help! =(

hey all,

im a first time cat owner and ive read prob everything on cats i can google. my neighbor gave us a kitten that they claim is 3-4 months old. we went to our local pet store and bought all the necessary items for our new cat.

the kitten ate the food we bought it only once today, and ihe wont respond to us putting him in the litter box. he tried to sleep in it a few hours ago!

all this will pass with a little patience im sure but what broke my heart today was his mother came up to our backdoor and started calling out to him . they would pace back and forth and talk to each other.. i didn't know what to do..if i let him out i didn't know if he'd come back on his own or stay with his mom..what do i do?

i feel really guilty for keeping the cat from his mom..but the neighbors don't want to keep the kittens and refuse to take proper care of them.

im going to do a search right now..but if anyone has first hand tips to give me id appreciate it...im a little confused cause a lot of the stuff online gave me contradicting views on litter box placement, food bowl placement and general introduction of the cat to the household...as well as initial kitten care

thanks!

Hi! Welcome to TCS! Hope I can help you.....
My first suggestion would be to keep him in one room, with food, water and litter box. At 3-4 months he should be litter trained and if not definitely litter ready. My suggestion would be to keep him in an enclosed room, this way you are allowing him to adjust slowly to new home. Cats do not like to "s**t where they eat"! They do however have that instinctual dig and bury when it comes to potty time . At this point his challenge of excepting and trusting his new home is a bit more challenging if "mom" lurks about outside. It is important to make him feel welcomed and safe without "mom", best achieved by opening up your home slowly to him. Establish litter use, his comfort being on his own, then allow him to explore a little bit more, but without it being a search for escape or hunt for "mom".........
It also is important to have him vaccinated and vet checked. If he was with indoor/outdoor cats/kittens prior to your home, you want to protect from fleas, worms, a complete vet check.