Please educate me on how to care for a kitten

[MummyInTheNecropolis]

My irresponsible teenager has gone out and bought herself a kitten today 🤦‍♀️. No discussion or anything, just came home with it. She insists she’s done her research and knows what she’s doing but I’m not so sure. I’ve never owned a cat before so have no idea what I’m doing. The breeder told her it was 9 weeks old but when she took it to the pet shop to buy all it needed they said it’s actually about 5 weeks old. She’s bought the litter and food that was recommended and it seems to be settling ok. Please tell me what are the most important things I need to know/do for it? Obviously I am googling like mad but thought speaking to actual cat owners might be more useful.

At the moment he is in DD’s bedroom which is quite large, he has his food and water on one side of the room and litter tray on the other. He is already litter trained. I think he is too little to let him have free reign of the house, I’m not sure he could manage the stairs yet. We work opposite schedules so one of us will be at home almost all of the time, but can we leave him alone for a couple of hours if necessary?

Contact Cats Protection for advice, they have a website. Take it to the vet to be checked over because the "breeder" has already lied to you about the kitten's age, so you can't trust anything else this irresponsible greedy shyster says. The wee beastie could have FIV or similar. And please consider carefully whether you can afford the bills for food, vet care, etc.

Poor creature. They are meant to stay with mum until eight weeks. Moggy mill "breeders" should be jailed.

Oh dear. 5 weeks was too young even in the 90s when we generally got kittens younger...Nowadays we know to wait until theyre 12 weeks...

First thing is to book a check up at the vets.

You need to check for any health issues and they will be better at assessing it's age. They'll also arrange neutering and vaccinations.

What @VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia said.

And 8 weeks is an absolute minimum, ideally it should be longer.

Re food. Kitten food, obviously. Getting an accurate age for it will help with which to buy, I'd actually follow the vets advice for food given you know so little about it or its background.

Oh, and op? There's a Cat Tax to be paid when you post here (photo)

Ni kitten should I be away from its mother at 5 weeks old. Report the ‘breeder’ to the RSPCA.

If he’s only five weeks the first thing I would do tomorrow is get to Pets at Home and buy some kitten milk. He’s too young to be away from his mum really but I wouldn’t want to return him to a breeder who would be so irresponsible as to let him go so young.

I'd be concerned regarding the socialisation skills this kitten will miss out on being so young. He's right at the age where siblings start interacting/playing/fighting which teaches them how to behave. My kitten was 8 weeks when I got him and I've had huge issues with his behaviour because of this. Might be that mines just a naughty, destructive one though!
Kitten will need lots of toys to keep him occupied and human interaction to help bond.
Please move his water away from his food as they do not like them together ( in the wild a cat would never drink near it's food source and our domestic cats are the same).
I'd start brushing him now so that he learns to enjoy this and again it helps with bonding.

Kittens are easy (having recently been through the wringer with a puppy lol). As long as they have a few toys, scratch post, litter tray, access to a continuous supply or food and water, somewhere they feel safe to sleep in (we popped in a hot water bottle wrapped in a soft teddy blanket into a pyramid bed) and get lots of love and cuddles, they are generally very happy. Litter trays can get very smelly so I'd aim to have that out of the bedroom as soon as you can.

I would get the litter tray and food out of the room now

The litter needs to be non-clumping because they can eat it and if it clumps it swells in their stomachs and it’s a massive vets bill.

Id be so cross with her, she’s lucky you haven’t sent her back with it.

No responsible breeder would sell to a teenager, nor sell a kitten under 8 weeks old. And kittens should be in twos - I can’t see your daughter liking the smell of cat poo in her bedroom, but can you get another (if unrelated) kitten asap so they have each other? You would need another litter tray, they may share one but should have the option to use a clean tray so they’re less likely to go under the bed.

I hope it works out. Poor cat (not your fault). Silly, silly daughter.

I’m absolutely furious with my daughter and with the shitty ‘breeder’ who allowed a 17 year old to carry away a tiny kitten in a cardboard box with no idea if she’d be able to care for it

I want to report the breeder but DD won’t give me the details, I think she’s worried I’ll send him back. His food and litter are in her room for now because I don’t know where else they can go. Eventually they can move downstairs but he isn’t big enough to go up and down stairs yet, and frankly if her room stinks of poo then she only has herself to blame.

We do have kitten food and non clumping litter, and we are phoning the vet first thing tomorrow.

He is super cute though 😍

How heavy is he?

I’ve raised three litters of kittens and at 5 weeks (or even 8) I’d weigh them daily. Any weight drop is time for a vet visit.

I’d guess at a bit over 5 weeks myself; are his eyes blue still?

Get him vet checked, worming paste, flea treated and insured. And make your daughter pay for as much of that as possible.

My last batch of kittens were all over a kilo at 8 weeks, as a rough guide.

She will need to get insurance and the kitten will need to be vaccinated and neutered when it’s old/big enough. Has she got the money to pay for all this along with the food, litter, worming, fleaing and toys?

Gorgeous, no wonder your DD couldn't resist💘

And I agree, 2 kittens are always better than one, google single kitten syndrome.

He’s very lovely. But how is your daft DD planning to look after him until well into her 30s? Does she have no plans to move out?

Get a second, fast! My rescue has single kitten syndrome- the rescue were adamant some of his weirder behaviours are due to lack of socialisation and being removed from his family too young.

My boy is an absolute Disney cat, completely beautiful but the rescue struggled to rehome him described as “bitey” so no kids in the home- he gets jealous around my friend’s baby and has basically imprinted on my husband- he doesn’t even like us hugging in his presence. Adore the every inch of his massive needy ginger floof though and wouldn’t change him for the world- gingers are the BEST!

I can’t get another, I can’t afford it. This one cost £150 plus god knows how much for the vet and insurance and food and all the other stuff. DD will be paying for all of it, she does work, but she couldn’t afford to pay twice and I certainly can’t either. Plus we live in a flat there isn’t much space and I didn’t even want one cat let alone two!

I’ve no idea how heavy he is, I assume the vet will weigh him and give us a better idea of his age?

Put a litter tray where you eventually want one as they will get used to it, hard to change later . I'd introduce him to whatever room you are in. If DD is out I'd bring him into room I was in, maybe a little cardboard box so he feels snuggly . If you all need to go out for short time I'd pop him in a box too , Once he gets big enough he will want to roam around and you will be his cat slaves, this is the way. Get vets to check him and it'll be fine

icatcare.org/advice/helping-your-new-cat-or-kitten-settle-in/

A cat so small really does need to be confined to one safe room with all his stuff. Too many dangers if he has the whole house as you can't kitten-proof it all and he's too little to have any common sense.