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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.

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Original poster

kittens - what are they like to live with

100 replies

shuan · 05/01/2015 19:14

How hard is it to look after a kitten? If you go out where do you leave a kitten so that it is safe? Do they do a lot of damage to furniture and belongings?

I like the thought of a kitten coming to live with us but need to find out more.

OP posts:

Thread gallery

MinimalistMommi · 10/01/2015 18:45

Awwhhhh Rubbish I love the super hero look. The offcial colouring for my Ragdoll is a high mitted seal bi-colour (if I remember correctly PM I only got him in the Autumn my memory is shocking!)

Fluffycloudland77 · 10/01/2015 18:47

Toilet rolls are evil & must be destroyed. Mine destroyed two rolls, to be on the safe side.

kittens - what are they like to live with

MinimalistMommi · 10/01/2015 18:59

LOL Fluffy! We've taken to hiding toilet roll in the airing cupboard in the bathroom

Fluffycloudland77 · 10/01/2015 19:01

It was in the airing cupboard. Behind a closed door.

He can open doors.

I blame his mother. She could open doors too.

isseywithcats · 10/01/2015 20:06

aww shuan she is lovely very pretty and lovely that you have given an adult cat a new home, kittens are great but im glad i only have the little hooligans in my house for a few weeks at a time as by the time they are old enough to go back to the center im quite happy to hand them back

timtam23 · 11/01/2015 17:54

Shuan she is beautiful! Kittens are definitely rather full-on and I well remember the 3 hours of crazy kitten dashing around which used to start at midnight every single day

Original poster

shuan · 11/01/2015 18:02

thank you issey and timtam she is settling in well but still a bit unsure.

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RubbishMantra · 12/01/2015 10:31

Doesn't he look contrite Fluffy.

chockbic · 12/01/2015 13:55

Slasher can't open any doors. He pushes them shut then mews in frustration.

RubbishMantra · 12/01/2015 14:16

My little monsieur does the pushing doors shut and crying. Our kitchen door is glazed, and he does this sort of digging thing on it with his paws.

I wish Slasher and MKitten could have a play-date together!

chockbic · 12/01/2015 14:27

I can imagine it being a whizz of fur and claws. Like Taz.

Jack the Kipper seems OK with other cats. Know some Bengal or derivatives are lonesome pines but he is quite sociable.

RubbishMantra · 12/01/2015 17:09

Jack the Kipper!

I'm not sure my little monsieur knows how to use his claws. He's a lover, not a fighter.

girliefriend · 12/01/2015 17:25

Aww she is lovely op, torties are great.

I was going to say kittens are great fun but can be high maintenance and slightly stressful to have around children but obv by the by now you have your lovely cat

Most cats take a while (3-4 weeks) to feel safe in their new surroundings. If the leg seems to cause her trouble/pain I would get the vet to have another look at it.

Original poster

shuan · 12/01/2015 20:41

thank you girlie she is very quiet wanting to sit on my lap for hours or sleep in the bedroom. Hopefully she will become more confident soon. I will take her to the vet once she has settled in a bit more. She is really sweet and affectionate.

OP posts:

girliefriend · 12/01/2015 20:54

I find this time of year cats tend to sleep tons anyway, my 4 yo boy cat is sleeping about 20 hours a day at the moment however once it starts warming up he is happy to be out all day.

She sounds lovely

DontMentionTheWar · 13/01/2015 01:20

I just wanted to say that I'm a bit shocked having read through this thread and I don't want people to be put off kittens by reading through it. So, for a bit of balance, I've had four kittens over the past fourteen years and none of them have been naughty or destructive or really hard work in the way other owners have described their kittens here. They like their mad half hours where they rampage about but it's mainly just a load of running or sticking their heads into any available open draw, bin or cupboard.

I currently have a Ragdoll kitten and she is adorable and no trouble at all. Only one of my kittens went through a little scratchy period and she stopped after a few weeks. My two male kittens were really good, I can't remember them doing anything naughty. You have to train them, obviously, but they soon learn - if you let them run up curtains then they'll run up curtains! You use the tone of your voice to train them and you have to be consistent. If they're naughty you put them in time out in another (boring) room until they calm down - a bit like you would a toddler. My cats have never been allowed to beg or hassle me for food or wake me up but they are thoroughly loved and spoilt in every other way.

Shaun your new puss is gorgeous! I hope you have many happy years together.

DontMentionTheWar · 13/01/2015 02:31

Sorry, that should have been Shuan not Shaun.

