New kitten - few questions, help?

[Ladybee]

We brought home a lovely new kitten on Sunday, she's about 12 weeks old, desexed female from a pet shop who supplies vet-checked SPCA animals. We bought the dry food and litter that the shop had been using, and she seems to be settling well - very friendly, sleeping on any lap going, lots of purring, playing with DS (5) and tolerating DD (1) well. She's using her litter tray no problems, hooray! But seems quite uninterested in her dry food - she grazes, but is much more interested in our food or anything that gets dropped by the children. This makes for interesting breakfasts with her attempting to leap onto the table to eat toast or lick cereal bowls, or prowling under the high chair to gobble up things as they fall. So...
Is it going to do her any harm eating some dropped corners of toast, butter, marmite etc, or whatever they're having for dinner?
How do I teach her to stay off the table?
Is grazing on biscuits ok? I put out half the pack recommended serving twice a day so she gets fresh-smelling food, but she's not eating anywhere close to that full amount, there's always food left.
I wondered about introducing a very small portion of wet food while childre

Sorry, meant to say..while children are eating to distract her with something tempting in an attempt to get her to leave their food alone.
Do you think it's just being in a house with lots of exciting food smells around that is making her own things less appealing.

Finally, the shop said the change of location could cause a little illness through stress. Sure enough she's started sneezing yesterday. Do I just watch and wait or does she need to see a vet? Her eyes are fine and she's happy enough, currently curled up on my lap purring...

Let her have some wet kitten food.

On the sneezing - has she been to the vet to complete her first panoply of shots? I'd be concerned in case she was maybe starting some cat flu. In fact, I think I'd have her up there anyway. (I have serious reservations about her allegedly already being neutered at that age. Did the pet shop just throw that - and other comments about them supplying 'vet-checked SPCA animals' (whatever they are) - into the mix?)

I've always trained my boys off surfaces but I appear to be unusual in having achieved it. I think that that may be for another day - I'd be more concerned right now that you may have bought a most darling kitten from a dodgy pet shop and want to have her up to a real vet right away.

PS - did the shop give you any documentation about her first shots etc? You'll need that to give to the vet.

Straight off to the vet for a checkover as soon as I get any new animal. Picked up 2 9 week old kittens yesterday and they're booked in on Thursday at the vets for vaccinations, worming, etc. They'll be chipped and later neutered too.

You would need vacs documentation if you ever wanted to use a cattery.

We've got the vaccination, worming, flea and desexing health records, plus microchipping info. It was all done by the SPCA vet. She's due for her next Felocell 3 in about 5 days. So I guess there's no harm taking her up tomorrow to be checked and maybe they'll do the next one then if she's ok to have it.
I'll try her on some wet food - I hope she finds that more attractive. I'm used to seeing cats eat more enthusiastically, she's so happy otherwise I hate to think she's going hungry. She IS eating, and drinking. Just not with much appetite.

Well done on that background then. Although I'm very surprised that the SPCA would do a spaying at - say - 10 or 11 weeks old and then all the rest. I'd give the vet you were booked with a phone about taking her up and getting her top up shot - as it's her first, they'll likely want to be reasonably precise about the timing.

Some cats just don't like dry and that's that. (They'll eat it if there's nothing else and they're real hungry but they don't enjoy it much.)

Let us know how she gets on.

Dry food is a really poor choice for kittens and cats so well done to your lovely kitten for knowing what's best for it :)

I would definitely make the transition to wet food, although a high-meat content wet food, not Whiskas, Felix or Sheba which is only around 4% meat :(

I wouldn't feed any dry at all personally and I'd close down the 24/7 kibble buffet. Cats need to be able to take moisture from their food and can't do this with dry food so it's really hard going on their kidneys.