Hi everyone

My bf and I have just moved into a lovely flat

We have been offered the chance of a 6 week old kitten!! I want!! But...

I've never had a pet before so i have a few possibly silly questions, can anyone help please?

With regards to jags, dressing etc how much will that all cost?

It is a boy cat, and will have to just be an indoor cat, is that cruel to the wee thing?

My mum is allergic to cats Anyone have any tips on how to help her when she comes over? I've heard air purifier's really work!?

Will it wreck our new couch?

Odd question..... Is it bad to have the kitty litter in the bathroom?

Next odd question... Will it make the flat smell funny?

Thank you!!

Im so excited!!

Had our latest kitty just a week. When he does a whopper in the tray it does stink a bit, the kids are wandering around singing phoebe's song from Friends. Soon rectified with a pooper scooper and a plastic bag. Cats can claw stuff, you just have to be firm, and provide something else for him to savage, a nice sisal scratch post maybe, or if dosh is a problem you can make one with a bit of dowell and old carpet. Jabs will be £120 ish, or they are here in the soft opulent south. Lots of cats are fine indoors, you might need to find extra play time with him, sounds like you'll really hate that, LOL. Your mum should take a pill before she comes over, and not have kitty on her lap. Get a good hoover too, and use it. The bathroom might well be the best place for the tray. Your BF can then blame his post-curry bog sessions on the cat.

awwww Sooty.

Just knew you would crumble in the end

with regards to injections and the like a fair amount. Not sure of the exact figures. Madam P is due for her 1st year boost injections so will find out in the next couple of days. Her baby injections had all been done when I got her.

Cost me around £100 for her to be spayed, so would imagine a similar amount for a tom to be snipped.

My little madam has always been an indoor cat and we keep her litter in the bathroom. NO where else really to put it. As long as you keep his litter tray clean and you shouldn't hav too many problems with smells.

Will it wreck the couch? Hopefully not. If you make sure he has something to scratch, a post or similar and try and make sure he uses that. He if does go for the furniture you can get a spray to try and keep him off. Make sure he has plenty of toys.

As MAW says, get mum to take an antihistamine before she comes to see you.... Sorted

Ooooooh I'm so excited for you.

Get plenty of toys for him.

I love cats they are ace. He should be fine

also what are you going to call your kitten?

Why not buy (or borrow) a book about caring for kittens/cats?

If you take on a pet, you take on a big responsibility--do the research, rather than make a mistake.

You know that there's no guarantee that your sofa wont get wrecked...get a scratchy post and you'll have to be around to catch him so you can move him to the scratchy post and you can get sprays to deter him from the couch!

Plenty of cats are house cats but I personally prefer to give them the choice (I've got two that come and go as they please) but most of all have fun with your new kitty, just remember he's going to be a huge responsibility for many years to come

We've had our kitten for 6 weeks now so all this kind of stuff is very fresh in my mind!!!


6 weeks is a wee bit young, is the kitten actually weaned and litter trained at all??



Kittens have their combined jab at 9 weeks (my little one was a bit late having hers ), I live in central London and this cost £68 (its two courses, Amber goes back for her second jab on Saturday!!). You can also ask vet to deflea and deworm kitten - they also offer a combined liquid like gel for this. Its £4 a time. The vet did Amber the first time and we have to do her monthly until she is a year old. You just put the gel on the nape of their neck and it works its way into the skin.

The vet gave us 3 months worth and then we'll have to buy some more.

Obviously different vets may offer different types of defleaing and deworming but this is what happened with us.

I have a female cat and they are not spayed until 5 1/2 - 6 months and the RSPCA offer a service where they do this for free. Not sure what age they neuter male cats but the vet will tell you all you need to know. Also consider getting him microchipped incase he "escapes" or you move in the future. They can do this when they neuter him.


Amber is going to be an indoor cat, although she bloody escapes all the time into the communial hallway and she has jumped out of the window a few times - we're on ground floor and have a communial garden though. She seems to love the outside though so once she has had second lot of injections then I am going to get her a harness and take her out with a view to letting her out on her own when we're in so she can come and go via our window.

