Raising a kitten

'Cats, no less liquid than their shadows, offer no angles to the wind.

They slip, diminished, neat, through loopholes less than themselves.'

A.S.J. Tessimond

The first six months of a cat's life are the most critical for its long term health and sanity. A cat's long-term health is usually determined by the diet it is given by the breeder and the new owners, how fussy it is allowed to become (and therefore an unbalanced diet) and whether it is given proper medical treatment, especially worming and vaccinations. What I mean by a cat's long-term sanity is whether it will grow up with good social behaviours and freedom from vices. If a cat is not allowed to develop proper bonds with its mother up until 6-8 weeks of age (and in pure-bred breeds, up to 12 weeks), vices and neuroses are more likely to occur. Although cat's can have a bad start in life and still adapt into perfectly normal cats, the greatest risk to your's cats personality is how it was raised during its kittenhood.

If you have a choice, always select a kitten by firstly looking at the kitten's other littermates and the mother cat. If they all seem well adjusted and not timid or aggressive, there is a good chance that the kitten you choose will not have any obvious psychological problems. This may seem a trivial point, but around one hundred thousand cats are euthanased every year because of being unwanted or unloved - and many have unsocial behaviours such as aggression, scratching furniture or urine spraying. Unless you are confident you can take on a 'problem' cat and deal with it effectively, it is best to find yourself a lower maintenance cat and keep your sanity.