Kitten arriving next week!!!

[Stressedgiraffe]

We havea couple of neighbours who have had kittens recently. We were offered a black kitten a few weeks ago but they decided to keep him.
Now our other neighbour have offered us a kitten which we accepted.
So he's coming to us next weekend.

We are so excited . He's the smallest of the litter and so cute. More pics to follow
Welcome Koji!

What a beautiful little boy 😍

So gorgeous ❤️

Oh how sweet 🥰 have fun!

That kitten should be with it's mother, surely? How old is it OP?

It'll be 8 weeks next weekend. He's eating and using the litter tray. He's v small compares to his siblings.

Precious. Please take to vets to get microchip and have him neutered as soon as vet advises. Enjoy xx

Will do . We have a pets for home so microchip £20 and neutering £90 which isn't too bad.

That kitten in the photo doesn't look anything like a seven week old - please get him to the vets, ideally before you bring him home to check that he's healthy and growing properly.

Just as a contrast, this was our kitten who came to us at five weeks as he was abandoned by mum.

The kitten in the photo looks much much younger and weaker - I'd be worried.

He does look very young in the picture

I'm glad it's not just me @Thursdaygirl - that doesn't look like a healthy kitten that should be anywhere away from mum.

His ears aren't fully up - how old is he in the photo?

Kittens are really better to stay with their mum for at least 12 weeks.

Could he stay with mum a bit longer? Your neighbours both need to get their cats spayed asap.

That kitten looks way, way too young to leave mum. It’s not about eating and litter training but social/emotional maturity as well which they definitely don’t have at 8 weeks. I understand the excitement, but for the kitten’s benefit, please leave her with mum for mother 3 weeks.
And maybe your neighbours should spay your cats, it’s not normal to have so many kittens…

So many? We're only hearing about one litter per neighbour. Of course it may not be their first but that is not stated.

Agree about the kitten picture. I initially thought it was a picture of him when they first saw him, when he was younger, but if that's his sibling behind him he's definitely got a lot of growing to do. Hopefully he'll make faster progress when the other kittens have gone. He certainly is cute and it's good that he's eating and toileting independently.

I know it must feel like everyone's dumping on your excitement - kittens are such fun and he's a little cutie - but a 'runt' or just a kitten who's too young to leave Mum has the potential for expensive health problems, plus emotional problems - if he's scared and unsocialised, it won't be much fun for any of you and you could end up disappointed. What if he's hidey and doesn't want cuddles after his difficult start in life?

I think the advice of a good vet would be best before you leap into this. There are always kittens needing homes, especially with the summer coming up (the vet might even know of some)! (And if you can manage it, two are always a good idea because they socialise each other... but that's another story!)

Both sets of neighbours are being massively irresponsible if they don’t spay their cats, and I’m saying that as a rescue volunteer in the middle of kitten season.

The OP’s local rescue is very likely to have a lot of kittens needing homes, and 2 are definitely easier than 1.

I do agree that the neighbours should have got their cats spayed but I can't tell them what to do. I think they were both surprised kittens.
The picture of our kitten was taken at 5 weeks so he's bigger now but smaller than his siblings.
We'll take him to get checked by a vet.
We also have a 1 year old cat so I'm hoping they'll gey on and play as well as 2 dogs. Our current cat thinks he's a dog so will be interesting to see him with the new kitten.

Is he grey and white? Does look small in the pic but hopefully bigger now and you obviously have plans to take really good care of him, the cute little scrap😻

OP

I'll jump in with the others that he might need to be with mum longer.

Cats can carry two litters (actually it could be more) so he might be 8 weeks but he could be premature. Please have a vet check before taking him home.

He is gorgeous and I hope all is well and you have many years of kitty happiness.

OP, did you see the photo I posted of our ginger kitten at five weeks?

Yours doesn't even seem to have his ears or eyes open at that age which is massively concerning.

I honestly think you shouldn't take him - or if you do, he needs to wait with his mum until at least 12 weeks old. He's tiny and that often comes with illnesses and other health issues that can be fatal at a young age.

If he's only 5 weeks in the picture that's not so bad, but if he stays with mum a few more weeks he will keep feeding from her, as well as eating food, which would be very beneficial for him.

@LilacpointMummy their ears should be up and open at five weeks - his sibling is next to him and the difference is huge.

Ignore that photo of the ceiling 😂

It was meant to be this:

@Anniegetyourgun Yes, two litters is ‘so many’. There are cats in my neighbourhood roaming around, none of them is/was pregnant. People should spay their cats as soon as they can.
The problem with stray cat populations is not the breeders but people who can’t be bothered to spay their cats.