Insurance for kitten/cats - there are many companies offering pet insurance from supermarkets to the usual home/car insurance companies.  This  can either be purchased over the telephone or via the internet.  A kitten or cat can be insured from as little as £5.00 per month or less and you can choose from different types of cover to suit your needs.  With most policies after  you have paid the excess fee you can claim for the following - X-rays, nursing care, medication, consultation and advise and surgery.

Inoculations -  cats can be inoculated against feline enteritis, cat flu, feline leukaemia.  These injections are usually given in the first 4 months of a kittens life and a booster is required annually to keep their immunity up to date. It is worth considering having your kitten inoculated as if you are intending to board her  at a cattery whilst you go on holiday catteries will only accept kittens and cats whose inoculations are kept up to date and have a certificate to prove this. Another point to carefully consider when deciding whether to inoculate or not is that  feline leukaemia is prevalent amongst cats that wander outside and injure themselves through fighting or scratches and  it is a terrible disease that causes terminal cancer within a matter of weeks.

Neutering - the ideal time to have a cat neutered is before puberty at 5 to 6 months old.  The operation is painless and safe. This stops male cats (Tom cats) from fathering unwanted kittens. Unneutered male cats spray very strong foul-smelling urine to mark their territory. They could spray in and around your home or your neighbours’ homes.  Male cats that have not been neutered tend to roam further from home in a quest for females in season and could become lost.  Female cats (Queens) come into season about once every 3 weeks for 8 months of the year.  If she is not neutered she could attract a host of noisy and smelly male cats to your home and garden.  Keeping her indoors will be problematic as her biological urges will make her frustrated and try to escape outside.   Should she mate with a tom that is diseased your cat may too become infected.

Micro-chipping -   is a permanent identification for your cat in case of loss of theft. The microchip is inserted under your pets skin. It is small and about as big as a grain of rice and each one carries a unique number embedded on it. When registered on the database this number is linked to the owner of the pet. If you cat goes missing an animal rescue center or vet will always scan a lost cat to discover if there is a microchip in the cat and then check where it lives. It costs approximately £15 to chip a cat.