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?

Doobigetta he's from Wawura. He's such a cuddly cat and lets me tickle his tummy!

Our enclosed litter tray never smells, except for a few seconds right after the beast has pooped. I scoop it twice a day and do full litter replacement and cleans weekly.
My suggestion is if you live in a big space, get two litter trays, one at either end of the house/flat/whatever as sometimes kittens are too busy fucking about to realise they suddenly need to go to the toilet and can’t make it very far!

@sabrinaspellman
You’re not in Scotland are you? If you are, PM me re the breeder.

I’ve had two gorgeous Siberian’s. (Well three but one had to be returned hence the PM.) They both had beautiful personalities- more like dogs than cats in friendliness. Both ended up outdoors as the female in particular was a real hunter and it’s would have been cruel to keep them indoors. Sadly both were killed on a road nearby (some years apart).
We found getting their tummies clippered made a Huge difference for grooming, and the female used to love a bath.
We used an open litter tray- the name was very large so I doubt a closed one would have fitted!
They definitely were lower allergy than other cats but not hypoallergenic. And definitely slept on beds! That’s what cats are for surely!!!!

I've never been a cat person but these could change my mind, utterly stunning!

I wish mine was nicely asleep on the bed just now, rather than being wide awake and fucking about with one of her toys in the bathroom

Hi, any hint of a cat photo and I’m on it !! What an absolutely beautiful kitten, I’m sure it will be a much loved addition to your family 😊
We have a big handsome British blue boy and a dainty white burmilla princess. Both very spoilt 🙄. Our burmilla sleeps in our bedroom on our bed and her litter tray is in the en-suite which she has constant access to. They are both indoor cats and lovely natured pets. All the very best with yours , I’ll keep an eye out for updates!

Experienced (40+ years) cat owner here.

1. At 4 months old it won't be a tiny kitten and will easily manage a covered box. I would leave the flap off at first though.

2. I have never given a moments thought to matching litterbox t breed of cat. The only way to prevent smells is to clear it out as soon as possible.

3. Cats clean themselves. You do not spray or shampoo them! You will probably need to brush a long haired cat. Do this daily to avoid matting.

4. You need to distract your dog from the cat. When she comes into the room, keep him occupied with something else e.g practise training with treats. He needs to find the cat less interesting than what you are doing. This is the method my dog trainer taught me and it has worked with both introducing puppies to an established cat and kittens to the dog. My cat (only have one now) and dogs get along extremely well, they will sleep in the same bed, but they do not play together. I don't think you should encourage your dog to play with the cat.

5. Yes the dog is going to eat the cats food and litter given the chance. The only way I have been able to stop litter eating is to constantly supervise and now my adult cat is an outdoors cat and he doesn't have one. His food is on a shelf that the dops can't reach. You will need to supervise the kittens mealtimes if bowl is on floor.

6. For the first few days, I would keep the kitten in one room. But bed, food and litter box should all be apart in that room. I have never considered putting a cat bed in my room. I let my cat decide for himself where he wants to sleep and he doesn't have a specific cat bed although he quite likes the dog bed. Cats are nocturnal, they don't necessarily sleep all night like a dog does.

7. I would stick with the same food initially, if you want to change you need to do it gradually or you will probably be dealing with an upset stomach. Some of the high quality food might be breed specific, but I am not convinced it makes a big difference. We always stick with a high quality dry food, like Royal Canin or similar. For wet food, he likes Sheba.

You really don't seem to know very much about cats, I would recommend you do a lot of reading before you pick the kitten up.

Why do breeders ask that big cats like these are indoor only? I can understand it with those hairless ones but these look pretty tough!

How gorgeous!

I will warn you though, we have a beagle and two cats and the beagle terrorises the cats! Luckily ours are older and capable of holding their own but please don't leave the kitten unattended around the dog.

Ours bites in play (beagles love playing bitey face) and I think he sees the cats as other dogs! His body language with them is playful but he can't necessarily read their signals. I would keep the dog on a house line around the kitten or keep them separated for a good while at first, for the kittens safety and your sanity mostly!

I spent the first few months of our beagles life rescuing the cat from his playfulness!

Why do breeders ask that big cats like these are indoor only?

Because pedigree cats get stolen and used as breeding queens.

Ah, thanks Adaline, I hadn’t thought of that. My cat’s a moggy (and good luck to anyone trying to steal her, scratchy devil-beast that she is).

Hi everyone,

Have managed to confirm the breeder is legit but her ad was stolen and used in a scam. She sent me photos/videos of the kittens and showed me her Facebook page, all legit.

Thank you for everyone who’s taken the time to answer. I have been reading up on Siberian’s/kittens (isn’t everyone new to this at some point? Does that mean all newbies shouldn’t have a pet?) but I thought personal views/advice would be more beneficial.

Thank you for this thread. We are hoping to add a Siberian to our future in the near future. We need a hypoallergenic cat due to allergies. Here in Aus the prices seem to range from $1800-$2500.

