New to Fostering

Hello,

I have recently applied to foster a kitten from my local animal shelter. I have no experience with kittens and only a little bit of experience with cats so I need a bit of advice.

The kitten I will be fostering is too young to be desexed/adopted so I'm assuming it will be very young and not litter box trained. As I'm renting, and my unit is pretty much all carpeted, I have decided to purchase a playpen (see attached photo). I'm thinking of putting cardboard down on the floor and covering that with some towels and then newspaper on top. Do you think that will be okay? Someone told me to put a tarp down but then someone else told me the sound and feeling of walking on the tarp will scare the kitten. I'd still like to let it out of the playpen to play and explore and stuff so I'm going to try to litter box train it ASAP.

I've been told the best way to litter train is to pick it up and put it in the litter box after it goes to the bathroom. My friend said you can also reward them with a cat treat when they use the litter box. Any other suggestions?

The shelter will be providing the food, bed, litter box, litter, medications and all of that kind of stuff. I am borrowing a scratching post from my friend. I am going to attend a 2hr information session at the shelter so I'm hoping I will learn most things there.

Here are a few questions I have. 

When do kittens start scratching?

What toys are the best for kittens?

Do kittens pee a lot? Do they like to mark their territory like puppies/dogs?

Do you think a kitten will be able to climb out of the playpen?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I would assume the kitten(s) you will be fostering will be around 4-8 wks old. Just FYI...kittens this young *should* be fostered in pairs as they are learning so much from each other at this age. It is VERY important that they learn proper kitty social skills (you can read on this site about a lot of behavior problems that kittens have when they are taken from the momma cat at an early age and are only kittens.)

To answer you questions...
I think the playpen should be ok. Just make sure the kitten can not get stuck in between the bars. I typically place kittens under 6 wks old in a bathtub with all the necessities as they cannot get out nor harm themselves. Over 6 weeks on the go either in a bathroom or in one of our Guardian Gear Pioneer crates (pic attached.) I prefer this over the wired crates b/c kittens cannot get stuck in them.
Kittens typically start scratching on surfaces around 8-10 wks old. They will climb up things sooner because they cannot jump (they will climb up couches, bedding simply to get on top, not for scratching purposes.)

As for kitten toys: Balls with bells in them, mice toys, Cat Crazies, tracks with balls in them (Star Chaser or Cheese Chaser.) Stay away from ribbons, yarn and string..these can be ingested and cause serious intestinal problems.

Also, make sure you are provided NON-clumping litter.

Have fun and thank you for becoming a foster!!

I adopted a ginger female in March and 2 weeks later we found out she was pregnant, she gave birth on the 20th April to 6 kittens, when they were 3 weeks old we put them into a pet pen which contained them while we're out of the house at work. It has been a Godsend and as they got bigger we brought a 2nd one and sewed them together so that they had a sleeping compartment and a play area. The top has a netting zip on cover and we used to cover it with a blanket at night so they would settle down. The bottom is separate and is velcroed to the sides so you can take it out to wash it. you can easily get 2litter trays inside. I covered the bottom with a fleecy blanket to keep it warm and I placed newspaper underneath it as I had it on carpet. heres a picture of one similar to ours with a manufacturers description, you can buy them on eBay.

Fabric Pet Play Pen
Colour: BLUE
Panels: 8 panels
Lightweight, portable and fully assembled
Easy to fold flat, easy storage
Can be used both indoors and outdoors
Quick and easy soft sided playpen for home and travel
Two roll up and zipped doors
4 metal hooks to hold the play pen onto ground if necessary
Floor cover is waterproof and removable easy to clean bottom
8 Panels with mesh for air flow and visibility
Detachable Mesh Cover for shade and security
Side storage pockets provide a place to keep handy things
Suitable for dogs, cats, puppies, rabbits, guinea pigs and many other house pets
Our safe and expandable pen makes it great for play, exercise and house training. This pen sets up completely just in seconds, and no tools or connection pieces are required! What's more, the SASCOM Pet Playpen is perfect for hamsters, hedgehogs, gerbils, guinea pigs and many other house pets
Choosing your product size and colour:

1) Small, (W)37cm x (H)37cm, 90cm diameter and colour blue, SAS-FPP3

2) Medium, (W)61cm x (H)61cm , 145cm diameter and colour blue, SAS-FPP6

3) Large, (W)61cm x (H)76cm, 145cm diameter and colour blue, SAS-FPP9

Hope this helps.

Thank you both for your help. It is much appreciated and extremely helpful as I don't know very much about kittens!

I had seen the fabric pens before and I didn't realize the bottom is separate and you can wash it, that's why I ruled it out.. But now I like the idea of the fabric one. Does it get hot inside? Is it well ventilated? I live in Australia and it gets pretty warm inside when the sun comes in through the windows. It is just coming in to summer now and we do have aircon but we don't use it all the time. I definitely think any playpen with a cover on it would get way too hot, but I could just take it off.

What size do you think would be suitable for 1-3 kittens?

1) Small, (W)37cm x (H)37cm, 90cm diameter and colour blue, SAS-FPP3
2) Medium, (W)61cm x (H)61cm , 145cm diameter and colour blue, SAS-FPP6
3) Large, (W)61cm x (H)76cm, 145cm diameter and colour blue, SAS-FPP9

I don't know if I'd be able to handle more than 1 kitten, but if the shelter asks/recommends me to take more than one I definitely will.

Good thing you told me to avoid ribbons/string cause I was just about to go out and buy those! Jeesh I really need to be careful!

Just another question, how long approximately will it take to have the kitten litter box trained? I know all kittens are different and I'm assuming it will depend on the age of the kitten. Is it only recommended to start litter box training it after it reaches a certain age?

Thanks again

I put the litter box in the pen when the kittens had been eating wet food for about a week, at approx 5/6 weeks old. Mum was still in the pen with them and they had been watching Mum use it. This might be difficult if you only have 1 kitten though.

( QUOTE ) I've been told the best way to litter train is to pick it up and put it in the litter box after it goes to the bathroom. My friend said you can also reward them with a cat treat when they use the litter box. Any other suggestions?

I've read that before on several other posts also if you see them wee, wipe up the mess with kitchen roll and place that in the litter tray so they associate the smell with the tray.

I would suggest the medium size playpen if you are having 1-3 kittens. That will give you plenty of room for them. You could always get another one and do what I did and sew them together if you have the room. It would also depend how long you will be fostering them for. If its only a short time then 1 will be fine. They don't get hot as all the side panels have a netting part and air circulates easily. I now only have 4 of the kittens as 2 of them moved out with my daughter last month when she got married, and I still have the pen up and when they get abit rambunctious, I put them in the one to calm down. ( they are now 6 months old and can run riot at times). In fact I had the female spayed on Thursday and to keep the boys away from her for the 1st 36 hours after the op so they didn't go and mess about with her wound, I have been alternating them in and out the pen. And next Friday the boys are being done so will use it again. In fact I would say that it was one of the best buys we've made.