kitten me up - everything there is to know about kittens?

[oryx]

He does, however, have a special kitty sense that alerts him that we are trying to get him into the basket for nefarious purposes

I know exactly what you mean.

We are taking our youngest to the vet on Thursday night now but do not mention it in front of her as come Thursday night, she will be hiding in the garden.

I made sure she was in said garden before typing this, in case she was looking over my shoulder......

 

[Dillinger4]

This is what happens to people around kittens.

KITTEH

 

[Giles]

A friend of mine sometimes takes in abandoned or orphaned kittens when they are really young, and has to bottle-feed them.

It's hard work - like having a new baby (except kittens grow up very quickly) but, boy, are the tiny ones cute.

See:



and



for details.

Giles..

 

[_angel_]

Re the cat basket thing: our Charlie sleeps in his, so it is never too much of a problem to get him in it. He does, however, have a special kitty sense that alerts him that we are trying to get him into the basket for nefarious purposes

_angel_ – if I'm being honest, I really don't think you should get cats. No matter how much your heart strings are twanged by the cute piccies on here, if you aren't prepared 100% to make the necessary sacrifices (or can't) then you shouldn't have them. It would, imo, be irresponsible. Donate some money to the Cat's Protection League or something, if you wanted to make a difference to a cat's life. But I don't think your situation is ready for having them at home.

No, an adult cat would be fine. I've had one before (he chose me) and we have a dog that is a lot more looking after. I'm nearly always in, after all. It's just the kitten-escape-potential that might be problematic during the summer hols.

 

[oryx]

£42 for annual booster this evening.

Two of us finally got her there.

We nearly had to ask our other cat to give us a hand (or should that be a paw?)

 

[ScallyWag II]

We acquired six kittens when our cat gave birth last year:

We kept two of them (and the mother) but for the seven or so weeks between birth and giving four of them away we had a blissful house of kittens

It is very easy - soon after you get them register with a vet near to you (or convenient for dropping off on your way to/from work) and get them inoculated and dewormed at 9 and 12 weeks and then they are set up for life and can go outside without risk of catching diseases - the inoculations cost around £55 per cat. The vet can also give them a general check to make sure they are developing normally.

Then get them neutered at six months (unless you want some more kitties) - a cost of around £80+ for females, £60 for males.

Add in also cost of getting started - basket, bowls, litter tray, cat litter etc and maybe cat flap. I think realistically you will need a litter tray as tehy will use it until they can go outside and at night time if you dont have a cat flap

Then add cost of ongoing flea treatments and worm treatments (eveyr month / 3 months) and cost of kitten food (which seems to be around £1 more than normal cat food) and treats. According to the manufacturers they can move onto normal cat food at 12 months but otyher owners I know have moved kittens on to adult food at around 6 months with apparently no ill effects.

Register with cat food manufacturers for free samples - people like http://www.catslikefelix.co.uk/sample/, http://www.purinaone.co.uk/uk/cat/sampling/, http://registration.mars.com/oods/WhiskasCarePack.aspx but be prepared to accept the fact that the kitten/ cat wont like anything but the most expensive brands of cat food and will have a tendency to change preferences to another brand just as you buy a bumper pack of a particular cat food!

We havent had any need for further vet treatment and dont have insurance but obviously will face big bills if something major were to happen - I'm banking on the fact that it wont!

Sweet kittens

Don't bank on nothing major happening, if it ever did it's shocking how quickly the costs mount up. Speaking from experience, believe me I spent a grand in less than 24 hours (and my kitten didn't make it ). Got all the others insured now, except for the eldest who at 21 i thought there wouldn't be any need, like if anything went wrong that was likely to be it iykwim. Operations out of the question at her age, that sorta thing. Not the case, she has now developed a treatable condition for the rest of her life. That's manageable though, but i've insured all the others. A lot of companies offer discounted rates if you are insuring more than one animal.

 

[Jazzz]

meow!