Some questions about care and grooming of our new cat

Our cat, an 8 month old male, is our first kitty and is an indoor cat. I have some questions about taking care of him. I appreciate your feedback.

How often and how much do you feed an 8 month-old cat each day? I'm not sure how much kitty food to put in his food dish. We feed him a good quality dry cat food from Petco -- I can't remember the brand but he seems to like it.

Our short-haired kitty doesn't seem to shed much. I brush him about every other day and we really don't get a lot of hair on the brush. Is this normal for a short-hair? I expected a lot more shedding.

Do you have to brush a cat's teeth? How often do you do it?

Thank you.

Welcome to the board and welcome to the wonderful world of cat ownership!

I'll try to answer some of your Q's below.

How often and how much do you feed an 8 month-old cat each day? I'm not sure how much kitty food to put in his food dish. We feed him a good quality dry cat food from Petco -- I can't remember the brand but he seems to like it.

It really depends on the food...the more fat/protien content in the dry food, the less you have to feed.... Most of the time, the reccomendations on the bag are a little over exagerated (so that you'll buy more food)...they also assume that you have a VERY active and fit cat... With your cat being a kitten, he might be active enough to eat what the bag reccomends... I *believe* that most cats need ~20kcals per pound per day... but not sure with kittens... I'd start with maybe 1 cup, split into 2 meals and leave it down for ~30 minutes...what he doesn't eat, take up. Adjust the amount you feed until he eats it all in one sitting, feed more if he's still starving, etc.


Our short-haired kitty doesn't seem to shed much. I brush him about every other day and we really don't get a lot of hair on the brush. Is this normal for a short-hair? I expected a lot more shedding.

Depends on the season...my two very short haired cats shed a TON when they were blowing their coat (beginning of summer)...I could brush them everyday and get fist fulls of hair off... Most of the time though, I brush them ~2 times a week. I use a "zoom groom" which is a rubber brush that creates a static charge that sorta "attracts" loose hair to it. I finish with a bristle brush to collect any hair the zoom groom missed.

Also, get him used to trimming his nails on a regular basis...the more often you do it, the more habituated he'll get to it and won't make a fuss.

Getting him used to baths might also be a good idea. I started my kittens with baths at 6 weeks old and they're pretty calm during a bath now (they don't like it, but will hold still)... Bathing shouldn't be done often...at most 1 time a month for a regular housecat, but it will help keep him clean and will also help with the loose hair.

Do you have to brush a cat's teeth? How often do you do it?

This one is tricky...I bought a toothbrush / paste for my cats about 3 months ago, but haven't used it much...My cats don't really care for it and I haven't had time since school started back. If you can, probably brushing every day is best. I'll be lucky to do it once a week... Some folks have said that if you feed wet, it helps with the teeth, so you don't have to brush as often. I'm not sure on that point.

HTH,
Art

Originally Posted by artgecko

Welcome to the board and welcome to the wonderful world of cat ownership!

I'll try to answer some of your Q's below.

How often and how much do you feed an 8 month-old cat each day? I'm not sure how much kitty food to put in his food dish. We feed him a good quality dry cat food from Petco -- I can't remember the brand but he seems to like it.

It really depends on the food...the more fat/protien content in the dry food, the less you have to feed.... Most of the time, the reccomendations on the bag are a little over exagerated (so that you'll buy more food)...they also assume that you have a VERY active and fit cat... With your cat being a kitten, he might be active enough to eat what the bag reccomends... I *believe* that most cats need ~20kcals per pound per day... but not sure with kittens... I'd start with maybe 1 cup, split into 2 meals and leave it down for ~30 minutes...what he doesn't eat, take up. Adjust the amount you feed until he eats it all in one sitting, feed more if he's still starving, etc.


Our short-haired kitty doesn't seem to shed much. I brush him about every other day and we really don't get a lot of hair on the brush. Is this normal for a short-hair? I expected a lot more shedding.

Depends on the season...my two very short haired cats shed a TON when they were blowing their coat (beginning of summer)...I could brush them everyday and get fist fulls of hair off... Most of the time though, I brush them ~2 times a week. I use a "zoom groom" which is a rubber brush that creates a static charge that sorta "attracts" loose hair to it. I finish with a bristle brush to collect any hair the zoom groom missed.

Also, get him used to trimming his nails on a regular basis...the more often you do it, the more habituated he'll get to it and won't make a fuss.

Getting him used to baths might also be a good idea. I started my kittens with baths at 6 weeks old and they're pretty calm during a bath now (they don't like it, but will hold still)... Bathing shouldn't be done often...at most 1 time a month for a regular housecat, but it will help keep him clean and will also help with the loose hair.

Do you have to brush a cat's teeth? How often do you do it?

This one is tricky...I bought a toothbrush / paste for my cats about 3 months ago, but haven't used it much...My cats don't really care for it and I haven't had time since school started back. If you can, probably brushing every day is best. I'll be lucky to do it once a week... Some folks have said that if you feed wet, it helps with the teeth, so you don't have to brush as often. I'm not sure on that point.

