First time cat Mom

Hello,

I've never had a cat before (or a dog) but will be getting a 10 week old Siberian kitten on May 10th.  My husband and I have a single daughter age 4 who is very gentle with pets and shows a lot of love for them.  

I am curious about many things.  1) First, I feel guilty because we are only getting one kitten.  I wanted to get a Siberian cat because I have slight allergies but also so people who are allergic can visit and stay at my house.  The cost of this purebreed prevents me from getting a second one at least for another year.  My husband and I are both teachers and our family will be able to spend a lot of time with the kitten starting mid-June, (at least for the summer) but for that first month he will be alone.  I've read that Siberians are very social and that I should get two.  How horrible will this be to just have one?  Any advice? I've heard to leave them in a closed room while we're gone when they're a kitten with a good scratching post and of course the litter box and safe toys.

2)  How do I do scratch training?  This is my biggest concern.  It seems like cat owners I know just say that losing your furniture is part of owning a cat.  We just bought a house and have new furniture- a faux leather- and I'm worried it'll be ruined.  Even though we bought an expensive cat, our savings is not that big.

3)  Where is a good place to find good scratching posts, pads, trees?  Is it best to get all 3.  Do I need multiples of any of those if we live in a 2-story house?

4)  I bought purrdy-paws (soft claws) but I just read a thread about how they don't fit kittens too well, they can get caught on things, and cats chew them off.  Does clipping your cats nails once a week really help?  Is it easy enough to do- I'm worried I won't know how and I'll make a mistake.

Thank you for your advice.!

Bonnie

Hi Bonnie and welcome to the site 

You've come to the right place, we have a couple of members here who have Siberians, one of which is a kitten. l'm sure they'll be a ton of help.

As for the generic advice:

Scratch training is easy. l haven't had any damage whatsoever (past kittenhood) from any cats clawing. They have all 3 types of scratchers throughout the house and they use them often. One of my cats prefers the horizontal one, but they all use the vertical and the inclined ones. lt's important to have all types located throughout the house so they're more inclined to use them. You can find them in any store like Walmart, it doesn't have to be a pet store.

Nail clipping is very easy and if you start in kittenhood it will become a pleasurable experience for kitty, much like grooming. l play with my cats' toes all the time so they're used to it and regard it as petting. lf your kitten has transparent nails they'll be easier to clip because it's important not to cut as far back as the quick.

l've never used Soft Paws so l can't offer any thoughts on those.

Good luck with your new kitten, l'm sure he'll be a wonderful addition to your family.

Please share some pictures when you get him.

How exciting to get your first kitty!  Male or female?  Is he/she named yet?  

I have no specific knowledge about Siberians so I don't know anything about just getting one.  As far as "scratch training", I have had the same experience as @Andrya.   In many years of having cats, I have never had furniture ruined.  However, the trade-off for unscratched furniture in my case has been a house strewn with cat toys!     I have vertical scratchers and horizontal scratchers, made of sisal, carpet, and cardboard.  I have tunnels, ping-pong balls, and toy mice everywhere.  But they have enough to keep them occupied when they're indoors and they have never bothered with our furniture.

To answer your question number three, I would say yes. wherever the cat will be, it will be good to have things to entertain him!  

I also agree about the nail clipping.  I started handling my three cats' paws early on, and I clip their nails regularly.  

Welcome to TCS!  

Thank you Betsygee and Andrya!  We're getting a female and I think we're going to name her Mizette  (my husband is french and minou means kitty and I thought mizette sounded cute- pronounced meezette)

I feel much more optimistic about the whole furniture not being scratched up.  I will start looking into getting multiple scratchers and lots of toys. Thanks for the suggestions of ping pong balls and tunnels (yea, we have some tunnels from my daughter- or do they need to be cat type tunnels).

Reading on the internet I saw stuff about "best quality scratchers" and even "best quality toys" is this more marketing than anything.  Basically are all pet store cat toys safe and are scratchers and trees basically ok at Walmart?  

I'm excited to have found this site, especially seeing how helpful you have been already.  I want my kitten to grow up happy and have what she needs.  I am also glad to know I can feel confident with what I do now that I have your help!

