How to choose a kitten? What to ask the breeder?
What should be considered when choosing a kitten and what questions should be asked to the breeder before taking the kitten to the house?
If you decide to have a kitten, consider your possibilities for maintaining, raising and caring for your new friend. Remember – you take a pet into the house not for 1 year, but for at least 10-15 years, so take responsibility for the choice and decision-making.
First of all, determine your capabilities. A kitten is a small defenseless creature that needs your care and attention. Assess and weigh the time and material possibilities: do you have enough time and money to provide him with decent care and maintenance? Think about the conditions, because a rented apartment or an apartment at the repair stage is not the best conditions for a pet. If there are already other animals in the house, evaluate whether their cohabitation will not cause conflicts.
If you are ready, feel free to move on to choosing a future pet and friend.
Breed or mongrel?
There is no definite answer to this question, but there are reasons that can help with the choice.
If you want to join a professional club of cat lovers and breed a certain breed, then a purebred kitten will not suit you, of course. In favor of the purebred animal will also speak predictable traits of character and exterior. Temperament, body proportions, coat length and other signs vary greatly depending on the breed, so you have a wonderful opportunity to choose an animal that meets your own temperament, lifestyle and aesthetic preferences.
If you want to take a mongrel pet into the house, you will get a wonderful friend, smart, hardy and loving, but you will not be able to adequately evaluate its exterior, relying solely on external data at the moment of choice.
What breed to choose?
Today in the world there are more than 50 recognized breeds of cats, and choose from them is not so easy. Where to start?
First of all, decide on the exterior of the future pet. The number of variations is striking: there are cats with elongated and short muzzles, long-tailed cats and cats that do not have a tail, stocky and graceful, long-eared and lop-eared – everyone can choose an animal to their liking. Perhaps the decisive role played by the length of the coat: cats are divided into long-haired, medium-haired, short-haired and hairless. Cats that have long hair (for example, Persian), require more care than others. Cats that have little or no wool (for example, sphinxes) are ideal for allergy sufferers and help you not to spend extra time on cleaning.
The nature of the animal is very often directly related to the breed. For example, Persian cats and Ragdoll breed cats have a calm and phlegmatic disposition, and Siamese and Abyssinian cats, on the contrary, are energetic and temperamental.
Asking the question of choosing a kitten, be sure to first familiarize yourself with the breed: read about the characteristics of the character, the difficulties of care, predisposition to diseases, consult with friends who have pets of your favorite breed.
How to get a kitten?
Having decided on the choice, do not rush to run to a pet store or to the bird market – this often leads to rash and not the most successful acquisitions. Try to find proven breeders, for example, through acquaintances or cat lovers forums. Choose a few and try to meet – when meeting you will have a wonderful opportunity to check all the documents of the parents of the kitten, as well as evaluate the exterior and temperament of cats at home.
But here you should not be impulsive! How to evaluate the behavior of kittens – as a rule, their temperament persists throughout life. Choose a future friend among the active, willing to go on the hands of kittens. Take on your hands, evaluate the appearance: clean ears, evenly covering the body wool, eyes with no traces of outflows at the corners, fatness, no traces of feces under the tail – all these are kitten health indicators that you should pay attention to first of all.
Ask the breeder about the age of the kitten. The most favorable age for purchase is 2.5-3 months. At this age, the kitten must already be given an anthelmintic agent and at least once vaccinated against major infectious diseases. A conscientious breeder should be informed about these procedures in the kitten’s personal veterinary passport, certified by the seal of the vet. organization and the signature of the doctor.
Be sure to ask the breeder about the nuances of keeping a kitten, because the stress during a move is significantly reduced if the pet falls into its familiar surroundings. Find out how often and how a kitten eats, and if it’s not usual to get its usual food, ask the breeder for a quantity with them.
