How to Care for Kittens from Birth - Keeping the Kittens Healthy and Social

1. Create a secure environment. Keep the kittens safe by removing hazards like deep water bottles, strings, ribbons, or small toys. Doing so can keep your cat from drowning or choking. You should also take care where you put hot drinks in case curious kittens knock into them and get scalded. Plates with human food should also be removed from the kittens since they could eat food that irritates their stomachs.[7]
- Supervise any other pets (especially dogs) around the kittens and seal off places where kittens could crawl inside and become stuck.
- Also be careful when entering a room where the kittens are living. Kittens love to dash around in an unpredictable way and it is easy to tread on a kitten or fall over one.

2. Consider when to home out the kittens. If you've decided not to keep the kittens, you can begin finding new homes for them as soon as they're eight weeks old. While some suggest you should wait until 12 weeks, kittens don't socialize as much by this point, making it harder for them to adapt to their new homes. This is why it's best to start looking for homes between eight and 12 weeks old.
- This timeframe lets the kittens spend plenty of time with their mother and allows them to accept their new homes.[8]

3. Check the kittens and mother for fleas. Look closely at their skin and fur for small black spots. You can also brush the fur and shake the brush onto a white, wet paper towel. You might see red spots (dried blood) and flea dirt (flea droppings). If the kittens or mother have fleas, ask your veterinarian to recommend a flea product designed for use in kittens. Take care to treat the mother, wait for medication to dry, and return her to the kittens.
- If your vet finds the kittens have roundworms passed on from mother's milk, the kittens might need to be treated with a liquid medication (fenbendazole) that is given by syringe.[9] You can give this to kittens that are at least three weeks old. Repeat treatment every two to three weeks.

4. Vaccinate the kittens. You can get the kittens vaccinated once they are at least nine weeks old. Consult with the veterinarian to determine which vaccinations the kittens need. Your vet will probably recommend to vaccinate against feline distemper, which your cat will likely be exposed to. On the other hand, the vet may not recommend vaccinating against feline leukaemia if your kittens will remain indoors. This is because feline leukaemia is spread by close contact with other cats.[10]
- Even if the kitten is going to be an indoor cat, vaccination is still advisable, although your veterinarian can advise you as to which components are essential and which are optional.

5. Socialize the kittens. When the kittens are three or four weeks old or no longer constantly nursing, invite friends over to handle and play with the kittens. Make sure this is a controlled introduction, so the kittens aren't overwhelmed or frightened (which could be traumatizing). Keep in mind that it's important to expose your kittens to a variety of people, sounds, smells, and environments before they turn 12 weeks old. Around this time, it becomes harder for them to accept new situations and experiences.
- If you socialize the kittens at an early age, they'll be accepting, confident, well-adjusted, and outgoing, characteristics they'll keep as they grow into adult cats.[11]

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