The life of a Bombadillo kitten

All of our British Shorthair kittens and cats live in our family home with us, as very much loved and cherished pets.  There is always someone home to keep them company (and talk to them!) and they are truly, exceptionally spoiled! Here you can get a little taste of the life of a Bombadillo kitten...

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Marilyn our blue and white colourpoint girl enjoying the sheepskin

 

British Shorthair kitten welfare...

Space, space and more space...and did we mention space?

All of our cats have lots of indoor space in our home. They are never kept in crowded conditions.

Overcrowding….not on our watch!

Our cats are never overcrowded. It has been shown in studies that overcrowding causes cats to become physically stressed, and not only does this make for an unhappy cat, but it also weakens their immune system which can lead to illnesses that can be fatal. You can read more about cats, stress and illness on the icatcare international website, where they recommend never keeping more than six cats in a room. We have no more than two cats in a room. This is because some cats are perfectly happy to live a solitary life, and actually prefer it, whilst others prefer some company. So those who prefer company share a room with their besties, whilst those who prefer their own company get exactly that. 

Health

Healthy cats are happy cats, and healthy cats make healthy kittens. We love our cats and our kittens and their health is very important to us. All of our cats are PKD, FELIV and FIV negative/normal, our colourpoint cats are all Progressive Retinal Atrophy PRA negative/normal, and our boys are tested for British Shorthair ALPS. All of our kittens are checked by a vet at least twice and leave us fully vaccinated.

We have an excellent relationship with our vet and other medical professionals, including a physiotherapist to our British Olympic Team who has an emerging interest in veterinary physio. Whatever our cats and kittens may need, they get the very best on offer.

When we were still getting to know our vet we would book the first appointment of the day, and make sure the room had been disinfected, or check that there had been no sick cats in the room that day and take a clean towel to put our cats on so that we absolutely minimised the risk of them picking anything up. We have been with the same vet for some time now, and she is excellent in every way: she always makes sure the room is clean and lets us know if any sick cats have been in that day!  We believe that cleanliness is the basis of good health, which is why we pay so much attention to it. Read more about this below. 

Food, glorious food!

All of our British Shorthair cats and kittens are fed a high protein, good quality diet. We keep up to date with the latest pet food research, and understand how confusing it can be. Our approach is a result of our research and experience: the research is far from conclusive and we continue to try new things to search for the best diet for our cats. We currently believe that the key cornerstones to a healthy cat and kitten diet are: high protein from a good quality real meat source, low allergen contents, variety and safety. We also aim to keep our kittens on a diet that can easily be continued when they get to their new homes.

Cleanliness...is next to Godliness

Actually, cleanliness is everything! It is the starting point of good health, which leads to happiness and good socialisation. Here are just some of the additional things we do, on top of those already mentioned, to make sure that our kittens are as healthy as possible when they leave us:

  • Our cats are kept in ones and twos. Most of our cats have their own, spacious rooms in our home, which makes this very easy and all of our cats are in our home with us all the time. 

  • In addition, every single litter tray is completely emptied and cleaned with an anti-viral cleaner.  Because there is no way of stopping kitten littermates from using the same litter tray as each other, we make sure that their litter trays are changed at least once or even twice a day. Changing the litter so regularly also allows us to monitor the health of our cats daily.

  • Our kittens only ever mix with their own mum, and their own littermates. The importance of this approach has been documented by almost every serious feline scientist or researcher: having two or three litters of kittens playing together and allowing 'co-parenting' might be very cute to see, but it puts the kittens at very high risk of getting a serious illness or infection.

  • Every time a new cat is brought into a home, there is always a risk that the cat may bring in an infectious condition. Cats raised in multi-cat households are at a high risk of infectious conditions. We have our own boys, so do not have to run the risk of bringing new cats into our home. 

  • Our girls are only ever paired with our own boys and our boys are at strictly 'closed stud'. This means that no cats other than our own girls ever meet them. Cats meeting for stud duties is a major cause of infection in the pedigree cat population. We have eliminated this risk.

  • We welcome visitors to our kittens with open arms - we believe it is a very important part of choosing your kitten, and we aim to make the whole process positive from start to finish. When we do have kitten visits, we ask visitors not to touch the kittens to reduce the risk of spreading infections.

There are already too many kittens brought into the world in dirty, unloved and miserable conditions that put their health and happiness at serious risk. We will never do that.

British Shorthair kitten socialisation

Some of our british shorthair kittens enjoying thier bedroom

Because all of our British Shorthair cats and kittens live in our home alongside us, they have a head start in socialisation! We handle kittens daily from as early as possible. They grow up around all of the usual sights and sounds of a family home. In addition to that, we make sure that we cuddle and snuggle them every day, When they get old enough, they are introduced to various cat towers and toys so that they continue to develop into loving, playful inquisitive furballs!

If you have any questions at all about how our cats and kittens live, are loved and looked after please get in touch. Choosing the right breeder for your kitten is a very important decision and we understand that. If you are interested in any of our kittens you are more than welcome to arrange a viewing with us so you can meet them for yourself. 

See if we have any kittens available at the moment.

Discover how to choose the right breeder for you kitten.

Learn about the importance of litter tray hygiene