15 week old kitten questions?

Question

Ok I just got a sweet kitten, but I have never had a cat before so I have some questions.

How old should she be before I start giving her treats? And how many in a day?

Should I give her a bath while she is young so that she gets used to the water?

How much food should I give her, ( the box says 1/4 to 1 cup which seems very vague) and should I feed her once a day or more then that?? She is an indoor cat, and I dont want to overfeed her and make her fat, although she gets lots of excersize chasing things around....

And she is very aggressive when it comes to hunting (a fake mouse, a piece of wrapping paper) I am sure she learned that when she was young, as she was found in a barn with her mom in the cold before I adopted her from the spca, but shoudl I do anything about that aggression??

thanks for all your help, I really want to give her the best life possible!!

Answer 1

Risse,

My kitten was the same way when he was 15 weeks. They are a holy terror! The best way to treat aggressiveness is to have a spray bottle with water in it. When she is getting too rough, spray her a few times and she will get the message. Do not play with her with your hands or get down and be rough with her on the floor. This will encourage her to be aggressive.

For now, feed her what it says on the box, but as she gets older, you will get a better idea of what is too much and not enough for her. Also, I would only feed once a day. Then, you know exactly how much she is eating everyday - as opposed to leaving the food out and having no idea exactly how much she's had. Feed her a good quality kitten dry food like Science Diet, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, or Royal Canin. I personnaly use Science Diet. I would really stay away from store brand cat foods or ones that are really cheap. They do not use good quality ingredients. When she is year old, you can switch to an Indoor Adult formula.

You don't really need to give her a bath unless she get very dirty. She will do a good job of cleaning herself. However, if you want to bathe her, you can use oatmeal shampoo, which is very good for their skin. NEVER use shampoo that is meant for people. If you want, you can trim her claws once a week to keep her from damaging furniture or you!

You can start giving her treats now! They will be good for her teeth and will encourage her. It's also a great way to bond with your kitten. I wouldn't give more than a couple a day.

I hope I answered some of your questions. You should always ask your veternarian and he/she will be glad to give you free advice over the phone about anything that you have concerns about with your kitten.

Enjoy your new baby!!

Answer 2

Well she is 4 months old, in cat time she is nearly grown.

Try a quarter of a cup. If she still seems hungry give her a little more at night. Buy a high quality like Iams. Cheap cat foods can give cats health problems.

Call Your Veterinarian to check on having her spayed and declawed young. The age and pricing is what you are asking about. Besides healing time.

The bathing needs to start early if you plan to bath her like every week or two. Although they say cats (especially indoor)cats do not need to be bathed. They do it themselves.

I saw this interesting method to bath a cat by using a bucket, so they can put their front paws up on the edge and you pour the warm water over their bodies. From the neck down.
I would only put about 4 to 6 inches in the bucket.

Without declawing first, bathing can be painful to you especially since she is already aggressive. You cannot change her aggression. Just be sweet and loving with her and she may calm down in time.

My daughter has 3 small dogs and a cat and they only get special treats on the weekend. This helps avoid the weight problem . And it is a special thing then.
Good Luck.

Answer 3

Give the cat reats at any time but best as reward for good or trained behavior. Cats, unlike dogs, will eat their fill and generally no more. You can leave food and the cat will snack dirong the day. It is important that cat get exercise. that mouse hunting is one good way. That was taught by Mama cat and will remain active for the most part of cat's life.

Giving a cat a both can be a bit traumnatic. Cat;s generally don't like water because they are not the best of swimmers. and they get cold rapidly. But with warm (not hot) water, keep it away from the head so cat will not get it in the nose and have a bad experience you should be OK. If the cat learns that washing is "Pleasant Experience" it will tolerate it. If it gets it's head under water or there is some other really bad thing - you have a fight for life.

Try making a bowls of warm water with shampoo and use a spong to wet the cat from the rear fowards. Generally that will be acceptable. It is fear of drowning that makes cats unhappy around water. Treat the cat as you would a baby and things should be OK.

Answer 4

1. She should be 6 months old before giving treats. It should say the feeding instructions on the back of the packet or package.
2. Don't give your kitten a bath unless absolutely necessary. It says at http://homeatlastrescue.org/html/aboutcats/kittencare.html that a small amount of Lemon Joy will kill fleas and is safe for kittens, and flea shampoos are too harsh for kittens.
3. Give her 1/4 cup size per meal. If she meows, then she probably needs food or attention. I see this by touching my cat's nose, and if it's dry, she's either unhealthy or needs food. If it's wet, then she's got enough food and/or is healthy.
4. Don't worry about aggression, it's normal for little kitties. Unless they get in trouble, like scratching on furniture, then spray her with a squirt bottle (full of water, of course). Maybe get a scratching post?

