Your New SaraJen Kitten
General
- Your new SaraJen kitten may be picked up as soon as they are 12 weeks old.
- All SaraJen kittens will have been given appropriate inoculations prior to leaving our home; they will have been de-wormed; they will have been examined by either Nova Cat Clinic in Arlington, VA or EMMAvet in Alexandria, VA. You will receive the kitten’s vet record from this visit and documentation about their inoculations.
- All SaraJen kittens are placed with a written contract, including a health guarantee and owner requirements. Your deposit receipt provides a preview of the terms of the contract; please review prior to picking up your kitten.
- We will provide ‘starter’ provisions of the litter and food the kitten is familiar with (see below) to help make the transition as easy as possible.
Terms for the New Owner
- The kitten must be indoor-only.
- The kitten/cat must never be bred and must be neutered/spayed (females ~ 7-8 months; males ~ 10-12 months).
- The kitten may not be declawed, neither front nor back.
- The kitten must be fed a high-quality diet, high in meat (not fish) protein.
- The kitten must receive regular veterinary care, including appropriate inoculations.
Food and Litter
The kitten will be eating primarily wet food, which is usually a mixture of the following (though please check with us first about the particular mixture your kitten is currently eating):
- Blue Ridge Beef Kitten Mix raw meat
- Royal Canin Kitten – Loaf in Sauce and/or Thin Slices in Gravy and/or Mother and Babycat.
- Blue Buffalo Kitten Freedom Grain Free Chicken
The kitten’s diet will also include some (but limited) dry food, which is usually a mixture of the following:
- Royal Canin Kitten
- Royal Canin Maine Coon Kitten
- Life’s Abundance All Stages
Blue Ridge Beef Kitten Mix is available via a distributor/network. Our local distributor in the Wash. DC/MD/VA area is Best in Show Naturals. Other purchase info for outside this area: Blue Ridge Beef Information.
Royal Canin foods are available at PetsMart, Petco, other pet food stores and online. We particularly recommend Chewy.com for online purchase.
Life’s Abundance is only available online, at Life’s Abundance.
We also use a good all-purpose vitamin mix for our kittens, Doc Roy’s Daily Care Feline. You can find this at Revival Animal Health.
The kitten will be used to a crystal type of litter, which we use for all of our cats. Why crystal? Very low dust factor, very absorbent, excellent odor control, low tracking factor, and lasts a good while.
We use Exquisicat Low Dust Crystal litter and we will provide a starter bag for you. This litter seems to only be available at Petsmart; it comes in 8# and 14# bags. But there are other reasonable alternative crystal litters available at pet stores: Fresh Step Crystals, So Phresh Odor Lock Crystals, Nature’s Miracle Rounded Crystal Litter, Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat – Longhair Cat Crystal litter, etc. You do not have to keep your kitten/cat on this type of litter, but you want to at least use this for the transition period








Preparation Checklist
- Kitten Proof Your Home
If you haven’t had the opportunity and pleasure of introducing a new kitten into your home recently, this is a critical step. While Maine Coon kittens are not hyper, they are naturally active and inquisitive about everything! They will try to chew on things or eat things they find within their reach. Fortunately, they grow out of this phase, but many things we consider can be dangerous to them during their kitten-hood. Here’s an article I recommend: Kitten Proofing Tips Select One Room for the Introduction
No matter if you live in a one-bedroom apartment or a four-story home, it’s important to select one room/space that the kitten can be in for the first few days. They need that time/seclusion to get used to a change in their environment. Provide a litter box, their food and water, something akin to a cat tree/perch/scratching post, and preferably access to a window or view outdoors. Oh, and a radio, if possible, as all of my kittens are used to music all the time.This introductory room can often be a bedroom or a guest room or an office. Just be sure to plan to spend lots of time with them during this period so they get to know you as their new people person.
If you have another furry critter in the house, this method is particularly helpful in mitigating the shock of them learning they will now have company. After 2-3 days it will be fine to just open the door a bit and let the kitten explore at its own pact. If it thinks it is time for a hasty retreat there will be a nice place they can return to where they feel somewhat comfortable. But it won’t take long after that for the kitten to explore and feel comfortable all over your home. They will soon find the regular litter box in the place you desire, and their new routine will begin to emerge. Numerous articles about this subject are available on the web.
Make a Vet Appointment or Two
Please make an appointment with your veterinarian for 1-3 days after your new kitten’s arrival for their first New Kitten Visit. This is an important step to get the new kitten in their files and have the kitten checked out to your satisfaction according to the health records we’ve provided. This is particularly important to do before you introduce them to other cats/pets in the household. Be sure to take the kitten’s records we’ve provided to this visit.You might also want to make an appointment for some time around the kitten’s 16-week age mark. This will be for the kitten’s final first year ‘booster’ shot and for the Rabies inoculation, if you so desire.
A Few Words About Litter Box(es)
In short, more is better.If you have one cat, get two litter boxes. If you have two cats have 2-3 litter boxes. And so on… Litter boxes are one of the least expensive cat paraphernalia you will come across. Never let a scarcity of a litter box or a fight over the rights to it be the reason for inappropriate elimination. Do you part up front!
We do not recommend the automated litter boxes, at least not to start out. Plain and simple is the best way. Easiest to clean and maintain.