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I picked up my kitten yesterday how do i..

27 replies

TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 07:17

Get her to use the litter tray?

Also by my calculations of when i first saw her to when i collected her she is only 5 weeks old. She is eating biscuits that are softened.
Where is the best place for her to sleep etc?

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TheJollyPirate · 10/05/2010 07:37

Oohh she is very young - too young to have left her mother tbh.

I would take her to the litter tray everytime she eats and scrape at the litter to give her the idea.

Also try the kitten food which Whiskas et al do as they are likely to have the bigger calorie amounts she needs at this stage.

Sleep - somewhere warmed - perhaps by a hot water bottle or by a radiator.

TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 08:05

TJP, she goes into the tray and plays with the litter

She has been eating go-cat complete with added calcium.

and she spent last night sleeping under the sofa, well behind the sofa where there is a gap for mechanisms of recliner lol.

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EccentricaGallumbits · 10/05/2010 08:10

very little.

put her in the tray after ever meal and every time she looks like she's about to squat.

TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 08:12

But will she eventually do it alone?

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EccentricaGallumbits · 10/05/2010 08:34

yes. just watch closely. and if she has any floor accidents, show her the accident then put her in the tray.

as for sleeping, does she have a box or bed? she'll probably ignore it and sleep behind the sofa still but they usually like a box.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 10/05/2010 08:39

awww, poppet, she is very young. EG is right. Also, when you pop her in, scratch around in the box a bit. If she has any accidents put them in the litter box. Don't clean out the litter tray completely so that the smell tells her where she needs to go.

I certainly would consider giving her a little kitten food (don't just swap it completely)

TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 08:40

She has chosen a cubby hole in a cupboard i have, which i have put a cushion, towel, teddy and blanket in for her .Right now she is curled up on the sofa tucked into my legs lol.

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TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 08:44

Have added a photo to profile pics of her...she needs a name as well...well i think she is a she

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EccentricaGallumbits · 10/05/2010 10:22

aaah. i love kittens.

call it maud.

MrsL123 · 10/05/2010 10:48

Five weeks is far, far too young for her to have been taken away from her mother. It was totally irresponsible for the 'breeder' (and I use that term in the loosest way possible) to have sold the kittens so young, and smacks of caring more about the cash than the health and wellbeing of the kittens. I highly doubt she is even fully weaned unless she was an extremely early starter. To be well-adjusted a kitten shouldn't leave it's mother until it is at least 8 weeks old (six weeks seems to be the norm, but that doesn't mean it's correct). So not using the litter tray will probably turn out to be the least of your worries, unfortunately. I'm guessing at 5 weeks she probably won't have been wormed either, so it's important to take her to the vet as soon as possible.

With regards to the litter tray - move it to her favourite toileting spot, and pick up a poo off the floor to put in it. After her meals, put her in the tray and she should get the hang of it quite quickly (the smell of poo will remind her what to do). Once she's got the hang of it, you can move the tray back to your preferred spot - but make sure she knows where it is and don't put it anywhere near her food or water bowls because she won't use it. If she still doesn't use it, you will need to try a different type of litter. Some cats prefer a sand-like texture to the gravel kind. Catsan Clumping Litter is the best I've found, and is very economical because you only scoop out the dirty bits (the wee clumps together to form a ball that you can scoop out easily, leaving only clean litter behind).

For her bed, put a cushion or blanket in her cat carrier and let her use that. It makes things much easier when you need to take her anywhere, as she will see the carrier as her safe place instead of something to be scared of. Try to discourage her from sleeping under the sofa, because if someone tries to use the recliner without realising she's underneath she could get badly injured.

