New kittens!

[Imnotacelebgetmeouttahere]

We have 2new kittens that have joined our family today - and I've realised I'm woefully unprepared in terms of knowing what to actually do with them! I bought the right stuff but have already learned they rule the house now they've turned their noses up at the cat bed and blanket and snuggled to sleep on the spare mattress in the den under my 12yr bed ( mid sleeper)! We have decided to confine them to his room for this evening / overnight to let them settle ( we have 3 other younger children) ...

When can they roam the house freely? What about stairs? The gaps in the bannister?! Will they know not to go through them? Also currently windows are closed - but obv it's summer and ideally the small ones would be open at times ... how can we do this safely?

I am not a believer in cat collars, they can cause horrific injuries and now that microchips are used and well understood there is no need for them for identification. Microchip cat flaps mean there is no need for magnetic tags for flaps now either.

They are being microchipped at next vax app (4 week) so no need for collar in that case

I need to keep tabs on mine unfortunately I'm a nervous wreck when she goes out and I like her in before I go to bed. How many weeks are your kittens?

11 weeks - so they haven't been outside yet but I imagine I'll freak out when they do - I'll be stood outside with a side of salmon begging them not to wander too far

Awwwwwwwwwwww.
They look like 2 little bags of trouble.
Have they got names, yet.

They are whiskers and tom my 4 and 5yr olds with ASD love the Talking Tom app so insisted one was tom

Newbie question - how do I encourage them to not scratch my things and use the lovely toy post

one thing to watch for as you have younger children is making sure there are no small pieces of plastic or paper they can swallow, i have fostered lots of kittens and almost lost one to a corner from a sweet packet that one of my grandchildren had left on the floor,

think toddler loose wires they like to chew, smell gaps they can get wedged in, make sure toys are robust enough for very sharp teeth and claws

and as others have said they dont need collars on till they go outside what i did with mine was put collars on for the first few times they went out as that way neighbours will see they belong to someone but mine dont have collars on now, make sure you get them microchipped when they go to be neutered as better id than a collar that can come off

to discourage them scratching your furniture if fabric real lemon juice in water spritzed on the furniture like fabric freshener if leather lemon juice in olive oil wiped over the leather works as cats dont particularly like the smell of lemon

thats small gaps

and cat nip spray on the scratching post should ecourage them to use it

Thank you! Yes keeping a clean floor is a must here anyway as one dc has pica so eats anything left behind!

I tried some dry food and they won't touch it... do I persevere or just stick with wet?

No persevere as its a godsend if you have to leave them for longer than afew hours and my kitten snacks on it alot. Lick e lix should do the trick amd make sure its kitten size dry. Have lenty of water down.

Use their favourite toy near the scratch post so that they have to use it to get to the toy.

Aw glad they are settling in well! What lovely additions to your home :-)

Wonderful.

I'm back with questions

1. despite being really well litter trained the last two days one of them has taken a wee on the kitchen floor at some points ....the litter tray is super clean, is there a reason for this or do they need to be checked? < is precious first kitten a thing?>

2. as they get older do they tend to play less at unsociable hours! currently their favourite time to charge around making endless noise is 4-4.30 am which wakes my 4yr old non sleeper who ironically sleeps about then! They choose this specific time to play in the upstairs landing and there is no way to stop them Coming upstairs apart from shutting them in the kitchen overnight which seems mean!

1. Make sure you clean the area well so it leaves no smell at all. If it happens again, put the litter box there and slowly move it back to the place you want it to stay. If kitten pees elsewhere after this get them checked!

2. Yes they will calm down at around 10-12 months when they'll transition into teenagers, but could be earlier or later. could you put something at the bottom of the stairs to stop them coming up?

They'll probably be better with a litter box each. Most cats won't share.

They're absolutely gorgeous!

If you're going to use collars then only use ones that have a safety release clip - although due to the horrific injuries collars can cause I would remove them if you plan to let them outside.

Wet food is much better for them than dry, especially the male, so I wouldn't force the issue if they're happy with wet food.

Yes to a litter tray each, and perhaps a different type of litter if problem persists.

I kept my kittens in one room at night to start with. They didn't get the run of the house until they were about 5 months old. At that age I fed my kittens 3 or 4 times a day with a small amount of wet food with dry stuff left out all day