Ive had the fear of "cat" put in me.

[McBounty]

Slightly light hearted.

We have adopted 2 new kittens and collect them on Saturday.
A boy and a girl.

They are 8 weeks old, litter trained and eating so ready to be re-homed.
We are so excited, well that was until today.

I saw a friend who had a kitten from 8 weeks old. Her kitten has now grown up and a lot better apparently.

She really warned me today, telling me that I'm about to have a really hard time. She said they're worse than babies and to prepare to have all of my things ruined.

I am wounded and worrying.
Please tell me I'm being silly?
Am I just being naive?

Kittens bite and scratch and can be really destructive. The last kitten my mum got tore wallpaper off walls. She would scratch it to get an edge and then tear it off in strips with her teeth before carrying around the house. She scratched leather furniture, carpets, doors and door frames. She also attacked feet and ankles regularly and terrorised my mum's other cat. She is super cute though even now she's fully grown though. Kittens are lovely but they can be hard work, depending on what sort of personality you end up with. I got an adult cat because I didn't want to deal with the mad kitten phase but they are super cute at that age.

The answer to your friends problems are in your post. . .

She got 'A' kitten.

1 kitten =ruined home.
2 kittens =fun house.

be a good friend and try your best not to be TOO smug. .

mrs - This is exactly why we are getting two. We have always been told that two kittens are better than one as it's a lot less destruction etc. I am hoping this is the truth.

Well yes they can be a bit of a handful but it's very easy to forgive them as its not done out of malice.

It's more collateral damage.

Ours has used a duresta sofa as his scratch post & is now permenantly banned from the lounge but in a cats mind it was one huge scratch post that you can also sleep on.

When my cats were kittens they scratched the leather couch by running around and they would treat my hand like a toy and chew it ( should never have let them but they were too cute).
They never deliberately scratched anything.
One of them would cry at bedtime because he couldn't sleep in our room. But he got used to it.

Wasn't a lot of work at all. I got mine a year apart so two kittens together prob even easier. Enjoy!

This is why they are all cute and fluffy, it's their lure.
They trash all your shit and you fuming so you hunt them down ready to rampage and then you see them all floofy, snuggled up cute and gazing at you and you forget, go get them treats and play with them ignoring the trail of destruction.

That's true. Ours was a right little bugger one day & Dh still bought him a new mousie when we went out.

I hear about kittens being difficult. I don't remember that at all, but then I had one with an older cat, then two together. One tip, never tickle their tummies as I think that encourages them to claw you (cute as kittens, not so cute as a cat).

Enjoy every moment.

My main problem was the tiny runt sneaking off for a sleep and staying hidden for hours. Before they learned to come when called I spent many a frantic hour convinced I'd thrown them into the wheely bin or washing machine. But most of my stuff is crap and wouldn't be wasted by scratches - cats definitely know it isn't worth their time.

I've posted this before but It's so true.

I've had cats and kittens for years and none of them have ever done any serious damage to anything ( except me)
Tiny teeth and claws HURT abut you will heal - and forgive them as kittens are so cute and funny

My carpets have suffered a lot. Nothing else.
My parents had hard floors I don't think their cats caused any destruction to anything.

ps: take it back... my mom's cats ate a few of my own little pets. Not a common problem, though.

I love that description toddler 😂

Ours was naughty but a dream. I prefer him now he's a bit older (5) as he's so soppy and wants to sleep across my lap upside down whenever possible, but oh god he was such a cute kitten! I remember a friend coming over and holding a saucer with kitten sitting on it. He was SO tiny

I was just going to say that

1 kitten - ruined house
2 kittens - happy times!

Always adopt 2 together which you're doing so you'll be ok!

I was about to say Ernie hasn't caused any destruction...then I remembered the faux leather bed he manage to take the finish off (was stating to go anyway)

Loni I 'lost' Ernie on his first day with us. I woke OH up with my shreaking, and have had to turf out the washing machine and dryer more than once..

We got two and they didn't destroy anything. They were the most gorgeous things we'd ever seen and we'd have forgiven them any amount of destruction though.

We got one kitten and one cat (his mum). I was expecting Moonkitten to run up and down walls, climb curtains, knock everything off the mantelpiece etc. so we kitten-proofed pretty much everything and made sure he was shown how to use the scratching post. (Catnip spray useful here too). I would highly recommend the cut-to-size plastic coated heat-proof table covering you can get from John Lewis. Thick enough to block claws. I have it on all tables now (also stops knocked-over hot liquids ruining the wood).

He never touched a thing.

Now he comes in, wipes his feet nicely on the post and has still never scratched furniture. I should add he's a 4yo gangly 5kg monster moggy now.

Now other small creatures are another matter entirely. This week we've had a mouse and a foot-long rat delivered to the back door!

You will soon learn who is servant and who is master. And you won't be master

They will bring you endless hours of fun. They will scratch and bite but with those big gooey eyes and you will end up offering your hand for more bites!

They will bring you endless gifts! Mice, moles, voles, rats, moths, slugs, toads, frogs, birds ....... on a plus note they do eat spiders so they are handy for those who are frightened of arachnids!

They make excellent hot water bottles. The heat doesn't bother them though so when you are sweltering in our recent hot weather they still like to curl up next to you and make you sweat more!

There's something incredibly lovely about hearing a purr and a warm fluffy cat body stretching next to yours.

There's something incredibly horrid about having a live gift run up your arm as you sleep blissfully unawares.

Fur balls are not a treat and they do look decidedly odd whilst bringing them up.

You'll fall in love and will get it back in heaps!

My mom put my kitten on her partners shoulder he promptly played with his comb over partner was not amusef

I am still so excited and despite yesterday's worry, I'm back to excitement again.

I won't deal with mice or rats being brought in though. I have such a horrid phobia of them. I even physically cringe when I see them on the TV. Perhaps I should think about keeping them as indoor cats, IDK. 😂

1 kitten =ruined home.

This is just not true.

You need to be an active owner, have loads of toys, be really consistent in behavous, play with them a LOT but make sure e.g. you never play with hands. There is no good reason why you should ever be bitten or scratched by your cat.

It's a bit like having a baby/toddler you have to watch them like hawks. Enjoy, they don't stay little for long.

I found the early weeks exhausting. They want to be stimulated but can't go out. They bite and scratch. They don't keep sociable hours!
Laser pointer and screwed up balls of paper saved us.
Block up small gaps unless you want a kitten up the chimney or under the dishwasher disaster.

We got one kitten last year and although he's as playful as any other cat he hasn't caused any damage to the house. He played with his toys and attacked our feet and hands regularly until he started going out, now he attacks birds and mice. My furniture is fine.