Kitten Care

Taking care of your kittens

Congratulations on having your first kitten! Now its time to take good care of your kitten. When you bring kitten home, be ready to provide your new kitten with food, water, litter, a place that it will sleep and some toys.

At Harimau Bengal Cats of Singapore, we feed our kittens with quality kitten food from Royal Canin: Royal Canin Kitten 36. We also use crystal litter. Both can be purchased from most pet shops.

Like a baby, kittens go through similar stages of growing, learning and developing. By the time you have brought your kitten home,  it is already past the stage of still being dependent on its mother. It is likely at the same stage as a human baby from 1 year old, able to move around and explore its surroundings. Below is a quick timeline of your kitten's stages of development:

0-2 months - dependent on its mother for milk and care
2-3 months - able to move independently, eat dry food, litter trained
3-12 months - its a teenager! It is still learning to behave and this is the stage where behaviour training is important
>12 months - it is a young adult and on its way to being full grown

When you bring your kitten home, it should be from 3-12 months old. This is the stage to remember the ABC of kitten care:

A - Affection
B - Behaviour Training
C - Consistency

Lets look at each point.

A - Affection
Your kitten thrives on affection. Show your new kitten lots of love, especially when it does something which you like! However, do not show affection when it misbehaves - it will think that misbehaving is fine with you if you showed it affection at that point!

1. Spend some time bonding with your kitten.
2. Show and introduce it to its new surroundings.
3. Show it its litter tray. The first day at its new home is a stressful day and by showing it affection and patting and stroking it, you are reassuring your kitten that it is now a part of your family.
4. Spend some time playing with your kitten. Find out what toys it likes and play with it regularly.
5. When your kitten rubs itself against you, give it a pat.
6. Rub its head and its back (near the tail) to show it affection

You are now its 'mother' or 'father' and it will look to you for all its needs and will show you affection as well - it will grow to love lying beside you and even sleeping by your side!


B - Behaviour Training
Like a new child, you will need to teach your kitten good behaviour and correct bad behaviour. Bengals are intelligent cats and will learn quickly after a few reprimands and praises. The key is to identify a tone of voice, sound and hand gesture that your kitten will take to mean that you are displeased with it - it will be similar to how the mother cat will meow and hiss to indicate displeasure.

Use the following technique to teach your kitten:
1. Use a sound such as a 'psssst', a tone of voice that sounds authoritative and a hand gesture such as a single digit finger and tap gently but firmly on the kitten's nose
2. If it attempts to run away from you, pick it up by the scruff of its neck - thats how its mother carries it - and repeat step 1.
3. if it struggles, hold it firmly as in step 2 and repeat step 1 until its tail curls up between its hind legs. This is sign that it is now submissive and it should have stopped struggling by now.
4. After you have done the above, let it down gently and let it do its thing. After a few mins, you should find your kitten and gently stroke it to indicate that you still love it.

Step 4 is very important so that your kitten knows that you love it!

Do note the above should work for most behaviour problems. However, if it does not work, you should read the next section below on Consistency, and consult a vet or animal behaviour expert.

Sometimes, there are areas of your house where you do not want your kitten to go to, or it has been scratching your furniture and you want it to stop. To prevent it from going into those areas, use a citrus or lime/lemon scented solution (eg air freshener) and spray the area. Most cats dislike the smell of citrus and lime/lemon and will avoid the area sprayed. If that does not work, spray some perfume - cats dislike the strong fragrance of perfume just as much!

Part of behaviour training is rewarding your kitten when it does something right. When it does so, immediately give it a cuddle, pat or stroke it from head to tail to indicate your pleasure. It will learn that you are happy with what it has just done and will more than likely repeat it whenever it wants some love from you! Treats such as wet food are another good way to reward your kitten.

C - Consistency
C is for consistency and that is what you need to do. Ensure that you treat the kitten with consistency. Example, if the kitten did something right, show it Affection and praise it. When kitten does something wrong and needs to undergo Behaviour Training, do so consistently.

Ensure everyone at home demonstrates Consistency.

Consistency will enforce the right behaviour, and kitten will gradually know what to expect with certain behaviour.

When is my cat sick?
When your kitten or cat demonstrates any of the following signs for more than a day, you should bring it to the Vet straight away:

- bleeding, sign of blood in its stool
- difficulty in pooing, straining at the litter for longer than usual with no poo
- listless, lethargy
- not interested in playing with its favourite toy or engaging in its favourite activity
- not eating or drinking as much as usual
- sleeping more than usual, getting up to eat, drink, pee and poo only
- sneezing constantly
- vomitting
- watery eyes

More resources
Here are more resources you can find on kitten care:

How to trim your cat cat's claws
How to give a cat a bath 

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