You will find here some advice and parctical informations which, I hope, will allow you to choose your future companion and to prepare serenely his arrival ...
Of course this list is incomplete. To know more about it you can, at leisure, "devour" all the books you want...

• Few questions before adopting your future companion
• Prepare his arrival and welcome him
• Protect him from all the dangers

Few questions before adopting your future companion :

To live with  

• A cat's life lasts approximately 15 - 20 years. Am I ready to involve myself into this relation and to take care of him  ? A crush may happen, but it's no question to get rid of him or to resell him if he broke your grandmother's porcelain cup or swing with the ceiling light of the lounge... In other words...
• Am I enough quiet ? The kitten discovers his new territory, he runs all around, touches everything, climbs everywhere, everything is good to play. He's going to dropp the paper juting out of your desk, make confetti with the cheque put on the table, lose hairs on your sofa, be sick on the carpet...
• How many time shall I have to take care of him ? Quel temps aurai-je à lui consacrer ? The Norwegian Forest Cat is extremely sociable, he likes being with you. If you work outside, it will be necessary to dedicate to him every day one moment for games, one time of tenderness&npsb;; he needs this relation favored with you to develop harmoniously.
  The cuddles can go on by the care of his coat, cleaning of eyes, nose, "inspection" of ears... This attention also allows to locate very early signs of a possible disease.
• Take care of his cat it's also regularly going to the vet, to feed him with healthy and balanced food, to offer him toys, to pay someone to look after him if you have to travel,... All this entails expenses , you have to think of it.
• And also : during holidays am I going to take him with me, or ask somebody to come home or let him go to a "boarding nursery"  at home, in my acquaintances, is theyre anybody allergic in cat's hairs ?

Legal aspects

• Have a cat in a rented apartment : Inquire about your rights (towards the owner) and duties (towards others tenants) and ask your insurer about your responsability if your animal causes damages.

Prepare his arrival and welcome him

Your "sohpping list" to welcome him, will include :

• A litter box. You will find many models in specialized stores. Prefer it rather big -your kitten is going to grow up !- and with a lid to avoid the projections on the floor. However if there is a door it's better to remove it.
  For the litter, you will also choose the one who suits you best. Our kittens have an agglomerante one. If you try several, do'nt forget to mix both each time you change, to accustom your cat gradually.
  Watch out ! It's necessary to remove excrements at least once a day, often more. Cats are delicate and a badly maintained litter will be abandoned for the benefit of another place... It's recommended to renew it every 15 days, to clean and to disinfect it before putting new fresh litter.
  Finally, choose a quiet place to put it, out of passages.
• Containers to drink and eat which will belong to him and put far from the litter box. Avoid the plastic which keeps the smells, the cat doesn't like it.
  Leave him unlimited dry cat food  ; he likes coming there to eat some from time to time between two naps or games, verify that he has always fresh water.
• A cat tree from store or home made. He will climb up, be in a dominant position to observe everything and everybody, like sleeping softly in a hammock. He can especially satisfy his need "to make his claws" and so save your wallpapers, curtains, sofa...
• Various toys : balls, mouse, bit of string, paper ball, cork, etc. He will also have so much fun in a cardboard in which you will have made a hole or two, where he can hide, to catch you in the passage, to watch for a practical joke to be made, where he can fool around..!
• To put in some cosy places to sleep. A soft pillow, a hammock hung on the radiator, a nice spot on a shelf, etc. You can also let him sleep on your bed, purring on your pillow... Nothing's more soothing !
• A kennel for transports. Here again, don't take it too small, it will serve you throughout your cat's life to take him on holidays or to the vet, or to show.. why not !
• His toiletry kit !
  Yes, yes ! For his grooming take a brush in natural hairs to avoid the effects of the static electricity, a metallic comb, a very good tool to undo knots (it's useful to brush your kitten from an early age, even if he doesn't need it, so that he becomes used to it); a special cat shampoo if you intend to wash him. You can also get a powder of grooming, a kind of dry shampoo which cleans, untangles and makes shine the hair.



• His food
  When you'll come home to get your kitten, I'll give you a small bag of the dry cat food he's used to eat. It's better to go on with the same one. If you wish to change, just think to go gradually and to watch his stools to be sure he digests well.
  Steamed white fish (or cooked in tinfoil) is very good for him (mixed with a few flaked tuna, mine are crazy about it !) but no more than once or twice a week and never raw  beef (raw or cooked according to his preferences), and cooked poultry. For his pleasure (and yours) you can give him shrimps, cheese spread, let him lick your pot of yoghurt (only nature)... But never give him milk !

