Getting kittens next week - any tips?

[iwashappy]

We're getting two kittens next week I've had cats before but not for a long time and only ever had one at a time. It seems a bit more specialised nowadays with cat milk and lots of kitten food.

A friend said that it's best to keep the kittens in one room to start with until they get used to their surroundings. Has anyone else done this?

We've got a lovely bed/basket for them, separate water, milk, wet food and dry food bowls, two litter trays, lots of toys, a comb and brush, scratching post, carry box with a blanket in for them. We've got plenty of cardboard boxes too and obviously wet and dry food and cat milk.

I know they need to go to the vet for their jabs etc.

Anything else we've forgotten or should know? Thank you.

Drat. I just wrote a really long post and it's disappeared!

I posted something exactly the same a couple of weeks ago, as we've just got our two - photos attached!

Sounds like you have everything that you need. Take them to the vet, not just for their jabs, but to make sure they are generally healthy. Be prepared to be given stuff like de-worming medicine, which will cost you!

We didn't restrict ours to any one room - they didn't really want to stray much further than the living room anyway. Make sure you show them where the litter tray is (just plonk them in it as soon as you can).

Oh, and be prepared for the fact that they will totally ignore the lovely bed that you've bought for them Ours have decided that the top of the sofa is where they are going to sleep.

Good luck and enjoy!!!

Sleep now while you can

We recently got a couple of kittens, we have loads of cats but it's been a while since we had them so young (9 weeks).

We kept them in the bedroom for the first week so they could settle in without the other cats trying to eat them, then let them out supervised for a week - now they have the run of the house, but I still take them to bed (for no other reason that I like snugging up with kittens!!)

I put a scratching post next to the bed as they were too little to jump onto the bed at first, but could climb up the scratching post.

They've had wormer and flea stuff from the vets - and our vet does a special offer that includes their injections, first few months of flea and worm treatment, 6 month health check, and 10% off neutering so we've signed them up for that - they're having their second injections on Tuesday. :)

Enjoy!

Unless you are wedded to wet food I'd advise getting some good quality dry food and stick with that. Kitten's stomachs are quite sensitive. Also, you then avoid problems in the summer with wet food getting revolting in the heat and worst of all getting fly eggs in it

Don't give kittens normal milk, they don't need it and it is bad for them. Really they only need water. A couple of bowls in different places is a good idea as they can tip them over.
HTH! I have kitten envy, ours are all now hulking adults (and ridiculously soppy!) Enjoy!

Oh yes and I agree that one room for the first bit is a good time, if you give them the run of the house I guarantee you will lose one or both of them at least once a day!

BIWI your kittens are gorgeous. I found your thread, thank you. I expect my DD will decide that litter tray duties are my job!! Thanks for the tip on the basket, I seem to remember that cardboard boxes were more popular than nice baskets!

Janice I'm not sleeping well as it is! Is that bad!!?

Eleanor snuggling up with your kittens sounds lovely. I suspect that I might be the same. Were your other pets okay with them? The scratching post as a climbing frame sounds a good idea, although not sure if they will need encouraging.

Goldfinches thank you for the feeding tips, much appreciated. Yours sound like lovely cats. I do remember they like hiding games!

Thank you.