Please tell me about Kittens

[icebrat001]

My partners coworkers cat just had kittens and asked my partner if she wanted a kitten. We would have to wait 6 weeks or so because they were just born. Partner called me on the phone in the middle of work asking me if I wanted a cat and all I asked was what color is it and then I said sure why not.

But then I got to thinking... I know nothing about cats, do they ruin your furniture, scratch up wood floors, will our princess Sophie (the dog 9lbs) get along with a new cat (she likes to be the center of attention and she's afraid of big cats).

How do you potty train a cat? Do they go to the groomer too, How do you make the cat and dog get along together? What type of toys do cats like? Will the cat try to eat Sophies food and vice versa, will they get sick if they do? Do they have cat clothes, maybe we can dress Sophie and the new kitten in matching clothes

please tell me the good, bad and ugly about cats.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

You've never had a cat have you?

Cats can be a lot of fun. They only ruin your furniture if you let them. You have to either buy them a scratching post or pick something that is OK for them to scratch and make sure they ONLY scratch there.

You can keep them from scratching things you don't want them to ruin by spraying the item with something called Feliway (sp??). It's a faux pheromone that tells them "Rub your head here. Do not scratch here."

The only go to the groomers if they are longhaired and if you do not feel comfortable grooming them yourself. Shorthaired cats don't usually have to go to the groomer unless there is some sort of major problem (like they get outside and roll in motor oil or get sprayed by a skunk or something).

Mama cats usually potty train the kittens, so the only thing you need to do is shut your new cat away in the same room as they potty for a few nights to make sure he/she knows that is where they go potty. And make sure to clean the litterbox every single day. Otherwise they may not WANT to use the potty and go someplace else.

You have to make sure the cat gets all their shots and gets spayed/neutered. The sooner the better. They can do a spay/neuter as soon as 10-12 weeks of age!

I would also urge your friend to keep the kittens around their mom till they are at least 12-16 weeks old. I know that seems like a long, long time but it's really better for the kittens that way.

Also, make sure you get cat food esp designed for kittens. Their little digestive systems aren't ready to handle adult food yet. When he/she becomes an adult, you may want to switch to a hairball control formula to keep the hairballs down. Or there is a paste stuff you can buy in a tube that is peanut flavored that you can give them that helps cut down on the hairballs also. I forget what it's called, but they can tell you at the petstore.

Any other questions, feel free to PM me. I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I do know quite a bit about cat care because I've had one for many years now.

TOV

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Aren't you going to be moving across the country before long? If so, I would wait until after the move to consider adding a cat. I have cats and dogs (4 cats and 2 dogs) and think that they can get along very well together if done right, but they can be hard to move with and since you don't already have a cat I wouldn't suggest getting one to move so far away.

 

[Southern4sure]

I was about to post the same thing. IMHO, I would not be getting another animal until after I moved. You might want to check out the pet restrictions of your new home. There might be a limit or something.

 

[icebrat001]

Aren't you going to be moving across the country before long? If so, I would wait until after the move to consider adding a cat. I have cats and dogs (4 cats and 2 dogs) and think that they can get along very well together if done right, but they can be hard to move with and since you don't already have a cat I wouldn't suggest getting one to move so far away.

Yes we are moving to FL at the end of June and both Sophie and the new Kitten would be in the car with us for the "road trip". If we got the kitten, both Sophie and the new Kitten would get something from the Vet to get them cool, calm and collected.

So explain the "done correctly" part for them to get along.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Yes we are moving to FL at the end of June and both Sophie and the new Kitten would be in the car with us for the "road trip". If we got the kitten, both Sophie and the new Kitten would get something from the Vet to get them cool, calm and collected.

So explain the "done correctly" part for them to get along.

First of all, I would get 2 kittens so they'd have each other (after making sure there were no pet restrictions limiting animals to less than 3 in a household). It's not to hard to introduce kittens to a dog, but I would keep the kittens in a small area (bathroom wherever the litterbox is kept) for a while so the dog can still have the run of the house and you can make sure the kitten(s) are litter trained. Then when you allow the pets together I would leash the dog until he has proved himself with the kittens. Some dogs have no issues with that (our first dog), but some have to really be watched (our second dog).

