New kitten owner

[Newcatmum]

Today I brought home a lovely little 10 week old kitten. I'm a first time cat owner so have been researching for about 6 months before getting her.

She's settled in well I feel, eating happily, exploring the house, sleeping but she has no interest in her litter tray. I assume she is used to a different brand of litter and it will be tomorrow now before I can go out and get some other stuff.

Can anyone guide me and give me some tips on how to get her to use it? I've obviously looked online but thought I'd be better posting here and getting some advice. Thanks

[dementedpixie]

Only 1 of mine ate dry food to start with but over time did start to try it and now they both eat wet and dry

[Newcatmum]

Thank you dementedpixie really appreciate your advice. The lady said she used Tesco complete cat food or similar so will nip down and see if I can get some of that. Or should I give her an extra wet feed instead? I was led to believe 4 small feeds per day for a kitten her age but the breeder said she gave 3 . How I've managed to bring up two children I'll never know

[dementedpixie]

I'd give whatever the kitten is used to and then if you want to change do it gradually. Does she eat all the wet food you give her? No harm giving an extra feed if you think she is still hungry

[TopBitchoftheWitches]

Put her in the tray and move her paws in a digging manner, she'll get it !

She is very pretty

My kitten is about 6 months now and still cute and funny.

Older two cats tolerate him

[Newcatmum]

Yes she loves her wet food. The lady gave me home a couple of pouches of Asda tiger food. I bought whiskas which she turned her nose up at so have been a bought some of her usual brand.

[Newcatmum]

I've been trying that TopBitch she hates it. Thank you

[dementedpixie]

Maybe try a clay based litter instead of wood pellets. Do you know what the breeder used?

[dementedpixie]

I used loads of litters too (I spent a fortune on food and litter tbh!). Ended up with a mix of worlds best and cats best smart pellets which are both eco clumping litters. One of mine didn't like the very fine Sandy clumping litter but was ok with bigger granules. Catsan is a popular litter but I found it got smelly quickly. It's trial and error tbh

[InSightMars]

Move her water bowl away from her food, in the wild cats prefer to keep their water sources and food sources separate, also if you’re giving wet food she won’t need to drink much. Try and relax, cats can go a long time without drinking but she won’t let herself go thirsty, she’ll drink when she wants to and same with the cat box, she’ll use it when she’s ready. If you see her squat just pick her up and put her in it and keep doing that until she gets the message. There’s no need to hold her there or move her paws for her, she knows what to do, she’s a cat!

[Newcatmum]

She uses world's best off of Amazon but she also has 3 cats as well as the kittens. I'm reluctant to spend £16 on a bag in case she doesn't use it plus I wouldn't get it until tomorrow. She said she also uses ones from Asda, Tesco and Poundland.

Do you think I should pop into pets at home for some advice? Could you recommend me some types to try that I can buy from Tesco. I could pick up a few small bags to try out. £16 is a lot of money for me to waste so if I could even get a small bag of that from somewhere to test out?

[Newcatmum]

Thank you Insight it's reassuring to read the posts on here. I'm like a new mum all over again worrying . I will move her water away from her food I did actually read that online.

[TopBitchoftheWitches]

Oh ok. I use the litter from Lidl. It's £2.00 for quite a large sized bag.

As pp said, she will know what to do, it's natural for them.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Ultra clumping is soft on kitten paws. Big litter must be like treading on Lego bricks.

Cats are so stubborn! They’ve got us over a barrel really though.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Lidl do a fullers earth that’s fine grained, my huge tough Bengal likes soft litters and he likes that one.

£1.89 for 10kg.

[Newcatmum]

There's no Lidl near me .

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

I wouldn't worry too much op as long as she seems well in herself she will drink/wee when she wants to, she is just finding her feet thats all. I wouldn't buy any more dry food yet either, just keep giving her the wet food she likes and give her a few weeks to settle in.

My girl cat only likes very fresh water so her water bowl gets changed a couple of times a day! We are such slaves to these felines

Waves to fluffy

[dementedpixie]

World's best has very fine granules so is very different to the wood pellets you are trying. Cats best oko plus might be ok or I'd try a fine clay based one. Pets at home sells oko plus I think

[Newcatmum]

Thank you girlie I will hold off the dry food. Have moved her water but still not touching it and am going to get some new litter. It's a mad house already with the kids and even worse now I've added in a kitten am glad to be going out now for a driving lesson to get a break for an hour .

Do Aldi do a decent litter?

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

Has the kitten got somewhere quiet she can go to chill out for a bit? She might be feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything, I would put a couple of water bowls out to encourage her.

Is it a kitten litter tray that she can easily get in and out of?

I've always found cat litter to be much of a muchness, all though my girl cat preferred the white litter, can't remember what its called though!

[Newcatmum]

I put her in the kitchen with door closed to give her some peace but she just cried to come back in the living room. My step dad was in the house babysitting while I was on my lesson he had my niece today and ended up taking the kids out as they wouldn't leave her alone. So after that we went out for an hour to give her some quiet time. Picked up some new litter and toys shes choosing to come in here and sit with us but has a wee hidey space behind the couch. Still no sign of going to the toilet but once my toddler is in bed I will pull the couches out to check if she's gone there. As much as I don't want her to have done the toilet on my carpet I'm partly hoping she has so I know she's gone.

[dementedpixie]

Cats do not like closed doors! They may not want to go through it right now but they need the option to be there. I have accidentally shut one of mine in a wardrobe and in the bathroom as he'd sneaked in when the door was open

[pisspawpatrol]

How about Rita as a name that sounds like dorito? She's a little fluffy beauty!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Hi Girlie 😀

[Newcatmum]

demented I've realised that now she had a sniff around her tray and was happy to stand in it with new litter so that's a positive I'm hoping.

Piss she now has the name Belle. She's had the same name all day so looks like this could be the one!

[TopBitchoftheWitches]

I think we need an updated photo of the baby cat