New Kitten - Any tips?

[ClearFruit]

I am about to adopt a two month old rescue kitten. He will be neutered, flea-treated, wormed and fully vaccinations covered.

I am going to buy a litter tray, little, a cosy bed, food and water bowls, toys, kitten food and litter tray liners, as a starter kit, if you like.

I lost my 18 year old female cat in January so it's a long time since I had a kitten. What do I need to know?

So sorry you lost your fur baby. You must know how to look after a cat but maybe not one so young.
Get them kitten food. We fed our newbies about 5 times a day when little and growing .
Lots of play the feed and then they will have a nap.
Plenty of handling and remember hands aren't toys.
We feed our cats twice a day now. Once in the morning and then at tea time. They have treats at lunch and before bed.
Up to you if you want indoor or outdoor cat but please neuter .
Good luck and enjoy xxx

Thank you so much.

Does anyone have any tips on what to do the first few days? I'll be WFH for the first two days, his bed will be in the room with me (I work in the sitting room), he'll have access to his litter tray and his food/water.

How do I teach him that the litter tray is the toilet? Just keep putting him in it every now and again?

What about at night, when we all go upstairs to bed? Do we leave him downstairs in his bed, by himslef?

I sound nuts, I know. But any help would be greatly appreciated.

You might find he already knows what a litter tray is - if they've seen their mum using it, kittens will copy. Find out what litter they've been using at the rescue, and buy the same type and brand.

If he doesn't seem to get it you can pop him in there if you see him showing signs of wanting the toilet - sniffing, circling. If he goes in the wrong place, put a bit of what he's done in the tray so the smell will guide him there.

It's good to just quietly 'be there' with a new cat - having him in the room while you WFH is perfect, he can get used to you without feeling overwhelmed.

At night - what do you want in the long term? Are you happy to have him sleeping on the beds? If so, let him if he seems to want to (he will let you know by crying if he doesn't want to be left alone).

If the plan is for him not to, he might be comforted by a warm water bottle in his bed.

At two months I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t already know how to use a litter tray. Keep it separate from his food and water bowls. No one, including a cat, likes to eat by a toilet.

He may well ignore the cat bed. All of mine preferred to choose their own sleeping places and rotate them as they pleased.

At night he will most probably follow you upstairs and mew until you let him into the bedroom so he can sleep on your bed … eventually, most likely he’ll play for about half an hour first.

Kittens need lots of small meals. They will play madly and keel over when they are tired. They climb curtains, get into nooks and crannies you wouldn’t believe a mouse could fit into, and are quite hard on fragile ornaments - don’t put anything breakable on the Christmas tree this year.

They chew houseplants and flower arrangements so make sure none of them are toxic. Lilies are deadly poison.

The best plaything and companion for a kitten is another kitten.

Enjoy him. Kittens are enchanting.

Would love to see a photo or two…

Thank you both. I will upload a photo as soon as we get him. I'm in the office at the moment.

Definitely do NOT want him sleeping upstairs OR on beds. How do I avoid this?

Difficult one! Start as you mean to go on, which means holding firm against crying and door/carpet scratching. I'd suggest keeping bedroom doors permanently closed from the start so he doesn't assimilate them into his territory.

I don't think you can stop him going upstairs unless you can completely close off your staircase with a door. If you keep your upstairs doors closed, it will discourage him as there won't be anything 'for him' up there. Having exciting stuff downstairs will help - e.g. cat tree.

Not on beds, you say.

Ah well, I’ve never managed it but then I’ve never tried. They adore warmth so perhaps a heated sleeping cushion in a very cuddly bed might do the trick.

Ours is allowed upstairs in the day - if Mr Kitty realises there is a 'forbidden zone' up there it will become the mission of his life to get up there - but not in the night because we know it would wreck our sleep.

So our vet advised us to get a routine of a little snack at bedtime - a morsel of chicken or some Dreamies - and then to quietly shut the doors to keep the cat downstairs. Now ours actively nags us for the supper treat when she deems it is bedtime. You may hear the thundering of tiny kitten hooves downstairs in the night, so keep breakable things away for a few months (we learned the hard way that, if you hear them break something in the night and go down to investigate, they will learn to break something to get your attention...). 😱

Be ready for tummy upsets as he gets used to his new home, it's a lot of change for them to take on, but keep consistent in food - no chopping and changing - and this should settle (if not, ask the vet for advice). If his litter tray is in a quiet location, away from household footfall and interruption, he should take to it quite naturally.

I agree that a second kitten would be the ideal way to settle him in - they teach each other how to 'cat' and are less demanding on you. But whatever, enjoy those bonkers kitten months! There's no fun like a kitten!

Here he is in all his glory. I think the hot water bottle is a good idea for his bed.

I'll find out today what food and litter to buy.

Thanks so much for all this helpful advice guys!!

How long can he be left by himself for?

I will be there all the time on day one and day two, but not on day three.

Oh, my goodness, he is beautiful! I have a black boy too - he is an amazing cat, so clever and loving.

He should be fine left on his own for a few hours. Confining him to a single room at first will make him feel more secure and reduce the chance of him hiding away somewhere obscure.

Beautiful little panther.

I’ve always had kittens in pairs. They’ve been happy to be left for several hours but they had each other for company.

I don’t know how a single kitten would react. We had one when I was a child but he had my mother at home with him.

Are you sure he will be neutered at 2 months old? I know no vets who will do it this young in the UK. 4 months minimum.

Good luck stopping him from going upstairs and on beds...... you are going to be tearing your hair out trying to stop him and it won't be a happy relationship.

He definitely won't be neutered at 8 weeks. My vet wouldn't do my boy until he was 6 months or 2kg.
He is very adorable though. Give him all the squishes!

Are you sure he's neutered? 8 weeks would be very much on the young side even for a rescue.

In terms of settling in, start as you mean to go on. We've always given kittens their own room at night with food, water, a litter tray and their bed, plus blankets. We tend not to leave them with toys just in case they hurt themselves.

Any time we're out in the day, they go to their room until they're about 12 week then they get the run of downstairs with our older cats. We currently have three boys who go outside, so they have access to water and litter trays, plus the cat flap. We don't free feed now they're adults as one is on a diet so they just get four set meals a day.

We got sibling kittens and they have slept in the utility at night since their first night with us, and still do, we let them out during the day. We have always just left food down for them and they have self regulated but aware not all cats do (they are three now and very healthy, slender cats). In the early days I brought their litter tray, bed and water to my study and they stayed in there with me. We gradually gave them more access to house over a couple of weeks.

We loved the kitten stage! I did read it's easier to get two rather than one which is why we went for a pair and they've been pure joy!

My kitten was neutered at 10 weeks. I don’t think I’d wait 4 months,

Was this in the UK? Advice is not before 4 months or 2kg whichever is the soonest. Unless you had a big breed cat (maine coon, Norwegian forest) I am surprised you found a vet willing to do it. Even 4 months is too young for some vets and I would say the majority prefer 6 months.

That's very unusual in the UK - lots of vets won't do it before six months, let alone four.

Kittens ears are like baby toes. Not to be nibbled.

It's by no means impossible. I foster fit a local rescue and all kittens are neutered before adoption, so usually around 9-10 weeks.

He needs a play mate ime.

I asked about it and was told that it was better than the other possible, which was the pregnant, sick, 4-month-old kitten who had just come in to them.

Good luck, OP! My recommendation would be one of those scratching barrels with hidey holes and a soft top. Mine still use it as adult cats.

I wonder why some rescues will do it but others won't, and why some vets (like ours) insist on waiting until 6 months - odd!

X-post!