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The litter tray

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

Should I get kittens?

20 replies

catquestioner · 05/05/2012 16:36

I'm thinking of adding to my family (currently just me and DS) and although I'd love a dog, I know I'm not able to commit the time needed. So I'm thinking of 2 kittens. But I've just got a couple of questions if somebody wouldn't mind helping me please...

I'm rather house proud, would they really trash the joint? And how long do you have to have a litter tray for?

Are both male/ female cats equally affectionate?

Where's the best place to get them from? Gumtree have loads but I'm a little apprehensive as someone told me about 'kitten farms'. Also what age should they be ready to leave their mother?

If I get 2, is it better to get siblings or will it make no difference to how they get on?

What exactly will I need? Beds, scratch post, bowls, food, milk.... anything else?

Thanks so much for your help.

OP posts:
DontCallMeBaby · 05/05/2012 17:39

I'm no expert, but I do have two cats who I've had since kittenhood. My thoughts ...

Will they trash the joint? Not necessarily. Ours have scratched both sofas fairly badly, but if I was more inclined I would have put more effort into stopping that. I thought they hadn't done the classic kitten thing of climbing the curtains, until one day I realised that tiny pinpricks of light were shining through the blackout linings of our bedroom ones! You'd never know though, apart from when it's sunny outside.

Litter tray - we had to have ours for six months, from getting them to letting them out. We still have it, as it's a covered one and sits in an otherwise unused spot, and it's handy if we have to keep them in for some reason. But then, ours never looked back once let out, whereas some cats need encouragement to do their business outside.

Male cats are supposed to be more affectionate, but there are no guarantees, and always exceptions - ours are boys and not terribly affectionate (although one will occasionally decide he loves me very much indeed and would like to sleep 2cm away from my nose).

Ours came from a friend of a friend - I put out a few feelers and had a few possible leads from people who knew someone with a cat with a litter on the way. I'm not sure I'd go down that route again - the woman I got them from misguidedly thought a female cat should have a litter before being spayed, which is wrong. Fortunately when I got there the mother clearly HAD been spayed, but it would have been horribly to have turned up and found an owner who couldn't be bothered to spay her cat, and realise I was validating someone's stupidity. I would look at a shelter in future - whether that route would work for you might depend on DS's age. I looked at one shelter which would not place cats in homes with 'small children' - turned out their defintion of a 'small child' was 'under 10'!

Kittens ideally shouldn't leave their mothers until 12 weeks - mine were 8 weeks though, and have no problems I would attribute to being taken from their mother too early. They settled with us very quickly - I think having each other helped.

You don't need milk - a kitten that's old enough to be away from its mother has no need of milk. I would get one bed for two kittens - cats notoriously refuse to sleep in anything you've provided specifically for that purpose, but mine did curl up in their bed together while they were still small enough to do so. Scratch posts - yes, but with caveats! We got a little one which they liked when small, and then never used (too small). Then we got a big cat tree, which they climbed a bit, then ignored - NEVER scratched it. The big success was a scratch mat, designed to be used horizontally, but my cats are not horizontal scratchers, so it's tied round the bottom newel post on the stairs, which is one of their preferred scratching locations. You also need a cat carrier for bringing them home with you, and then for taking them to the vet. We have two, as they do sometimes go to the vet together, but I know people with two cats who manage with one carrier - you'd only need one at first, while they're small.

issey6cats · 05/05/2012 17:41

two kittens are fab as they keep each other company when you are out and the fun of watching two kits running riot is hilarious, the best place to look at this time of year is your local cat rescue center as there are usually plenty of kits at this time of year, i know birmingham cats protection has been saying on facebook they have more than they can home at the moment, a brother, sister or two brothers is probably the best combination, ok you might find that they go for the corners of carpets and sofas but if you get a scratching post and stop them from little from doing it they shouldnt trash the house i have four cats and they dont trash stuff, you will need two litter trays till at least they go outside which will be around 5-6 months,

they will need neutering and microchipping is a good idea but usually from a rescue you get some or all , they will also need vaccinating a few weeks before they go outside and booster at least at one year later
and collars with tag with address and phone number on at least for thier first few trips out saves the neighbours thinking they are strays and ringing rescue centers

equipment 1 food bowl each, one water dish each, toys for kittens , cat nip toys and dangly toys on sticks are good, no milk is bad for thier stomachs water only, kitten food and kitten biscuits, a fair sized carrier for vet trips etc, dont worry too much about getting a fancy bed for them as they will sleep where they want to and probably ignore the fancy bed, to start with a cardboard box with blankets in will suffice for sleeping in

catquestioner · 05/05/2012 18:08

Thank you so much for the replies.

Eeek, no milk...shows how little I know!

Will give my local cat rescue a call on Monday, DS is only 4 so maybe that will be a problem?!

Isn't there a spray that stops cats scratching furniture and stuff? Or am I just wishful thinking?

Thanks for the list of stuff, a trip to Pets at home is on the cards. I can't wait!

