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"This is my territory ! And you'd better respect that or else..." For this reason the litterbox is an important piece of environment to the cats. If they cannot have access to clean cat sand in it at all times, the males tend to mark somewhere else. To our great displeasure...... If, however, we clean the litterboxes at least once a day, we are less likely to have this most unpleasant marking all over the place..... We could carry on down that lane for quite some time. . Because that's part of caring for a cat. But some aspects of cat care  are more important than others. Because we've chosen to make them "indoor-creatures" we have to adjust the environment too.

Caring for kittens is a special task. Most of the time they'll not bother you before the age of 5 weeks or so - till then the cat mom raises her young quite efficiently on her own. But as soon as they manage their little bodies to move around, nothing is safe from that moment on : Your curtains are in serious danger of being torn down. Curtains are great for sliding.... But honestly - there are a lot of dangers in our homes for the kitten to meet, too. Like f.instance electric wires. Biting them will send a voltage through the kitten's body that it's 5 weeks old heart cannot withstand. That will kill the kitten. Rouhly speaking, you have to make your home "kitten proof" - just like you would if you had a young child around the house.

Then, take a look at your windowsills ! What do you have growing in the pots there ? Herbs ? Good,- most of them are ok. But some are downright lethal to kittens' stomachs. Like the Oleander, or the Croton Monstera. Nice green plants, but terminally so. In this context it is vital to know, that cats do eat green stuff. They need grass to get rid of hairballs that they get in their little bellies by grooming their coat. Of course you should have a small plate with low turf cat grass for them to use. But if that isn't the case, your cat will try other green plants. If they eat from a poisonous plant, yo can give them, Hydrogenperoxide solution to swallow, this will make them vommit. Then give them some liquid activated charcoal and the case is closed. So remember to store a little supply of "First Aid Kit for Cats" in your home. See to it that it is complete at all times,- accidents do happen ! And a kitten is every bit as curious and mischievus as a human child. And get themselves in all kinds of mess that way.

This is  an awfully important point of caring for cats : knowing what to do in an emergemcy !

For know this: Emergencies DO accur from time to time. And cats do slip out the door every now and again. And may then meet a car that can hit your cat on his outing...Kittens climb. Often higher than they intended to - and they also fall down. And they CAN get a fractured leg as a result of that. Do you know what to do ? Look up on searchword "CATS:FIRST AID KITS" on the following internet address : http://www.petplace.com/

It's not that difficult to gather and keep up, a well equipped first aid kit - and we surely should have kits ready to go when we deal with children and animals alike. So - what kind of emergencies are more likely to occur ? Well, you never can tell in advance, but things have a tendency to surprise you. Like children, kittens and cats, are curious. And they explore things. Some times they knock over pots and bottles, vases and glass jars. And they can cut themselves when stepping on broken bottles or ceramics. So you'll ned bandages to stop bleedings. Band-aids, antiseptics, cotton gauze tupfers to wash around a bruise or a cut is necessary, also elastic bandages to wrap around the bleeding extremity. Liquid Band-aid can be used to seal off skin from hair coat until you reach the A&E at your local vet's hospital. The address above, to PetPlace.com, gives you the what's and whys that I don't think about here. It's a very useful resource base to know. I strongly recommend it !

When you get your new cat home, it'll be aprehensive at first. It is also very vulnerable towards a totally new flora of useful and necessary bacteria, that follows the change of environment. So one has to work a little on attention and cuddling-aspects the first few days. They settle in fairly quickly, actually. One of the advantage you get when buying a kitten from known and authorized breeders , is that the kitten you get, is used to be one of many in the breeder's cat population. The mother will have taught her kittens how to behave in front of "tha Boss" of the pack,- and the kitten clearly shows that he/she knows the rules from the word get go.  Given time, the cats will sort out this topic for themselves. It can sound rather scaring, but they usually are satisfied to make a stand-off, to show each other what "mutual respect" is all about ....