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?

At a guess, the rescue's own vets neuter so many tiny kittens (hundreds per year) that they have reasonable confidence and expertise in it, whereas a general vet has all sorts of random species.

My kitten was a orphan kitten found at a few days old by the CPL. They had him neutered at 10weeks. Their vet usually does it at 8-10 weeks as standard.

Waiting til 6 months is very risky because cats can reproduce at 6 months.

I would make a couple of tubes of corrugated cardboard to wear on my arms for the first couple of weeks!

You don't need a cat bed but you need a scratching post.
Let him be for the first few days - he'll probably hide.

Get paper based litter. Kittens are idiots and can do themselves damage eating clay or clumping/swelling cat litter.

The litter tray liners get shredded here, and it's plastic. Wood- or paper-based litter is compostable but I only use the compost in flowerpots which the cats use as a toilet anyway.

He's gorgeous! 😻
Do you have a name yet?

They can be neutered at 2 lbs.

My top tip would be to get him used to you cleaning his ears and trimming his claws from the start.

Be very persistent in getting him to accept this (you can offer a treat afterward), because you will have a real fight on your hands if you have to clean a cut on an ear or apply mite treatment later, or you want to trim the claws.

You can help him understand what the litter box is for if you take his front paws gently and use them to scratch a little hole in the litter.

He'll probably know about litter trays already. My current kittens use it reliably and have done from five weeks, despite some very neglectful parenting.

Thank you everyone. His name is Edison.. we love him already. He's pretty timid and hides a lot, but last night started to venture out and played a little bit with my 15 and 11 year olds.

How do I get him to sleep in the cat bed we bought?

Yes he is definitely neutered.

Put literally anything you don't want him to sleep on in the bed. It will work instantly 😆

Also recommended, a laundry basket full of (ideally crisp white newly-ironed) clothes or bedlinen. Perfect resting place for kitty.

This should work as he's a black cat.

For our white fluffy cat, I find black concert trousers are an instant magnet.

We have several different colours of cat just to make sure we cover all bases.

How do I get him to sleep in the cat bed we bought?

Put something in it you'd rather he never touched - like clean washing 😂

Put a new white cashmere jumper in it.

Hi everyone.

Well it's been a fun filled first week! 😆

He has well and truly made himself at home.

One piece of advice I'd like though - How to get him to go back to pooing in the litter tray? He was using it from Day One when we brought him home. Now he wees in it, but just poos anywhere. Super frustrating!

Also what household items are good as cat toys, before I go to buy some tomorrow?

Also (haha), any recomendations on a scratching post? He's already started on my sofas 😭

Thank you!

Home Bargains currently have avacado scratching boxes for £2.....complete with catnip to sprinkle inside...

Shoe laces (Poundland often have packs of 5 different colours and also have good danglers sometimes) and scrunched up silver paper balls for toys.

Put his poo in the litter tray and leave it there til he’s seen/smelt it.
clean any areas he’s weed or pooed then spray a citrus scent to he doesn’t use it again.
paper bags are excellent cat toys, especially the big primark type ones!

The inside tube from a toilet roll. Still keeps my adult cats entertained!

He is absolutely gorgeous - those eyes! - and I LOVE the name!

As for the litter trays, you may need a second, if he prefers to pee and poo in different ones. And put little dab of his poo in the second one to give him the idea. He may just be fussy (what am I saying? HE'S A CAT - of course he's fussy! It's just up to his hoomin slaves to figure out how...).

😄

Pets at Home do a great very cheap scratching post. We have bought loads over the years. They last about 2years of heavy scratching each. Excellent value.

Also, would recommend against hot water bottle. We got for our youngest when he was a baby. He loved it! He would happily make bread on it at night. Until the sad day when he used claws and his lovely warm bed went all soggy and cold. I still feel guilty about it.

Shoo him away from the bed whenever he goes near it 😆

Hello again everyone.

I am still having the problem with the litter box. He does about one out of every five poos in it, the rest in the house. It is really getting to me.

Today he is acting hungry, but hasn't eaten his break fast or lunch. Happy and purring and affectionate though.

Any ideas? I so don't want ruined carpets, or an unhappy cat.