[Gee~Tee]

I grew up with kitties/cats, but I have never actually had to take care of them, my parents always did, so now that my kids are getting 2, we are very excited, but I need some advice, they are coming from a home that has already started the litter training process, I guess thay are about 10 weeks or so old. I am going to get a litter box tomorrow, and a few toys. We have decided to keep these cats indoor cats ONLY, and get them vetted for indoor only. So my questions,

What type of litte box is the best about smells?

What are training tricks?

I do not want them clawing at my furniture, what do I need to provide for them to take care of clawing?

Many more questions, they will come to me.... thanks

[pwhous]

Gee~Tee, on 03 November 2009 - 10:07 PM, said:

I grew up with kitties/cats, but I have never actually had to take care of them, my parents always did, so now that my kids are getting 2, we are very excited, but I need some advice, they are coming from a home that has already started the litter training process, I guess thay are about 10 weeks or so old. I am going to get a litter box tomorrow, and a few toys. We have decided to keep these cats indoor cats ONLY, and get them vetted for indoor only. So my questions,

What type of litte box is the best about smells?

What are training tricks?

I do not want them clawing at my furniture, what do I need to provide for them to take care of clawing?

Many more questions, they will come to me.... thanks

We also have a new kitten in our fur family. He's about 4-5 months old. He must have had some litter training before we got him because he picked it right up. We use Cats Pride. It seems to do the trick. As far a toys, don't spend too much because most kittens will play with anything including a balled up piece of paper. I did buy one toy that has been his favorite and its a plastic ball incased in a donut looking thing. He bats the ball inside the donut for hours. A scratching post in a must for a house with cats. Either one that is like a pole or one that hangs of a door knob. Good luck and have fun.

[deewee]

I have no idea how to teach a kitten not to claw on things. My older cats stopped on their own. Our kittens still do it though. I just keep a squirt bottle handy in case I catch them doing something they shouldn't be doing.

Oh....get a laser pointer. They LOVE chasing the light on the floor and we crack up watching them! Good fun!!!

[angiecochran]

cats are soooooo much fun! if your concerned about a stinky littler box you could get an enclosed one, but since they are so tiny get a shallow pan for now that they can get in and out of easily, cats will naturally take to using the litter because they like to cover their 'business', but they will not typically use a dirty litterbox so clean it often, my cat loved the plastic rings that came off the milk jugs and hair ties, anything with feathers, but especially a feather duster, if your kittens try to scratch on the furniture like the front of the arm on the couch, you can put a pole type scratcher against it and it helps train them to use it instead.

[Gee~Tee]

Thank you!! GReat advice so far!!!

[MsGaStorm]

All 4 of my cats prefer to claw on SISEL (sp?) rope type of scratching posts instead of carpet. They also like the new seregated cardboard scratch pads. Those come with catnip that you can sprinkle on them. To play with they like all kinds of ball type of toys. One cat likes the fabric balls so that he can throw them with a claw, another cat likes the mylar "crinkle" balls. They also like the "rods" that come with different attachments, particulary the feather attachment, you can go "cat fishing" with them. We also have a laser pointer that my hubby got at Radioshack and it works alot better than the cheap ones at pet stores. Our cats also seem to like the colored pony tail bands that I use. I got tired of them stealing mine from my bathroon so I got them their own to play with! Like another poster, we also have the "donut" shaped toy that has an enclosed circular track with a ball in it that goes round and round. Kittens and even some adult cats can play with that toy for hours! Petsmart still carries those. Very soon Walmart and pet stores will have the cat Christmas stockings full of small toys for cats.

Please remember that just like children cats can choke on small items. The small bells that come on toys I will cut off and throw away. We do not use string that isn't attached to a toy because a cat can swallow the whole string and have it's stomach or colon blocked by it. This is a cause for emergency surgery that is expensive, not to mention it can kill the cat! The first time I realized this I had looked up and noticed 1 of my cats had a string hanging out his mouth. I pulled on it to get it out of his mouth and kept pulling and pulling! That string was about 2 feet long and a piece of yarn, but he only had 2 inches of it hanging out his mouth, the rest of it he had swallowed! I was so thankful that I noticed it when I did. Now we never allow loose strings around the house because of this.

We use 2 very large enclosed litter boxes for the 4 cats and change litter weekly. A small kitten will not be able to get in and out of such a large box though, so this is best saved until they are older. My Kiki was so young when she quickly caught on to the litterbox that my Mom had to use a SHOEBOX with the sides cut down to just about 2 inches for her. She was using it before she was 5 weeks old!

