I have 8 week old kitty coming.?

Question

My daughters teacher is giving a kitten away to me. She says they eat on there own and just need a home. What do I really need to but to be prepared for them. I know I need a litter box and a bed right. But what else do I need. what do I need to buy. so it won't scratch me or my furniture so much.

Answer 1

I just got a 7 week old kitten and am in a little bit of the same boat. Here are some of the techniques I'm going to do that I did with my existing cat.

To help with scratches I clip nails regularly on my first cat. I used old human nail clippers on the kitten, but it can potentially be dangerous because you really could get a toe or something. When they are that tiny, you really only take off the veeery veeery tip where it is sharp. Or use a nail file. At this stage their claws can't usually do much but scratch you superficially, but it is good to have them get used to being handled early. Some kitties are really picky about their feet.

I've always made it a point to have a couple pieces of furniture the cat 'knows' is hers. It is good to have a couple of different scratching posts of different types/textures. I have one that is kind of a rope wrapped around a base, and another that is made of carpet she can sleep on top of. Many cats like something they can use to stretch up on while standing up as they scratch.

The main way I've encouraged the cat to use her stuff is I put catnip all over it, place her on it, prop her up to encourage use. When she uses it I praise her in a gentle voice. She doesn't mess with furniture, but sometimes the regular carpet. If that happens I usually tell her, No! and if I have it handy spray water (on her or near her works, she is old enough now to know shes in trouble.) Then I bring her to her stuff, have her use it and tell her good cat.

Right now, even though I have lots of cat toys, the kitten is pretty happy with boxes and shoelaces. Many things are just too big for him to handle.

Answer 2

The truth is, the best thing you could get is another cat of the same age if you're worried about your furniture. If a cat gets bored, they scratch anything and everything, but if they have a playmate the chances of that happening are lessened greatly. They'll be best friends, but they'll play ROUGH. Another thing you could buy is a couple of cat scratcher "boards". You can buy them at Wal Mart for about $5 each. They're just rough cardboard ends. When you see the cat scratching somewhere, pick it up and put it on the scratching board, and it will finish scratching there. In a few days, maybe a week, it will go there on its own to scratch. Still though, it'll get lazy sometimes and scratch on something you don't want it to scratch on. That's just part of the deal. Another thing (By the way, my wife taught me all this stuff. I didn't know anything about cats till about 4 years ago.), don't just turn it loose in the house when you get it home. Keep it in the carrier, sitting in front of the litter box for maybe an hour or so. Then when you open the carrier, keep her in a room where she can't get lost too easily. She could forget where the litter box is, and she'll find her own place to do her business, which will be another bad habit to break. After a few days, you can start letting it venture out further from the litter box.

Answer 3

Congrats on the new kitty!

Kittens are great to have but are a handful as well. It's great that you're looking for tips... that shows you're gonna make a loving mommy :-)

www.TheCatSite.com is extremely helpful, but for now, I can tell you that you'll need:

Kitten food (Get a good brand like Iams, Science Diet, Nutro or Authority from PetSmart) Kittens need more nutrients than older cats so good food is important.

Litter box- My kitten LOVES Tidy Cats litter. You'll need to clean it daily so buy a scooper as well to remove the clumped waste.

STURDY scratching post- Cats need this since scratching is a natural activity of daily living for them ... like brushing our teeth.

They WILL mess with the furniture if you don't get a good one that is taller than the length of their body and sturdy enough to remain upright when they are clawing at it. You can get a decent one at Walmart for around $20. Super important.

Remember, declawing is inhumane so hopefully you won't ever consider that as an option. Just get a good post and put catnip on it every once in a while to encourage usage.

Toys- Kittens have SO MUCH energy and will need things to keep them active and expending that pent up energy. My kitty loves catnip filled mice and those little balls with the bells inside. If they don't have things to keep them occupied, they can become destructive.

Attention- You will find that they are almost as needy as children so be sure to show your kitty lots of love and a decent amount of interactive play time (which I'm sure your daughter will fulfill) daily.

Privacy- Cats need space and privacy. They become frazzled easily and will only be comfy if they have special "spots" where they can get away and hide every once in a while.

I got a little $20 tent bed for my kitty so she could hide away whenever she felt like it.

Don't forget to provide fresh water each day. Also, be careful what you feed cats. They become obese easily and don't tolerate human foods too well. You can easily do some research on yahoo.com about that if you're not sure what to treat them to.

Okay! Whew! I really hope that helps! I got a little carried away :-)
Can you tell I'm a big cat lover? :-)

Best wishes!

EDITED TO ADD: I have 2 cats: a sweet 1 yr old and an 8 yr old beast LoL... I think part of what caused the older one to be so aggressive is the fact that we were to aggressive in training him. DON'T spray them or yell when they do the wrong thing. Like I said, they're easily frazzled and will become aggressive and strange out of fear.

Instead, train them with aversion. If you don't want the kitty on your table and she seems to like it... run a piece of duck tape across the table for a day so that they will associate jumping onto the table with an annoying sensation. Okay good luck again ::-)

Answer 4

There's a lot of things to buy to prepare for a new kitten. Here's a list of items:
- Kitten Food
- 2 cat dishes (one for food, one for water)
- Litter box and litter (the kind with a cover on them have always worked good for me)
- Litter Deotrizer (works great in the litter for the smell)
- Litter scooper
- Cat toys (little mouses and balls work great)
- Scratching post (my kittens really like the kind that have rope on them rather then cardboard or carpet, they also enjoy a kitty tower that has scratching post built in it but those are a little pricey)
- Brush
- Catnip Spray (works great when you spray it on the toys)
- Bed
- Sticky Paws (for your furniture, it helps them from scratching)
- Spray bottle (for water, it helps train them to stop doing something wrong)
- Cairring Cage (for trips to the vet or anywhere else)

I believe that's about it, if I didn't forget anything. Hope you enjoy the new kitten.

Answer 5

there is some stuff in a spray can you can buy at wal-mart for scratching. you just spray it on your furniture and it is suppose to make them stay away from it. of course you will need kitten food, some play toys like mice or some small balls, and the stuff you already mentioned...with that you should be all set. When it gets old enough you might want to consider having it spayed/neutered and possibly declawed if it doesn't go outside. Congratulations on the new kitty!

Answer 6

Be sure and feed your new kitten Purina Kitten Chow, they need the extra nutrients for at least a year. If you are worried about it scratching your furniture, an inexpensive scratching post is nice, also get yourself a spray bottle so when your kitten does something they shouldn't do you give it a little squirt to let them know that's not good. If your cat gets hairballs, put a little margarine on their fur where they can lick it every now and then, it really does help. I got that info from my vet!
Enjoy your kitty!

Answer 7

you should get a scratching post. that helps a lot. and lots of little toys that rattle around to entertain them. my kitten is almost 4months old and he is still very playful. i will be honest that he has accidentally scratched me more times than i can remember. you should invest in a spray water bottle. if you notice the kitten scratching on furniture or doing something bad just spray it and it helps them learn. also keep their nails trimmed. be sure not to cut to far back because it can cause bleeding that it hard to stop, you should be able to see their veins, normal finger clippers worked for me. also check into having the kitten declawed if they will be strictly indoors. good luck