Pictured: Ringo, Long Hair Red & White Japanese Bobtail Male.
Photo: © Chanan

At Ochiba we feel that proper nutrition is important for all life stages of the cat. We feed our kittens Sensible Choice Kitten Formula and our adult cats Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice Adult Formula. Sensible Choice is manufactured by Royal Canin, and is a premium food that can be found in most pet and feed stores. Sensible Choice is a nicely balanced diet that contains neither wheat nor corn and has a high level of protein. Cats are obligate carnivores - they are meant to eat a meat-based diet and will become ill and eventually die if fed a vegetarian diet. We urge you to not feed your cats "grocery store" brand food formulas, as they contain a lot of artificial colors, preservatives and other additives. If you don't use Sensible choice then choose a premium brand of cat/kitten food with no by products or preservatives and that is wheat and corn free. Be informed and read the labels, and choose a high quality food for your cat. There are many premium cat foods that use organic or human-grade ingredients. The better the quality of food, the happier and healthier your pet will be! Be sure your kitty has access to fresh, clean water at all times, and try not to feed too many fatty treats - I know it is hard to resist when they beg, but too many treats lead to unhealthy cats.

Litter Boxes

All kittens are started on Feline Pine litter. It is a litter made of pine pellets and it is biodegradable. As they grow older, we then introduce a silica crystal litter - Litter Select. Silica litters absorb very well and also help keep odor to a minimum. We also use EverClean clumping litter for the adult cats. Scoop or dump your litter pans daily - we scoop ours twice daily - and make sure that young kittens have a low-sided litter pan that is easy for them to get in and out of, or they might end up pottying on the floor. Do not use litters that are perfumed. While they are nice for humans, it is not healthy for cats, and stay away from dusty clumping litters for kittens. Most kittens like to dig and play in the litter and they can inhale the fine dust particles and they can develop breathing problems.