Once you’ve picked out the kitten you want, there’s a few things you’ll need to do to ensure the latest member of your family is happy, safe, and warm. Proper kitten care goes beyond giving the little bundle of fur a new name and picking out some toys. There’s a lot of planning involved to lay the groundwork for a healthy life.
First off, new owners demonstrating the best in kitten care are concerned with the new pet’s eating habits. Establishing proper eating habits early on ensures that the kitten won’t become either gluttonous or finicky later on. Either of these faults can lead to health problems.
Of course, it’s important to select the proper dishes and bowls before the feeding starts. Proper kitten care requires that you have at least two bowls—one for water and the other for food. Veterinarians who are the real experts in kitten care and can give any new owner the best advice, suggest the bowls be stainless steel as plastic tends to hold the odor of old food and is often hard to clean.
Usually, kittens are ‘occasional feeders’, which means they’ll eat a little at a time. Rather than eat a big meal, they nibble several times a day so kitten care requires that dry commercial food can be left in the bowl all day. But wet food will spoil if it’s left out in the same fashion, so many kitten owners purchase automatic food dishes that dispense rations over the course of the day.
All of these automatic dispensers have a series of compartments, some of which are refrigerated, and they hold the food and release it on a timer. In this way the food stays fresh and there’s no chance the food spoiling on your animal.