Good communication with your sphynx cat breeder before taking posession of your kitten is essential.
How else are you going to know what their favourite things are? It is vitally important you ask the following questions before the big day and prepare accordingly
- what do they eat? (how often, what time of the day, treats?)
- how are they bathed
- preferred toileting system (what type of litter, how many boxes, when do they normally defaecate, how firm are their stools)
- what are their favourite toys and play things (this will change but you want them to feel at “home” when they first get here)
- how are they accustomed to sleeping
- any special requirements apart from diet
You can see from this picture that we have a special room set up for Pierre for when he gets here, as well as all his own “things”. Very important for him to have his own space in the first week while he gets over the stress of travel (he has a 3 hour plane trip) and that he can get used to the sounds and smells of our house. More on the introduction process in another post as we document the process via photos and blog posts.
There is a saying amongst sphynx cat owners,
“Once you have one, you will want more”. Kind of like peanuts! And so it is with our current one hairless cat family, because tomorrow we pick up Pierre from the airport (or as my daughter is calling it, the Pierreport).
Preparing for a new sphynx kitten is exactly the same as preparing for when your baby goes from being helpless in the crib, to being able to crawl around. All small objects on the floor must be removed. Everything must be thoroughly dusted (even those dust kitties behind the book shelves you usually leave till the Spring clean. The poisons cupboard must be safely locked. Getting down and crawling around on the floor to see things at kitten height is highly recommended.
This may seem extreme but Sphynx kittens are incredibly curious, extremely dexterous, and have energy to burn.
When Luna came to our house two years ago as our first hairless cat we were really not sure of what was going to happen. We had prepared the house as instructed. We had purchased a whole suite of toys, bedding, food stuffs, litter and were as excited as the night before Christmas.
What we weren’t prepared for was the poor sick little face that peeped out after the breeder’s friend left. We had no idea of what Luna’s temperament was really like, and it was the breeder’s friend, and not the breeder, who dropped her off, so they couldn’t really give much information. Within 24 hours Luna was in intensive care at death’s door, not a good start! I’ll go more into that story in another post, but it took a while for Luna to show her true Sphynx kitten colours, but when she did…
Nothing was beneath examination and everything needed to be licked just to make sure it had a flavour! Luna is two now and that Sphynx kitten curiosity has not disappeared at all now she is a sphynx cat.
Back to the impending arrival.
I am going to document everything in pictures tomorrow. From the airport pickup, the triumphal return, and the getting to know you bit. Luna will have her nose out of joint so that will also need to be tackled, but we shall write about that in a later post too.
Sphynx Kitten Pierre as taken by the breeder
Sphynx People Say…