Changes

Socialisation clases for kittens were pioneered in Australia by Kersti Seksel, under the title "Kitten Kindy". Apart from enabling social interaction between kittens, but are also an opportunity to teach owners about cat behaviour and social interactions, as well as providing basic information about diet, grooming, feeding and preventative health. These classes should be restricted to weekly sessions for kittens of 7 to 14 weeks of age<ref>Seksel K. (2001) Training your cat. Hyland House, Melbourne, Australia.</ref>, due to the risk of decease transmission. During classes kittens are also exposed to a wide variety of stimuli including different people, sounds, and handling. Although at this age the sensitive period is already finished, kittens can still benefit from learning to cope with mild stress events, and classically conditioned positive emotional responses.

Socialisation clases for kittens were pioneered in Australia by Kersti Seksel, under the title "Kitten Kindy". Apart from enabling social interaction between kittens, but are also an opportunity to teach owners about cat behaviour and social interactions, as well as providing basic information about diet, grooming, feeding and preventative health. These classes should be restricted to weekly sessions for kittens of 7 to 14 weeks of age<ref>Seksel K. (2001) Training your cat. Hyland House, Melbourne, Australia.</ref>, due to the risk of decease transmission. During classes kittens are also exposed to a wide variety of stimuli including different people, sounds, and handling. Although at this age the sensitive period is already finished, kittens can still benefit from learning to cope with mild stress events, and classically conditioned positive emotional responses.

==Breeders==

==Breeders and transfer to the new home==

 

It is typical for the breeders of pedigree kittens to home them at 13 weeks of age or older, due to concerns about infectious disease and vaccination status. However, unless the breeder provides kittens with an enriched environment and opportunities to interact with a wide range of unfamiliar people then it is likely that fear and anxiety problems will develop. This tendency to home kittens long after the sensitive period has finished is a potential underlying factor in the apparently increased prevalence of stress-related problems in some oriental breeds of cat.

Despite the fact that kittens, like puppies, can live independently of their mother from as little as 8 weeks of age, it is general practice amongst the breeders of pedigree kittens to home them at 13 weeks of age or older. This is largely due to concerns about infectious disease and vaccination status. However, it places an additional responsibility on the breeder of such kittens to engage in a programme of enhanced socialisation and habituation equivalent to Kitten Kindy. Any mismatch between rearing and domestic environment for these kittens is likely to lead to difficulty adapting to the home environment, increased anxiousness and fearfulness.

 

 

==References==

==References==