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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

The litter tray

Your first night with new kitten. Can you remember? Any tips ?

45 replies

sparkysparkysparky · 21/04/2015 12:40

We will be getting a new kitten in late summer (hols first then keeping an eye on local rescue centres). The last of my two old beauties died in March and it is so long since they were kittens, I can barely remember how it went. They predated dh and dd by several years. My childhood cat lived to a ripe old age too.
DD (8) only has experience of the last of our old ladies and no kitten experience at all. She wants NewKitten's first den to be set up in her room (litter tray, hidey bed, water, food, toys etc) in a puppy training cage .
I'm not objecting although I assume much of the doing will fall to me - I'll bear that as best I can .
Do you remember your first night with your new kitty? All stories welcome (I love this topic - hero cats; prodigal cats!) but any practical tips particularly welcome.

OP posts:

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cozietoesie · 21/04/2015 12:58

If it's my Siamese boys - the only ones I have ever had right from kittens - I just take them to bed. By morning, we're bonded and they're full of themselves and ready to take over their house!

RubbishMantra · 21/04/2015 13:08

Same here. I took Little Monsieur to bed, popped him between me and DH and he stayed there til morning.

He now sometimes goes to sleep elsewhere, but I'm guaranteed to be woken early hours of the morning with his distinctive, "Errr, unga, ungyaa, ungg-YA!" Sometimes he stands on my head til I lift up the duvet.

sparkysparkysparky · 21/04/2015 13:11

I think dd has plans to let NewKitten snuggle up with her as soon as possible - hence the den in her room.

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cozietoesie · 21/04/2015 13:15

Never had an accident, either.

(If you exclude the incident with Oneago when I gave him the wrong type of litter as a stupid experiment whereupon he poked it in a disapproving fashion, stalked away, jumped onto the bed and had a copious pee all over the new duvet. I didn't repeat that mistake.)

RubbishMantra · 21/04/2015 13:16

Well, I doubt NewKitten will spend his first night in the cage then.

cozietoesie · 21/04/2015 13:17

I doubt that as well.

RubbishMantra · 21/04/2015 13:21

And have a bowl of food (the one he's used to) ready for him for when he exits his cat carrier. And water. Then pop him in his tray, whether he eats it or not. Just so he knows where everything is.

sparkysparkysparky · 21/04/2015 13:26

Thanks. I have in mind to use the same food to start with and ,yes, if NewKitten is bold enough on its first night, I suspect its new bed will be with the youngest of its new staff.

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sparkysparkysparky · 21/04/2015 13:37

And then there 's the flea issue. I remember now my girls came with fleas. We treated them and the house. Any tips with fleas and DCs?

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chockbic · 21/04/2015 14:12

He slept at the back of DH's pillow. Which was unfortunate, as he'd got the runs. The kitten, not DH.

MandiandPops · 21/04/2015 14:18

ffg

MandiandPops · 21/04/2015 14:24

My little kitten slept in the middle of the bed with DH and me on her first night. I tried a box with blanket and towel at the end of our bed on the floor but she just cried until I popped her up with us. Much like a baby really. Too scared on their own I think. She settled fine, slept with us for a few days and then eventually found her own favourite places. She has a bed tucked next to the sofa but only uses it when the family are all in the room. She sleeps downstairs, upstairs and generally on the bed of one of the children now. Usually which child is the least wriggly that night! :)

FrozenAteMyDaughter · 21/04/2015 14:27

When we got our kitten, the previous owner lent us the carrier and a blanket the kitten's mother had slept on so he had a familiar smell he could snuggle up to if he wanted. I think that was nice for him.

He was timid for a bit but was exploring our sitting room pretty quickly and was fairly settled in by the time we went to bed in some ways. We all gave him lots of cuddles but we did leave him downstairs for the night, which I wouldn't do if we got another kitten. We were very inexperienced though. We did try him in the bedroom soon after but he leapt all over the bed until we could take it no more so had to keep him downstairs for a while. He now comes and goes as he pleases and usually sleeps at least some of the night on top of my legs. He did have a short period of sleeping on my head which I am glad is over.

cozietoesie · 21/04/2015 14:28

I tried a box with filling on Twoago on his first night. He thought being put in and jumping out again was a great game for about 20 minutes - and then he got fed up, jumped up on the bed, snuck under the duvet and burrowed down to sleep. My blow for freedom was short-lived.