OP posts:
IAmBooyhoo · 05/05/2012 18:22

4 is a lovely age for having a new kitten or two. do you trust him to be gentle and watch how you handle them to learn? my youngest is almost 3 and we have had cats and kittens from before he was born. tbh he just watched us and learnt how to handle them. our 10 month old kitten is 'his' so he can be a bit possesive over her but at almost 3 he is learning to accept that kitten goes wherever she chooses and not where he chooses.

cats are as different as humans personality wise. my neutered male was very affectionate. he would sleep on my face if he was allowed to. he loved nothing more than being able to sleep on me. and if i wasn't in the bed he would keep it warm for me. he was very lazy Grin

my middle female, also speyed, is less affectionate but still very affectionate when the mood takes her. she is happy to sleep on top of the wardrobe or on the end of the bed. she likes her own space and isn't so fond of the dcs. she will tke herself outside for most of the day and come back in the evening when the dcs are in bed. she isn't fussed on our kitten but would happily lie alongside my male cat.

my kitten is female and very affectionate. she isn't allowed out (has just been speyed but i'm going to keep her as an indoors cat anyway). she will rub round your legs all day long and jump all over you in bed. she is also alot more playful as you would expect a kitten to be and when she isn't rubbing round my legs she will almost certainly be chasing a toilet roll tube or plastic ring from the milk accross the floor.

mine have also all scratched my leather suite and the carpet on the stairs. so i would invest in at least one scratching post for wherever they will have access to.

i got all my cats from friends or as in the case of kitten, i found her in the street at 6 weeks old.

good luck. i wouldn't be without at least one cat. they are fab company.

IAmBooyhoo · 05/05/2012 18:24

oh yes. i will be keeping my litter tray as the kitten wont be going outside but my middle cat jsut doesn't use it at all. she just goes outside. my oldest cat used it and i'm guessing used outside too.

catquestioner · 05/05/2012 18:30

Thank you IamBooyhoo.

I think DS will be gentle...he's quite a little timid thing himself.

My main concern with the scratching is I have recently purchased a new leather sofa and I know I'll cry if it gets ruined! (will be paying it off for a good while yet too!)

I think kittens will add a new dimension to our household and DS will be so excited. I may tell him that one of them is his and one is mine, he'll love the responsibility.

I'm really excited now Smile

OP posts:
IAmBooyhoo · 05/05/2012 18:33

definitely look out for the scratch deterrent spray. i have never used it but it's worth a shot. do you have any friends with cats that could recommend which one works best?

it is very exciting!

RandomMess · 05/05/2012 18:33

Honestly I'd skip kittens and get a pair of youngish cats from the rehoming place. They often have pairs and struggle to find homes for 2 at a time.

Kittens are hard work and can cause a lot of damage.

I've rehomed adults and they've all been fabulous Smile - I am much more of a dog lover tbh but affectionate cats are almost as good and don't need walking Grin

RandomMess · 05/05/2012 18:35

None of mine have attacked our leather sofa, perhaps they all new it would have them rehomed pronto if they did, we have a couple of scratching posts and have a very small home.

catquestioner · 05/05/2012 18:39

A friend re-homed a 4 year old cat a couple of years ago and it is the grumpiest cat I've ever seen. It won't even be in the same room as her children and DS would be devastated if that happened to us.

I kinda figured boisterous babies would be more willing to play/ cause general mayhem much to DS's delight.

OP posts:
Dillydollydaydream · 05/05/2012 18:43

We got our two kittens from a rescue centre. There were loads of litters there - about 6 when we visited.
We had to have a home check which was fine.
Our 2 were from the same litter, I'm glad I got 2 as they loved play fighting with each other.
Unfortunately they did rip our dining room chairs to bits being leather :(
They had a scratch post but seemed to prefer our chairs! We now have wooden ones so don't have that problem now - they use our coir doormats instead!

Dillydollydaydream · 05/05/2012 18:46

Forgot to say we have 3 dc and the kittens settled in fine. The lady we spoke to said if you get a couple of brave kittens the noisy environment will be fine for them, easier than an older cat that's used to quiet.
My ds can be a bit full on sometimes but they just sit on top of out kitchen cupboards out of the way.

RandomMess · 05/05/2012 19:03

All I can do is suggest that you get Abyssinians or Somali's - they absolutely adore people, even children!!!!

We got ours via their respective cat clubs.

I've always fancies Rexs' - partly because they're a bit crazy and partly the lack of hair to clear up (they have very short fur - not normal fur at all) they are like velvet to stroke.

issey6cats · 05/05/2012 19:12

a tip for your leather sofas i got a leather suite and was worried about them scratching it as they sherdded the material ones, what i did was the day i got it i put some olive oil and lemon juice mixed together on a soft cloth and wiped the sofa all over with it and mine have never scratched the sofas because cats dont like lemon and the olive oil fed the leather

IAmBooyhoo · 05/05/2012 20:09

ooh thanks for that issey. i'm going to do that!!

RandomMess · 05/05/2012 20:12

Another tip is water spray bottle, whenever they're doing something undesirable spray the water at them - they hate the water and the noise Grin

rhibutterfly · 05/05/2012 20:18

I used behaviour spray from local pet shop on my sofa to stop my cat scratching, think it was bob martin brand

DontCallMeBaby · 05/05/2012 22:08

I'm sure your DS will be fine fine with kittens, but be careful, don't assume. DD was five, a sensible, sensitive five at that, when we got our kittens - didn't stop her throwing a cushion at one of them (he weighed 900g at the time), and trapping one's paw in a door.

outmonday · 07/05/2012 21:08

Why would you not let kittens out long before 6 months old? I only used litter trays for a few weeks. Is it in case a precocious female comes into season before spaying at 6 months old? If she did she could be spayed straight away.

issey6cats · 07/05/2012 21:57

its more that up to five to six months old they are still small and immature and less liable to get hurt by bigger cats or skit at noises outside and run in a panic, and if OP is getting kits from a rescue center they will probably be neutured already

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