Badgerlady · 13/01/2015 08:58

Glad you found the right cat for you Shuan. She looks adorable.

I just wanted to add to what dontmention said as I don't want people to be put off having kittens!

We have two kittens. They came to us from a rescue at 8 weeks and are now 4 months. They're full of beans and very playful but not naughty or destructive (yet, I hope I'm not setting myself up for the worst behaved adolescent cats).

The only trouble we had was on their second day home when they squeezed into a small hole not really visible to the human eye under a kitchen cupboard and ended up behind the washing machine. I came home to find DH, DBIL and DFIL lying on the floor trying to tempt them out.

ToffeeWhirl · 13/01/2015 13:57

DontMention - I wonder if it's to do with the breed of cat? Ragdolls are meant to be very placid and loving, aren't they? My cats are Balinese, like Siamese, so they can be a bit of a handful. Like Fluffy 's cat, they can open (some) doors and pull drawers open . I came down this morning to find that they'd worked out how to pull open the kitchen drawer, dragged all the food bags out and made a right mess. I think I'm going to have to reinstall child safety locks! Having said that, they do stop when I say 'no' to them in a stern voice and they have learnt that they're not allowed in our bedroom, so they can be trained.

Badger - I bet the sound of a Dreamies bag would have got them out?

I wouldn't want to put anyone off getting a kitten, but I think you have to be aware that some are trickier than others.

Original poster

shuan · 13/01/2015 14:21

Glad it is not just my cat sleeping 20 hours a day girlie I was starting to worry but you have reassured me, thank you

thanks for posting dontmention and badger I did feel a bit worried about getting a kitten after reading this thread so decided to go for an adult cat. Maybe in the future I would get a kitten but I am not sure.

OP posts:

Original poster

shuan · 13/01/2015 14:23

child safety locks sound like a good idea toffee they are very clever cats!

OP posts:

girliefriend · 13/01/2015 17:55

Oh and I have had 2 kittens in the last 5 years and they have been delightful as well but I did find having a 4yo dd and a kitten hard work!! The kitten was fine but my dd she is much better now thank goodness

Badgerlady · 14/01/2015 07:12

toffee yes, I pointed out to the three grown men lying on the kitchen floor making clucking kitten wrangling noises that it may be more productive to put down a bowl of food (we don't have dreamies) and retreat to a safe distance.

DontMentionTheWar · 14/01/2015 20:11

Toffee I think the type/breed does make a difference. I know that Bengals are really lively for instance. Your Balinese in that photo is beautiful by the way. Child locks definitely sound like a good idea! Definitely practice your stern voice as well, it works a treat in my experience.

I have a Ragdoll and a British Blue and they are/were both very laid back kittens, especially the British, he was so good it was unbelievable. He sleeps for most of the day now he's an adult too. Neither of them were/are destructive either. I've also had two moggies, one of whom is still alive, they were a little bit more lively as kittens but still pretty good. The female tabby used to like to stalk me as if I was big game, it was very funny, I used to turn around and she'd be there doing all the old hunting moves behind me even though she was absolutely tiny.

The main thing I've had to watch out for with kittens is chewing wires and falling down the loo but even the chewing wires thing never lasted for long and falling down the loo was easily prevented just by keeping the lid down or shutting the bathroom door, so it wasn't much of a hassle. With nearly all my kittens, when they were really tiny, I used a big dog cage - recommended if you want to introduce them to other cats - put their food, bed and a litter tray inside and put them in there at night so that they were safe. If they became too rowdy to the point of being a bit of a danger to themselves in the day then I'd put them in there for 15 minutes with their toys until they calmed down a little bit, quite often they'd fall asleep as they'd worn themselves out. It worked really well as it made the kittens feel safe - they'd often go in themselves during the day for a snooze - and I never had to use it for more than a few weeks - I didn't need to use it at all for my latest one as she is so laid back.

ToffeeWhirl · 14/01/2015 20:49

Dontmention - thank you for saying that about my cat: I agree that he is a very handsome boy, but I am a bit biased .

I'm glad I thought to keep the loo seat down whilst the kittens were little. I was really worried they'd fall down and drown.

The cage sounds a good idea. We just put ours in the kitchen/dining room when they go too bonkers. They have everything they need in there and can charge around madly, then fall asleep when they've worn themselves out.

I didn't have much choice about breeds because I'm allergic to cats. I chose Balinese because they are lower in the protein that triggers the allergy.

Badger

shuan - how is your girl settling in?

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