That's kind of the condensed version, but you get the idea.

As far as moving them, very likely kittens wouldn't need any drugs for the move and would settle down. Since they would be young the vet might not even give you anything. If they vet gives something you might want to try it out at home, to make sure the animal tolerates it ok, but only give it when traveling if the animals need it (including the dog).

 

[simba928]

First off, relax. LOL. I have had my cat since she was a kitten and I was 5 y.o. She is the sweetest thing. Every cat is different. My grandma's cat doesn't like to be held, she's more of a loner. My cat loves it when I hold her or when someone she knows well holds her. If someone she doesn't know very well holds her, she will tolerate it for a while, but then want to be put down. A friend of mine's cat is VERY friendly. I was over her house last weekend for her birthday party. We decided to have a wrapping paper fight. This cat laid in the middle of the living room just looking at us like we were idiots while huge wads of wrapping paper were flying in every direction.

Sophie and the cat will be fine together, I'm sure. Just keep an eye on them at first to make sure they are ok. We got our dog, Jake, when Sassy was about 5. We had another dog at the time, too. Sassy and Jake were fine with eachother, but Sassy wasn't too sure of having a rambunctious puppy in the house as shes never experienced anything like that before. At first, Sassy was wary of Jake. Now, Sassy greets Jake like theyve been apart for years even though they may have just been across the room. Sassy will go up to Jake and rub her head against Jake's legs.

When you get the kitten, it may already be litter trained. If not, all you have to do is put it in the litter box and hold its paws and dig with their paws. The kitten should catch on pretty quickly if you do that a few times. My grandma's cat was a stray when we took her in. I did that with her maybe two or three times and she never had a problem.

You do not need to take cats to the groomer. They generally will clean themselves. Sassy is 11 y.o. now and I have never given her a bath or taken her to the groomers.

Most cats like anything with catnip or anything on a string. My cat loves cat nip, but would much rather play with a ribbon that I'm trying to use to wrap a present or my shoe lace when I am in a hurry. My grandma's cat loves these little plastic mice. She bats them all around the house and has the best time with them.

The kitten probably won't eat Sophie's food as long as you make sure it has enough food. Sophie might try to eat the kitten's. But if she has enough food, then she probably won't try. But of course, if either one is a pig like my dog is, then they will try to eat the others food. Dog food is specially formulated for dogs. Cat food is obviously specially formulated for cats. They will not get sick if they eat eachothers food occasionally. However, if you always feed the kitten dog food and never give it cat food, then you will have problems. And vice versa, if you always feed Sophie cat food, then you will have problems. If the kitten is only eating dog food and no cat food, then its not getting the nutrients it needs and, like I said, you will probably have problems. And vice versa. As long as you feed each one of them their own food (dog food for Sophie and cat food for the kitten), they will be fine. At first, you may want to get kitten food. Or better yet, get whatever the coworker is feeding the kittens.

I have never looked, but I'm sure they have cat clothes. The cat and Sophie will probably be about the same size, so even if they don't have special cat clothes, then you can get small sized dog clothes.

Oh, and one more thing. Get the kitten spayed ASAP. My cat was having problems going to the bathroom all over the house. She would even go a few feet away from her litter box. Once we got her spayed, she was perfectly fine. She may have had one accident in like 2 years. But she was 9 when we got her spayed and I was so scared. LOL. She is my baby, in fact shes sleeping on my bed right now. HEHE. When we went to go pick her up, we got stuck in traffic. It took all I had in me to restrain myself from rolling down the window and yelling at all the people to just drive cause I want to go get my kitty. When we got her, she started meowing from inside her carrier the second she saw me. I couldn't take her out, though, for another 10 minutes. That was the most stressful 10 minutes of both of our lives. LOL.

What are you thinking about naming the kitten?

 

[ShannonRT]

I have 2 indoor cats and I would suggest having it de-clawed if it will stay in the house. Mine were de-clawed on the front "scratching" paws only. The vet said if they did get out for some reason, they could still climb a tree with their back claws, but yet they won't mess up your furniture.

