HawthorneVillager.com

Damn, makes me want another kitten!

I've had cats all my life, so i'm a bit of an expert I guess.

The cat shampoo is not usually needed. I think i've given each of the 2 cats I have now maybe one bath each in their entire lives. Both when they were kittens though. Both pretty much poop incidents where they got it all over their butts. lol

You have all the staples that you need by the sounds of it. Maybe some cat toys? Anything with bells is good, like those balls with the bells in them, or the "fishing line" things with the feather attached to the string. Kittens especially are super hyper, so you have to give them something to do, or else they start exploring, and damaging stuff like couches, blinds, curtains, ect.

A water bottle is good too. You use it to teach them when they are doing something wrong, like when they jump on the table, scratch the couch, ect. Just give them a spray, and they'll soon learn not to do it.

My biggest suggestion...try to be home with them as much as possible in the beginning. Just so they get to bond with you. Atleast a few days try to stay with them as much as possible. Or, get 2. Then they keep each other company! I would never have only 1 cat again. They can get very lonely, even though they are more independent.

Hmm...any other questions? Just ask. Oh, and if you get an orange and white tabby, i'll be super jealous! I'm trying to get a new kitten after we move into the new house, but my bf won't let me.

hmm you can tie the cat to a stick and use it as a swiffer and clean the hardwood LOL

I agree it is very important to establish good litter box and scratching post habits from the beginning. It is very hard to untrain bad habits. When you first bring it home confine it to one room for the first while so it's always close to its litter and learns to use it.

As far as toys go the feathers on a stick and laser pointers are very popular with our cats. Having said that they can also entertain themselves for days with a twist tie or a water bottle cap.



We have hardwood throughout and no problems. No carpet to scratch or pee on and they are so funny to watch when they chase things! Acceleration and cornering are a challenge

If your kids are young be sure to teach them to treat the cats well. Depending on the individual cat they may have limited patience with children.

Michelle

My little one is just under 6 years old, but I too have had a cat my entire life.

Be patient with them, give them lots of affection (encourage them to cuddle), and lots of toys. My Pixie loves silver balls of any type, and goes snaky over them.

Perhaps not for kittens, but graduate her to cat nip one day.

Yup, get them spayed/neutered, but declawing is a personal choice - FI declawed his cat, but when I found out what it actually was, I refused to declaw Pixie.

Sorry to be graphic, but - take a look at your hand. Look at your first knuckle near your fingernail. Now imagine that part of your hand gone. That's what declawing is.

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I definitely agree with not getting your cat's declawed. My 10 year old is declawed. I didn't have a choice, I was living under my mom's roof, and she did not want a cat with claws. My 6 year old isn't, and I would never do it again. It's so cruel.

I have a long-haired cat and 2 short-haired cats. One of my short-haired cats sheds wayyy more than my long-haired one.



Kittens are pretty easy to house-train. You only have to show them the litterbox twice or three times and they know where it is and will start using the litter box right away.

Good luck with your new kitty.

An interesting fact is that the stupefying effects of catnip only seems to occur with slightly older cats, and not kittens.

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14C - Lot 82 - Upland B
Roleplaying Game Software for your iPhone: RPGTouch

This is a link for a thread we created back when we were getting our kitten.... http://www.hawthornevillager.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=7739&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Just some additional advise:

Be sure to not allow your kitten to play around with your fingers/ toes even if you think its a "harmless little kitty"...

the best toy we've ever gotten is a "scrunchy ball" made of some sort of foil that crincles when you throw it and our cat likes to fetch it back and fourth... its very inexpensive

if your lucky- as we were- you can also teach your kitten some tricks...ours can shake hands for treats..when he wants a treat, he looks at us with his paw in the air waiting to be shaken... We were told that our cat does this because it has a significant amount of maine coon in it. Main Coon is a special breed of cat that can get really big- but they're very inteligent and dog like

hope this helps!

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Catnip is a plant that is sold in a dried and crumbled form (a lot like tobacco or pot) older cats when they smell/eat it will act silly, often rolling about, or extra hyper. Its drugs for your cats, and it is my understanding that they are benign.

I'd keep the litter box in the bathroom, or in the room you plan to keep them in. If your kitten acclimatises quickly you will more then likely find yourself giving them free range of the house in under a month. It is usually good to keep them contained at first just so they get used to things, and so you can supervise and correct destructive behavior.

If the kitten has stayed with its mother until it is 8-10 weeks you will have much fewer litter issues.

If you start with the litter in one place and decided later you don't like it there, your best bet is to go buy one of those tin disposable trays from the grocery store, leave it (with litter) in place of the bin, and move it to the new location. Once you know the kitten is using the bin in the new location you can shed the temporary bin.


In practice cats are very habitual about there litter and can figure out a new location rather quickly.

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14C - Lot 82 - Upland B
Roleplaying Game Software for your iPhone: RPGTouch

Bah, it only hurts a little...

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14C - Lot 82 - Upland B
Roleplaying Game Software for your iPhone: RPGTouch