Kitten Health and Wellbeing
Feeding
Always have dried kitten biscuits and water out for your kitten. Kittens like fresh water every day, so refresh the water daily.
Kittens need to be in a warm house, at least 17C, do not leave the kitten in the house without heating on for hours. Cats need a warmer temperature than humans do to be comfortable.
A kitten that does not eat well and drinks will not get enough hydration, even if it drinks lots of water. It’s the food that turns the water with salts, minerals, and sugar that hydrates a kitten. A kitten can lose half its body weight in under a week if it is not eating well.
Kittens under 18 weeks will eat small portions of wet food twice a day. Kittens over 18 weeks to 6 months larger portions twice a day and over 6 months one portion of wet food a day - or simply just dry food on its own (with fresh water always available).
A healthy kitten does not sit huddled up for 8 hours if it does call me or call your vet.
Cats are lactose intolerant, so PLEASE DO NOT give kittens cows milk or human baby milk. If you would like to give them a treat then once a month a small bowl of fresh GOATS milk.
Eyes
With kittens, a change of environment, central heating coming on, dust in the air, even car journeys can give rise to eye irritation.
Over time this develops into yellow gunk causing sticky or teary eyes. If your kitten has a sticky eye or tears wet eye it will need antibiotic eye drops. Your vet will be able to prescribe them for you.
Sometimes the infection is more in the eye canal or the eye is very inflamed red around the eyelid and the white of the eye is bloodshot red. Then the vet will prescribe and antibiotic that includes a steroid.
Eye issues will NOT go away on their own over time. You can cause long-term damage or worse lose a cat's eye if not treated.
Initially you can wipe the cat’s eyes with salty water, but if this doesn’t clear up the issue within a day or two then see your vet.
Dodgy tummy
Changes in food will upset a kittens tummy. Sometimes wet food can cause some bloody loose stools (looks like chocolate mousse). We suggest to cut back on the wet food. Should this not work, contact us.
If what comes out is just pure liquid, or yellow/whitish, for more than 48 hours, go to the vet. Along with any antibiotics, your vet may give you some re-hydration fluid to give to your kitten.
A fresh-cooked Chicken diet, something light to digest will get them back on track. (Kitten wet food is very rich in fat/ carbs and not always suitable for dodgy tummies.)
Anything long-term and vets will prescribe an antibiotic, possibly in conjunction with Panacur.
Nose and eyes
If your kitten has a drippy, greenish, gunky nose AND runny eyes go to the vet. Kittens are vulnerable and things can go downhill quite quickly.
With vaccinations they'll have the best start in life but a common cold can happen. In a new environment kittens will react to new smells, dust, etc. and can sneeze. They are sensing their new environment by using their nose, and so they are overly using it and may sneeze!
Flatter face breeds tend to get more nasally congested. They are not sick, they have just had a build up of fluid which they need to sneeze out. As their nasal structure is shaped differently it can cause a build up. This is how they clear their noses. Occasionally they can get a sneezing fit and burst a blood vessel, resulting in a rather dramatic scattering of blood. However this should resolve within a few days and not be a regular thing.
If, while presenting these symptoms, the cat is eating, running around playing and going to the toilet, then they are not sick.
Taking a holistic view is the best approach. A kitten that gets unwell will hunker down and develop a temperature, which will make them more lethargic and they lose their appetite. So a kitten that does not want to play or eat, and does not move, is showing signs that you should see a vet.
Allergies
We have not had any cases of allergies, including food allergies, in all our breeding years. None of our cats are on a “special” diet, or receive ongoing care for skin conditions. If there is a change in your cats disposition and your vet wants to explore the allergy route then they can, but we would rule it out and suggest that you look at other causes first.
Hormones
Hormonal changes often cause weight loss, behavioural changes or patches of fur loss. These will resolve/improve over a few months on their own.
Ears
Their ears should always be clean, dirty ears are the early sign of an infection, early prevention resolves any small issues within 24 hour. Vets have the best treatment – do not buy any BobMartin Products, they aggravate the issue and can cause more damage than good! Canaural Ear Drops and Ear Cleaner can be bought online. – Keep drops in the fridge.
Skin
Kittens' skin should be clear of marks and their fur soft. If they have a patch of flaky skin this can be a fungal infection, or allergy to grass/ pollen/ food. The vet will resolve this without any further irritation.
Weight loss
Kittens eat things they shouldn't and are prone to worms. Panacur is the best wormer I've used. It comes in granules you can mix into wet cat food and the kittens will eat it. It kills all kinds of worms and is repeated (for severe infection) over 3 consecutive days, it has remedied even the worst of cases.
Fleas
Prevention is better than infestation, so Effipro drops on the back of the neck- every month during summer April -September has seen my home flea free. (You can buy Effipro x 4 treatments online)
We tried FRONTLINE PLUS - one cat had a bad reaction to it, they lost the fur on the back of the neck where it was applied and it became very angry, the cat kept licking it. We used BETAFUSE and Sudocrem for a week, it dried up and healed. I now will not use this brand.
Genetic Health Check
Your kitten has had its lineage checked and is not at risk for over 40 to 50 (breed dependent) health diseases using MYCATDNA
Note that MYCATDNA is continually adding conditions that it checks for, hence the difference in the examples below.
If your Belle Ayr kitten is first-generation, then both parents have been tested, if your kitten is the second generation from Belle Ayr, then its grandparents have been tested. As the pet owner, you can ask for confirmation of the health results and we will provide the health highlight view, see example below. To Breeders, buying active cats, we can share the full report.