It's actually a very humane procedure and can be done at the same time of spaying/neutering around 12 weeks of age. Mine were both done with a laser. I don't know if that's the norm or not, but there is little to no bleeding or pain. Both mine did great with it.

As far as the potty goes, somehow they just naturally "know" where to go. Cats are very clean animals. With every cat I've ever had, all I had to do was sit them in the litter box one time and that was it. Some cats get really upset if it's not kept clean, though.

I've always had short-haired cats and they groom themselves. No bathing required. If you don't have the front paws de-clawed, you may need to trim them occasionally as they are very sharp. The vet will do it or you can buy special nail trimmers. You are not supposed to use human nail clippers.

They will play with anything and everything they can get their paws on. Anything that rolls or scoots quickly across the floor are favorites of my kitties. One loves ice cubes! Beware of chewing though. They ruined a pair of my Crocs and entire rolls of toilet paper!?!

Enjoy the new kitten. There's nothing like snuggling up on a cold night with a warm soft cat in your lap.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

I have some things to add about kittens---I have always had a cat around and a couple of things,most kittens don't automatically learn to be litter trained-what I have done to train mine is just keep putting them in the box if you could get some of the moms used litter and sprinkle it into your litter box this may help but just keep picking her up and putting her in the box ALSO don't move the box around for awhile leave it in one spot so she knows where to go another thing I found with some cats is that they are picky about their litter so try to stick with one kind

As for scratching up things I found they mainly go for the arm of the couch they stand on the floor and stretch up with their claws out and can quickly ruin your sofa--I found that if you can scare her off early on from doing this your couch will have a long life----I keep mine indoors all the time and I recommend it highly! Less chance of getting ticks and all the diseases that come with it plus theres no traffic or other animals that may harm it--If you do plan on keeping the cat indoors look into having it declawed either all four paws or just the front two so in case it does get out it can still defend itself

Cats clean themselves pretty good but for me I started giving mine a bath when it was little and it still lets me even though shes not to happy about it--and I take her to the vet twice a year for a flea dip-and she wears a flea collar year round and with the collar she sometimes gets knots in her fur around it because she cant clean there very well so when she does I just remove the knot with a pair of scissors being very careful to not get close to her skin so I dont cut her

My cat now hates with a passion any other animal that we have tried to have so in deference to her we have not tried to add another pet for a while but we are looking at trying to add a dog this week i'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will like her

As for the food she may try to eat the dogs food when she does just take it away and bring her to her bowl and also with the food stick to one kind either dry or soft don't switch it up because it causes diarrhea

Any other questions just let them rip--I'll share all I can!

 

[icebrat001]

First off, relax. LOL. I have had my cat since she was a kitten and I was 5 y.o. She is the sweetest thing. Every cat is different. My grandma's cat doesn't like to be held, she's more of a loner. My cat loves it when I hold her or when someone she knows well holds her. If someone she doesn't know very well holds her, she will tolerate it for a while, but then want to be put down. A friend of mine's cat is VERY friendly. I was over her house last weekend for her birthday party. We decided to have a wrapping paper fight. This cat laid in the middle of the living room just looking at us like we were idiots while huge wads of wrapping paper were flying in every direction.

Sophie and the cat will be fine together, I'm sure. Just keep an eye on them at first to make sure they are ok. We got our dog, Jake, when Sassy was about 5. We had another dog at the time, too. Sassy and Jake were fine with eachother, but Sassy wasn't too sure of having a rambunctious puppy in the house as shes never experienced anything like that before. At first, Sassy was wary of Jake. Now, Sassy greets Jake like theyve been apart for years even though they may have just been across the room. Sassy will go up to Jake and rub her head against Jake's legs.

When you get the kitten, it may already be litter trained. If not, all you have to do is put it in the litter box and hold its paws and dig with their paws. The kitten should catch on pretty quickly if you do that a few times. My grandma's cat was a stray when we took her in. I did that with her maybe two or three times and she never had a problem.

