In the latest instalment of our cat care column, written by Bexley-based pet behaviourist Pauline Dewberry, who runs the website www.thedailymews.com, we have advice on the essential trips to the vet - and some you'll want to avoid.

Your new kitten will need a course of essential vaccinations to protect him against the baddies out there.

Even indoor kittens need these injections in case they ever manage to escape.

The first injections are given about nine weeks old, with a follow-up about three weeks later, but that depends on the vaccine.

Sometimes, a third injection is given at around four to five months old, and thereafter annually.

Your vet will advise you on what your kitten needs, so do ask his advice.

Unless you intend to breed from your cats, it's a good idea to have them neutered and spayed.

Neutering can be done around four months old and will stop male cats from wandering far and wide in search of a willing female.

Encountering other un-neutered males, fights break out which could leave your wallet severely depressed when your cat returns home with a torn ear, bites to his face resulting in abscesses.

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A female can give birth to three litters of kitten per year, with an average of four kittens per litter.

In an average lifetime of 15 years for an indoor cat, this could result in up to 180 kittens.

I had a little female cat, Ellie, who went into season on Christmas Day. With a throaty meow, like Marge Simpson, her chest low to the carpet and her bum in the air, my five ginger boys looked at her nonplussed. But Sam, who hadn't been neutered till he was about nine months old, stepped up to the plate.

"Leave this to me," he said to the Ginger Boys, having a vague recollection of his limited misspent kittenhood.

Sounding rather like a prim school ma'am, I found myself saying: "Sam, Sam, stop that at once!"

"Huh?" he resumed normal cat behaviour (or normal for neutered cats) leaving Ellie calling out for her Homer.

She was spayed after Christmas.

If your female isn't spayed, you'll be serenaded by the Alleycat Male Voice Choir at three in the morning, something that you, and your neighbours, would not appreciate, while she'll be encouraging them in her bid to get out of the house.

More on the nitty-gritty of kitten ownership next time.