Kitten Question-Help Appreciated. - Paw Talk

capnsweets · #1 05-22-2002, 02:56 PM

Okay. Ray and I decided to disobey our lease and get a kitten. We are either going to get one *free* from the Pennysaver, or buy one from the human society. But here is my dilemma. Ever since coming here I have realized, you don't just say, "hey i want a kitten, I will run right out and pick one up" (even though now I just want to run right out and pick one up)You have to prepare for the pet.

I have a bunch of questions and need all the advice I can get. Other then my hamsters, when i lived at home, my Mom did all the animal caretaking, so although I have lived in a house with some cats, I never took care of them. So any help will be greatly apreciated. [list=1][*]How do we kitten proof the apartment?[*]What do we need to get before the kitten comes home with us?[*]How old are they when we get them shots? How much do shots, spraying or neutring, or declawing cost?[*]What kind of food do you give a kitten? Is there a *best* of anything you can recommend?[*]Litter-how often should you change it?[*]Special toys?[/list=1]

My mom said something about cats "spraying their scent" which is stinky all over the house......what is that all about and how would we prevent that?

The claws, we are declawing it because it is going to be only indoors... is there pros or cons to this? i mean plus we have the hamsters, who will be put way up high...but just in case, I think we should declaw.

capnsweets · #2 05-22-2002, 03:21 PM

I just want to say thanks in advance to anyone who responds! I want to be as prepared as possible!

#3 05-22-2002, 04:20 PM

Ok...going to do my best here...there is going to be lots of copy/paste here.

How do we kitten proof the apartment?

Biggest thing is make sure that there are no electrical cords, etc that it can chew on. Make sure there are no little places it can get stuck like behind the fridge, make sure all chemicals are locked up and check for poisonous house plants

What do we need to get before the kitten comes home with us?

Food dishes
litter pan with litter
cat food
any toys you want
anything you want for grooming
Something for it to sharpen its claws on

How old are they when we get them shots? How much do shots, spraying or neutring, or declawing cost?

First set of shots is usually around 4 to 6 weeks. You will have to call the vet to get the prices. Each vet is different. Average should be between $14 and $25. Some places charge more for shots if the animal isn't spayed/neutered. Same with neutring. Males are typicaly less than females, anestetic goes by weight of pet. I think a cat runs around $80 to $150 depending on the sex and the vet. You don't want to have the animal declawed. It is very traumatic, a lot of vets will not do it. In order to declaw a cat you actually cut off part of the toes. Think of having your own fingers amputated at the first joint. That is what is done to cat during a declaw. If you are worried about your furniture or whatever, get a cat tree. There are lots of ways to train a cat not to scratch the furniture

What kind of food do you give a kitten? Is there a *best* of anything you can recommend?

Kitten food.
Don't give a kitten adult food
I personally recommend NutroMax because it is hypoallergenic and cats are really prone to corn allergies in food. Lots of scratching, fur coming out, running eyes (had a vet try and tell me that one of our cats was getting sick with a resp. virus and it was food allergy) etc. Flea allergies are the same way.

Litter-how often should you change it?

Depends on the cat and what you feed it.
You feed cheep food like you get at the grocery store you will have more poop and stinkier poop, feed something like Nutro, less poop and less stinky
Some cats don't care how icky their pan gets.
The vet that I worked for reccomended 1 cup of litter in the pan and change it every day where you could tell by the poop and urine output if there was something wrong.
You can get scoopable litter which you fish in every day, and there are pans that they make to go with it that will sift.

Special toys?

FUZZY MICE! Ask any cat. LOL!

#4 05-22-2002, 04:28 PM

Here are some links on declawing
This first one shows pictures of the procedure
http://www.thepetcenter.com/sur/catdc.html

There is a horrible picture on the front page (all cats make that face after surgery though). It is an anti-declaw site but it has wonderful information on just about everything doing with declawing, like training the cat to use a scratching post, alternatives to declawing (like Soft Paws) and all kinds of stuff. There are also more pictures on the surgery procedure
http://community-2.webtv.net/zuzu22/STOPDECLAWCOM/

There are some things that you should know about cats and surgery. They do NOT tollerate anestetic very well and a lot of them die while under. They hallucinate when they come out and try and climb walls. I do not reccomend declawing, vets don't recommend it and in Brittan it is ILLEGAL because of the inhumanity of it.

