{"topic_id":"companion_breeding_cat","category":"companion-breeding","context":"---\ntopic_id: companion_breeding_cat\ncategory: companion-breeding\ntitle: \"Cat — spay/neuter & stray-kitten prevention (intact outdoor cats breed; keep indoors from start)\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version (merckvetmanual.com). First-hand consumer text saved to source_file; C1 substring-verified. Pulled/extracted 2026-08-01.\"\nsource_file: /home/cai/notes/knowledge/side-projects/petfood-data-station/pdf-raw/companion-care/cat_owner_combined.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-01\ntokens_estimated: 560\nverification:\n  method: substring_match\n  claims: 12\n  passed: 12\n  date: 2026-08-01\nrecovered: false\npath: companion-breeding/companion_breeding_cat/01_companion_breeding_cat.md\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com), pet owner version\"\n  title: \"Cat — spay/neuter & stray-kitten prevention (intact outdoor cats breed; keep indoors from start)\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/cat-owners/selecting-and-providing-a-home-for-a-cat\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-01\"\n  ref: \"Providing a Home for a Cat (Merck pet-owner version, Sept 2025)\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary manual (consumer version)\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n\n# Cat — spay/neuter & stray-kitten prevention (intact outdoor cats breed; keep indoors from start)\n\nSource: first-hand Merck Veterinary Manual pet-owner text, saved to `source_file`; every claim below is a C1 byte-substring of it.\n\n## Claims\n\n- `And outdoor cats that are not spayed or neutered often breed and contribute to the problem of stray kittens.`\n- `Once a cat gets used to being outside, it can be hard to keep it indoors, so keep your cat indoors from the start.`\n- `Like puppies and human babies, kittens receive a certain degree of immunity (known as maternal immunity) that is passed from their mothers at birth into their bloodstream in the form of proteins called antibodies and also afterward through nursing.`\n- `Vaccinations can't effectively stimulate a kitten’s immune system until this maternal immunity wears off.`\n- `Because maternal immunity declines slowly over time, kittens should be vaccinated according to a regular schedule, beginning at 2 to 3 months old.`\n- `This helps ensure that the kitten receives an effective dose of vaccine soon after maternal protection is gone.`\n- `Does My Kitten Need Toys or People to Play With? Cats learn how to socialize with other cats from their mother and littermates.`\n- `In the United States, pet food must include a “nutritional adequacy statement.” This statement shows that the food provides complete and balanced nutrition for a specific life stage, such as growth, reproduction, or adult maintenance.`\n- `However, you must keep the litter box clean, or your cat might refuse to use it and soil outside the box.`\n- `The more cats that are using the litter box, the more frequently it needs to be cleaned out and the litter replaced.`\n- `There are many different types of litter, including clay, pine pellets, recycled paper, silica gel crystals, and others, but most cats prefer small, clumping particles (such as clay-based products).`\n- `Cats can be sensitive to smells, so an unscented litter is often recommended.`\n\n---\n\n**Source:** `pdf-raw/companion-care/cat_providing_home.txt` · https://www.merckvetmanual.com/cat-owners/selecting-and-providing-a-home-for-a-cat\n","sources":["companion-breeding — Cat — spay/neuter & stray-kitten prevention (intact outdoor cats breed; keep indoors from start) (retrieved 2026-08-01)"],"source":{"authority":"companion-breeding","title":"Cat — spay/neuter & stray-kitten prevention (intact outdoor cats breed; keep indoors from start)","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/cat-owners/selecting-and-providing-a-home-for-a-cat","retrieved":"2026-08-01","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version","verification_file":"/home/cai/notes/knowledge/side-projects/petfood-data-station/pdf-raw/companion-care/cat_owner_combined.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version","source_file":"/home/cai/notes/knowledge/side-projects/petfood-data-station/pdf-raw/companion-care/cat_owner_combined.txt","tokens_estimated":585,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}