About your First Siberian Cat!
Are you ready for the investment of getting a Siberian cat for your family? If you haven't reached out to us to ask about availability and pick your kitten yet, go ahead and click on "Contact" and get in touch with us! Your kitten has been growing and learning all kinds of things at an amazing rate. Playing with their brothers and sisters, they learn not only how to play, but how to be gentle! They have been doing great with litter training, and they are all successfully weaned off of mom and onto a healthy diet of wet food. We are with them every day, so they have been well socialized and they are very sweet, but of course when they get into play mode they turn into little tigers! SO, here’s a few things to keep in mind as you prepare for your little friends!
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There’s a lot to cover, but much of it can be explained by our friend Jackson Galaxy, who has great resources available online if you want to learn more. Even if you’ve had cats your whole life, like me, I still learned a lot and reflected on past cats I’ve had and how certain things could have been helped or avoided by watching his videos.
Step 1: Set up your base camp for your kitten!
GET YOUR FOOD
You should get their in advance of their arrival. Please keep them on these foods (Royal Canin Mother & Baby Cat wet food and Royal Canin Kitten Dry Food) and introduce them gently to any new foods or treats. Some of them might eat everything you offer, but too much variety too quickly can be harmful to the balance of bacteria in their gut and make them sick. Once you agree to take your kitten, we will send you a link that will get you important savings, and you will also take a kit home with you to get your started!
LITTER
Here’s the litter they’ve been using (two kinds.) One is kitten litter, the other is regular unscented clay. They can be eased onto any litter, most likely, but this will make their transition smoother. A litter box we love, due to its size, durability, and ability to deep clean, are the stainless steel boxes. It’s a bit more of an investment up front, but you can use it for the cat’s lifetime (especially for Siberians, as they are larger breeds).
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Pine litter for kittens: https://www.chewy.com/feline-pine-original-non-clumping/dp/32587
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Clay litter: Anything unscented
ACCESSORIES
Refer to the video for any other purchases, but we consider cat trees and toys essential. Cat trees not only cover all the bases for scratching and playing, whether they prefer scratching horizontally or vertically, but height is confidence for cats. If you want your new best friend to be confident and see you as a pal, give them the high ground! If there are beds or dressers in your basecamp, don’t let them go under and hide. While our kittens are used to people and it’s not as much of a concern as if you had a shelter cat with an unknown past, every cat has a different personality. Hiding in a “hole” on ground level puts them in animal mode, and can make them more fearful and cautious, and they realize you can’t get to them if they don’t want you to. This is the opposite of confidence and could stall your bonding, so block tight and extensive hiding spots if possible.
Step 2: Cat Proofing your Home!
CHECK HOUSEPLANTS
One thing we really recommend as you prepare for your new best friend, is to just do some research on the plants you have in your home and their toxicity levels toward cats.
SCRATCHING
Kittens don’t jump up to surfaces, they climb! If you don’t want them on kitchen tables or other surfaces, check out this product: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721735K9?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder_k1_1_7&=&crid=27PWU2STZVQNW&sprefix=motion%2B&th=1
We have used this to train all our cats on what is theirs, and what is ours (we only claim the kitchen table and counters, they get anything else!) The product is a bit pricey but they get the hint after a few scares.
TRAINING
One last thing we learned the hard way. Part of being gentle with their brothers and sisters also goes into being gentle toward you, their new guardians. We only use our hands to pet and show affection, not to play. You’ll find out just how tempting it is to rub their little tummy and have them cling on and play with your hand like its another kitten, and they don’t bite hard or scratch hard, but when they’re older they won’t forget those times as a kitten and will still see your hand as a toy. Not that they will hurt you (our big boy Lucas does this and he has never drawn blood and is always gentle even though he looks like a crazy man), but you just can’t predict if they will see your hand as affection or see it as a toy, or your guests for that matter. Especially if you have a boy, it can be alarming for your visitors if an 18 pound cat decides their hand is a toy upon introduction, so our advice is to always keep toys as toys, and hands as affection.
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This is not an exhaustive list, and I’m sure as you and your cat learn each other there will be other things that come up. Again, Jackson Galaxy is an excellent source of knowledge, and we will also be available for any questions you might have. In all likelihood, you will have an amazing time with your new best friend and you won’t even need to think about most of these things beyond the first day, but we always like to be prepared and make sure you are prepared for their transition to your home.
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