We have a Siberian. Fine to use covered litter boxes, ours still fits comfortably at over 5kg. The litter tray needs to be kept where the dog can't get near it both to stop the dog eating the contents and to keep the kitten comfortable when using it. I recommend "world's best cat litter" (clumping, flushable litter)

Siberians are confident but playful cats so you will need to supervise all interaction with the dog very carefully as the leaping might provoke the chase reaction. Do not allow interaction initially without dog being on a lead or crated.

You will need to groom your cat every couple of days to prevent mats even if the cat is indoors. Prime mat locations are near the base of the tail and the armpits.

My husband is allergic, I would say that they are lower but not zero allergen. He has got used to our cat though. The cat does sleep on the bed as he made a hole in the carpet trying to get in our bedroom! I wouldn't bother with shampoos etc. Maybe the occasional wipe but our cat wouldn't like to be bathed, even though he likes water and is pretty relaxed about being handled.

Re food we feed dry Thrive and the occasional wet Applaws, he used to eat half half wet and dry but then got fussy about a lot of wet food. Look at the meat content is my main tip, a lot of premium foods are not as good as they purport to be and cats are obligate carnivores. Stick with the breeders recommendation at least initially to avoid upset.

Our Siberian loves to play, whether it's playing fetch with small paper balls or leaping at the 'da Bird's toy. So get ready for lots of energy! Hope you enjoy your new kitten.

Just well wanted to say well done for asking questions :-) We all start somewhere and it's great that you are trying to do your 'research' and get off to a good start.

Loads of people have given great advice, so I'm not going add much.

Except to say that when we got our 4 month old kitten (rehomed, no one on the 'kitten list' the local shelter keep wanted him because he is a) black and b) polydactyl with 25 toes!) we were advised to feed 3 times a day to start with because kittens have tiny stomachs, and needed the extra meal (our existing 3 adult cats were only having two meals a day).

Then, over the next 8 weeks, we gradually got rid of the midday feed, while at the same time increasing the morning/night meals until he was eating the same as the other adult cats by the time he was 6 months old. Not sure if Sibs benefit from a certain type of food or not - our 4 are only moggies, and have a mixture of different wet foods and Royal Canin dry.

Again, don't know about Sibs specifically, but most cats are grazers/opportunistic eaters! Don't use that as an excuse to over-feed or give constant treats, otherwise you'll find yourself with a cat who has flab, not muscle, very quickly! Cats think humans are too stupid to talk to each other, so if they get no joy from one person they will go to someone else in the house hoping to strike lucky in the snack department!

Yes to a covered litter tray - we have upstairs and downstairs trays, (good) litter scooped daily, track mats, and trays completely changed and washed weekly. No smells - I teach from home, so have plenty of students and parents in the house who would notice and care if we smelt of cat poo!

Finally, kittens are bloody hard work! I didn't sit down for 3 hours the first morning I had him by myself with everyone else out of the house! Wand toys are great - the ones with long strings and feathers on the end. I used to just stand in the middle of the room and make it go from floor to sofa, to cat tree again and again - he couldn't get enough of that! It was like having a toddler to occupy all over again! We'd only rehomed adult cats before, so the energy needed for the kitten was a shock!

Hope the new addition settles in well!

OP, how are you getting along with your Siberian baby?

Can't help with much because our kitten is a scruffy little thing but I can tell you how we keep litter mess and smell to a minimum!

Our kitten (4 months) climbs in and out of her litter tray, it has a catflap door thing and it's enclosed so the smell is limited. Got it on Amazon for about £30 I think.

I put a litter liner in the bottom then on top of that, and we use wood chip litter- this has been brilliant and we haven't had any dust or tracking with this.

Every day I scoop out her poop and top up litter if needed, and every week I scoop out the whole lot, liner and all, and bin. Then cat-friendly disinfectant, new liner, new litter and spray the lot lightly with a cat friendly odour remover.

I barely notice it :-)

@confusedbeetle

Ah yes, but do you love to run?

The kitten is very cute. I could post a thousand photographs of rescue kittens and guess what? They are all cute too.

I always wanted a korat cat but could never justify buying one with so many needing homes. (photo attached)

Lovely, but I was a bit taken aback by your thread title OP.

I assumed you were asking about the type of "Siberian Kitten experience" my great uncle Jack had when he was in the merchant navy. He had a photograph too, but it was in black and white (thank god).

Siberians are the best cats. Ours is more doglike than our dog is, he's a total lover. Lives for his belly rubs and chases his ball. Sleeps on our bed every night. Couldn't wish for a nicer cat :) Enjoy

Sorry haven't RTFT however I got siberians because of being hypoallergenic, however, i had a rogue one... Definitely pedigree as have papers, but people that are even a little allergic react to him. Just be careful if that is the reason you are getting it?

Definitely get a cat tree..... Their claws can get sharp!!

Littler wise I used a clumping one as was easier to get rid, and also make sure you keep it deep otherwise it sticks to the litter tray like glue! Can also get special bins for the litter so you can pack it all up and empty after a day or so rather than every time of clearing the tray.

I’m researching, willingly to learn and devote time to create the best routine for her.

She's a cat. She will work out the best routine for herself, and impose it on the rest of the household.

Would anyone be able to recommend a breeder? Preferably fairly close to London. Thank you!