by Chuck Hinson

Created on: August 13, 2007   Last Updated: July 26, 2009

There's hardly any creature on earth that can heal a lonely or broken heart faster than a kitten. When it's brought into a home, the entire family breaks out in smiles and "awww's" and immediately wants to pet and handle it.

Most pet stores and breeders won't release a kitten to a new home if it's under eight weeks old, because it needs to be weaned from its mother and able to eat solid food. Also, they want to be sure there the young cat's healthy and adaptable to normal living conditions. Naturally, no one can be one-hundred-percent sure that a kitten will be problem-free; maladies like anemia, persistent diarrhea and ear mites can pop up at almost any time during its first few months of life. When these occur, the most obvious step is to take the kitten to an experienced and friendly vet for a check-up and whatever is necessary to "re-purr" the little guy.

Sometimes, though, a vet isn't readily available, or the owner has to sit and wait for an hour or more to be seen. Naturally, this causes the owner to become impatient (and obviously doesn't do the kitten any good, either!). If that's the case, and the cat's problem isn't life-threatening or disabling, here are some ideas that can help the healing process, as well as maintain the animal's health (having learned these from my sister years ago, they've worked for me time and again):

First of all, let's take a look at some vital steps to take as soon as you bring the little critter home. The basic, introductory rule-of-thumb is to check for fleas before you do anything else. No matter where the little guy's been obtained, there's always the possibility that one or more have gotten on him somehow. They normally congregate around the belly, the ears and the anal area. If you find them, you can very lightly dust the affected areas with flea powder recommended for kittens of that age. If you have a flea spray, lightly moisten a cotton-ball with it, then gently apply it to the affected areas. It's extremely important that the medication is designed for kittens and not for dogs (their biological makeup is different, and their meds are stronger than those made for cats).

The next point is to clean around and inside the kitten's ears with a cotton ball (don't use Q-tips, as they can puncture their fragile eardrum. Also, the cotton tip can come off in the ear canal). If you find dark, granular substances on the ball when you bring it out, chances are the kitten has ear mites. If it's brown and web-like, it could

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