My First Cat

Hi. I am new to the site and to the world of cats. My kitten Smudge is a 6 month old neutered male.

I was told he was a girl so got a bit if a shock when I took him in to be spayed and they called me to say he was a boy! He had been to the vets several times for his injections, nail clipping etc. but no one had noticed.

He is going to be an indoor cat for safety reasons.

I have already found lots of helpful information on the site and it seems like a really friendly place to come.

Welcome Smudge and human, to TCS. I've owned cats my whole life. I must say I've learned more about cats on this site than I really care to know.

You'll love our community. Post some pics of Smudge when you get a chance.

Thank you for the welcome. I have added some photos but have yet to work out how to get them on this post!

I saw the photos of your kitty Smudge, he is so cute!!  

I PM'ed you regarding the photo issue.  :-)

Thank you. I think of that cute innocent face when he's clinging on to my leg biting it [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Hopefully here are some photos. View media item 206472

Welcome! Your kitty is so cute, looks like my sweet Sally. She went to kitty heaven after a long and wonderful life. I was laughing about your remarks about his biting. Tiki still likes to bite but not like when he was a kitten. I tried everything because he really bit hard. He knows it's wrong but that's just him. He is the most loving cat I've ever had so I will put up with his wildness sometimes. I have been told many times that male cats are more loving so you might be happy thay you have a little boy.

Hi and thank you. I am sorry for your loss. I don't mind at all that he is a little boy and he is very sweet.

Sadly he doesn't like to be touched unless I'm feeding him and then he rubs up against me and rubs his cheek on my hand. He lets me get a quick stroke in if I'm lucky but is more than happy to grab my hand with both paws and bite me - little monkey! Luckily never hard and he has never scratched me so I must be thankful and keep reinforcing the message that it's wrong.

I have never used my hands to play with him so I hope eventually he will stop.

I read as many threads possible to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Thank you. You sound like you love him so much that I'm sure you're doing everything just fine. I don't think there's a wrong way when you care.

I carried Tiki around all the time because he was so little like Smudge when I adopted him. He is just feisty and loves to play. Now he's very big but still feisty and loves to play. :kitty3:

Yes some kittens are a bit more frisky than others. I have always found that for young and old cats alike, positive reinforcement is the best way to stop unwanted behavior.

When Beans used to bite I'd give her a firm NO and walk away. The key though was to praise her constantly when she did good things.

When she ate- Good girl!
... played with her toys- Good Girl!
... Used her litter box -GG!

You get the idea.

Thanks. Yes I always try to do that and I do think he bites a little less than before. Partly because I now don't pick him up and I only pet him at meal times and give him a quick stroke in the morning and when I come in from work. He comes to sit with me but before every time he jumped on the sofa the first thing he would do is bite my arm. Now he doesn't always do that.

I am also trying a bit of training at the moment - not to go on the kitchen work surfaces. Particularly when I am trying to cook! The sss cat is working wonders. However, along with this I am trying to encourage him to sit on the kitchen stool instead so he can be with me and still see what's going on.

So yesterday evening while I was trying to prepare a meal, without setting the sss cat off myself I encouraged him on to the stool, and gave him a treat each time he sat up there. That seemed to go well so I will keep trying that. I might also buy him a radiator seat at that would be more comfortable than the stool.

He's adorable..... He also has a mischievous look about him as well

smudge is so adorable!

and welcome to TCS you're gonna love this place!

i have a black kitty too, her name is Jet, she will be 6 mo. old this month, and she looks just like smudge even with the little patch of white on the chest!

Thank you, everyone is so kind. How do I get to see pictures of all your lovely cats?

you can click on my name and go to my profile. scroll down and you'll see the pics of my kitties and you're gonna see!! smudge and jet are twins!!

the tabby is Charlie, my 7 mo. old. they're bffs

the last pic is of when i first adopted Jet at 8 weeks (on the left) and Jet now (a couple weeks ago)

They are so sweet and you're right Jet and Smudge could be related! Having never had cats before I can't believe how quickly they grow!