New kitten....questions & advice (merged)

Apricot

When I first got my kitten, I put her down in the living room and she ran behind the tv and stayed there for 2 days! I would suggest for the first few days putting the litter tray and feeding things all in a quiet place where the kitten can easily get to them. If kitty does poo outside the litter tray, pick it up and put it in the litter tray, then put kitten in it just so they realise. Clean litter tray every time kitten uses it as they don't like to use a dirty tray - you may want to consider getting two litter trays as some kittens can be very fussy and like to use one for wees and another for poos!


Also, the kitten needs to stay inside until he has had his injections and been neutered. Neutering won't be done until kitten is about 5 months old, if you are going to let him out get him microchipped at the same time - there are so many cats that go missing each year.

By all means stick with what the breeder has been using at first but you may want to look into some better quality cat foods. Many foods (Felix, Whiskas etc) contain as little as 4% meat (which often results in terribly smelly poos). There are a number of threads on this board finding the most MSE but best quality cat food.

Have you bought any toys? Kittens have a lot of energy and will leap around the room for hours chasing after toys - they needn't be expensive http://www.thepurrcompany.com/shopping-detail.php?prodnum=101 Da Bird is very popular in my house!

paddypaws101

http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-chat/101494-buying-kitten-guide.html

You might find some interesting points in the above link. There is also an excellent thread on that sight about different kinds of food to feed. ( Whiskas is not a top choice but the 4% figure is only of the named flavour, not the total meat content )
TBH, the best laid plans often go out the window once kitty comes home! They will get you trained up in no time at all.
I think for the first few days it is recommended to keep kitty in one room ( at least when you are not about )rather than allowing them free reign of the whole house....all that space can be a little overwhelming and most of us will have experienced the sick panic when a kitten seems to have disappeared into thin air.
Enjoy it, have fun...but remember that the habits you instill at this age will stay with the kitten all it's life. For example it may be 'cute' to feed a kitten a little bit of food off your plate...not so cute in a years time when guests lose half the dinner of their plate to a sneaky cat paw!

20vt-rs

Thanks for the tips, one last thing for now, first few nights, should I shut the kitten in a room such as the kitchen, with food, water and litter tray? Not sure to do this or leave all rooms open?

balletshoes

my kitten is 5 months old, we've had him since he was 8 weeks, and we've always kept him downstairs when we're going to bed - otherwise we'd have him jumping about on the beds and any exposed bits of flesh until he wore himself out (forgot to shut the door one night last month, this was the result :rotfl:).

While we're all out during the day, he is downstairs with the doors shut. When we're home, he has free reign of the house.

rita-rabbit

kitten does not need to stay inside until it's been neutered - esp boys.

kerri_gt

rita-rabbit wrote: »

kitten does not need to stay inside until it's been neutered - esp boys.

Cats can become pregnant from about 4mths onwards though so I would 100% advise against letting out a young un-neutered cat unsupervied. If the kitten is female and gets pregnant, it can be very stressful to have a litter at such a young age, and if the cat is male and jumps an un-neutered female then that could lead to unwanted kittens and there's enough of those at shelters already.

kerri_gt

btw - I would second keeping the kitty off the bed (although guess where ours is right now....:o) as well as nipped toes and untold amounts of pet hair on the duvet, it's amazing how one relatively small cat suddenly seems to quadruple in size once they get on that duvet and ends up with more bed-space than two grown adults :rotfl::rotfl:

Have you considered a Feliway diffuser or two in the house - esp in the room where the kitten will be most of the time. I've seen many a reccomendation from cat owners that they really help to calm cats and ease them into new/potentially stressful situations. This site is quite good price-wise www.vetuk.co.uk

The best advise I can offer is to enjoy your new addition, he will soon settle into his new home and be the very cute creator of much havoc in the nicest possible way. Be patient with him as he will be getting to know you as much as you him, all cats have different personalities. Give him lots of play and social time (our cat didn't get this - not from us, we took her in as a stray at 18mths and now when she is nearly 6 she's only just happy to sit on our laps) so he is confident and trusts people. Regarding play things, as well as the scratching post, cardboard boxes and paper have always been the choice of our cats (the minx we have now and our prev. furry boy) - I think it's something to do with the feel. Oh, and ensure you keep plastic bags away from him - I know it sounds obvious but our cat is always sticking her head in bags given half a chance.

rita-rabbit

kerri_gt wrote: »

Cats can become pregnant from about 4mths onwards though so I would 100% advise against letting out a young un-neutered cat unsupervied. If the kitten is female and gets pregnant, it can be very stressful to have a litter at such a young age, and if the cat is male and jumps an un-neutered female then that could lead to unwanted kittens and there's enough of those at shelters already.

so from 8 weeks to four months you would deny a kitten access to the outdoors - nice!:(

kiraroo

rita-rabbit wrote: »

so from 8 weeks to four months you would deny a kitten access to the outdoors - nice!:(

most definitely. They don't know what they're missing, it's only your emotions of thinking they are missing something.

As someone has fostered kittens and pregnant cats for the past seven years I've seen the complete devastation that letting out young cats can cause. For example Claud, a 5 month cat i fostered, just a kitten herself, a beautiful toffee tabby and very pregnant. When Claud went to give birth her small body couldn't cope, she had an emergency c-section but her whole litter died. If Claud hadn't been in my care and i'd not noticed she was struggling to give birth the vet said she would have died too. And all because someone let her outside when she wasn't neutered.

I think letting them out when they're not neutered is the real mean thing to do, not the other way round

kerri_gt

rita-rabbit wrote: »

so from 8 weeks to four months you would deny a kitten access to the outdoors - nice!:(

No I didn't say that, if you actually read the post instead of jumping down my throat, what I am suggesting is that until the kitten is neutered, it should not be let out unsupervised (see my very first sentance).

As kiraroo quite rightly points out, becoming pregnant at such a young age is not only distressing but could prove fatal for a cat, if even if the kitten is male, letting him wander to find a potenially un-neutered female is irresponsible as this could also lead to unwanted kittens (yes, in a perfect world, there wouldn't be un-neutered females out either, but sadly not everyone is a responsible owner.

Supervised outdoor time is perfectly fine up until the cat is netered - and this will give the cat time to get acustomed to the outside world - and its a bid old world for a little kitty.