is that fun? oh we want to play so many toys aren't you lucky
hello to everyone that's joined us on the facebook live this week couple of little changes this week
firstly it was a bank holiday yesterday so we gave out kittens a little bit of time off
so we're actually joined today by a 4 month old kitten Avacato he's up in our homing room and has actually been reserved
already he's going home on Friday so he's been with us just a little short while he's very cute and loves to play
so um one of the things as well the cat care assistants and also volunteers will be able to do is just keep these guys entertained as well as providing all their care and food
and everything just making sure that they get enough appropriate place so that's things like um dangling strips of fabric like you can see we're doing here giving them appropriate toys like
the little mouse he's got and things like not using your fingers to play as well because this is something that kittens can get quite used to
and when they get a bit bigger their their claws get bigger too you know so it's really good for their natural hunting
behaviors to make sure that they've got chances to play so exactly like we're doing here
just keeping them really stimulated because these are the sorts of things that cats would would be doing
as part of their natural behavior and their hunting instincts and Avacato has also been neutered
so he's had all his vaccinations he's been neutered and he's ready to go off to his forever home in just a couple of days
but he looks like he's having time of his life already
so you sort of get the idea of the pens here in on of our in one of our centres so it differs depending on the centre
but um these guys have got a nice pen out the front where they've got their little forts that are called hide and Sleeps
so they have got somewhere nice and high that they can get up and off the floor because cats like to have a nice perch to sit on and also a little
place that they can sort of go to hide and be away down the bottom as well so giving them giving them
the option as you can see they've all got a few few toys in there that they can play with and to
keep themselves entertained and then you'll see behind Avacato he's got a little cat flap and
out the back of his pen and he'll have his food and water litter tray and and he's also got some handy
little shelves on the wall above the cat flap at the back so that he can again jump up high and
stretch his legs while he's in our care before he goes home this guy is actually looking for a house with
a garden as well he's quite energetic so probably be using those claws to climb a few trees I would
imagine in the next in the not-too-distant future and but for anyone that's looking to get a cat
rehome a cat um you can go straight to our website cats.org.uk and you can pop your postcode
in and find all the cats that are for rehoming near you um and then we suggest I think roughly
about a three week period when you get your cat home for them to adjust to being in the house
and before you would let them outside so if you're getting an outdoor cat and it's really important
to make sure that they feel really settled in the home first and that they they know that that's
their forever home and that's what they're gonna get fed mainly picture they come back
and it's really important with cats as well when your stroking them or interacting with them to
start off slow and just get to know the areas particularly younger cats because they are so
playful so just getting to know where they like to be stroked and doing it really gently as you
can see and Jo is doing here so just making sure that you don't you know go straight in for their
belly because they will do things like that and not to sort of pull your hand away and be
you know if they are being playful it is just that they're being playful they're not trying
to lash out but it's being you know very um calm with them and making sure that you're giving them
their space as well if you're stroking them and they decide to walk off and don't you know don't
follow them just give them their space and they'll come back and get ready to play and
and have some strokes when they want to really he's really enjoying that fabric
one of the other things people might be wondering having watched our previous live streams and is
when we work with the younger kittens um we'll be wearing gloves and aprons
and it's it's to protect the kittens that haven't had their vaccinations yet from any kind of possible
infection or just transmitting any kind of germs that might harm them because they're
very vulnerable when they're at such a young age and the socialization that we do occurs between
weeks two and weeks eight of the kittens being born so they are really young um so but with
Avocato he is four-and-a-half months so he's had all his vaccinations he's been neutered and
he's a really healthy cat and so we don't have to take quite the same precautions that we do with
the younger kittens but what we will ensure particularly for volunteers that come in and
spend time with more than one cat and they will be using an alcohol-based gel on their hands and
just making sure that their hands are cleaned in between each cat so that no other possible
germs can be transmitted between cats when they're being petted and played with
I think he could play with that all day
so when you've got quite young cats and kittens and things um pieces of fabric and things like this are really good toys to use and you'll have seen
if you've seen some of the other live streams but with the younger kittens we use things like
straws we use paper straws as well um a as we said to avoid using your fingers so that they don't
get used to playing with your hands because that will carry through into that adult life but b
to avoid using things like string and cotton and things like that because if cats get too used to
playing things like this they can actually ingest it and it causes quite a lot of issues internally
so you're better off using things like strips of fabric such as this so that they're bigger they can't ingest
things like this it's just a bit safer for them to play with but certainly don't especially with
kittens you don't need to spend a lot of lot of money on toys because they will literally
play with anything it's always a good idea as well when you're when playing with things if you do play with
them with things like fishing with toys or strings good idea just when you're not playing it then
keep them out of reach just in case they could get entangled around them and things like that
and as you can see kittens like Avacato they do have a lot of energy
so it's really important that if you are looking to get a kitten over an older
cat that you do have the time and you know the patience to sort of spend with them and
actually invest some time in playing with them because although it might seem like something
you know that you can do as and when you feel like they do really need the stimulation kind
of you know daily it's good to spend at least an hour day really making sure that they can
run and jump play with the string and pounce on the mouse whatever it whatever else it is
that they sort of need to expend that energy um particularly at this young age when they're so energetic
playing it cool now I was gonna say we might have worn him out but I don't think we have
we can hear a cat in the pen next door I think someone's getting adventurous
they've got quite a few comments building up on the live stream most people just absolutely
in love with Avacato I think from what I can tell um as always after the live stream we'll go through and answer any
questions you have so if anyone's watching this after the live just pop your question below
and we can either direct you to the relevant place on our website or um or answer your question for you
we're gonna wrap up our live stream here for today and maybe let this guy have
a snooze this afternoon now that he's had his lunch and a play so thanks everyone for
joining us as ever and we'll hopefully be back next week with another kittens live at lunch