Urgent advice needed about kittens.................

[cantpickyourfamily]

My mum has just told me she has bought dd a kitten for xmas and is bringing it over this afternoon.

I have just ran out to buy things the kitten will need. I have got a bed, litter tray, expensive litter so it does not smell. And my mum will pick up the food and water bowls and some toys. Also bought kitten food.

So I think I have everything but I do not have a clue how to train my kitten not to poo and wee everywhere. Also it is only 6weeks surley this is too young to leave its mother?

Any advice welcome.

I think you have to put it in the litter box after it eats or drinks or if you see it scratching around, i thought kittend had to be 8 weeks to leave thier mothers. Make sure you worm it kittens are born with worms and fleas.

I toilet trained mine by putting them in the litter tray after they had eaten, they got the idea quite quickly, can't remember how young they were. Then we moved the litter tray outside to get them going outside then got rid of it completely. I have found the best litter is the wooden stuff, and a covered litter tray is much less smelly. hth

i never knew they were born with worms and flees, and as I said I know nothing about kittens so how do I worm it and what will I do about the fleas?

Sorry to sound so stuid...

You need a flea comb for fleas, you can't give them any insecticide while they are tiny, you have to comb out the fleas and break there backs with your nail, is a grim job! You can by worming tablets from the supermarket.

Six weeks is young to leave it's mother. Unfortunately it is quite common, ideally kittens should stay with mum until 12 weeks, by then she has weaned and toilet trained them. TBH it's usually only pedigree kittens that are allowed to stay with mum for so long.

Is there no way it can go back to it's mum for a week or two?

my mum said she got it on gumtree and the lady said she could only take it when it was no longer drinking from its mum which is now apparntly...

my mum will not be likly to take it with her for a few weeks as she works so the poor kitten will be in alone all the time. I am worried about leaving it for a few hours at a time let alone all day long...

wonderstuff - not really looking forward to the flee job, have you done this before?

Also what injections will I need to get for the kitten and at what age?

I dont think my mum has really thought through all the cost that I will have to pay out for a kitten, but I am still excited...

I have, is grim, last two kittens i got, many years ago now were crawling. When they are older you can use frontline which is fab, nothing for fleas you can get at the supermarket works. Vets will advise on jabs, mine arent up to date, just too expensive..

my mum brought the kitten round and it was so small and young, my dd is only 16months and was very excited and ruff, and tried to pick it up by grabbing it round the neck, then pulled it by the tail, I was so worried for the kitten I made my mum take it home.

All it wanted to do was hide in a jumper that my mum brought it round here in. I said we wll go to visit it every day but we will not bring it home untill it is ready to run away from dd. And when it is ready to play. Have you got any idea when this will be?

My mum said we should keep it here so it can get use to us and its new home, but I insisted she took it home as I'm worried about dd hurting the poor little thing.

It is soooo qute.

Top tips:

• don't give them milk, it gives them diarrhoea which can be fatal

• frontline spray can be used on kittens (for fleas)

• wormers in the supermarket can't (by law)contain the effective, licensed ingredients that wormers sold by your vet do. Supermarket wormers can be really harsh on cat's stomachs.

• you'll need to take the kitten to your vet for cat flu, enteritis and (optional) leukemia vaccinations.

HTH

You can get a working syrup for kittens.
I have used it on mine since a few weeks old.
Try pets at home or similar stores. Mine was about £3.
Our kittens didn't have fleas at birth btw and have only just stopped nursing at 4 months.

bella - thanks for the tips.

victoriansqualor - is the syrup for the worms?

Appareanlty my kitten has already been wormed, should I do it again anyway?

Also I need to think of a name for the kitten and as it is my daughters I think it should be a name she can say.

so what are your thoughts on

1. ickle pickle
2. twinkle twinkle
3. upsy daisy

i wanted to call her lacy but dd cannot say that... Any other ideas welcome for cute black and white cat...

Depends on what they were wormed on, it's worth it.
The syrup is used every 2 weeks until 3 months, then monthly, so it will last a while.

don't give it any of those names - the kitten will be around long after dd has outgrown those names and you won't want to be calling it that then.

