We recommend getting your kitten used to having their mouths, ears, paws and tail examined on a regular basis at home, by you and maybe some friends or family members, using lots of treats and rewards.

Hopefully this will mean they are more at ease when the vet needs to have a look at them on the consult table, making the whole experience less stressful.

We recommend a good quality, complete, dry, kitten food from brands such as Arden Grange, Burns, James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin or Hills. This is by no means an exhaustive list – there are lots of good brands of cat food.

The main things to look for are natural ingredients, no additives or colourants, and a high protein content. You can add a small amount of kitten wet food to the dry food if your kitten is really fussy but if you can get them eating just dry food it is far better for their teeth. It’s also cheaper, more hygienic and more convenient to be on a completely dry food diet!

Once you have found a brand your kitten is happy with and their stools are a normal consistency, stick with that brand and be careful when changing flavours to introduce them gradually because a sudden change may upset your kitten’s tummy.

We do not recommend a home-made diet (either raw or cooked) for cats because their nutritional requirements are much more specific than dogs or humans and it is very difficult to formulate an appropriately balanced feline diet at home.

New kittens should be kept on the same food the breeder or rescue centre has been feeding them for at least a week after you take them on. It is too much of a disruption to take them away from their litter mates, mum and familiar surroundings, and change their diet all in one go.

Kittens should be fed 4 times daily until they are about 12 weeks old, then 3 times daily until they are about 6 months old. We recommend twice daily feeding throughout adulthood, or alternatively leave a measured amount of food down for them to eat throughout the day; this usually only works in single cat households otherwise the chances are one cat will be greedier and eat everything! It is not ideal to leave wet food down during the warmer months as old food will attract flies and become unpalatable.

Don’t feel you always have to feed your kitten from a bowl; there are many interactive games that involve food so that the cat has to work for it. Just a simple feeding ball or flicking their biscuits across the floor will entertain your kitten to no end and provide exercise.

Preventing obesity is very important in cats as health consequences can be very severe. As a practice, we are seeing a higher incidence of diabetes, osteoarthritis and heart problems in obese cats, which are all serious diseases that can be very expensive to treat, can shorten your cat's life and can easily be prevented by losing weight!

Also, in male cats urinary blockages are far more likely to occur in overweight cats so prevention is key! Once neutered your kitten’s metabolism will reduce so they usually require 20% less calories.

Please keep an eye on their general body condition and alter their food as necessary to prevent them becoming overweight.

One of our veterinary nurses will be happy to discuss this with you if you have any concerns.

We generally neuter male and female kittens from 3-6 months of age. There are many health benefits to neutering but the main reasons are to prevent unwanted pregnancies and urine-spraying indoors.

If you live in an area with many other cats we recommend neutering your kitten before letting them outside to avoid pregnancies. Also, entire male cats are much more likely to fight with other cats causing injuries and spreading diseases such as Feline Leukaemia Virus, which is potentially fatal.

The myth of ‘every female cat should have at least one litter’ is complete nonsense; not only do you run the risk of complications potentially requiring an emergency caesarean, but rescue centres are full to the brim of unwanted cats.

There are not enough homes out there as it is, so adding another litter of kittens to the equation is irresponsible. One un-neutered female cat could be responsible for 20,000 descendants over 5 years (according to Cats Protection).

We advise that cats should wear a quick release collar, which pulls apart if the cat gets stuck and will allow them to escape should they become entangled whilst climbing.

A small tag attached to the collar can be engraved with text on both sides – enough space for your name, address and phone number. Please ask at reception if you would like to order a tag.

In addition, we strongly recommend getting your kitten microchipped around the time of their 2nd vaccination or when they are neutered. This involves inserting a small chip (about the size of a grain of rice) into the scruff of your kitten’s neck. Once chipped your details will be held in a national database so should your kitten ever get lost, they can be scanned and traced back to you via your contact details.

Therefore it is very important to keep your contact details up to date with the database company.