New Kitten Any Advice Welcome Please

Missus_Aka

Just bought a kitten today,black and white 8 weeks old, its a girl as far as i know and has had its injections already when i bought it from the pet shop.

I have made up a little bed with blankets, have a litter tray ready, bowls, toplife formula kitten milk(wasnt sure if i needed this or not) felix kitten pouches (up to 1year).

So far it seems quite scared and shy, im guessing this is quite normal for a kitten in a strange environment, though the only cat i had was bought when i was 4....is there anything i can do to help it settle into its environment and it used to me, my son 3, and little sister 8?
Should i let it wander around the house or keep it in 1 room?

It hasnt seemed to eat much or drink any of the milk just a little nibble, so i was wondering how much you are supposed to feed/ give them to drink a day so i know if its too little, i would go by what it says on the box but i know this isnt always accurate....and what do you find is the best food, i dont want to spend too much money but want to spend enough that it is good quality food.

How often do they go to the toilet? is there a certain time after they eat their food that they normally go to the toilet?

I know that they are not supposed to go outside yet but what is a reasonable age.....and is it right that around 6months they get neutered?

Any help anyone can give me with my numerous questions will be appreciated, sorry for so many, i just want to make sure im doing everything ok. Thanks in advance everyone

myalphabetgirls

8 weeks is quite young really to have left mum puss. They should really stay with her until 12 weeks. Little kitten is probably missing her mother more than anything.

Check out the whiskas site

http://www.whiskas.co.uk/

for lots of week-by-week info on raising a kitten. It has all the info you will need. When you register you will also be able to print 2 coupons against whiskas kitten meat and then whiskas will send you regular emails with more coupons and weekly advice.

Register with Felix online also as they will send you out a kitten care pack which has a coupon also against a future purchase of cat meat.

Offer her kitten biscuits (whiskas and go-cat are easy obtainable at the supermarket) as well as wet meat. In the long term dry biscuits are better for their teeth. Change your water daily. A lot of cats don't like the cat milk, but try her with the kitten variety as it is full of vitamins which she may be missing having been weaned early from mum.

Ask a local vet if they offer a free health check with a nurse. A lot do.

I am surprised pet shops are still allowed to sell kittens. I am also quite doubtful that she has had her first course of injections. They are not normally given as early as 8 weeks and are in two stages. Did you get a certificate of immunisation?

Worming and fleaing is more important at this age. Advocate is a prescription only pipette (drops onto neck) which will cover both these. It is a small cost, around £10 per dose. You can buy online cheaper but you will need your vet to give you a prescription which some can be a bit funny about doing.

If kitten is a girlie yes, around 6 months for spaying. If she turns out to be a boy around 5 months.

hope that helps a little. All you can do right now is let her have some peace to settle in.

Usually they need the loo after mealtimes (like babies) - offer her a quiet corner for her litter tray and take her to it after she has had a meal so she gets used to where it is.

I wouldn't be letting her out just yet - she is very small.

Lots of love and tlc and not too much handling by children as they can be rough unintentionally. In a few days kitten will have settled in and will be up for lots of play.

doodlesmum

Hi,

It"s normal for it to be shy at first like you say it"s getting used to it"s new surroundings it is a little bit young to have left it"s mum ,12wks is a better age.Regarding the injections it will need a 2nd dose after it"s first primary dose did they give you the vaccination documentation so you can check it has been done and to get the second lot done .
I would get some flea stuff suitable for kittens to as will may need doing in the future.
With the litter training i used to take ours as kittens and pop them on the tray after they had eaten or drank or they start sniffing and pattering as this is good way to teach them where the litter tray is,you will get a few accidents but cats are pretty quick at picking it up.
With going outside dont let your kitten do this until she"s had all her jabs and if you dont want kittens you will need to get done about getting her neutered at around 6 mths until then dont let her out on her own keep an eye on her.You can get her micro chipped too incase she ever wanders.

You are doing a good job already sounds like she"s going to be a pampered ,happy cat .