Kittens need to be wormed every month until they are six months and then every 3 months. Your mum needs to find out when kitten was wormed so you can worm at the right time.

They need their jabs from 9 weeks (and they have to go back 3 weeks later for the follow up jabs).

Frontline can be administered from 8 weeks old as long as the kitten weighs over 1kg. You can buy online or from the vet, cheaper online.

How about Treacle? I had a kitten called Treacle and the DCs called it 'tweakle/twinkle' when they couldn't say it but it grew into Treacle.
Try something along those lines.

What about the name Daisy?

6 weeks is not only too young to be away from mum, but too youung to be left all day too. She really shouldn't be at your mums alone- bring her home where she will have company!

I would bring her home, and make a room just for her- spare bedroom /even the bathroom if there is no loo in there, or make sure you close loo lid at all times. You can keep her bed in there, water bowl, some dry food, and toys.

Put a ticking small clock (£1 shop travel clock is ideal) under the blanket in her bed and it is like mums heartbeat. Also when she is in this room, a portable radio on quiet set to radio 4 (speech mostly) keeps her company. I like to put a small cuddly teddy in there too.

You can get Frontline for fleas from online or Pets At Home, but you can't use it untl she is 8 weeks onle and 1 Kg in weight.

Now I would personally only keep her in this room at night, and when she needs peace from dd during the day for SHORT periods. Like a bolt hole for her. So she can sleep, kittens need lots of UNDISTURBED sleep!

When she is bigger and more robust she will be able to get away from your dd herself, or scratch and hiss to let her know 'no' !

Oh and when she is older and bigger and can jump to high places, you should make her a bed on a high surface like a window sill/bookcase/cupboard where she can go to rest but your dd can't reach her. She won't be able to jump high yet so thta is why I suggest the room just for her.

Why is your mum buying a kitten for your daughter who is only 16 months old? She is too young to appreciate it!

Did you know she was getting it for you? Do you actually want a pet?
Sorry, but this kitten could live for 20years, it is a commitment not just a christmas present.

lovedogandcats - I was thinking abot Daisy actually. Thanks for all the tips, I will try someof those to make herfeel more comfortable.

flipflopper - I wanted to get a cat anyway, but I didn't know she was going to buy one as a christmas present and was annoyed as I know it is a big responsibilty and it should not really be her buying the cat as I am the one who will have to look after it for as you say maybe 20years.

But she is so adorable and I'm sure we will both love her lots. I already do and dd has been kissing her so I think she likes the kitten and her being ruff is just getting excited and not knowing how to act.

The only problem I have now is that I think the kitten is younger then 6weeks as is so tiny and would not eat, but today she is eating

I am going to take her to the vets for a check up just to be sure and get all info on injections etc. She is sooooo cute...

I agree with having it at your house and having a safe room for it for the moment when you arent there to protect it. It will not become a friendly person cat if its left alone all day.

We have just got two new kittens; they are rescue kittens and although we reserved them weeks ago we were only just allowed to collect them as they are now 12 wks. 6 wks is sooo young and your kitten will be very nervous.

Ours have had their first jabs and need to go back for their second ones next week, so you need to check ages with you vet. She will also need spaying when she is 5-6 mths old; again, ask your vet. Our vet is really helpful with advice about flea/worm treatment - don't just get it from Tesco!

Our two have a soft toy in their bed and they snuggle up to that. They are not quite litter trained (struggling with the increased freedom they have and don't make it to the tray on time so I really recommend two litter trays). Check with the original owner what kind of litter the kitten was used to so that it recognises it, and similarly make sure you give it the same food so that it doesn't get an upset tummy.

I know it's a bit late now that you already have the kitten but we were not allowed to take just one - we had to have a pair (we would have done anyway) so that they would be company for each other when on their own. And it's lovely to watch them playing together.

Ohyoubadbadkitten, I keep thinking of your name at the moment with all the accidents we've had to clear up! It makes me in spite of the cat poo so thank you!