Kittens are fun-loving and entertaining little creatures. However, there are many points to remember to ensure your kitten grows up to be a healthy and sociable cat.

All kittens should receive their first vaccinations against Feline Infectious Enteritis (FIE) and Feline Respiratory Disease (FRD) at 6 to 8 weeks of age.

Your kitten will then need a second vaccination against Feline Infectious Enteritis (FIE) and Feline Respiratory Disease (FRD) at 12 weeks of age. A further booster vaccination against Feline Respiratory Disease is given at 16 weeks of age.

All kittens must be confined away from other cats until 7-10 days after their 16-week vaccination. This is to ensure that the vaccines have had enough time to give your kitten adequate immunity against these viral diseases.

Twelve months after the last kitten vaccination, your cat will require a booster vaccination. Cats require booster vaccinations every year for life.

Kittens should be wormed regularly, particularly against roundworm and hookworm. They should be wormed every 2 weeks until 12 weeks of age.

Worm kittens over 12 weeks of age against tapeworm, as well as roundworm and hookworm. Giving an allwormer every month until 6 months of age can do this.

Cats over 6 months of age should be wormed with an allwormer every 3 months. Allwormers for cats come in tablet or paste form.

It is important that your kitten receives a high quality, nutritious diet that allows the kitten to grow up healthy and strong. The diet should be made up of well-balanced, complete commercial food, preferably a combination of tinned and dry cat food. There is no need for vitamin or mineral supplementation if a well balanced diet is fed.

Always have fresh, clean water available for your kitten.

Do not feed your kitten milk or milk products. Kittens cannot tolerate the sugar in milk and this can cause diarrhoea. If you want to give milk, a low lactose milk specifically formulated for cats is available. However, milk is not necessary for a well balanced diet.

Avoid feeding diets based on liver, raw fish, or meat on its own. These diets are unbalanced and can cause serious growth abnormalities. However, these foods can be safely fed in small amounts, as a treat, rather than as the basis of the diet.

Kittens need to be fed small amounts of food and often. The younger the kitten, the more often you need to feed it. The following chart will give you an idea of how often you will need to feed your kitten.

De-sexing your male cat will stop him from spraying urine around your house to mark his territory and will stop most territorial fights.

De-sexing your female cat will permanently stop her from having unwanted kittens.

Not only do de-sexed cats make better pets but also they cannot produce more kittens to add to the already overpopulated cat world. Every kitten season the pound receives a heart breaking amount of unwanted kittens, many pet shops no longer sell them because the demand is too small.

Start training your kitten to use a kitty litter tray as soon as possible. Kittens as young as 4 weeks of age can learn this quickly.

Encouraging play behaviour is an important part of your kitten’s development but it is also necessary to discourage aggression. Any behavioural problems that you have with your kitten can be discussed with your vet.

A normal, healthy kitten is lively, playful and has a good appetite. He or she will also sleep for most of the day.