Advice on raising a kitten?

I was wondering if anyone has any advice for me I am getting a kitten here in 4 weeks, I'm just waiting for her to be old enough. I've had a few cats throughout life but never a kitten. I also am worried because the mamma kitty only had 2 kittens,mine and another. The momma kitty accidentally sat on mine when she was born but she seems fine. She's also the smaller of the two and gets pushed around by the bigger one. Any advice is welcome, feeding grooming, toys, ect. Thanks

Hi Megnmittins20!

It's so exciting to bring home a new kitten! I think we'd be able to give you better advice if we know how old your kitten will be when you bring her home, since there is a big difference between, say, a 3 month old kitten and a 6 month old.

My best advice in general is to kitten-proof your home, and (if possible) have a room set aside especially for the kitten, at least at first. You can always turn the room back to its original purpose after she's old enough to be let out all the time. Let her get used to one room. Put her litter box in there, along with food, water, toys, bedding, etc. Remove anything that might be a risk for her, or that you don't want her messing with. Spend as much time as possible with her there, until she's ready to explore more of your home.

We did this with our kittens we brought home in February, and an added benefit was that we were able to use that time in "their" room to train them not to scratch the couch. We simply brought a couch cushion in with us each day, and any time that they made a move to scratch it, we put them on the floor with a firm (not harsh or loud) "No." They learned pretty quick that they were allowed to sit or play on the cushion, but not use it for scratching. Then when we let them into the rest of our home, it was easy to extend the lesson to the whole couch.

But tell us more about your kitten! And we always love photos!

Congratulations on your new kitten.

There are several articles on The Cat Site that you might find useful.

Here is an article about choosing the right food for your cat--more important than you might think.

And one on cat behavior:  the weird things your cat does may in fact be normal for kittens.

And finally one about bringing a new cat home.

I wouldn't worry about the mother cat sitting on your cat since she seems fine now.

Is she/he spayed/neutered?  That's very important.

Good luck and write back with specific questions.  And pictures; we love pictures.

She will be 10 weeks when we bring her home, her mama has had three other liters and my sister has a cat from the precious litter and my Aunt has two from get 1St. Her name is mittins even though I don't have her yet but I see her almost everyday because I'm really excited here's a couple my sister took

Thank you she's not spayed yet she's only 6weeks as of now and I get to bring her home in 4. I named her mittins I post a picture because the name fits her I was wondering if it's normal for the mama cat to only have two kittens, it's mamas 4th litter so idk I've heard 4 is about average, also my little mittens tail is a but weird it's bent towards the end but she doesn't have pain from it?

Hey

I AM SO JELOUSE I HAD KITTENS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR BUT THEY GOT RAN OVER

DONT WORRY ABOUT HER TAIL IT MIGHT JUST BE A LITTLE BREAK FROM WHEN HER MOM SAT ON HER

IT IS TOTALLY NORMAL THAT THE MOTHER JUST HAD 2 KITTENS BUT IF THERE IS ONE THING TOO WORRY ABOUT IT IS ABOUT CARS DONT LET HER LEAVE THE HOUSE UNTILL SHE IS AT LEAST5 MONTHS OLD

I HOPE YOU FIND THIS HELPFULL 

EEP ON POSTING I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE

megnmittins20 said:

Thank you

she's not spayed yet she's only 6weeks as of now and I get to bring her home in 4. I named her mittins I post a picture because the name fits her

I was wondering if it's normal for the mama cat to only have two kittens, it's mamas 4th litter so idk I've heard 4 is about average, also my little mittens tail is a but weird it's bent towards the end but she doesn't have pain from it?

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So see you spay your girl when she has appropriate age and weigh.  Say before she is 4 months, or thereabout if she is inside only.   Like Gizimarie said, dont let her out too early if you want her to allow to be outside.  Small kittens allowed outside are defenceless, and get so easily lost.

Peculiar her mom had 4 litters. Are they breeders?  If not please talk them into spaying. Help them perhaps with the practicals; contacting a good yet cheap vet and taking the mom to this vet...

Litters of 2 happens. There is no sure rule.  Small litters are more common in inbreed cats.

And these so called "knicks" on tail do happens also. In a purebreed such a knick would mean she cant get highest grades on Shows, and is not recommended to be used in breeding.  But if she hasnt any problems with this, no pains or so, it doesnt matter for her personally as long as she is a pet.   (her kittens would have higher risk for serious damages in backside skeleton, that is why they arent used in breeding).

Good luck!

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the advice also I guess hubby doesn't really like the name mittens as much as I do so any ideas on good names or a good way to figure out what to name her?

Toe-Socks. (That's what it looks like she's wearing!)

But if hubby doesn't like Mittens, I'll doubt he'll like this more cumbersome joke.

I was thinking kitten in boots too lol and calling her booties for short. I think he wanted a boy kitten lol. I think I might name her rexa though she's feisty lol like a t Rex

megnmittins20 said:

I think I might name her rexa though she's feisty lol like a t Rex

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I like that a lot. Cats are such excellent predators that they terrify me a little, and I like to think of them as akin to a T-Rex in my brain.

BTW, if the T-Rex in Jurassic Park had been given a massive feather toy (or equivalent), everything would have probably been fine.