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?

Is the litter tray near where he eats? That can put them off using it.

I find that they tend to find a corner for using as a loo. I'd put another tray there and hope he gets the hint.

Yes it is hearbreaking but they are generally clean creatures.

How many litter trays does he have and where are they? What litter are you using? Ideally you need two trays and they need to be well away from where he eats.

Kittens need soft, non-clumping litter as they have sensitive paws, so it can hurt when they dig down and bury their poo. They don't tend to bury their wees so it's not as much of an issue for them.

Two, really? Why is that?

I'll move his tray to where he keeps pooing. It's really taking the shine off TBH. He's gorgeous, but I'm quite fastidious about cleanliness, and it's bothering me.

Because they often like to wee and poo in different places. The ideal number of trays is one per cat, plus a spare.

Mine will often pee in one tray, cover it, then go to another tray to poo, lol.

Yes, and given that they pee more often than they poo, it's usually the poo that goes on the floor.

Are you cleaning with an enzyme cleaner when he goes in the wrong place?

What is an enzyme cleaner?

You can use bio washing powder in warm water. That will kill the scent of the urine.

Yes, or there are specific 'pet stain' carpet cleaners (Dr Beckmann is the one I'm currently staring at as the upstairs kittens have been a bit inaccurate). You need to remove the smell or they do it again in the same spot.

Dr Beckmann's pet stain cleaner with the brush as someone mentioned is the business, will get stains up easily and neutralise them to stop him using the spot again. Put your extra litter tray in one of the places he's been pooing as well.

Sorry to hear about your older girl, may she rest in peace. I have to say 8 weeks is quite young, thinking has moved on and these days it's generally understood it's better to adopt out kittens at 12 weeks as they still learn a lot from mum and their litter mates during the 8-12 week period - but anyway, you've got him now. He's very cute.

I think you should seriously consider another kitten, it's less work than one and they entertain each other. A lot of rescues only adopt kittens in pairs or to a home with another adult cat for that reason, they need to learn stuff from each other like exactly how rough they can be with their claws. Lots of play with wand toys etc to tire them out!

B & M has great cat toys for cheap - mine love the tiny plastic springs, feather string toys, ball of wool. There's a fab multi pack with several tinkly balls, mice etc for a bit of variety. I hope he is doing better now and eating - in kittens, if that goes on for more than about 12 hours I'd get straight to the vet. They can go downhill so quickly.