The girlfriend and I are getting a kitten - what are we getting ourselves into?

[JM Aggie08]

Well, it's been over a week since we got her, and she's made huge progress. She'll come up to us while we're sitting in her room and hop in our laps and nearly fall asleep. She's turned out to be very sweet and playful. She's still a bit skittish when we're standing, but I think she's beginning to learn that we're not going to chase or hurt her.

Pretty soon I think we're going leave her door open so she can venture out into the living room. We're going to spend our evenings this week blocking off the space under the kitchen cabinets, as well as some 'unsafe' areas in the living room.

 

[JM Aggie08]

I might add that her meow is more of a squeak. I'm not sure if that's her being a little apprehensive to be loud, or if she's just going to sound retarded forever.

 

[lxskllr]

I might add that her meow is more of a squeak. I'm not sure if that's her being a little apprehensive to be loud, or if she's just going to sound retarded forever.

Cats have different sounds. My boy has always had a raspy squeak. My girl was absolutely silent for a couple years. She never made a sound. She now occasionally makes a meow when she's excited. It's usually when she's happy to see me, but she still doesn't make much noise.

 

[K1052]

Cats have different sounds. My boy has always had a raspy squeak. My girl was absolutely silent for a couple years. She never made a sound. She now occasionally makes a meow when she's excited. It's usually when she's happy to see me, but she still doesn't make much noise.

This.

We have two litter mates that have never been separated and they have totally different sounds. One will chatter (and yowl in a hallway because she likes the sound) and talk back to you and the other has a really raspy meow that you don't hear much.

 

[mizzou]

I might add that her meow is more of a squeak. I'm not sure if that's her being a little apprehensive to be loud, or if she's just going to sound retarded forever.

my cat has the same retarded meow. Also, she loves to meow so much she won't stop when she yawns, so the results is the most adorable cat meow noise EVER.

 

[ultimatebob]

Unless you declaw your cat, it WILL mangle your leather couch. Deal with it. I didn't declaw mine (the local hippies here think that it's EVIL), but my parents in Pennsylvania still do.

Depending on where you live, declawing might not even be legal anymore. I'm sure that Texas would be OK with it.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Pictures or video of the kitteh please...

 

[ultimatebob]

I feed my cats Purina Cat Chow Indoor Formula. They seem to like it.

They never use the scratching post, though. That's what the stairs seem to be for

 

[Jaskalas]

A kitten will need a small room to call home for a couple weeks, until she becomes familiar with you and the new surroundings.

Pretty soon I think we're going leave her door open so she can venture out into the living room. We're going to spend our evenings this week blocking off the space under the kitchen cabinets, as well as some 'unsafe' areas in the living room.

Very wise to do so. Thankfully the lesson was learned without injury.

 

[ultimatebob]

A kitten will need a small room to call home for a couple weeks, until she becomes familiar with you and the new surroundings.

Very wise to do so. Thankfully the lesson was learned without injury.

If it's anything like my cat was, it will explore the rest of the house at night when it's quiet and then go back into hiding during the day.

At some point, it will find a comfy new place to sleep like a bed or a couch and hang out there instead.

 

[zinfamous]

no pictars of kitten?

um, I mean girlfriend?

 

[JM Aggie08]

I'll update with pictures/possibly video tonight.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Kittah

 

[lxskllr]

Kitty! Pretty girl.

 

[jagec]

Unless you declaw your cat, it WILL mangle your leather couch. Deal with it.

Depends on the cat. Mine never claw the leather, they're more than happy to scratch their posts (DIY, sisal rope wrapped around 2x4s).

 

[William Gaatjes]

^_^ so cute.

 

[shortylickens]

please dont mutilate your cats.
Either get furniture thats less important than your pets, or just dont bother.
If you like a neat house more than anything then perhaps you are not of the correct mindset to keep animals.

 

[sixone]

Kittah

awwwwwwwwwwwww

 

[JM Aggie08]

please dont mutilate your cats.
Either get furniture thats less important than your pets, or just dont bother.
If you like a neat house more than anything then perhaps you are not of the correct mindset to keep animals.

Get your negativity out of my cute kitty thread!

 

[MrColin]

My tips:
Hills is the only pet food company with actual quality control.
Don't declaw, do spay or neuter.
Don't let kitty outside.
Training is possible, mine knows his name and he comes running, he also knows "get out" and "get down" and "stop that." In the past I have taught cats to do other stuff on command like push off on a skateboard or climb some obstacle for a treat.
Toilet training > litter box
Get some sacrificial wicker furniture
Teach kitty to tolerate handling and trim its front claws
Use bitter spray to discourage chewing of plants and cords, especially cords.
Cow milk is bad for cats, (also, bones are bad for dogs).
Don't let kitty get in the habit of having human hands as a plaything, only use toys.
String or anything like string needs to be put away out of kitty's reach, they often eat it and it can cause fatal GI perforations.

 

[krose]

String or anything like string needs to be put away out of kitty's reach, they often eat it and it can cause fatal GI perforations.

One Christmas my wife had some craft Christmas tree she set out. Unknown to us one of our kittehs ate a ribbon off of it, we found it coming out his butt. However it was attached to the tree with a straight pin which was miraculously still in his stomach and had not perforated anything. A very expensive operation got it out and seven years later he is going strong at eleven years. Look around your house and identify possible hazards. If they can get into it, I guarantee at some point they will.

 

[Anubis]

the clay stuff lasts awhile cause it absorbs the pee odor so well. change the litter once a week that will probably last you two months.

The corn based litter actually works better

 

[Phoenix86]

I can see it's already plotting your demise, it was good to know you.

 

[JM Aggie08]

We've almost gotten to the point where she understands that us walking upright != danger. She still backs up a bit and looks a little panicked, but has started coming up to us when we walk in. Of course, when we sit down she's crawling all over us and making her retarded little noise.

She's looking real curious about what is outside of the door to her room. I think once she feels totally comfortable with us walking around, we'll start leaving her door open so she can venture out. I've managed to patch all of the holes she got into on her first day with us :thumbsup:

 

[Nebor]

If you break up, make sure she takes the cat. She will become a cat lady, which is far more socially acceptable than a single dude with a cat.