Its not cruel to have an indoor cat, as long as you have the space and they are played with - a lot! Kittens have so much energy and need to be worn out daily if you want them to sleep


Not too sure on this I'm afraid. I guess just make sure you go and visit your Mum at her place


In all honesty it depends. I have an expensive leather couch and my little one cannot get her claws into the leather - yet!! She is discouraged from getting on it while we're home - not that it makes a difference and I am sure she leaps on it all day long when we're at work.. Cats tend not to scratch leather as much as material couches though....

If you have any trouble stick some silver foil under the cushions and that should deter the kitten? Although as I am fast discovering they seem to know exactly what they are not allowed to do


Mine is in the bathroom - means the door is propped open all the time though! Not a prob as me and BF don't shut the door unless we're doing a # 2


Argos do a wonderful enclosed tray for just over £10, it has a flap and there is no smell. Amber was too small to use the flap for the first week or so but after that we put it on and she was fine. Means lots of privacy for her.


Just a few other things to consider:

What will you feed him? We give Amber a mixture of dry food and wet food. We use Science Plan which you can only get from petshops but a huge pack (£15) lasts for 7 weeks or so.

What litter will you use? If he is already litter trained he may have a preference. If not I would go for something lightweight. We use the biodigradable paper type stuff from Waitrose (easy to carry and good for the environment!!). You have to make sure that litter tray is checked everyday and any "lumps" removed, I then add a little fresh litter daily. I clean the tray fully twice a week (they say on back of litter packet to do it at least once a week but I find twice weekly is fine for us). Amber was already trained though and we've had no issue of her going anywhere other than they tray. She also loves to 'help' me when I am cleaning it, bless her!

Do not put his food near his litter tray (pretty obvious really!)

Make sure he has somewhere to sleep and a few toys to play with. As I say they tend to like what they are not allowed (so anything you don't want "attacked" best be kept hidden away), they also really enjoy the simple things like string, plastic bags (), paper etc but its nice to give them a few toys of their own.

Also a scratching post is a must.

Be prepared for some sleepless nights, lots of playful energy when you may not feel like it (and some bites and scratches ). However my BF and I adore our little one, she was part of the family from day one and we wouldn't be without her. There really is nothing more satisfying than hearing your kitten purr of feeling their little wet nose!!

As you can tell I am still pretty excited about our new arrival - and wow this post is long! Hope I covered everything LOL!

Enjoy and post us some piccies when he arrives

Neutering a male cat is cheaper than spaying a female as the appropriate bits are on the outside of the body so it's not an invasive operation.

It took about 10 minutes when I was a vet nurse so was priced at less than half of the cost for a female neutering.

Enjoy the kitty, Sooty - the advice in the posts above is excellent so make sure you take it on board!!

Thank you sooo much everyone!!!

Great advice!!

Having thought about it overnight we are slightly less sure now. We were planning on getting a cat next year after our big holiday in March and so this little kitten hs turned everything a bit upside down!

The kitten is coming from a friend of a friend and I think we have decided, that 6 weeks is too young and also we don't really know the owners just now, we wouldn't even get a chance to see the wee kitten before we got it! We have been looking at cats protection sites and think when the time comes we'll head to there to get a cat.

So for now its still a possibility but not a likely one

Best all round to wait until we are completly certain that we can look after a wee kitten properly!

Thanks again everyone

Indeed - we thought about it for months before we took the plunge and even then I still had my reservations (until I saw my little one ahhh).

6 weeks is a bit too young IMO (which does actually make me a little concerned about the 'friend of a friend' who is willing to let a young kitten leave its mother so early!!) but I am sure he will be rehomed no problem when they time comes!!

If you can go to a rescue centre in the future then please do that - although if you both work full time they will not rehome a puppy or a kitten with you.

You could foster for Cat Protection to see how you get on with having a cat first before you decide to take on a permanent addition. They're desperate for foster homes all over at the moment and would probably be very grateful. (they usually prefer foster cats to be kept indoors so that would be no problem)

They pay for any vet treatment and provide food and litter, but of course the big drawback is letting the cats go once they're ready for new homes. That's the hard part, but it's very rewarding at the same time.