HTH,
Art

Click to expand...

Thanks. That's a good idea about clipping his nails. How often should a cat's nails be clipped?

Also, our vet said that dry cat food is best for a cat's teeth, in terms of keeping them clean. Is wet cat food really better for his teeth?

Glad I could help!

With the nails, it depends on how fast they grow and....how much damage you're willing for your furniture to take I trim my two active kittens nails at least once a week (they're ~18 months old and do a nascar impression on top of the couch, etc). My older cat (~5 years and very inactive) can wait up to 2 weeks between trimmings, but I trim his once a week just so that he doesn't have an advantage on the kittens (he can be somewhat of a bully).

If he's not used to having them done, you may want someone to hold him and you trim the nails. Just take a little off at first and maybe just do 1 or 2 nails or just a foot and reward him afterwards... If he doesn't like having them done, this will hopefully teach him that nail trimming is a "good" thing.

BTW, I'd suggest a scissor-style nail clipper rather than the "guillotine" type (where you put the cat's nail in the hold and squeeze it shut to cut off the nail). I am using this one: http://www.amazon.com/Millers-Forge-...548431&sr=1-21 and have been happy with it.

As to the dry food = healthy teeth... I had always heard that too, but, as some on here have pointed out...does eating cereal help our teeth? My cats tend to either swallow dry food whole or crunch it (on the tips of their teeth) then swallow. It doesn't do much good for he sides of their teeth... I've read in posts before on here that some people think that wet food increases saliva and bacteria production, which helps keep their teeth clean... Not sure about that though. Also, many folks have had health problems result from feeding all dry (some people believe cats on all dry are basically always dehydrated because they get most of their food from their prey in the wild, so don't drink a lot). I know that a both cats that I had when I was growing up were fed all dry and both died from kidney / urinary problems.

One of my cats is prone to UTIs, so I've been trying to encourage mine to drink more (even bought a fountain) and I've been trying to feed more wet food. Now mine eat about 50/50 wet and dry and I haven't seen any ill effects on their teeth. If only I could convince them that the wet food was as yummy as the dry...

Whether it helps their teeth or not, I think that adding wet is a good idea just for variety's sake...That is, if your cat likes it. If you do decide to add some in, just try to avoid the cans with fish in them (especially if your cat is a male) as fish tends to increase the odds of a male cat developing crystals in his urine and having UTIs.

BTW, some vets, at leat in my experience, unless they specialize in nutrition, etc., tend to be somewhat undereducated in terms of pet diet, etc...they pretty much go by what the pet food companies tell them.. At least, my vet pulled out a science diet guidebook when I asked her a diet question about one of my cats who was overweight.

Good luck with your cat and let us know if we can help!
Art

I've had cats for 40 years. I'm not an expert, but I'll offer another perspective:

a) I've never given a cat a bath in my life and I don't intend to start now.

b) I've never trimmed a cat's nails in my life and I don't intend to start now.

c) Shedding. Not this time of year. They are growing their coats. The shedding is in spring and summer.

d) Food. Wet food is better for the cats than dry food, but you have to work around your schedule. I would recommend feeding wet two to four times per day and then leave dry down for grazing. I am currently feeding a five month old kitty six ounces of wet food per day, spit into four feedings. For your cat, you could split it into two feedings.

This will give them the bulk of their diet in wet food.

With food it really depends on the cat.

I'm fortunate in that I can free feed my cat and she doesn't overeat. I.e I can leave dry food out at all times and she just eats when she's hungry and isn't overweight at all.

I also feed her 1 pouch of wet food every day in the evening. Sometimes split into 1/2 pouch in the morning and then the rest in the evening.

I don't bathe her and never have and I don't think I ever will. I can't see that being necessary, she doesn't smell and is silky and shiny so I'd be worried about messing up her fur if I were to bathe her.

Bathing cats (and us washing our hair actually) can lead to over productive oil glands where the natural oils and stuff are stripped off the hair during bathing and then the body tries to put it all back in almost one go which leads to greasy hair. So you get stuck in a cycle of having to wash relatively frequently. I'm sure if you use the right shampoos etc. it's not too bad but if the cat is clean and doing well I don't see any reason to bathe unless they roll around in something nasty, but that's more dogs usually.

Clipping claws in indoors cats is a very good idea. I find it easiest to start by playing with the cats paws when he's sleepy. I.e pushing the claw out and massaging the paw pads a bit etc. I started doing that with Nikita when she was around 3 months and after that it was really easy to bring out the clippers and trim the claws when she was sleepy. I just do a few nails at a time and she barely wakes up.

I don't use a brush on my shorthair cats. I just use a flea comb on them - gets the dead fur out just fine.

As far as nail clipping - check and clip as needed once a week. The front usually need clipping more then the back.