To ask about your Siberian Kitten experiences? *Will include pic if asked!*

[SabrinaSpellmann]

Hello everyone.

I’m from the UK and I’m going to be welcoming a beautiful little girl to my family in 2019, she’ll be 4 months. I’ve researched Siberian’s and have got a pretty decent picture but I’d love some advice from you experienced owners.

I realize every cat is different but I’d like to ask:

(1) What litter box would you recommend? Best for the cat type and reducing odours would be much appreciated! I know Siberian’s are a medium - large breed but as babies they’re still so small so I’m not sure if a kitten would be able to get in and out of a covered in box?

(2) On that note, what litter would be the best suited to long haired cats and have a good quality odour control?

(3) I know they’re ‘supposed’ to be hypoallergenic but is there any products (sprays, shampoos etc) that can help those with allergies? Any personal experiences here? I have some friends with allergies so I’d love some advice!

(4) Does anyone have any advice/experience of introducing my new kitty to my 4 year old beagle? He’s a big softie but will want to play! I’ve taught him to be gentle with my toddler but a little kitty is a different ball game.

(5) Anyone who has dogs + cats, do your dogs ever try to eat your cat’s food/litter? If they do best way to stop this?

(6) Sleeping arrangements - should I keep kitty in a bed near her litter box or keep her bed in my room and litter box downstairs? I was going to keep the litter box in our downstairs bathroom as it’s well ventilated and tiled.

(7) Should I stick with the breeder’s food choice or is there a better choice for this particular type of cat?

I have no advice but would love to see your kitten's picture!

Yes kitty pic please! 😊👏

I won't answer a single question until I see a picture of the kitty.

I won't answer then either because I only have moggies but I wanna see the kitty

Valenta, I’ve been showing her to everyone!

At 4 months, kitten will be fine for an enclosed litter tray. My bog standard moggy could manage it from 10 weeks, although from memory I think we had to remove the "door" part for a while.

Litter tray nowhere near sleeping quarters. Even enclosed they stink.

Yes pls to pictures.

I am not being rude but I am wondering if you have any experience of keeping a cat of any sort?
A couple of answers for you, No do not have the cat sleeping in your room and please please do not shampoo or use any products on a cat. Friends with allergies will need to saty away from the cat.
A cat is a cat, pedigree or not.
I am always a little sad that someone spends a sackload of money on a pedigree when there are thousands of delightful kittens desperate for a home who will be put down. Sorry to be a wet blanket , I am a cat lover.

Oh my God. I haven't got any answers but I have mountains of love for your kitten.

She is just a little bundle of sweetness isn't she?

Not even funny how cute that kitten is

Ooh, she's gorgeous! Reading your post again, I can answer the non-Siberian specific q about dogs and cat food/litter - in my experience, the dog will eat both given the chance! I use a safety-gate to keep the dog out of the rooms with the cats' bowls and litter. Once your kitten is a bit bigger, she should easily be able to leap over a standard safety gate, but most small-medium dogs can't.

Agree with Confusedbeetle

Just to add, I don't see an issue with your cat sleeping in your room/bed as long as you yourself don't have allergies. You will get cat hairs on your bedding, though, and cats are quite restless and think nothing of walking up and down your pillow and waking you up!

She’s honestly the sweetest little thing. She picked me is what I say when I first met her litter!

Confused, no I don’t have any experience. I realize that will more than likely rile a few up but I’m researching, willingly to learn and devote time to create the best routine for her.

I really do get your point about adopting though.

I use world’s best cat litter and find it doesn’t smell as long as you scoop a few times a day and clean properly between full changes. My cats do sleep in my bedroom. I use enclosed litter boxes and just picked a highly rated one from Zooplus

Just saw the picture, what a cutie!

And finally - with any kitten/cat - keep using the food they are used to for the first few weeks. If you want to change food later, do it gradually by mixing the two with increasing proportions of the new food each day. A sudden change can cause an upset tummy.

Your breeder will (should) be able to answer all your questions OP.

I KNOW i'm going to sound like a party pooper, but just have a quick glance at this link:

www.siberiancat.com/before-you-buy-a-siberian.html

I do have experience with pure bred cats (Ragdolls in my case) and you need to be sure when you part with your 5 or 6 hundred pounds you're not going to get an inbred cat which is going to be so sickly and/or mentally unstable that it needs re-homing or putting down in 6 years.

Is this breed recommended as an indoor cat? Will that work with a dog and a toddler running in and out of the house?

Main advice is that dogs love cat food (but it’s not good for them) and also cat poo (which is disgusting). Keep the litter where the dog can’t go, or scoop as soon as you can.

Make sure if you change her food you do it slowly. Suddenly swapping can upset their tummies. You need to mix some new in with the old and slowly increase it day by day until it's all new.

R.e. sleeping arrangements when my two are in with me (7 month kittens) they wake me up at least twice in a night... You might find it better to keep her downstairs of you value your sleep! Good luck!

This in particular is a really good tip:

1. One reason these scam websites look so legit is because they are stealing text from real breeder websites. Copy and paste a sentence or two from the site in question into a Google search with quotes around the text, for example, if they have a list of references. The quotes tell Google to look for those exact words in the same order as you have typed them. If you find another website with those same exact words on it, a red flag should go up.

Either the site you are investigating has stolen the words, OR they have had their words stolen from them.

Don't have cat sleeping in your room?

The cat/dog food thing doesn't work the other way round in my experience - my cats show no interest in the dog's bowl. Not that his food is ever there long enough to be stolen.

Dogs will also try to eat hairballs or cat vomit . My dog's ears prick up when one of the cats starts preparing to eject a hairball (you will soon learn to recognise this distinctive noise and posture so you can be ready with cleaning materials). I've sometimes seen signs that he's eaten one overnight (remnants on carpet) but it never seems to have harmed him.

I have a 3yo Siberian. She's my first pedigree and honestly not much different to the moggies we had when I was a child, except I can pet her and not be ill. She's also similar colouring to yours.
We use a large litter box and have had the same one since we brought her home. Cats Best Oko Plus litter is great, but a track mat does help minimise dust.
Keep cat's food separate from dog, as cats often prefer to eat more privately and/or nibble and return.
A water fountain rather than bowls can help as Siberians can be prone to kidney issues and moving water is more tempting (set it away from food and litter or kitty won't go near it)
Got CatBaby at 17wks and she sleeps with us, litter tray on ground floor, never had an accident.
I'm allergic to all other cats, but never to her unless I'm grooming her.
We swapped from raw food to Purina over 3 weeks and had no messes.
Siberians are quite train-able as cats go. Ours sits up and catches treats, plays fetch, and will go in the garden on her harness and leash (she's effectively an indoor cat the rest of the time as we have a secure balcony for her outside space).

Laiste, took your advice about googling the ad. Found some interesting results and I’m slightly worried now ..

Loving the kitty pics! She sweet. You'll want to ensure that her litter box is somewhere private. Many cats don't like an audience when using the loo.