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advice needed about kittens
I am most likely getting a kitten tonight!! I've been considering it off and on for about a year and heard about this little guy last week. He (I think) is about 2 or 3 months old. He's been staying with a friend of a friend after the person had found the litter outside a barn. I was hoping you ladies could give me some advice. Any products you'd recommend? What's your favorite litter? Should I just give dry kitten food? Also, any advice about the claws and scratching? I don't know that I want to give him free roam of the house yet while I'm sleeping or at work. Where would you put him? In the bathroom? How high of a baby/dog gate (mine is 4ft) could he jump over? What are some essentials to pick up from the store beside the obvious litter box, food bowls, bed, etc?
Anything that you think might be helpful for me to get started would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, ladies!
Re: advice needed about kittens
Totally agree about the baby gate. Cats can jump like you wouldn't believe.
Also, typically when a cat comes to a new house they need a bit of an adjustment period. When you bring your kitten home, show her the litter box and food/water areas and then just let her roam for a bit. She might hide for a bit too. Try to let her come to you in her own time.
I really wouldn't worry about the scratching and claws yet. I have had several cats and it was never an issue. If you want to, there are scratching posts available that work as emory boards that will serve the dual purpose of letting your kitten scratch and keeping her claws filed down.
For litter, we always used Tidy Cats small spaces. It worked great to keep our apartment from smelling like poo. Food will probably be trial and error. Mimi refused to eat dry food and Maggie wouldn't eat anything but Friskies dry seafood flavor. If you can, try to get sample sizes of a few different kinds of kitten food to see what she likes. Dry food should be completely fine.
For toys, invest in one of those $1 laser pointers and some string. That is seriously the only thing I've ever successfully gotten a cat to play with.
Good luck and congrats on your new kitten!
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The laser pointer is THE BEST cat toy! My cats are also huge fans of this toy: http://www.petco.com/product/105853/Star-Chaser-Turbo-Scratcher-Cat-Toy.aspx
My cats eat dry food, but take my advice and don't give them a free feeding dish. We constantly have food out and my youngest cat eats his feelings LOL. If he's trying to snuggle and I'm doing something, he'll run in the other room and just eat b/c he's bored. You'll save a ton of money if you only feed the kitty at certain times of the day.
We also bought cat nail clippers and DH clips their nails. He trained them when they were young (we got both of them between 2 and 3 months old) to just sit on his lap and he'll clip them and then give them a treat after lol.
I agree with all of the advice here. Laser pointer is a must, I'd say to do some research on pet food. Really, you'd be surprised what some companies consider "food" for your pet. I've also read that soft food is actually better and that you should give them a little bit of hard food to clean the plaque off their teeth.
Im jealous! I want a kitty
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I would ask what they have been feeding the kitty for the time being - if you change foods it can really mess up their tummy and give them bloody poo
My kitties stay in the garage while I'm at work, but when they were little they stayed in a bathroom. I'm paranoid that if I leave them alone in the house they'll jump on the tables or counters, so I keep the little buggers outside just in case.
Giving cats catnip is hilarious - they rub it like crazy!
Most of the time, the kitties just like a blanket to sleep on, so save your money on a bed - ours never use it!
There is a spray called green apple that you can put on things you don't want them to scratch. There are also a couple other options at the pet store I know.
Do you have stairs at your place? If so, try to keep him downstairs for now - my claw baby fell off the 2nd floor the day after we got him...so he was down to 8 lives.
Will you have a tree this xmas? You might want them to check it out for a bit before decorating it.
Bernie was complete trial and error for us. So here's what I remember:
We found her when she was probably around 5 weeks old. Tiny tiny tiny. We immediately bought litter box, bed, and food/water dish. For food at first, we used kitten milk (you can find it on any pet aisle in any store) 3xs a day (I think? Don't remember, but we didn't just leave it sitting out all day). Then we switched to dry kitten food in kitten milk so that it would soften it up a little for her baby teeth. Did that for a month or two (I think, don't remember) and also didn't leave it out all day. Eventually, when I saw she was eating the food before I got the milk in it, I knew she was ready for straight dry food. We did kitten food until she was about 9 months old, then have since switched her to big cat food.
We had an open litter box for about a year. It was fine, didn't bother me, but H wanted a covered litter box, so we got that about a month ago. She adjusted to it quickly, and it's a little more hassle to have to take the lid off to scoop it, but it's fine. I don't think it matters either way.
Until I knew she could jump on and off the couch by herself, we kept her shut up at night and while we were out of the house in our back room. Since then, we've just let her roam.
We got her front paws declawed when we had her spayed. She will never set foot outside and was a major scratcher whenever she wanted to play with you (and still would be if she had them). It was an awful thing for me to go through because she was in some pain, and I don't know that I'd do it again to another cat, but I doubt we could have made it without her having them taken out.
Also, Bernie's favorite toy is ice cream sandwich wrappers balled up into balls. She plays with nothing else. We also had a practice golf ball or two (they look like Wiffle golf balls) that she loved the chase around. Cats will play with almost anything.
Enjoy your kitty! It's so fun to see their personalities develop. I keep telling Bernie that I can't wait to get a cat that actually likes to snuggle and cuddle instead of a stuck up b!tch like her. I'm only half kidding.