With regards to food, all the supermarket brands like Go Cat and Whiskas are crap - very little meat content (average is about 4%) and full of sugar and additives. She needs to be on a high quality kitten food like Arden Grange, which is very cheap if you buy a breeder bag online from Berriewoods (it costs me £8 a month to feed my two adult cats). Alternatively something like James Wellbeloved or any of the other 'premium' brands that you can get in Pets at Home. When choosing a food you should look for the highest meat content and the smallest ingredients list, and avoid anything that has a list of chemicals clogging up the ingredients list. You will need to change the food very gradually to avoid upsetting her system, and measure it out to ensure she is getting the right amount (which is probably less than you'd think). If you want to give her wet food, the best one is Nature's Menu which is 70% meat. Again, all the usual candidates like Whiskas and Felix are poor quality with very little meat content.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 10/05/2010 14:35

awwwww s/he is gorgeous.

Trafficcone · 10/05/2010 14:39

She is FAR too young to be taken from her Mother!!!!! I'd report the breeder to the RSPCA for cruelty. Part of the reason she needs to be with her Mum is that it's her Mum who'll teach her to use the litter box (groom, play and a heavenly host of other cat skills)

you can train her yourself but it'll be pain and you may now be stuck for life with a cat that doesn't reliably use the litter box.

People like that breeder make me sick.

piratecat · 10/05/2010 14:42

well, i'd deffo change the food/ She will be in danger of having constipation on the stuff she is eating/and getting used to a new home.

She's cute!!

She will get the hang of the littler tray, keep an eye on her. Like othershave said when she paws/scratches about, just lift her and keep putting her in there, lots of encouragement!!

TheJollyPirate · 10/05/2010 16:23

Gorgeous kitten - she looks older than 5 weeks so hopefully she is.

RockSolidLabourSeat · 10/05/2010 16:53

Awwwww... probably older that five weeks I'd say too.

Normally the mum does teach them how to use the litter tray as others have said. Make sure you are using the same type of litter as she had before.

Jux · 10/05/2010 17:37

She is lovely.

We had a kitten at 6wks (still too young and I wouldn't have, but didn't have a choice). We fed her on the Wellbeloved food as everything else upset her stomach and gave her diarrhoea.

It's expensive, but worth it and you don't really need to use it for too long.

diddl · 10/05/2010 17:50

She´s lovely.

What sort of a name do you want?

Don´t know why but Lulu came to mind

TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 18:19

We have FINALLY settled on a name...

MISTY..

will be ordering her some of that food on Wednesday, although she seems to be fine on this food. The people she came from had own brand supermarket food....

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two2many · 10/05/2010 18:26

my kitten is named misty too

Avad · 10/05/2010 18:30

If you've a Tesco nearby, their trays of Just Nature are very good, 60% meat and only 22p each.
She's lovely

How come you had her so young?

TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 19:28

Can she have them so young?

She was offered on Freecycle and as the moderator on my local group, i don't allow animals offered. So i emailed them and asked if my mum could have one of kittens. We went to see them and i fell in love with my little monster....well on Saturday they called and told us they needed to get them to their new homes as their children were getting too attached to them.

it took me a while but i then thought they weren't old enough.

Misty is eating the biscuits as long as they are softened with water and drinking kitten milk.

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Attenborough · 10/05/2010 20:29

We have four 6.5 week old kittens at the moment and she looks about the same age as them. Poor baby - ours aren't fully weaned, aren't fully litter trained and are a good three weeks away from being ready to leave their mums. I'm furious with the person who gave/sold her to you.

We've looked after newly orphaned six-week-old kittens in the past and I don't envy you the litter training - it was very hard work and our girls weren't completely reliable even when they left us at 13/14 weeks. You need to get non-clumping litter, preferably wood or paper based in case she tries to eat it, and put her in there when she wakes, after she eats, if she squats, if she makes an agitated peeping noise or if she suddenly sits or stands still and looks as if she's concentrating.

She'll need plenty of wet food until she's a bit older, and it MUST be kitten food - adult cat food isn't calorific enough for her at the moment.

TheLadyEvenstar · 10/05/2010 21:06

Thanks for all the advice!!

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OrmRenewed · 10/05/2010 21:08

Awwww!

Best place to sleep is with you

But I am a bit soft.

Avad · 10/05/2010 22:21

As long as it's a good quality high meat % catfood (around 50% as a minimum, check the label!) then it doesn't matter if it's adult or not