Is Nine Weeks Old Enough for A Kitten to Leave Mum - Photos of new 2nd kitten

tesuhoha

GwylimT wrote: »

Kittens shouldn't leave mum until at least 13 weeks, many still suckle at 10 weeks, mum also tends to teach very important social skills from 10 weeks such as no biting/scratching and kittens who miss this phase are likely to show this behaviour and less likely to respons to your tone of voice when being naughty.

Get kitten insured witb petpal asap, get a lifetime policy not a waste of time £3 one which would barely cover an illness/accident.

When she is more settled you can look at her diet, for example remove dry food and any grains and focus on a high protein grain free wet food. Be careful about transition though as kittens digestive system can be very delicate.

Get your kitten used to being examined, put her on a table and inspect per paws, ears, teeth, legs and abdomen, it makes it easier for giving tablets etc in the future. Until she is old enough to go out on her first birthday you could trim her claws, but it is better to get her scratch post trained.

Thanks for the advice. We have already scratch post trained her. She doesn't scratch the furniture apart from the upholstery on our dining chairs but that is accidental from gripping when she leaps onto them.

The biting/scratching I am trying to deal with but I am finding this difficult as my husband finds it amusing. I have told him about it on a few occasions and he says yes but then continues to take no notice. Seems its the hubby who needs the training, not the cat.

As for the food, she prefers the wet food already. I am feeding her Hills Scientific wet food, which was on special offer. I'd rather pay more for something she eats, than buy a cheap product that she wastes. She still eats some of the Hills biscuits though.

GwylimT

tesuhoha wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. We have already scratch post trained her. She doesn't scratch the furniture apart from the upholstery on our dining chairs but that is accidental from gripping when she leaps onto them.

The biting/scratching I am trying to deal with but I am finding this difficult as my husband finds it amusing. I have told him about it on a few occasions and he says yes but then continues to take no notice. Seems its the hubby who needs the training, not the cat.

As for the food, she prefers the wet food already. I am feeding her Hills Scientific wet food, which was on special offer. I'd rather pay more for something she eats, than buy a cheap product that she wastes. She still eats some of the Hills biscuits though.

Have you tried her on any other food? Hills has a high percentage of cereals that not only cause weight gain, they are difficult for cats to digest and can cause feline diabetes. There are far better quality foods, even butchers would be better. As it has meat and animal deriatives this means it contains very little muscle and good offal such as heart and is bulked with low protein and low taurine skin, lung etc.

Something like butchers orange label is a good supermarket brand, there is also natures menu which is very good. If you buy online look at things like bozita and smilla on zooplus.

tesuhoha

GwylimT wrote: »

Have you tried her on any other food? Hills has a high percentage of cereals that not only cause weight gain, they are difficult for cats to digest and can cause feline diabetes. There are far better quality foods, even butchers would be better. As it has meat and animal deriatives this means it contains very little muscle and good offal such as heart and is bulked with low protein and low taurine skin, lung etc.

Something like butchers orange label is a good supermarket brand, there is also natures menu which is very good. If you buy online look at things like bozita and smilla on zooplus.

Thanks for the advice. I will have to finish the Hills as I cannot afford not to but I have just been online and ordered some Smilla kitten food. If she likes it I will continue with that. I will look at the Butchers and Natures Menu as well but I do like the look of the Smilla as it has good reviews. My husband gave her some raw mince last night. She loved it but I was not sure about it.

GwylimT

tesuhoha wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I will have to finish the Hills as I cannot afford not to but I have just been online and ordered some Smilla kitten food. If she likes it I will continue with that. I will look at the Butchers and Natures Menu as well but I do like the look of the Smilla as it has good reviews. My husband gave her some raw mince last night. She loved it but I was not sure about it.

They do go crazy for mince, our cats favourite are chicken wings.

tesuhoha

What about Iams?

tesuhoha

GwylimT wrote: »

They do go crazy for mince, our cats favourite are chicken wings.

Trouble is, chicken wings are my favourite too!

GwylimT

tesuhoha wrote: »

What about Iams?

Wet or dry? Have you read the ingredients? Both contain a high amount of carbs which cats can't process and studies have recently shown that cats have a carb ceiling, so when they hit this they stop eating even when their bodies are still craving protein and calcium. So I personally couldn't advise iams as it does not meet a cats nutritional needs, a bit like just feeding us McDonalds.

tesuhoha

GwylimT wrote: »

Wet or dry? Have you read the ingredients? Both contain a high amount of carbs which cats can't process and studies have recently shown that cats have a carb ceiling, so when they hit this they stop eating even when their bodies are still craving protein and calcium. So I personally couldn't advise iams as it does not meet a cats nutritional needs, a bit like just feeding us McDonalds.

Well, I will take your advice and feed her the products you have recommended although I will use up what I have already bought. She has had mince again this evening.

gettingready

I would never feed Iams due to the company being terribly unethical. Just google Iams and animal cruelty. Horrific.

scaredy_cat

kitten pics have to be posted at least every other day, it's the law!!!

:D:D:D