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

calicocat

Years ago two kittens I got at 8 weeks old spent pretty much most of the first 4 days behind a wardrobe, the one I have now I got at around 4 and a half weeks old as the rescue thought the mother was dying............ she stepped out of the basket, hung out with the dog straight away and didn't hide once...simply took over the house.....:D.

Just depends on the character I think. I'm sure yours will be fine in a few days.

calicocat

The carrier that Gettingready's thread has in it looks good...similar to mine but smaller (mine gets claustrophobic in smaller ones...

tea_lover

I think trying to encourage her out will just scare her even more, poor thing. Let her come out in her own time.

fairy_lights

tesuhoha wrote: »

She has not wanted to eat, drink or use the litter tray since she arrived although she has sniffed the food bowls and the litter tray a few times. Over the course of the day she has become a bit more confident and strangely she relaxes when cuddled and falls asleep.

My cat was exactly like this when we got him at 9 weeks. When we first brought him home he ran and hid behind the TV, when I managed to drag him out he was trembling and meeping helplessly but after a few minutes of stroking him he calmed down completely and after that he was fine as long as he was sitting on a humans lap being fussed or played with. If we tried to leave him alone for a even a minute he would regress back to terrified kitty mode and find somewhere to hide. Gradually he got more confident and would climb of our laps and go for a wander around the flat, and after about two weeks with us he was swaggering round as if he owned the place

no1catman

I remember my brother bringing my first cat to us at six weeks, it was clinging to his jumper, and the shock of seeing the rest of us, made her pee! But being put down on the grass she was fine - can't remember much more of her very early years - it was over fifty years ago! Died of a stroke aged fourteen.


My next cat, I collected at (I think) eight weeks. I had seen her a couple of times with her mother and siblings, children of the house 'handled' I'm sure. When I collected her out of the six kittens, there was only one left (a brother). She was a bit wary about the new surroundings, but wouldn't eat - till mid-evening - couldn't resist liver - her belly practically met the floor!!
Left her in the kitchen for overnight, but succumbed to the plaintive mewing - and she joined me on the bed - set on my chest. Died of CRF - aged twenty.


Third cat - from rescue but a mature not a kitten!


Good luck.

gettingready

Firstly one small thing - the woman you got the kitty from is not a breeder.

Breeder would not allow accidental pregnancy, would have a waiting list for the kittens and not advertise for sale as she did, breeder would handle the kitties a lot and vet potential homes.

Please make sure you insure your kitty asap - hopefully kitty is healthy and will bring you years of joy but just in case, pls insure as vet costs can be massive.

The 4 I have at home now plus the 2 with my daughter - they came to us at 6 weeks and although all non pedigree they were handled from babies and adapted to life with us pretty fast even having a go at the dog too - Zara was mothering them though...

My babies at 6 weeks:



And the brave 0.5kg of ginger fluff George sharing a meal with a 40kg Zara:



Please do not get me wrong, I am absolutely not having a go at you, all my cats are Gumtree babies, I paid for them but your "breeder" seem to be taking the mickey to be honest, perhaps get another kitten from someone else?

All the best

xxx

no1catman

"Please make sure you insure your kitty asap - hopefully kitty is healthy and will bring you years of joy but just in case, pls insure as vet costs can be massive."


Oh yes, as I write this my cat is in the middle of a dental operation for Gingivitis - the estimate was between £350 & £750 !! Thank god Petplan approved the pre-treatment authorisation.

mum2one

Another vote for petplan d

gettingready

Yup - PetPlan paid for both Teddy and Fred dental (clean and extraction), no other insurance covers dental.

My newest addition, Macius at about 9 weeks (all grown up now), again with Zara mothering him.. but what a brave kitty he was...



OP - pls look into insuring your kitty xx

My ginger boy George had operation on his back legs at 7 month, cost about 5k

Macius the wobbly baby eaten Zara's tablet and his stomach pumping/tests etc came to over 2k

Dental for Fred and Teddy was over 1500

Recent blood tests for Teddy £230....

I could go on and on and on....

Johnny_Dangerously

If it's any use, I've broken down all my animal costs since 2008 here. Mainly to highlight dog costs, but also included the two cats as well. I see to have been fortunate with my two, very little expenditure at all.

I'd agree with cat insurance though. Although I self insure, our cat insurance was minimal (around £12 per month) which was good value for money purely for the big vet bills alone.