All my cats are indoor cats but I would still advise to keep collars with a tag with name address and phone # on it on the cat, a microchip inserted, and all vaccinations up to date, because it is SO EASY for a cat to run out the door past your feet or some are even smart enough to open the door on their own! I have a couple that can open doors but thankfully they have never figured out the exterior doors! I use "break away" type of collars so that if they ever get tangled on something in the house and I am not around, they will not choke themself trying to get untangled. This can be a real danger. A couple of times I have come home from being out of town for 2-3 days and found a collar lying around the house where the cat had gotten tangled on something and pulled so hard that the "break away" buckle pulled apart. On the down side, those collars can come off easily if the cat gets outdoors, hence why the microchip is still a good idea for indoor cats.

In addition to vaccinations please remember to deworm your kitten. It is so easy for a kitten to pick up parasites from siblings or mother and at such a young age parasites can kill them, or even infect you! If you need to spay or neuter the rule of thumb is by 6 months. However our vet told us this and that we would have at least another month before Kiki would need it, instead she went into heat for the first time at 5 months and almost drove us crazy! As soon as she was ok she got spayed! That was 9 years ago and she is a very happy cat. Our 3 boys were all neutered between 8 weeks and a few months. If you adopt from an agency or humane society, then usually you can get a discount for your kitty's surgery.

For training, all my cats have learned what "no no" is by using a finger tap on the nose when they do something wrong. Now I don't even have to tap, they recognize what I am saying when I say "no no". We also use squirt bottles of water for cat fighting/squabbling or when they are doing something else they aren't supposed to be doing. I only tell them "no no" one or 2 times before they get a squirt from the bottle, unless it is urgent like fighting. Thankfully that isn't often.

If you plan on bathing your cats, then start training them to get used to it NOW as kittens by regular bathing. Adult cats hate this if they weren't bathed as kittens. Some cats will jump into showers and such but that is rare.

The normal body temperature for a cat is 100-102', so please keep pet beds or blankets around for the cats. My cats have a couple of favorite beds, but their absolute favorite bedding is 100% wool Mexican blankets that my in-laws sent from Texas years ago. Not the most fashionable blankets, but they love them and I have washed them over and over for years. I'll take one and form it into a circular "nest" and they will curl up in them.

Ok now I have written a book on here. I wish you the best of luck with your new kittens and have fun with them!

This post has been edited by MsGaStorm: 04 November 2009 - 04:35 AM

[fishnthec]

Congrats on the new kitties!!!
As for the litter box...I have found that the cats taht I own are usually very easy to train. You just need to keep the litter box in the same place and try not to move it around unless you have to. I love, love, love my Litter Maid automatic scoop litter box. I know they are expensive (about 100.00) but if you can get one they are wonderful!!! It scops every time the kitties go potty and closes the scooped litter inside a plastic container. You just have to empty the container about once a week. The smell is locked away and I love that!!!

AS far as the scratching. I have an indoor cat but he likes to go out from time to time so I did not have him declawed. We have berber carpet and he likes to sharpen his claws on that. I try to keep the tips of his nails cut off with nail clippers. That way he does not scratch so much.

[Gee~Tee]

Thank you everyone!! Getting our kitties today!

[kmhmom]

fishnthec, on 04 November 2009 - 07:19 AM, said:

I love, love, love my Litter Maid automatic scoop litter box. I know they are expensive (about 100.00) but if you can get one they are wonderful!!! It scops every time the kitties go potty and closes the scooped litter inside a plastic container. You just have to empty the container about once a week. The smell is locked away and I love that!!!

This is definitely the best litter box, even with the high price ... my Sammy is almost 8 years old, we have had it since he was a kitten, and it's still going strong!!

[retiredteacher]

Gee~Tee, on 04 November 2009 - 10:48 AM, said:

Thank you everyone!! Getting our kitties today!

I want to see them! You know I'm a cat lady!

[Gee~Tee]

retiredteacher, on 04 November 2009 - 02:05 PM, said:

I want to see them! You know I'm a cat lady!

Stop by anytime I know Lyric would be thrilled! you would be so proud she is doing EXCELLENT on multiplying.

[CreativeOne]

Congratulations on your new furry friends ...POST PICTURES!

You got a lot of great advice.
Another item to think about getting is some ScratchNot. It is a double sided tape which you can put on the corners of furniture -- Cats hate it because it is sticky and will not use that area to scratch on.