I hope this helps. I hope she has a good life! :)

Answer 5

She should be at least five months before you start giving her treats.

There are wipes you can use to bathe her instead of using water, it will save you the mess, biting and clawing, you can pick them up from Wal-Mart in the pet department in the dog or the cat isle.

There should be a weight recommendation on the food that tells you how much to give her as she grows. Depending on her appetite and how large she is, adjust food to this. Feed her at regular intervals through the day. Feed her once int he morning and once at night to keep her on a schedule. Don't allow her to tell you when she wants to eat, or she'll get fat fast and will become a terror.

Cats are naturally aggressive as kittens, she'll grow out of her over aggression. I have a 7 and a half month old kitten and she growls every time she gets hold of a shaky mouse or a piece of fuzziball. Its just natural. If you want to curve her aggression, give her toys she can't pick up.

I use a laser to play with my kitten, and she rarely growls now when she plays with other toys. You can use any type of laser, so long as it has a bright beam that your kitten can follow.

Answer 6

She can have treats at any age as long as she can chew them, soft treats might work well at first. I usually give my cat 5-8 treats at once and only once a day or every other day. I use the kind called Greenies which are good for their teeth, but pounce and meow mix has soft varieties that might be easier for your kitten to eat, and she won't need more than 3 at a time.

If your cat is going to go outdoors than you may want to get her use to water but if she's an indoor only cat then she should never need a bath. They can catch a cold easily if they get wet.

Until your kitten is 6 months old they should be allowed to eat as much as they want and should get a mixture of dry and wet food. When they are 6 months then you can follow the directions on the package and when they are a year only give them dry food.

You really can't control your cats mood, just encourage her to play with her toys and not your hands/feet. Get something that you hold on a long pole for your cat to jump for and chase so they maintain a safe distance from you.

Answer 7

It doesn't really matter how old cats are before giving them treats, just give them 1 to 2 a day, or every other day is best. There is no need to give cats baths, they sell waterless shampoo if she absolutely needs a bath. Kittens cant keep themselves as warm as adult cats so giving baths is not recommended. I would ask your vet how much to feed her, all you need to do is call and they should answer your question over the phone. As for the aggression, there's not really anything you can do about that, shes a cat, that's just what they do.
I hope this info helps. Good luck!

Answer 8

ok u can usually find treat for kittens look on the package it will tell u how old they should be to give them to her my kittens like 8 months now so shes not much of a kitten anymore but i was doin thesame stuff a few months ago i bathed her the second day i had her she hated it but she got over it lol i would definitelly suggest u start early also i started her on a harness n leash routine right away well after she was comfortable with me n th ehouse n everything but thats soo cool cuz shes like a little dog on a leash now shes so good so u should work onthat she'll get so much attention lol also the food we give her a bowl of kitten food and let her eat what she wants n when it runs empty we fill it we dont leave her without food ever its not really fair she wont get fat and its ok if shes aggressive towards fake stuff just teach her not to be like that to people believe it or not u can really teach them alot especially if u start real young n have the time to spend with them i got mine from the spca too n shes amazing if u have any other questions feel free to email me n good luck i bet shes a cutie lol

Answer 9

I don't think that is agression, it is just playfullness and plenty of energy. I think she will calm down when she gets older. I never give my cats a bath, most of them stay pretty clean and shiny because they clean themselves. I had a white one at one time and he didn't stay too clean and you could see it. I gave him a bath one time, outside, and he hollered so loud, I think the whole neighborhood could hear him.
I think you can slowly give her a treat now and then.
When it comes to food, they usually just eat as much as they like and leave the rest for later. When the dish gets empty, I fill it up again. You can try maybe half a cup and see if she eats it all , if not, she will go back to it later.
A good food to give them is Friskies Signature Blend, it will tell you how much to give her. I stopped feeding my two cats canned food, because one of them could never get enough, he would eat up both their food right away and the other one never got enough. Beside that it's cleaner, in case she ever throws up or has an accident inside, It does not stink so bad, and they don't overeat so easily.
I think that does it. It should get you on your way with your kitty, I had quite a few cats and this pretty good advice.
Good luck !

Answer 10

You don't give cats baths (unless its a flea dip but there are better ways of flea control anyway). Cats do just fine cleaning themselves. Try to put a clawed cat in a full bathtub and you might need stitches on your face and shoulders.

Don't worry about overfeeding the cat, just keep dry food in it's bowl at all times - it will only eat what it feels like eating at the time.

And I wouldn't worry about aggression - it's not a pitbull. All cats are aggressive when they're young as they are natural hunters.