Having trouble with new kitten

hp3

We got our first kitten a couple if years ago, same as you I think I was a bit naive when it came to kittens. I have never lived with cats and only really visited friends with older cats who just slept, ate and went out. We quickly learnt he needed lots of play time and hated being shut out of rooms. Luckily he was great at his litter tray. I am a bit of a Monica in my house so I found it difficult when he started to scratch up all the carpets, climb up brand new curtains and wreck the sofa but you soon learn to live with it and those things don't matter. I loved my boy very much and unfortunately he had an accident outside and didn't survive. We have since adopted two more cats who particularly like to scratch the stuffing out of the arms of our sofa, leave ginger hairs on the bed, biscuits everywhere, drink your water and wake me up but I love it and them just as much. You will learn to relax about things the more you get to know your kitty. They are lovely animals.

moggymutt

Both males and females get neutered, then more specifically it's castrate for a male and spay for a female.

A kitten friend and lots of scratching posts, possibly rub cat nip on them.

Keep bathroom and bedroom door shut so she can't get in unless you are with her.

hoglet121

We had 2 adult cats, having never wanted a kitten for exactly the reasons you mention....

Then an 11 week old kitten arrived in our garden, starving, and despite our best efforts no one came forward to claim him.

After the initial cuteness factor, he really was hard work. He would use the litter tray, but pee in the bath at night which at least was easy to clean. But in my inifite wisdom I thought I'd stop him going in the bathroom cos he was knocking everything over in there....

The we found he would come and pee on our duvet, matress, carpet in our bedroom etc.... He was just too small to cope with one litter box downstairs, so if we'd just put another one upstairs for him it would have been fine, and I wouldn't have cleaned the bath every day. Eventually he grew out of it, so yes it was very trying at the time, but came good in the end.

As for the furniture - he gets a squirt of water if he scratches the sofa or the dining chairs, and praise when he uses the cat scratcher, but it doesn't seem to make a huge difference. I'm so much more laid back about it than I used to be... Yes we like the place to be neat and tidy and we can't afford to replace the sofa, but the joy ours cats bring us is precious, and worth so much more than a shredded sofa.

Now he goes out he is less manic inside the house... the selection of 'gifts' he brings us is extremely varied...

He can still be a little blighter, but he cuddles up with us every night, as do all our cats, and we love them dearly.