Video: What Do You Need for a Kitten?

What Do You Need for a Kitten?

If you're planning on getting a kitten, there are a few key things that you're going to have to have. Find out what you need for a kitten with help from the executive director of the Found Animals Foundation in Los Angeles in this free video clip.

Video Transcript

Hi my name is Aimee Gilbreath. I'm the executive director of the Found Animals Foundation in Los Angeles and I'm here today to answer your questions about what you need for a kitten. So we'll start with the most important things first. Kitty needs food. Kittens are obligate carnivores so they need a food with a high protein content. Look for something that's high quality without a lot of fillers and that's specifically designed for a kitten. As they get a bit older you can switch them over to a cat food and clearly they're going to need bowls to eat their food. Well stainless steel and ceramic are good choices because they're non toxic, they're easy to wash and they're hard for the cat to break. If you go with ceramic, just make sure you get something that does not have a lead glaze. The next important item is a litter box. A litter box, litter and a scooper. So there are lots of different kinds of litter boxes. You can have those that are covered and uncovered. Uncovered is a great basic way to start. And there's many, many, many different kinds of litter. Everything from clay, and a clumping and a non clumping formula to crystal and even biodegradable formulas. Different cats have different preferences. A clay based litter is a good place to start. But you may need to try a few to see what works best for your cat. So then another essential is we always recommend everyone put on a collar on your kitten. The sooner you put a collar on your kitten the more they'll get used to it and be able to wear a collar as an adult cat. It's also really important to attach identification to your collar and not only that but we recommend that everyone microchips their cat. This is a form of permanent identification just in case that collar falls off while kitty is out of the house. So then we get to some of the slightly more fun but still very necessary stuff. Cats have a natural need to sheath their claws and to get rid of the dead parts of them. They are going to scratch. You want them to scratch somewhere that you're OK with so buy them any number of scratching posts or tools like this one where kitty can have an approved place to scratch. Kittens also love toys and there's lots of options. Everything from feather chasers to little mice, they even love inexpensive and free toys like a crinkled up paper bag. You also may want to get a brush so that you can groom your kitty. This is another thing to get your kitten used to when he or she is young. And the last item I'm going to recommend is actually a carrier. Because over the course of your kitten's life he or she will have to go to the vet and maybe even move or travel with you. You always want to transport your cat in a carrier so that your cat doesn't get loose and get lost in the process of transportation. So these are all the basic items that you need to get started with your kitten.

What Do You Need for a Kitten?

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