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

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Kitty has been secured. She cornered herself under the dishwasher, and I was able to ease her out into the open with treats. Once I slowly picked her up and began petting her, she was purring like a motorboat. She seems to be VERY frightened by anyone moving around the room.

We have her in her room now with all of her amenities. I assume we should just spend time in that room with her so she can become acclimated? Would another kitten help socialize her?
 
my latest never got around to really scratching anything. now his chewing of small thin wires is another story.
 
My gf talked me into adopting a kitten when we were living together. 15 years later, the gf is long gone but I still have the cat. But absolutely sure you are fine with keeping the cat if things go bad. They live a long ass time...I think mine is immortal.
 
Had probably 20 cats in my life and the only time I had problems were when I only had 1 or when I lived in a small apt. If you're going to confine your single cat to one room you're better off getting a fish.
 
Never had 2 cats in a apt so that might work. Males make great cats. Females are great too but much more clingy.
 
Wow you all have no idea how to train a kitten. What do you do with your children to train them unlock the liquor cabinet? omg.

Ok so kitteh wants to scratch the sofa. Kittehs are scratch a holics by nature so yeah you have to provide an alternative scratch surface that is fun. I suggest something that makes noise like tin foil. Yeah the dude that covered his nice sofa in tinfoil hahaha who the heck told you they don't like tinfoil? THEY LOVE THE NOISE IT MAKES when they scratch!

You should cover the sofa with some heavy cloth that has close thread weave to make it hard to penetrate or something. Then when the kitteh goes to the sofa to scratch you lift him up and take him over to the scratch posts made of tinfoil or carpet (carpet is better you don't want him eating the foil) and when he scratches the carpeted post give him a treat. If that doesn't work spray some water at him when he goes to the sofa to scratch. After he calms down take him to the scratch post and scratch it yourself making it look like you're having fun then when he does it give him a treat. Cats (and kids) are mimickers by nature. Monkey see monkey do sea monkey I love you. lulz

Have fun with kitteh and take some videos share them on the yous tubes, there's not anough kitteh vids on the series of tubes yet. There's onry severrar birrion. That's not enough. Thats right I said it. So?
 
disappoint said:
I suggest something that makes noise like tin foil. Yeah the dude that covered his nice sofa in tinfoil hahaha who the heck told you they don't like tinfoil? THEY LOVE THE NOISE IT MAKES when they scratch!
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I had an area rug that I wasnt using so it was rolled up. The underside of the rug was on the outside , and my cat loved using that.
 
i've been lucky. my cat does not scratch furniture. he is like a dog though. greets me at the door everytime i come home and needs constant attention. he is not an aloof cat at all.

don't declaw your cat but keep their nails trimmed. costco has like a 40lb bag of clay litter that is only 10 bucks. it's an unbeatable price. that stuff absorbs pee and odor like none other.

costcp also sells a large pack of fancy feast which i found is the perfect serving size once a day, with dry food being available the rest of the time. mycat has never gotten fat with food being available all day, but some will.

get a laser pointer. it's fun as hell to play with your cat like taht. they go nuts for it.
 
Sho'Nuff said:
When our cats were young, we would observe where they would scratch. When they would scratch something we did not want scratched, we covered that spot with double sided tape. The stickiness of it drove the cats nuts and they stopped scratching those places in short order. Worked well and did not require us to be present at the time of scratching.

Also since you are looking to get a male, you should consider putting them on a diet low in ash and magnesium. Male cats have a tendency to develop urinary blockages. Those blockages result from uric acid crystallizing in the urethra when the pH of the cats urine is too high. Magnesium and ash contribute to high urine pH, and thus are a major cause of urinary blockages in male cats. It happened once to my male cat and it cost ~$1500 to have him treated. So it is worth the extra buck or two spent on "urinary care" dry food.
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+1 :thumbsup:
 
AViking said:
Had probably 20 cats in my life and the only time I had problems were when I only had 1 or when I lived in a small apt. If you're going to confine your single cat to one room you're better off getting a fish.
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She's only confined until she becomes comfortable around us.

We're still toying with the idea of another kittah. We'll see how the next week goes I suppose.
 
JM Aggie08 said:
She's only confined until she becomes comfortable around us.

We're still toying with the idea of another kittah. We'll see how the next week goes I suppose.
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Solo cats just don't seem to adjust as well. I'm sure some will disagree with me but I would then ask them if they are comparing a multi-cat home to a single cat home or just theirs is ok and are being defensive.

The first solo cat I got would be so incredibly pissed off when I came home from campus that she would hamstring me. I would have clawmarks on the back of my ankles regularly. No peeing or other problems but after a while she simply was no fun since she was always pissed off. I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to be alone in an apt all day long either.

Second solo cat I had was a male and he really had a hard time. He was incredibly awesome as a cat but had a really hard time with other cats coming over to taunt him through the window. He got incredibly scared and hostile towards these cats and eventually I had to get rid of him since he ruined every piece of furniture in my apt and bit me when I tried to get him away from the window one morning. After these two I swore I would never get a solo cat again.