You do not need to take cats to the groomer. They generally will clean themselves. Sassy is 11 y.o. now and I have never given her a bath or taken her to the groomers.

Most cats like anything with catnip or anything on a string. My cat loves cat nip, but would much rather play with a ribbon that I'm trying to use to wrap a present or my shoe lace when I am in a hurry. My grandma's cat loves these little plastic mice. She bats them all around the house and has the best time with them.

The kitten probably won't eat Sophie's food as long as you make sure it has enough food. Sophie might try to eat the kitten's. But if she has enough food, then she probably won't try. But of course, if either one is a pig like my dog is, then they will try to eat the others food. Dog food is specially formulated for dogs. Cat food is obviously specially formulated for cats. They will not get sick if they eat eachothers food occasionally. However, if you always feed the kitten dog food and never give it cat food, then you will have problems. And vice versa, if you always feed Sophie cat food, then you will have problems. If the kitten is only eating dog food and no cat food, then its not getting the nutrients it needs and, like I said, you will probably have problems. And vice versa. As long as you feed each one of them their own food (dog food for Sophie and cat food for the kitten), they will be fine. At first, you may want to get kitten food. Or better yet, get whatever the coworker is feeding the kittens.

I have never looked, but I'm sure they have cat clothes. The cat and Sophie will probably be about the same size, so even if they don't have special cat clothes, then you can get small sized dog clothes.

Oh, and one more thing. Get the kitten spayed ASAP. My cat was having problems going to the bathroom all over the house. She would even go a few feet away from her litter box. Once we got her spayed, she was perfectly fine. She may have had one accident in like 2 years. But she was 9 when we got her spayed and I was so scared. LOL. She is my baby, in fact shes sleeping on my bed right now. HEHE. When we went to go pick her up, we got stuck in traffic. It took all I had in me to restrain myself from rolling down the window and yelling at all the people to just drive cause I want to go get my kitty. When we got her, she started meowing from inside her carrier the second she saw me. I couldn't take her out, though, for another 10 minutes. That was the most stressful 10 minutes of both of our lives. LOL.

What are you thinking about naming the kitten?

Thank you for all that.

I don't even know the sex of the kitten, all I know is that it is a tan color. Hopefully I will find out the sex of the kitten tonight. Is one sex better than the other?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I just posted a post regarding my kitty cat and learned about a new product today called FELIWAY--assured it is a wonderful product--we have the diffuser and have been using it an hour and oh my--is the happy phermone working for my kitty.

It helps to calm cats, relieve anxiety--and good for new homes, travel to vet, scratching.


Soft Paws has also worked wonders for my BIL's kitty cat.

Never heard of this stuff before--it is expensive..but if it makes my cat mellow--I may have to buy stock in it. one hour and my cat is sitting and not scratching my furniture and not aching to escape.

He is an FIV kitty and he was recently injured in a cat fight due to being outside and this is my last resort before having him put to sleep. So far--it looks like his life may be spared.

Google FELIWAY.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thank you for all that.

I don't even know the sex of the kitten, all I know is that it is a tan color. Hopefully I will find out the sex of the kitten tonight. Is one sex better than the other?

Males can spray more--but if you get them neutered in a timely fashion it shouldn't be too much of an issue. according to the product literature--the item in my post above says it does help with marking issues.

I do not have territory marking issues with my 2 male cats.

My oldest male only has "marking" issues when he has a urinary infection of some sort. We have removed fish from his diet and then he does not have a problem.

 

[chager]