McKneff

I am very sad that this baby cat has been taken away from its mother so young. I know you will do a good job
and you already love it to bits.
The poor little thing will be missing the warmth of its mother and it really should still be suckling at 8 weeks.

wrap it in a worn cardigan of yours so it gets used to your smell, dont feel that you have to compensate it with food.
can you imagine what it is going to feel like tonight with no mum to cuddle up to. I'm sorry but i really feel strongly about
this. Is it possible you could take it back for another 4 weeks and/or buy one of its siblings, two kittys are much more fun
than one.

rising_from_the_ashes

Awwwwww, congratulations

The 2 I've got now both had to leave their mothers very young (4 weeks) for different reasons so were hand reared (syringe fed, wiping the bottoms etc:eek:) - hard work but they are both very easy to handle as had so much contact from a young age.

Lots of handling makes a huge difference when they grow up.

One thing that I found gave them comfort when they were really wee was to put a soft cuddly toy in the bed so they had something to cuddle up to - meet their surrogate mum....



It was absolutely brilliant as it made them feel really secure and probably felt a bit like mum!

I too didn't know you could buy kittens from pet shops anymore!

Re going out, I personally never let mine out until they're neutered so all have been around 6 months before they've ventured into the big wide world.

Loads of useful links & advice already posted but one more just for luck .... http://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-health-advice/kittens-and-cats

I know our vets do a free kitten check so may be worth going along as they'll also give some advice (and usually give a kitten pack too, I got the big blue fleecy blanket in the pic in the one we got as well as some food, money off vouchers and a really useful book).

Good luck, enjoy, and wishing you many happy years together.:)

rising_from_the_ashes

PS, I'd keep it in one room for a few days till it gets used to it's surroundings and feels a bit more secure (a quiet room with nowhere that it can get stuck).

They can get into the smallest of places so if you're going out, please make sure if can't get stuck anywhere (one of mine got stuck up the gas fire in the lounge and it was a nightmare trying to get her out - I couldn't even get my hand in).

Plushchris

Later on, when it comes to letting her out, make sure you have insurance first, cats will fight to gain their position in the local cat gangs, I found out the hard way, when I let my Ernie out for the first time after a week he dissappeared for 2 days and came back with a wound in his side that was infected, £400 and lots of stitches later I decided £5 a month is good peace of mind.

Other advice? Buy stuff like food and flea/worming treatment online, there are a few good sites out there, I always use Vetuk.co.uk

Missus_Aka

To be honest i didnt even go out today to get a kitten (though i love them to bits) i was supposed to go to the post office, it is a turkish pet shop under new ownership maybe about 4 months (the guy that works there used to be my butcher from the place i get all my turkish food from), the kittens did all seem young and i dont think they are from the same litter and the one originally wanted seemed to have a real bad infection in its backside that didnt seem to be a recent problem, i just went to have a look but i felt so bad for them i would take all if i could have, but there is no mum if there was i would have paid for the kitten and picked it up in a few weeks but i think the kitten is better off with me, and they have been in that pet shop for over 2 weeks at least (thats just what i know). I dont think that they are mistreating (intentionally) the animals as such i just dont think they have a clue about how to look after them this may be the reason it seems really frightened of anyone?

thanks for the info on food and the coupons it will come in handy, as for the immunisations i will look into it further just in case as i dont want to leave it to chance

and i have had it since 4pm and it hasnt even eaten a quarter of a food pouch and hardly drank any milk and has not gone toilet

i would love to buy one of its siblings so its not lonely and i did feel so upset about dragging it away from its family (the rest were trying to come as well), but i dont think it will be possible i will try the teddy and one of my jumpers and see if it helps any

but i think that letting it out at 6 months is probably what i will do, but i will get insurance as dh dog (lives at mil house) had unexpected bills when it was little and that cost far too much

McKneff

Please, please, please if you have any concerns about the welfare of the other kittens especially the one with the infection then have a word with the RSPCA, the animal will be suffering and it will suffer endlessley if someone doesnt do something about it.
Please,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,even if its just for guidance.

Missus_Aka

that was just what i was thinking mine has diarrhea as well now (am worried)

madtrekker

I was about to say that if one of the kittens was poorly, then the others will almost certainly have caught the infection as when they're that young they have little immunity.

If yours is now poorly, you need to get it to a vet straight away as at only 8 weeks it can get very serious very quickly due to dehydration etc. Find an out of hours vet and get it looked at ASAP.

This pet shop sounds awful. I didn't think you could legally sell kittens in pet shops anymore. I would report your concerns to the RSPCA. Even if the owner isn't deliberately mistreating the animals, the circumstances aren't right and they need educating.