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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

Kitten and going on holiday?

78 replies

Blossom4538 · 06/05/2017 22:47

Hi all,
Just after some advice/experiences pls.

We are getting a kitten in a few weeks but have a holiday abroad booked in July, for ten nights. Kitten will be almost 5 months. Not sure what to do, whether leave with family, cattery...I don't know!! Don't want to traumatise the cat and for her to become lonely.

OP posts:

Soubriquet · 11/05/2017 10:35

My kitten went into a cattery last year for 4 nights

She was 5 months. Fully vaccinated but not neutered

She was fine and the cattery was happy to take her unnetured too

PersianCatLady · 11/05/2017 10:56

You sound pretty stubborn OP, this is obviously not best for the kitten
I thought that too.

I want that kitten when I want it and even though it isn't in the best interests of the kitten, I am not prepared to adapt.

JigglyTuff · 11/05/2017 11:00

Many cat rescues won't let you adopt a single kitten. I've always had two (sibling pair) cats and they've always got on fine.

I think you're confusing rescue dogs with rescue cats OP. There are very few puppies in rescue but there are a lot of kittens. Wait until you get back from your holiday and then go and choose a couple of kittens with your DD. What you can do in advance is get home checked and buy all the equipment so you're ready to go when you're back

LizB62A · 11/05/2017 11:02

I'm baffled why you won't consider kittens from a rescue/charity.
They've generally been with a foster carer for a while and are used to humans, house trained etc. and probably better adapted than kittens from breeders who are doing it to make money.
I've got two cats which we adopted as kittens from a rescue last year.
They definitely keep each other company and I'd never consider getting a single kitten in future, always a pair :-)

Radishal · 11/05/2017 11:18

As to adopting a sibling pair: not two girls. I adopted two sister kittens and they hated each other. This is apparently common. Boy/girl or two boys. The rescue centre we used didn't insist on two.

PersianCatLady · 11/05/2017 11:33

I'm baffled why you won't consider kittens from a rescue/charity
It may be as simple as she just doesn't want one because she thinks that they aren't as good as other kittens.

LizB62A · 11/05/2017 11:40

It may be as simple as she just doesn't want one because she thinks that they aren't as good as other kittens.
Aren't as good?

NameChange30 · 11/05/2017 11:54

The OP has already given her reasons, whether you agree with them or not.

OP, if you plan to leave the kitten with grandparents, make sure it has been microchipped just in case it escapes, and make sure they are very careful to prevent an escape - since it will be in unfamiliar territory, it's more likely to get lost.

Obviously the kitten will need to be kept inside until it's been neutered, anyway. My vet advised neutering around 5 months and gradually letting them go out from about 6 months.

PersianCatLady · 11/05/2017 12:06

Aren't as good?
Sorry reading my post back I realise that it is poorly worded.

I know that rescue kittens are every bit as amazing as other kittens.

When I said "not as good as" I was referring to the fact that the OP seems to be very biased against rescue kittens and also against anything that anybody says that doesn't agree with her decision 100%.

Who on Earth would get a kitten and then go away two months later and even though they have been told by several posters that this is not good for the kitten, ignore all the advice and decide to do it anyway?

I feel sorry for this kitten and I wonder what kind of life it is going to have when it is being treated as a possession not a living creature.

PersianCatLady · 11/05/2017 12:07

The OP has already given her reasons, whether you agree with them or not
No, she has not given a reason at all.

She has said that she wants a kitten now and then wants to go on holiday two months later.

There is no reason apart from that is what she wants to do.

NameChange30 · 11/05/2017 12:11

This is the reason the OP gave for getting a kitten from a breeder instead of a rescue:

"as our Daughter has additional needs, it is advised that we don't go down the rescue/adoption route apparently"

Not saying I agree with that advice, just that she did give a reason. She didn't say rescues "aren't as good"

Some of you seem completely determined to have a massive go at the OP. She wouldn't be posting if she wasn't thinking about the kitten's welfare at all.

I agree it would be better to wait until after the holiday before getting the kitten, but since the OP isn't doing that, it seems sensible to have a discussion about the best option while she is on holiday.

PersianCatLady · 11/05/2017 12:22

I am hardly having a go at her, I just cannot understand why anybody would be so stubborn as to not take advice from all the posters who have told her that it is not good for the kitten to leave it so soon after getting it.

I am sorry but I cannot bring myself to say there, there what a good idea you have had when there is such an easy solution. Get the kitten after the holiday.

LizB62A · 11/05/2017 12:26

PersianCatLady

Thanks for the update - I completely agree

JigglyTuff · 11/05/2017 12:42

A kitten from a breeder is not going to be any better for a child with AN than one from a rescue.

PersianCatLady · 11/05/2017 12:52

Thanks for the update - I completely agree
Sorry for the rubbish wording of my post.

This particular thread has made me really angry so I wasn't thinking quite straight when I was typing.

Lancelottie · 11/05/2017 14:07

Not everyone thinks she's a stubborn and appalling person for sticking with her plan of getting her chosen kitten when planned, and from the place she'd already planned, and from the breeder she's presumably chosen for a reason.

I personally think the kitten will be more than fine being cherished by the grandparents for a week.

A child with SEN may well have been introduced very carefully to the idea of this particular kitten, with dates and photos and visits, and might not be fine with everything suddenly being put back till the end of the summer.

NameChange30 · 11/05/2017 14:09

I agree Lance.
I adore my cats and I'm a responsible pet owner, but cannot understand why people get so precious about pets on here sometimes.

Lancelottie · 11/05/2017 14:12

I'll share the Appalling Owners bench with you, AnotherEmma.

I was about to add, hardheartedly, that after all, we get pets for our benefit not theirs -- but then I looked round at our houseful of pampered idle beasties lounging in the sun waiting for me to earn their bodyweight in Dreamies and wondered who I was kidding...

PuppyMonkey · 11/05/2017 14:19

Fwiw OP, the kitten will probably be fine at your grandparents.

Kokusai · 11/05/2017 15:08

Who on Earth would get a kitten and then go away two months later

Oh fuck off.

I got a kitten and then went away two months later. My mother came and stayed and the kitten had a much nicer time with her home all the time than with me going to work.

I also paid for a kitten from a particular breeder. So sue me. I really wanted a particular breed.

PersianCatLady · 11/05/2017 18:42

I also paid for a kitten from a particular breeder. So sue me. I really wanted a particular breed
Another nice answer from some one who cares more about what they WANT than what an animal NEEDS.

I expect you will get rid of your cat when it gets in the way of the next thing that YOU WANT.

NameChange30 · 11/05/2017 18:44

Your username is PersianCatLady, presumably you have a Persian cat? Did you manage to get it from a rescue then? And did you want a Persian or did that just happen to be the cat that was most in need, out of every single cat in your area?!

Lancelottie · 11/05/2017 19:09

That's quite some extrapolation, PCL!

A kitten NEEDS food, water, a safe home, a bed, room to play, and vet treatment.

It might also like a good fuss and company. Some do, some don't. It'll get all of its needs and most of its wants met while OP is on holiday.

Lucky kitten.

Lancelottie · 11/05/2017 19:10

Actually, scrap the 'needs a bed'.

A kitten needs a pile of clean washing to sleep in.

Fixed it.

NameChange30 · 11/05/2017 19:29

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