We found our youngest when she was approx 3 weeks old. She and her brother had been abandoned and the other babies couldn't be saved.
She has a great disposition from being handled alot early on.My mom and I became momma cat and cleaned and taught her to use the litter box. As far as introducing the animals, we kept the babies in a cage until they were bigger thus giving them time to adjust to new surroundings and the other cats and dog. It also gave the others time to get used to them without the worry of someone getting hurt. There was hissing but they adjusted and eventually within a couple weeks we let them around each other without the cage. Sissy (now 18months) has all her claws so we do have to remind her what she can scratch on occasionally. She is the only one that wasn't declawed. Lucy (our oldest at 11) came declawed and Sadie(age4) was also declawed, unfortunately Sadie had to be rehomed recently due to never adjusting to the other cats and the dog.
Our dog is a 30lb Eskie that is not so sure about cats when she first meets them. When we introduced her to the cats we just let her loose in the house. When we brought Sadie in we just let her go in the house too. The only reason we caged the kittens was becuase they were soooo tiny!! (Only about 2lbs) All the cats love this flat round toy that has a ball in it that they can bat around. They are like the cardboard scratcher and rope scratcher the have. Sissy loves to chase balls and especially likes the soft ones she can carry around in her mouth.
If you are going to travel with a kitten/cat make sure you have a small litter bo for it. My friend travels to Florida from Ohio with her cat a couple times a year. In fact her cat was about 3months old when it traveled from Pennsylvania to Florida as a gift for her then traveled from Florida to Ohio. She did fine. On the other hand when Sadie travelled from Tn to Ohio she was sedated due to nerves. She was a very terrified kitty though.
What ever you decide good luck!!!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Actually, de-clawing your cat is one of the most inhumane things you can do. It simply is not neccessary for the cat's betterment and quality of life.

De-clawing your cat is like taking a baby and cutting off their fingertips because you know they have fingernails and you don't want to chance ever being scratched by them.

Because that's exactly what they do. The vet goes in (with a knife or laser or whtaever it is they do it with now days), cuts a ligament and removes the first bone in each 'finger' of the paw. If you de-claw your cat, you are crippling them for life.

TOV

 

[poohandwendy]

Cats are awesome, kittens are a temporary period of a cats life.

We have 4 kittens and they get long wonderfully with our other cats and our dog...and the guinea pigs. Although, I have never travelled that far with any animals, so I can't help you with that.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[beckmrk04]

I declawed my cat. She had gouged my arm for the LAST time. She attacked everyone. Not to mention continually ruined my furniture and carpet (we tried many many things before doing this, but it was declaw her or get rid of her).

She is much nicer now, and not crippled. She's fine. We love her and kept her!
And maybe it wasn't necessary for her betterment and quality of life, but it certainly was for the two of us who had to live with her, and anyone who dared to visit!

 

[icebrat001]

I'm not saying that I will or will not declaw the cat in the event that we get the cat. However, I am curious about it, how long did it take, what did it cost, were they on meds for a few days to get over the pain?

 

[beckmrk04]

I don't remember what it cost (my MIL paid- I know, we're spoiled). But she was there overnight. She came home with little booties on, and I cried.( I did feel bad, but DO NOT regret it at all.) But the day after that she was fine. No meds or anything- we had a follow up with the vet to make sure she was healing fine, and she did. And now when she bats at my dog, I don't have to worry about her scratching Jules' eyes out.

 

[azgal81]

Cats are great. I love mine I got him when he was a kitten (he's almost a year now) but I am glad he is bigger now I was always afraid I would smash him because he was so small and he is always around me.

My cat likes the stuffed toys with catnip in them.

It's very easy to train to use a litter box as others have said.

If you are going to take the cat in the car with you to florida maybe you should take mini trips to get him/her used to the car. Cats normally hate cars and even with the vet sedating them it could be a long ride. Every since our cat was a kitten we would take him between my house and my boyfriends house. He loves the car now.

You said your dog doesn't like big cats have you thought about what would happen when the kitten gets big. Would your dog be afraid of the cat and would you still keep him/her. I'm not saying you are one of these people but I hate when people give up their cats because they are no longer kittens and they have grown up and gotten big. I have a soft spot for cats.

I am also against declawing so I can't help you there I would never declaw my cat and in some countries it is even illegal. There are other alternatives.

Best of luck with your decision.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Oh I almost forgot. An easy way to 'train' your cat not to do things is to carefully watch them, then when you catch them being 'bad' shake an old coke can filled with rocks (with tape across the top to keep the rocks from falling out). That really seems to bother them and they'll learn pretty quick not to misbehave.

That's how we did it with the cats we've had, except for Rumpleteazer who's always been pretty well behaved anyway.

TOV