Yeah I think the plan still stands to look for a cat after March

I didn't know that about rescue centres tho, it doesn't say on the website we were looking at. My boyfriend works shifts tho and has loads of days off so is often home during the day, maybe that will help.

Now that sounds like a good idea, almost a trial run to make sure we can manage. I'm just nervous cause Ive never had a pet before! I'll look in to this. Thanks!

Rainbowgirl - do both you and your boyfriend work full time? How did you "integrate" the kitten (if you see what I mean!), and was it already house trained when you got it?

I would love a kitten, but both me and my BF work full time, and I worry a bit that we wouldnt be able to give it the attention it deserves in the beginning.

I know in the long run cats are independant and wont mind us working full time, but I just wondered whether they were ok at the start.

Thanks

(Sorry to hijack your thread sooty! You have had lots of great info though! Hope you get a kitten eventually!)

we got two 9 week old kittens 9 weeks ago as we both work full time. we also got them on a Saturday, so they had the weekend to get used to us.. took until the Wednesday until they'd let us touch them, and now I have one on my lap while typing purring like a little engine. They're great to have, and they keep each other company, and amused, and every day when I get home from work, the two little faces are looking through the banisters at me !

We're now facing the horror of trying to integrate them outside.. we're going away for the weekend on Friday, and when we get back, we have to let them out. They're 18 weeks, so little cats, but I'm worried because although we have a garden, there are a lot of cats around, not to mention dogs.. particularly one who is renouned for killing cats... and a cat who thinks she lives her too.. any advice anyone can give me will also be gratefully recieved !

Oooh thank you, thats a lovely story! see I dont know if I would be best off getting two so they are happy together, or whether that would be too much (the house isn't huge), I don't know which would be the best for them! I think i would get them on a weekend and take maybe monday and tuesday off or similar.

I think I shall start off my buying a book, get reading, and then convince my OH (he is 99% convinced already, I just haven't mentioned it for awhile!)

We live in a small cottage - hence my need to let them out - they're grand... it doesn't matter how big or smalll the space, if they want you - they're in your face, if they don't they're missing.. under the bed, in a drawer..

My OH was totally anti cat until our neighbours cat used to pop over to say good morning and charmed him. We thought she was a stray and were going to adopt her until we found out she was just a bit lonely when her people weren't around. Then we said we'd get two.

Turns out to be pretty much one each - one girl, as I said is on my lap ( farting like you wouldn't believe.. ) the other is downstairs helping OH cook the dinner...

They're full of very helpful hints kittens...

Awww bless them, that's so cute. I will definately look more into it then in that case. My parents used to have a cat when I was younger, I'd forgotten how much I'd missed them!

Thanks for all your help

Doesn't even have to be a rescue centre - we got both our kitties from adverts in local shop windows! Had the same worry about one cat being alone all day though, so got her a 'friend'. It's a love/hate relationship

Jabs are 40 pounds a year
Neutering is cheaper
Flea programme is 20 pounds every three months.
Indoors is not cruel as he won't know any different.
Kittens do play with sofas. Mine still does!
Kittens dig up your carpets,scratch your wall paper,play with the sink plug

My kitten was 12 weeks old when she went out on her own. She hissed at the next door's cat and also fluffed her tail up. Now they are the best of friends.

To anyone reading this thread and thinking of getting a kitten (particularly an indoor cat) please think about getting two instead of one. Two kittens will keep one another occupied and be company for one another when you're not there. We have a male and a female cat and they are really good with one another and help calm each other down when stressed - for example we take both of them to the vets even if only one has an appointment because we find they cope better if the other one is there.

Cats are lovely, you won't regret getting one.

My girl loves the vets but then she does go monthly,so there is nothing to be scared off and she has been going since she was 12 weeks old.

Hi Sooty

Aw, good luck whatever you decide. Just one thing I've noticed, lately, regarding the 'smelly litter' situation. Crystal litter granules are a bit more expensive, so it seems at first, but great at cutting down the pong and don't have to be changed as often (except for scooping da poop out!). When the time comes for you to take on a squitty cat you'll love it!