Things to Know
Some things are common sense, but maybe we haven't thought about. Cats are extremely nosey. They must know everything and even want to know what you are bringing into their home. Yes, their home. I have realized that I am the servant for my little creatures. I am the cook, housemaid, and entertainer. So, I will let you know of things I have learned from my babies or about their needs. 
I will start with food. I feed 90% DRY food. Wet food is a treat. I add about 1/2 of a small can of wet food to the dry food and mix it up.  WHY???? Dry food has 38%+ of Protein. Wet food has 9%. I add a 1/2 can to the dry food for tastiness. Siberians and Maine Coons NEED high Protein. The dry food I am switching to is: 

Hill's Science for Cats 1-6 yrs old, https://amzn.to/4bubunN mixed with

Hill's Science for Kittens. https://amzn.to/44k5A6i

We found Royal Canin for Maine Coons and  Purina One for Kittens and Purina Pro Plan for Kittens, has had much controversy about the safety of this food. I suggest you avoid it as well.

As for "TREATS", at this age they need their Protein. They need to eat well and grow. Skip the treats unless you actually only give a couple here and there. Or give the Lysine Chews. 

I also recommend Proviable. It does help with digestion especially after travel or sickness. Loaded with Probiotics and good for immune system. You can just sprinkle a capsule in the dry food. Link below. 

I will provide links.

https://amzn.to/4bubunN is for Hill's Science for 1-6 yr old cats

https://amzn.to/44k5A6i   is for Hill's Science for Kittens

https://amzn.to/4dpl2SK   is for OKO Cat Litter

https://amzn.to/3Uz6oRh  is for World's Best Litter (corn cob)

https://amzn.to/3xPvnqO  is for Stainless Steel fountain with filters

https://amzn.to/4aODh2g  is for 5 pack of Fun kitty toys w/ catnip 

https://amzn.to/3UdBD2V  is for 20 Mylar Crinkly toys. Kitties love these.

https://amzn.to/3Uz4hwZ  is for 60 coil springs. Love these too!!

https://amzn.to/4b9C7y3  is Antibiotic ointment for the eyes. Vet charges twice as much!

https://amzn.to/4daLqzr   is a probiotic (Proviable) helpful to boost good flora in kittens and cats. I highly recommend to have this BEFORE your kitten arrives. Travel can create tummy issues. 

These are the things I most recommend and best prices for them. 

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Next we look at Litter.  I use pellets and my breeders use Pellets. Pine pellets. WHY???? Clay litter has 2 no-no's. Kitty goes in clay box and digs for his chosen space to poo. So digging is causing dust to rise and float around and then your kitten breathes it in. Second, kitten washes his paws after clay box and licks off the clay. Now he has ingested it. Imagine this as a daily routine, several times a day, and see that this is not good. I have just ordered a Litter Robot 3. I haven't put it together yet. I think it uses clay, but I don't think much is in there. I will let you know my experience with it. Stay tuned. LOL. UPDATE Oct 5, 2023  I have trashed the ROBOT. It is really hard to clean, especially when the poo gets on the sides and goes round and round and then it will just smell until you get it off. Too much trouble. Just my opinion. 

