Another novice cat owner here. Getting new kitten on Sunday. Advice please!

[ToffeeWhirl]

I have been looking at old threads here and it's been really helpful, but still have a couple of questions. Firstly, am I meant to put newspaper down under the cat litter or just sprinkle the cat litter straight into the litter tray? Am not sure what newspaper will achieve, but have this odd feeling I should!

The other thing I'm troubled about is that we are bringing the kitten back in the car with us and it will be a four-hour journey. I have borrowed a cat carrier and bought some Feliway to spray in it. Am just looking out old fleeces and towels to make it snuggly. What I'm worried about is what to do about food, water and the kitten's need to wee/poo. It is toilet trained already (it's 14 weeks' old), but will it just do that in the carrier if it needs to? Could I bring the litter tray and offer that or is that a mad idea? I do have an absorbant disposable mat to place under the towels in case of sickness or anything else.

And I don't know what to do about food because some advice says don't feed your cat before a journey in case it makes it travel sick. But surely it's cruel not to offer the kitten some food on the journey? I will obviously be offering water anyway.

Also, a friend told me to bring ear plugs for the journey because the cat might be noisy. It's a Balinese (like a Siamese). I have visions of a four-hour journey from hell, with yowling travel-sick kitten and two wailing, travel-sick children.

[cozietoesie]

Lovely thought - and of course it is.

[cozietoesie]

PS - standing in his poo shouldn't be too bad for him ie he should squash it but walk away clean if he comes into contact with it . Is it maybe a bit runny?

You may have to assess the litter type down the line if it proves not to suit.

[cozietoesie]

Of course he is. Gawd - I blame the laptop.

[Corygal]

Pix is terrible cute! How entirely adorable.

[ToffeeWhirl]

It didn't appear runny, Cozi, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks, Cory .

[ToffeeWhirl]

cozi - I remember you wishing us luck at keeping our kitten out of our bedroom. I now see your point. Snowy has launched a campaign to get in there and sits outside the door constantly, waiting for his chance to slip in unseen. Twice this morning, DH has had to haul coax him out from under our bed. He is a very determined little cat!

In his breaktimes, kitty has been chasing imaginary mice again.

I don't know what we did without him really. He is such a treasure.

[cozietoesie]

It may be simply when the door is closed. They don't like closed doors. Last week I was painting in the basement, kept the basement door closed while the paint was wet; and Seniorboy did his nut at the perceived personal insult to him. The minute I opened the door, he lost interest and went back up to his bed!

Having said which, keeping the door open is no guarantee that he'll stay out of there. You get to know their requirements characters quite quickly - and put up with things from a cat that you would never put up with from a person.



How's our girl doing, QS - any upchucking this morning?

[cozietoesie]

Sorry - thought QS was on the thread.

[ToffeeWhirl]

Well, he has given up for now and is enjoying a long cuddle on my lap instead . Am not leaving our bedroom door open, so there will be a battle of wills! (And I can guess who you think will win ).

[cozietoesie]

I knew it. A Mummy's Boy!



And no - sorry - you'll lose. They take a long view.

[ToffeeWhirl]

Well, he does follow me around the house. When I went to the loo a while ago and shut the door, for a bit of privacy, he sat outside and cawed at me.

As I expected, he has discovered the sunny spot in DS2's bedroom and is dozing in there now. He seems very contented.

I will bear in mind what you said about the battle of the doors .

[cozietoesie]

They love a ray of sun. He'll be starting to think of DS2's bedroom as a nice place now.

[ToffeeWhirl]

I fell asleep on DS2's bed this afternoon. Kitty curled up in the crook of my arm, the top of his head nestled under my chin, and fell asleep with me. Can't believe I have lived all this time without discovering this particular form of utter contentment.

[cozietoesie]

As I've likely said before, I can't sleep well nowadays without a furry beside me - and you've just discovered the joy of an afternoon snooze with one. (They love it also.) I set aside part of every Sunday afternoon in winter for a 2 hour snooze with cat. Glorious!

[cozietoesie]

PS - I am, of course, defining winter as any Sunday where the weather prevents me from weeding/digging the garden. That's usually quite a few.

[ToffeeWhirl]

Joy is the right word. I like the idea of a Sunday afternoon snooze with kitty .

[ToffeeWhirl]

Snowy has a small split on one of his pawpads. Should I worry? No idea how he got it. He is licking it a lot and I am hoping it will heal on its own.

Went to the petshop today to buy him some Applaws Chicken for kittens, which he loves. The petshop assistant told me that it's better to feed cats dry food, rather than wet, and explained that the Applaws was a treat, not part of his proper diet. However, it feels wrong to just give him biscuits. Any thoughts on this, cozi?

[cozietoesie]

I've always given my boys wet food and not dry. (Although Seniorboy is now getting a little small biscuit crunch at supper to keep his weight up because he seems to like it.)

I wouldn't worry unduly about his pad at the moment but just keep a weather eye on it to check that it's healing. Wonder how he did that? Is he doing a lot of jumping down on to hard surfaces?

[cozietoesie]

PS - I see that some applaws are not a complete food though. Have you checked the tin?

[QueenStromba]

You're better off mainly feeding him wet food and giving dental chews or a few biscuits. As our vet put it: in an ideal world cats would eat dry food and drink lots of water because it would be better for their teeth but since cats rarely drink enough water when they eat dry food it's better to feed them wet food for the sake of their kidneys. Cats just don't have the same thirst reflex that other animals do so it's very easy for them to be chronically dehydrated which can lead to kidney disease. Our cat has had nearly half her teeth out and it doesn't bother her, they don't use their teeth for chewing anyway - they do need their kidneys though.

[cozietoesie]

I suspect that what the pet shop assistant was getting at is that Applaws wet kitten food is not complete whereas the Applaws dry kitten food is. (I'm just saying this from having a quick look see at their specs and I'll stand to be corrected by someone who actually uses them.)

[QueenStromba]

Yeah - if it doesn't say something like "complete nutrition" or "complete food for cats" somewhere on it then it's a treat food rather than an everyday food because it doesn't have everything the cat needs in it. I'm kind of shocked that anything that isn't obviously a treat like dreamies or cat milk isn't a complete food though.

[ToffeeWhirl]

I can't think how he split his paw, cozi. He is mainly sleeping and cuddling . DH and were out for four and a half hours tonight and he spent the entire time sleeping on my clean washing pile outside our bedroom door (still staking his claim to that room, I suspect!). It doesn't seem to be hurting him, but he is licking it a lot, which is healthy, I suppose.

It is interesting to hear your views on wet vs dry food, cozi and Queen. And I can see your vet's logic about kidneys vs teeth, Queen. Will bear that in mind.

[cozietoesie]

.....outside our bedroom door..........



Give him a week or two.

[ToffeeWhirl]

I did wonder....



Am enjoying the best kitten cuddles this morning. He nibbles on my hand and if I dare to look away from him (to look at MN, for instance), he bats me with his paw until he gets my attention again. That's not a bad habit for him to nibble me, is it? He doesn't hurt and I assume he did that with his siblings and parents, so it's natural to him.