New kitten.

[dundermifflinpapersalesman1]

Hi everyone. Getting a new kitten this month. I've been doing a lot of research before getting one and it's been a long time coming. Just wondering if you guys had any tips for me. Toys, litter training, must haves etc.

Top tip - more important than anything else - neuter at 16 weeks.

@thecatneuterer

Top tip - more important than anything else - neuter at 16 weeks.

I second this. No practical tips but enjoy, you're in for a treat, they change your life.

Place marking as youngest DC would love one. I’ve no idea as only ever had dogs when I was growing up.

The second most important advice is get another one. Kittens are so much happier in pairs - they can play together, sleep together and comfort each other. If you only have one be prepared to spend a lot of time entertaining him or her.

Third most important bit of advice (unless you are rich enough to be able to shell out around £5000 at the drop of as hat if necessary) is pet insurance. Kittens are prone to accidents and orthopaedics cost a fortune and then there's all the different illnesses and conditions they can have/acquire. Unless you're rich insurance is vital.

Oh and 4) NEVER have lilies in the house or garden. They are deadly to cats and they don't even have to eat them to die - they only need to brush past them.

and 5) get them chipped and don't put a collar on them.

Thanks everyone! I've rang round all the vets near me and got quotes on all injections and neauting. Everything. Looked at pet insurance etc. Just glad I'm looking at all the right things.

Please post a photo when you get him/her

My vet wouldn't neuter our male before 20 weeks but told us to keep him in prior.

Kitten should be litter trained but you may need to point in the direction of the tray. Make sure it's a low sided one for now.

Scratch post at the very least, a proper activity frame is better.

@Awwlookatmybabyspider I will post a picture!

I've got a scratch post with a play bit on it a a seat high up on it too. And a few interactive toys. The litter tray I have has got a low side for her to get into it. I've read you should take them straight to it when you get them home so they know where it is. And just keep showing them.

Do you have a kicker toy? I really recommend having one - they use your arm if they haven't got one!

Agree a kitten needs company. If you see them playing, sleeping and cuddling together then it’s so clear.

How can we advise you if we don't have a photo?! Outrageous!

Prepare to have all the nice things you buy them ignored (unless they want to play )

Cat Tower - if they are in the mood they scale it use the vantage point to glare down

LaserPen- male cat goes barmy for the LittleRedDot

The Flipping Fish . Only as its stuffed with catnip . (DH put extra in)

Your carpets will never be the same again

Get a stick vacuum to whizz round the tracked little ( ie wjen they kick it all over the side )

We had trouble with our female peeing outside the huge covered tray
Got a 2nd even huger tray ( its an underbed box - my cats are adults though so no issues to climb in)
She's been fine since .....pretty much ignores the covered tray but we leave it just in case

tracked litter

Don't play with it with your hand / arm - always use toys. Otherwise they see your arm as something to attack (permanently) and stroking them becomes a nightmare!

Pick them up every day, even if for a couple of seconds or so, so that they get used to being handled - it makes vet visits a lot less stressful for all concerned.

Don't give them milk; it's not good for them.

If you have kids, get them used to leaving kitty alone if it's asleep - no disturbing it to play with it and so on. Cats are very much 'do their own thing when it suits them' creatures, and they'll come to you if you leave them alone.

Keep on top of the flea treatments. Ours came with fleas and it was a lot of work to get rid of them.
I would get an older cat that can go outside in hindsight. I hated keeping them in, and having a litter tray indoors.

@thecatneuterer

Top tip - more important than anything else - neuter at 16 weeks.

Our vet won't do it til 6 months.

Our boy plays with a shoelace, a small ball, any piece of paper that might fall on the floor, Ds toy cars. He barely uses his scratch post tower, sleeps on the couch in the playroom. He has a litter tray with a cover but the door broke off so litter still gets kicked out onto the floor. We have febreeze spray as when he poos the smell is rancid. We use nappy bags to dispose of the poo and it has to go out to the wheelie bin straight away.

Vet advised to give dry food. We feed him Hills Growth dry food. We have an older boy who eats a mix of wet/dry food and often find kitten tucking in to that and the older cat eating kitten food. We will be moving the kitten out to the garden shed soon, as he's recently been neutered. Older cat lives out there at night since he arrived as a kitten. The smell from the litter tray is just too much to stomach in the house tbh.