new cat or kitten advice (merged)

clairewp

thanks all for advice, went to see them today and we are getting a torty and a ginger girl cant wait

nealallen

You mentioned Foxe's. There were loads of pet cats here where I live, now only one. Mine and this poor lone cat are the only cats here now. Mine stay indoors, the other pets were allowed to stay out. On many nights we could hear horrible screams coming from the back of us. Within months the Foxe's killed them.

After that the Foxe's left and we haven't had them around here foe ages.

Adults cats are no match for a Fox, kittens are easy pickings. I suggest leaving them indoors till at least they get wise to the outsde world.

squiggle37

I didnt let me cats out till they had been spayed, i now let them out first thing in the morning after brekkie then they come in tea time they have a good sleep then go back outside till 10-10.30 thats when i give them their tea.

asea

I know 2 people that have recently lost their cats to foxes. Please be careful

tanith

asea wrote: »

I know 2 people that have recently lost their cats to foxes. Please be careful

Its extremely unlikely that a fox would kill a full grown cat, they are actually not that much bigger than a cat and any cat is fully capable of seeing off a fox... they actually mostly avoid or ignore each other should they accidentally meet .

My cats have always been given the choice to stay out at night if they wanted but now they are older they invariably come inside...enjoy your new pets when they arrive...

Daisy16178

I have 2 cats. You should always bring them in at night. Mine sleep in their own little bedroom and know from habit that around 10.30 pm that it's supper time for biscuits and water. They are just like babies. They use the litter tray first, nibble the biscuits, sip water and off to sleep. It's all a case of getting them in the habit. I'm led to believe that most cats are killed during night time hours. Regardless make sure they have a collar on that shows up.

mogwai

I have 5 cats, and they have always been fine outside. Even my smallest cat is very comfortable with foxes, one night I looked out to see my cat sitting on the outside table, surrounded by 4 foxes who were just having a sniff around. I also saw this same tiny cat chase a full grown fox out of our garden once. I think foxes are more easily spooked than cats who are at home in peoples gardens etc so they tend to avoid confrontations..

However, we didnt let out cats stay out longer than a few hours until they were big enough and experienced enough to look after themselves (can't remember how old they were then though! possibly 3 months??)

Also, if you have a garden, avoid keeping anything that might attract foxes there at night, since we stopped putting out our rubbish in one corner of the garden during the week we see foxes less frequently now..

mogwai

clairewp wrote: »

hi all so excited getting 2 kittens soon (born weds) well quite soon for my children well ok and me my question is we live in quite i quiet area but have several cats and foxes around and am just wondering should we bring them in at night when they are old enough.

Oh, and how old will the kittens be when yo get them?

sharon_currie

I`ve just had Mya at the vets and she has mild cat flu. She`s got antibiotics and eye drops - the vet said that she may be more wilder when she recovers from the flu so god help us LOL. Just to add, the vet nurse picked her up by the scruff of the neck when she took her out of the cat box and Mya seemed ok with this.

hayleyc_2

One method I've used with kittens is to give out a really high pitched squeak when the kitten gets too rough. This is the sort of sound the other kittens would make to show that the play had got too rough and to stop. As your kitten was probably removed from its mother a bit early it may be that she never really learned this from her brothers and sisters and is even more bitey and scratchy than a 'normal' kitten! If you squeal, and then fold your arms and look the other way then you are not rewarding the behaviour, and you're letting her know that she's gone too far. Once the kitten has calmed down you can then reward her with a calmer game, or a stroke.

As your kitten is only 9 weeks old, I wouldn't worry too much. All kittens go through this sort of phase and most grow out of it without much intervention.

Good Luck!

Hayley