip of the nail needs clipping.
Cat Trees
Cat trees are great for playing, scratching and sleeping on. It is necessary to provide an appropriate scratching place for you kitten, so they’re not scratching elsewhere such as the sofa.
We highly reccomend Cat Tree King and Kazoo scratchers.
https://cattreeking.com.au/
Going out on a harness
Going outside on a harness is a great, safe way for your kitten to explore their backyard, bird watch and get some fresh air.
We like Butterly Cat Jackets from the UK, they fit securely and come in many different patterns.
https://www.butterflycatjackets.com/
Grooming
Ocicats have an easy care coat, but will shed a little at the change of seasons.
A quick brush or comb once a week will keep their coat looking nice.
You may bath your Ocicat, our show cats are well used to baths and tolerate it well. We use a shower attachment on the bath tap, a towel or mat to prevent slipping. Baths are fairly quick for shorthair cats, wet, lather, rinse, towel dry. Remember to clip their claws first!
Waterless bath foam or sprays are another alternative.
Wipes are another way to quickly clean and freshen your Ocicats coat. We recommend eye and ear wipes too. Listed below are the brands and products we use on our Ocicats.