Third cat was one my parents had. One of their friends dropped off a cat and never picked it up again. That cat had been solo her whole life, was probably 6 years old, and was completely socially retarded. The other cats would have nothing to do with her since she was so unfriendly and although she lived for a bunch of years at my parents place it was very sad. Arguably the worst of the bunch.

Now if I compare that to all the other cats I've had it's like night and day. Get a pair of kitties and they're just so much better adjusted and friendly. They also live much longer and have a much higher quality of life. I've had a couple cats live into their 20's and a bunch live to be about 16-18. None of the solo cats I had made it even remotely close to that. Shouldn't surprise anyone either. When I had two dogs the second dog died very soon after the first. When I was down to two cats and one died the second one died within about a month.

Animals do not want to be alone.
 
AViking said:
Solo cats just don't seem to adjust as well. I'm sure some will disagree with me but I would then ask them if they are comparing a multi-cat home to a single cat home or just theirs is ok and are being defensive.
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My first cat was a single, and she was very happy and well adjusted. I have a brother and sister now, and the girl hates the boy. They both worship me, and the girl stays especially close. She's balled up next to me right now.

Cats are highly individual. More so than dogs imo. It's hard to make a blanket statement that'll apply to all cats. In any case, the op's kitty is new and insecure. I think introducing a new kitty will likely add to the problem. I'd give it run of the house, but allow it it's own space to chill out, and get away from things. Once it's settled in, then think about another cat.
 
JM Aggie08 said:
She's only confined until she becomes comfortable around us.

We're still toying with the idea of another kittah. We'll see how the next week goes I suppose.
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Space them out a bit! Kittens grow up and no longer are kittens. Some kittens grow up to still be friendly active adult cats - many will park themselves in their bed for 23 hours a day. Delay the "adult cat phase" in a second cat for a while. 🙂

As for how to own a cat, honestly, just keep in perspective that the cat did not choose to live with you, you forced the situation on the cat. It is your responsibility to make the cat comfortable and happy. Try a few different brands of food at first, litter, and honestly it's better in the long run to find the litter box the cat prefers to use instead of finding the litter box you prefer the cat use. Litter box covers to provide "privacy" for the cat make me laugh - the cat doesn't care, the cat prefers no cover, it is the human owner who doesn't want to watch the business taking place 🙂 There are even some who advise a couple litter boxes amongst the house, including one placed right in the main living room! The cat is a cat, not a human. Most mistakes I see in other people struggling to live with cats, is they interact with the cat as if it were a human. Just take care of your part of the above bolded agreement, and the cat will become a part of your family.

Try different things, see what the cat responds to, or what it doesn't respond to. One cat of mine loves drinking water from the bathroom faucet, the others don't care to. Another loves licking plastic bags. Another loves to chase popcorn kernels bouncing across the floor while the other cats haven't the faintest interest. You'll figure it out over time, so long as you continue giving the cat attention, and take mental notes when the cat shows excitement in something.

And make sure there is access to looking out windows, regard windows as cat television.
 
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Happy to report we've made great progress. Yesterday she was still hiding completely under the couch when we were in her room. While we were on the floor she became comfortable enough to approach us and roll around while we pet and scratched her.

As of tonight, she has no problem coming into the open while we are sitting upright, rubbing up against us and nuzzling us 🙂 she no longer hides when she sees us walking around through the glass door of her room.
 
PixelSquish said:
i've been lucky. my cat does not scratch furniture. he is like a dog though. greets me at the door everytime i come home and needs constant attention. he is not an aloof cat at all.

don't declaw your cat but keep their nails trimmed. costco has like a 40lb bag of clay litter that is only 10 bucks. it's an unbeatable price. that stuff absorbs pee and odor like none other.

costcp also sells a large pack of fancy feast which i found is the perfect serving size once a day, with dry food being available the rest of the time. mycat has never gotten fat with food being available all day, but some will.

get a laser pointer. it's fun as hell to play with your cat like taht. they go nuts for it.
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How long does it take you to go through that 40lb bag of litter? I just finally realized you should have about 4" of litter in the box...make sense why piss was leaking to the bottom and fucking wreaked lol.
 
JM Aggie08 said:
How long does it take you to go through that 40lb bag of litter? I just finally realized you should have about 4" of litter in the box...make sense why piss was leaking to the bottom and fucking wreaked lol.
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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.
 
As for considering a second cat, I highly recommend it. Two cats are no harder to care for than one, and can keep each other entertained, sane and less stressed when you're out. It'll likely be a more successful bonding if they're both still kittens and essentially view each other as litter mates.
 
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I use a scooping cat litter and I think it is more economical than non scooping. With nonscooping kind, you need to change the entire litter every week. I think you dispose alot of good litter this way.

With scooping kind, you scoop out the clumps and turds every day and dispose of them. When the litter gets low, add some more keeping a few inches level. With scooping litter, I would keep 5-10 inches in the box. Every quarter year, I empty it completely and wash the box with sanitizer and hot water, let it dry and refill again with more litter.
 
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