PLEASE, read what I have sent you and reconsider.

capnsweets · #5 05-22-2002, 11:23 PM

Thank you for your help. No we won't declaw. We didn't realize it was so trauimatic. Alot of people are casual about it, that is why I wanted the information for it. Thank you. As for the wires for like the computer and stuff...How can I get reid of them? I was thinnking of twist tying them together, and then taping them to the back of the desk a bit. There are some wires behind the tv, I don't know what we will do about them. Jorgha I really apreciate the time you took to help me. If you think of any other advice I'd apreciate it.

Runt · #6 05-23-2002, 01:32 PM

Capn you can get stuff to slip over the wire.It is a flexible material that is split to put cords in.I have seen it for chin proofing your house.I have not bought any but have heard about it.I hope this helps some.

Quote:


	we have the hamsters

This was a big problem for me at first.Cats will be cats they like to chase and play with stuff.You will have to secure your cage doors.If you put them up high you have to make sure the kitty can't get to them as she/he can knock the cage off the counter or shelves.I had to tie down alot of my Habitrail and S.A.M. cages and lids had to be put on all my tanks.I don't know if a kitten could learn to adjust to living with hamsters around.Although I can remember how funny Toby looked with his paw in the cage hole trying his best to catch a dwarf.(I know that prob sounded bad)LOL it was cute.
Jorgha I wish I had known more before I got my cats as I had both of them declawed did not realize how traumatic it would be for them.

***Jade*** · #7 05-23-2002, 01:46 PM

On the wires -- ChinWorld.com has some splitflex tubing used to cover wires for chins like Runt was talking about and you can find it here.

RadioShack also has a small selection, as will many hardware stores. Check around, it shouldn't be too hard to find. If you want, I can use my employee discount and get our tubing here at work -- PM me if ya want details.

capnsweets · #8 05-23-2002, 01:49 PM

I will look around for the wire protectors.

We are going to look at the kittens Sunday. She has some ready to come home Sunday, but she also has some 3 week old kittens that still need a few weeks. I think we are going to look at them. I am hoping to pick one of the 3 week olds that way ray and I will have some time to kitten proof, and decide if we want to move arund the hamsters. We are thinking about giving away the dwarfs.

We might give one to Breanna and Josh (my sister his brother) so we could still see them. I don't know. Just however it goes, I want it to be fair tot he hamstersa. I don't want them to think they are less loved because of the kitten.

Runt · #9 05-23-2002, 01:57 PM

Thanks Jade I could not think of what the tubing was called.
Capn In my opion I think cats are so sweet and loving.Most can sense when you are happy or upset.On my cat litter pan I bought the electric one that dumps itself.It has containers that when it is full you just put a lid on it and throw the whole thing away.I used arm and hammer odor control along with the Tidy cat scoobable for multiple cats.

#10 05-23-2002, 05:34 PM

I think you can also find stuff like that for the wires at Radio Shack and some catalogs that specialize in childproofing materials.

You are right, people are really casual about declawing but it is major surgery and some cats can't even end up with deformed paws and stuff that prevent them from walking. Thanks for reconsidering that.

My best advice is find a vet before you get your kitty.

capnsweets · #11 05-24-2002, 05:57 PM

We have a vet litterally one block down and across the street, that takes good care of hammies, and my mom's cats and dogs go there as well, so that is where we will take the kitten.Even though we are still debating on it.

***Jade*** · #12 05-25-2002, 10:32 AM

Hey Jorgha, I work at RadioShack.

Hence the employee discount!!

I just bought 10 feet of our spiral tubing and it works great! I Elvis-proofed the entire front room! Seriously, if anyone wants some I can get it for $2.

capnsweets · #13 05-26-2002, 11:56 PM

Today we went and looked at the kittens. She had 4 but one was "spoken for". I liked this long haired one, but I have mild allergies, so we decided to go between the 2 short haired ones. One was grey with a stripe thing going on, and the other was orange witha striped tail. I liked the grey one but it looks just like my Mom's cats, so that kind of deterred me. The kittens will be ready to pick up June 10th.

Jade, where do you live, state wise? I mean I am going to go to Radio Shack this week and will price the tubing, if it would be cheaper to get from you with the shipping and handeling I may take you up on that offer.

We decided to keep Snugger, in my bedroom. Stunner, in his cage in this glass cupboard. Stimpy is going to go to my Mom's and be with my sister, who is thrilled. She already renamed Stimpy Sandy. Ren we are still unsure about. I have a friend who knows alot about hamster whom I hope will take him, but if not we will take him to Ray's parents house.