RabbitsarenotHares · 21/04/2015 14:28

When I got my cat as a kitten I couldn't allow her in the bedroom as that was the room my rabbit used as her base, and I didn't want her feeling more overwhelmed than necessary by a predator in the house, especially since she'd not long had an operation and wasn't feeling great. So the kitten had the sitting room (bed), kitchen (food) and hallway (litter tray). However, I felt sorry for her having to spend her first night away from her cat family (she'd lived with her mum, dad and brother up until then) all on her own, so I slept on the sofa.

Needless to say I didn't get much sleep, as life was far too exciting to stay still for long! It was a lovely experience, though, as she alternated sleeping in my arms with madly dashing all over the place and jumping up onto every surface possible! Then when she tired she'd land on my chest once again and start purring, loudly!

I did take her out to the litter tray every few hours in case she couldn't remember where it was, but each time I got 'the look' and she walked away, upset I was spoiling her fun. The only time she had an accident in those early days was when she thought she'd use the rabbit's tray instead of her own, and I carried her through to her one.

cozietoesie · 21/04/2015 14:31

I guess I'm just used to Siamese who generally sleep the night through. (I think their poorer night vision leads to that but I'm also sure that they need to be with their person for long periods and bed is a good one for them.)

chockbic · 21/04/2015 14:39

Why do Siamese have poorer night vision?

Fluffycloudland77 · 21/04/2015 14:46

I locked him in the kitchen with a bed, food, water, tray and toys.

Obviously I'm a bit of a cow.

RubbishMantra · 21/04/2015 14:58

Think it's due to them being albino/of the Himalayan gene, Chock.

Little Monsieur has Siamese genes, being a si-rex. Meaning his eyes glow red in the dark, instead of reflective green/gold like most cats.

Looks like a little curly demon!

RubbishMantra · 21/04/2015 15:11

Probably self preservation Fluffy.

The ASBO gets a bit stabby doesn't he.

I'd be terrified to spend a night with him.

Iwasbornin1993 · 21/04/2015 15:17

OH actually ended up sleeping in our hallway with his head on a pillow next to DKitten's bed on his first night! This is after he cried to be let into our room and although we didn't want to let him in so as to not start a precedent - we relented - only for DKitten to think it was playtime and jump all over us!

Iwasbornin1993 · 21/04/2015 15:18

Really jealous of you getting a new kitten by the way! I'd love another but we've two already so I think a third might be pushing it!

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chipshop · 21/04/2015 17:00

Ahhhh. We got our kitten three weeks ago. He's now sixteen weeks old.

We decided we didn't want him sleeping in the bedroom with us but felt bad on the first night so DP slept on the sofa with him. This continued for one more night then he started sleeping on his own. He now mainly sleeps on DP's office chair. He doesn't do blankets or cat beds!

We'd read all the books about how important the first day and night is with a kitten but ours had his bearings of the whole house straight away and hasn't put a foot wrong in any respect. He's very chilled, nothing phases him.

If you're like me, the hardest thing at first will be leaving them. We work from home so it doesn't happen much but I worried about him even if I went to the shop at first. I had a massive weep about it at the end of the first week!

I'm only just realising he's absolutely fine if we are out for a few hours, he just snoozes and then purrs his head off when we come home.

cozietoesie · 21/04/2015 17:49

There have been various bits of research done about it chockbic but I've not found anything yet that's comprehensive. (I guess research into Siamese eyesight isn't going to get anyone to Stockholm soon so it's more of a private interest endeavour.) They have a slightly different eye structure - their tapetum lucidum (the bit at the back) - to other cats which gives Siamese eyes the different reflective qualities Mantra mentioned but also makes them less well equipped for night time.

Their sleeping patterns suit me to a T, I must say.

abigamarone · 21/04/2015 19:22

I remember getting up before 6 the next morning, just to check they were okay. Still check they're still breathing when I walk past them now, (much the same as I did with the kids when they were babies). and still do sometimes

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