  DANGER  


- The onions and all the bulbs, WATCH OUT ! if you plant,
- chocolate, avocado, aubergine, mushroom and potatoes ;
- plants : a worry with the cats.
Nevertheless considered delicate towards their food, our cats often have an annoying tendency of chewing the greenery intended for house decoration. Most of apartment or garden plants may caused a poisoning to our cats. Most of time, fortunately, the symptoms are minor. Indeed :
 The cat ingests small quantities, doesn't like the taste (bitter or irritating) and stop spontaneously,
 Most of plants causes digestive disorders so the cat vomits the largest part, what favors the eviction of toxins.
The toxicity of plants is variable according to the variety, its maturity, according to which part the animal ingests, if hi chew ou not. Nevertheless, some plants are really very toxic and can involve grave disorders, especially to kittens because of their small size and their body immaturity.
Among the widely-held plants, there are :
Amaryllis, Azalea, Elderberry, Honeysuckle, Hemlock, Croton, Cyclamen, Dieffenbachia, Eucalyptus, Ficus, Fern, Geranium, Mistletoe, Holly, Yew, Jacinthe/Bluebell, Daffodil, Oleander, Sweet bay, Ivy, Lily of the valley, Narcissus, Poppy, Philodendron, Peony, Poinsettia, Pothos, Primrose, Rhododendron, Rhubarb, Schefflera, Marigold, Tulip,... non exhaustive list.
You may look at the websites :
Jardins intérieurs
The Cat Fanciers' Association, Inc.




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Protect him from all the dangers :

At home


• the burning wound :
  - hot electric cooktop or a gas burner which we didn't switch off,
  - flat iron,
  - candle, they want to play with the wavering flame and burns them mustaches; hairs ignite fast, very fast !,
  - fire place without protection, etc.


• The poisoning, the ingestions of objects which can cause occlusions, injuries...  :
  - household products to be tidied up, as for the children, out of reach !! (And like children, they well know how to open doors),
  - as well as the paint, the solvents, the white spirit, antifreeze and other products,
  - bleach, caustic cleaner, descaling agent,
  - glue, felt-tip pen, highlighter pen, eraser, rubber band...,
  - fertilizer, chemical treatment for plants,
  - insecticide, traps, baits,
  - the knives, cutter, glass fragments able to cut small cushions or tongue,
  - the heavy objects put at the edge of shelves,
  - watch out the door which can slam on a tail or a leg, in the shopping plastic bag, a cord of curtain, the ties of trash cans,
  - when game is over don't let anything within reach,...


• You must think about risks of electrocution (a kitten chewing electric wire), about drowningif your kitten fall in the bath or the toilets, edges are slippery, he depletes trying to get out...
  As well, never let the door of the washing machine   or the dish-washer one, open ;always verify its empty before make it work.


• the opening : window, balcony, terrace, etc.
  Some people thinks that "a cat always falls again on his legs"... Unfortunately, it's rarely ! When a cat is falling he put first his front legs and his head.
  The luckiest are not seriously injured but in state of shock ; he can break one's leg, have brain damages, burst palate, a fatal internal bleeding.
  So, prevention is better than cure ! Some simple actions may help you, like  :
  - don't let him in the room when you open the window to aerate,
  - shut the windows when you live your home (he may choke on tip-up window),
  - to put up special protectives.

Outside

• The bad encounters,
  - with other animals : dogs who don't like cats, others cats maybe sick, ferrets, foxes, ...
  - somebody ready "to take him in", children, or person at a loose end, who may ill-treat him to have fun.
  - he can be stolen by a Norwegian lover, or to be sold, for a laboratory, or for his wonderful fur...
  - hunters too don't like very much cats !


• the cars and others vehicles, unfortunately, who has never seen dead cat on the road side ; even at the countryside, friends found their cat violently bumped by a quad. !...
  
  The most IMPORTANT is :
  
• don't let him go out, or
• to bound perfectly his sphere of game.
No more the anthropomorphisme : a cat which doesn't go out or whose freedom is limited by an enclosure, is not an unfortunate cat, it's a cat which has more luck than other one to live old !!
To help you to conceive, to carry out and to put up special protectives, here are links to follow :
• navigate around the site of norvegien.com,
  
• visit on AIDS's site, the page " fences et aviaries"
  
• some links to suppliers of nets, wire fencings, electric fencings, etc. :
  -  nets, wire fencings, help to design :  KOMAT  /   Ducatillon  /  La Ferme de Beaumont  /  ZOOLOGIS
  -  electric fencings   La Sanglière  /   Horizont
• and some pics of protectives put up on my balcony and windows when I was living in town, of my actuels fences and of the big, wonderfull fence realized by friends for their two Norwegians.