Pine Pellets are natural. Not harmful. I Have previously purchased Natural pine pellets, but they disintegrate once the kitty urinates. Not cost effective and it smells.  I have switched to OKO Cat and love it. https://amzn.to/4dpl2SK   like it because it clumps and I can just scoop out what is soiled. I have also purchased horse or rabbit bedding from the farm store. If you are around one of those you will find it cheaper, but it doesn't clump. Again, waste and you will use a lot of it. I am now switching to OKO cat. If you do Auto ship, it is a couple dollars cheaper.  We are also using World's Best Litter in the RED bag and sometimes mix them together. It is made with corn cob. https://amzn.to/3Uz6oRh
Lysine. WHY???? Well, Lysine is great for inflammation, gums, joints, immune system. 98% of all cats have the Herpes Cat Virus. Not like ours. It is something they are born with and it reacts when they are stressed or low immune system. Lysine chews from Amazon are given once a day and they love the taste. It is called Viralys. There is a treat!!! It helps keep them from getting sick and builds up immune system. It is not uncommon that kitty will get upper respiratory infections. Please be sure to have these available BEFORE picking your kitten up from me. If you notice sneezing, coughing and wheezing, these chews are very helpful. BUT, if you have them on hand, you should just be giving once or twice a day to avoid any issues. VERY IMPORTANT.... If your kitten is NOT eating for more than a day, CALL ME!!!. Same with drinking water and going potty. It takes 3 days for a kitten to go down FAST from not eating. !!!
Water bowl... If you use a fountain, you need to clean it every 2 days. WHY???? Cat's saliva has tons of bacteria. When they drink, they get lots of saliva running through the fountain. It will grow more bacteria very quick. if that happens, they will get sick and vomit or have diarrhea. Whether you use fountain or bowl, you must wipe it out daily to get the slimy saliva off. You can't see it, but it's there. Pretty yucky, so clean the fountain every other day. Stainless steel is better than plastic.  Empty the water daily, wipe with a paper towel and refill. The other thing that can give your kitty diarrhea is too much wet food. Nice STAINLESS STEEL fountain https://amzn.to/3xPvnqO
Toys. Ok. Toys are great. My kitties love their toys. I need to be careful about types of toys. The cat will eat anything that is a string or looks like a string. Some toys have mylar strings. Those are bad. WHY???? Those strings get ingested and cause obstructions in their bowels. Strings in the bowels probably need surgery. Also, be careful with catnip. If they get a huge whiff and it goes up their nose, it could lodge up there and cause a bacterial infection. Also, it is not good to let them eat so much of it. I know it is fun to watch them get "high", but just use common sense with it. It can make them sick. I have most recommended toys listed above with links. 
House Plants or FAUX pretend plants. Yes, they will eat the real plants and the fake plants. WHY????? I do not know. LOL. Then, they vomit up green plastic or real leaves. Also, lots of plants are toxic to cats. 
Electric cords. Cats will play with cords. Electrocution is a common thing in CAT  Emergency room. Please wind them up and tuck them away or tape them up. Very dangerous for kitty. Again, this is common sense, but many do not think about this. Even plugging in your phone to charge or leaving plugged in phone cord exposed can cause you to possibly kill your cat or shock the heck out of them and cause severe mouth burns. 
Different things that can cause sickness or death... well, I am thinking of these as I go. You know the gel packs that come in pill bottles or shoe boxes or packaging? Toxic to pets. Chicken bones, not good. People food, not good. Too much sodium and other junk. Milk is a big NO. Cats do not do well with milk. Chocolate is also bad.  When you spray Lysol for odors, do not let the spray get into their food or water or in their lungs. Lysol is good and bad. Air fresheners can make your kitty sick. They are chemicals. I know you think it is masking odors, but it is also making them sick. If anyone else comes up with more stuff let me know. I can add to this list. 
MOST important, if a kitten does not eat or drink for more than a day, CALL  me.

Quarantine is very important. If the kitten arrives with some bacteria or virus that it picked up on the plane, it can spread it to your other pets. Just common sense. Keep them apart. That means under doors as well.

The VET appointment is extremely important. Once you know your kitty is arriving, please make the vet appointment. It should be done within the first week that they arrive. You will NOT need any vaccines. ONLY a check-up. I would definitely do a blood panel. This will determine if there are any issues with kidneys, liver, etc. I would not do FIV/FeLV tests until the kitten is over 8 months old. They may come up False positive or False negative since they are young and still carry the Mom's antibodies. I also do NOT recommend the Leukemia vaccine. Bad side effects or even worse!!! 

Get the Lysine chews or gel from Amazon to get their immune system up. It's about $20.00 on Amazon and twice as much from the Vet!! Lysine is good for many things. Gums, upper respiratory, digestion, helps with inflammation during teething and good for eye health. 

Any questions, please feel free to call or text or email or message me. Thanks to all!!!
 

What should I do once kitten comes home?

It is seriously best to give the kitten some peace and quiet for a couple of days. Keep kids calm and pets away for a while. They should be quarantined until their vet visit.  Let them get used to you coming in and petting them and talking to them. If the kitten is overwhelmed and scared, things will not go well. It's very likely a stressed kitten will start sneezing or getting an upper respiratory infection or die from Exhaustion. They don't know when to stop. Let their immune systems build up. Do not let them walk on grass outdoors for some time. They can get bacteria, virus and worms, especially from dog poo. Just be calm and easy with them. It's a new home for them and they need to adjust slowly. 

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