wood pellet cat litter n kitten Qs

mummy_dumpling

we've got two 4m old kittens, one fluffy and one slinky fur, who are totally adorable but driving me a bit potty at the mo

we're using wood pellet cat litter as thats what the kittens were used to, but we end up with sawdust *everywhere*, I have to sweep the whole kitchen floor several times a day cos of it. I think the worst culprit is our fluffy kitty as the dust gets stuck in his fur and he leaves a trail behind him :rolleyes: Its working out quite economical, a £5 for 15L bag lasts us a couple of weeks. But the sawdust is a big problem and its not easy separating the dust from the unused pellets. Is there a better cat litter we could be using?

they've just started jumping up on the kitchen worktops (leaving a trail of sawdust behind them too!) How can we discourage them from doing this? They sleep in the kitchen at night so its not possible to watch for them doing it all the time.

should they be allowed more freedom in the house by now? we've just been letting them run around the kitchen and big living room. we have a huge 5 beds over 3 floors house and worry about them getting lost or being tempted to toilet in bedrooms etc cos they're further from the litter tray They're very clean and haven't once "gone" anywhere except the litter tray but you never know LOL

will they be ok to go outside once they've had the snip at 6m? they ran outside into our garden for the first time on sunday and had great fun running around and exploring for a while (they slept for hours after they came in!) under the watchful eyes of my big girls. our garden is a good size and secure with tall fences/walls on all sides but presuming its not a good idea to let them go out alone just yet?

also we're feeding them 3 times a day with tesco kitten biscuits with half a pouch tesco kitten food added morning and night. is there better quality kitten food we could be using?

sorry for the long post and TIA

BitterAndTwisted

I'm not keen on the wood pellet cat-litter for exactly the reason you've stated. I much prefer clumping litter as it's easier to remove the soiled stuff, rather than having to completely empty the tray every day or whatever. If you;'re considering changing the litter (I would) it might be best to change it gradually because as we all know pusscats aren't keen on sudden changes.

Keeping them off the work-tops: I don't have this problem as my Stanley is a very good boy and was raised by a sensible family (i.e. not me) but I have heard that putting aluminium foil down can deter them.

If you're going to give the kits more freedom at home I'd provide additional tray/s as young kits can forget where the tray is in a big house. Maybe one on each landing?

Going out: They should be OK after the snip as long as they've had their innoculations but in the beginning I'd only let them out before they've been fed so you can entice them back inside. I'd also have a snoop outside and check whether any neighbourhood cats may have claimed your garden as their territory as this might be tricky once yours go out regularly.

Food: This can be a very contentious subject round these parts! If your kits are thriving on what you're feeding now I'd be tempted to keep them on it but if you are considering changing their food you'll need to do this gradually as well as a sudden change in diet can give them tummy probs. If you want to offer a better quality food you should check the meat-content percentage on the packaging: the highest meat-content and least grains is better but the kits will let you know. Sometimes the little blighters appear to prefer the cheaper carp

shimmershelly

I know it sounds really mean but a water spray bottle used once or twice will stop them jumping on the worktops. With mine I only had to spray it once then the bottle itself was a deterrant, now they don't jump up at all as they learn quickly.
As they go out more they will use the litter tray less so the sawdust problem will get better. My two tend to wee in my plants (lovely!) and do number twos in the tray, I clean that up ASAP but only need to change it about once a week now (they're 8 months) So now they are not in and out all the time there is hardly any sawdust problem.
I personally prefer the woodchip as I find it a lot less smelly than the clumping ones I tried but I probably tried the wrong ones lol!

rita-rabbit

just run a search on the site for litter - there are literally 100s of postings about it!

I recommend a covered litter tray & once a week cleaning is just yucky!

Food - as for smells & quality - what they prefer is not `better' for them ..... think McDonalds for children. Again run a search on food for cats - 100s of postings on this site too. I say start them early on good quality food - will save you £s on vets bills as they will be healthier pets in the long run

Apricot

I prefer clumping litter for my two as i found the wood pellets made too much mess. I bought a covered litter tray from PAH £15 i think - I don't keep the lid on but it was the only one with deep sides to stop the litter being flicked everywhere when coco does his "digging to china" routine every night!

As for food, I have been trying to feed raw food as much as possible as this is the best for cats - however you do need to read up quite a bit about it. If you are going to feed pouches PAH purely is good 70% meat (I think tesco, whiskas etc are all only 4% meat). I also feed them James Well Beloved dry food to ensure a complete diet - but this can work out quite expensive which is why I am learning more about the raw diet (you can freeze it and just defrost as and when needed) - I have found it also makes for less smelly number 2's!

Fire_Fox

I agree with Princessleah, when Noah has raw or high meat foods he doesn't really have smelly 'doings'. It is a challenge to make up a balanced raw diet yourself, so worth trying out a simple raw chicken wing first then perhaps moving onto ready-made for a while. Bargain sample packs at Food4Cats - 3kg for £10 then the £10 is taken off your next order!

spike7451

I have Daisy's litter tray in a newspaper lined thick cardboard box (like the ones the cabbages come in) & that keeps the mess in,it also gives her something to clean her claws on when she's 'done'.