Expert: Marcia Owen - 9/12/2007

Question
A friend who bred Turkish Van and Flame Point cat's passed away several months ago.  She was a older lady and a widow.  She had no family and very few friends.  She was a very wealthy lady and her animals were very well cared for.  Our problem is, we went over and picked out the kitten of our choice. We do not know if it is a Turkish Van or a Flame Point.  Her estate is being Auctioned away and we don't have any access to any of her paperwork.  Also this is our first kitten. We believe him to be about 11 weeks old.  We don't have a vet record on him so we got her first set of shots 3 weeks ago when we attained her. She was wormed then with Drontal and again last week. I have pics I could send you and maybe you could tell us her breed or forward them to someone who could.  He is going to be neutered so it really is not that big of a deal. We are just curious. He possibly may even be a mix between the two.  
Thanks,
Joseph Stooksberry

Also, if you have any hints on raising a kitten for the first time such as health, diet, etc, please let us know!!

Answer
Dear Joseph

Firstly condolences on the passing of your friend. How lovely though that you will have one of the last kittens she bred.  By all means do send me a couple of pictures so I can see what the breed is.  However being such a young kitten the markings etc. may not be fully there so it may still be a little bit of a guess but I can at least have a look.  I'm not sure if this site accepts photos so send them to me at goldlay@gmail.com and mark the subject line Allexperts Photo, just so that I don't think it is a spam email.

As to raising the kitten, I tend to give my kittens good quality tinned food along with biscuits from a reputable company.  You may wish to use kitten biscuits as they are that much smaller for their little mouths.  As you haven't the benefit of the breeder telling you how he was reared do take note of what he is doing in the litter tray in case the food upsets him.  If it does, cook some fish or chicken which is easy on the stomach and then reintroduce normal food gradually.

It sounds like you are doing everything else such as his shots and worming.  I can see he has a good home with yourself.

Marcia.