Bonnie

You can get furniture repellant that you can wipe onto furniture to keep cats from scratching. We have one that is citrus scent and it smells nice to humans (and quite subtle).
Also, make sure you have plenty of scratching posts etc. If you do catch kitty scratching something she's not allowed to, say a firm no and remove her, and take her to one of her scratching posts. It's even a good idea to take her around to all the scratching posts you get, and hold her paws and encourage her to scratch those. A variety of textures is good, too, as some like that sisal rope, some like carpet, some like that rough sandpaper type stuff.
I agree with the others about nail clipping, too. Cats don't like having their paws touched much, but get the kitten used to it. I just got my kitten a few days ago, and I haven't trimmed her claws yet, but I have been touching her paws and gently squeezing them like you will need to do to get the claws to come out when trimming. I usually do it when she's relaxed and laying next to me, give her a pat then massage her paws a bit, then give her a bit more of a pat.
The main thing with cat trees (especially tall ones) is to make sure the base is not just one post (unless it's really thick or is made from metal). We bought a tall tree thing off eBay (about 7ft tall) but it has five posts at the base to make it stable.
If you're not going to be home through the day, plenty of toys. My daughter made a playhouse for our kitten using different size boxes to make a tunnel with annexes, and cut some holes/ windows in it for her to climb through or poke a paw through.
Also, you will need to kitten proof the house, especially any room that she'll be confined to while she settles in or you're not home. Basically any dangers to small children applies to kittens, but also factor in that kittens can get behind things like washing machines or desks etc, and some like to chew power cables, so unplug stuff if you can or block the entrance up with something.

Thank you... great advice!  I read about plants that are poisonous to cats such as peace lilies.  It is imperative I get rid of those too.  We have lots of stuffed plugged in the house.  Should I get cord protectors for everything besides unplugging whatever is connected in the room we have her stay in?  

beesto said:

 
(yea, we have some tunnels from my daughter- or do they need to be cat type tunnels).

Bonnie

Click to expand...

Haha, I've never seen a tunnel for kids, I've only bought them for cats!  

you are going to make a great mum I can just tell!! congratulations on embarking on this wonderful journey. it is always better to stick to one rather than be financially constricted just to get two, vet bills can be very expensive if (god forbid) anything were to go wrong! in my experience the first few months of socialisation are very vital in determining the temperament of the cat. if you are teachers i assume that you will be able to spend evening and weekends with him? just make sure that all the time you are at home you are spending as much time with him as possible, playing, cuddling and stroking. some cats can have more social temperaments than others but inherently cats are solitary animals, unlike dogs, they do not require constant stimulation, leaving him to his own devices for a few hours a day should be fine. 

Yes, we will be sure to spend plenty of time with her, playing with her and giving her lots of attention when we are home.  I am tempted to keep her at the cattery (a family that keeps them in the house and plays with them) until mid-June when my husband and I are on summer vacation, but we're so excited to have her.  I hope the time playing with her will be enough to keep her happy and emotionally healthy!  Does everyone think I should wait till she's 15 weeks old to get her and let her stay with her breeder family.  I want her to be super well adjusted.  I think I'm worrying too much, but it's my first cat and I don't want to mess her up.

I made the mistake of googling what a Siberian kitten looks like--NOW I WANT ONE!! So cute. 

I only have a few other points that other posters didn't yet touch on,

1. I got my kitten when he was 3 wks (he was a shelter orphan), and so he never learned to socialize with other kittens when he was young. I really believe that this has lent to later behavioral issues such as playing too rough. That might be something to consider in your decision to leave your new kitten with the breeder until she is well socialized. 

2. I would hold off on buying too many scratchers because they can be a big waste if your cat isn't into them. For instance, my cat won't scratch on cardboard (which stinks, they're the cheapest and easy to replace), and he won't scratch horizontally, so I have to buy vertical carpet scratchers. I had two cats previously and they never went for fun cat trees. In my opinion, though, any cat will go for any kind of perch as long as it's in front of a window. 

3. Cats love tunnels! Any kind will do. My cat goes crazy for the crinkly ones. I assume your daughter's are probably made of a similar material, like a nylon.

4. I think cord chewing is overhyped. If your cat has other things to play with, and if you correct the behavior early if you see it, you shouldn't have to go nuts to cat proof them. I'm not saying it's not a real danger, but in my opinion a cat with more appealing alternatives (rattle mice, ping pong balls, pom poms, interactive wand toys) won't go for cords when he's alone. 

this really is a great site, it's been a huge help for me raising my cat.  

Edit: I forgot to mention, the only reviews I pay attention to while shopping are Amazon's top sellers. From there, I learned that DaBird is an essential toy, also the round ball-in-track with the cardboard scratcher in the middle (like I said he doesn't use the scratcher but likes to sit there at least), the crinkle tunnel (it was like $10), and the "cat dancer" (felt-like string on a wand). 

Have fun!!

I think you will be fine! I'm a teacher as well and I got a kitten a few months ago, and I live alone. Just play with her plenty when you're home and she will be fine. With 3 of you in the house she'll get plenty of socialization!

I only mentioned the power cords as my Delilah was biting them the first time she got to explore the house, she hasn't seemed to have touched them at all since (have had her just over a week now). I also think she was biting them because she's teething. We also seem to have an over abundance of cords in our house, the area off our living room is our music room which has cords from an electric keyboard, an electric drum kit, bass guitar, electric guitar, and all the amps. Hubby spent a fair bit of time kitten-proofing all of those (then unplugging them all). My last cat never once bit a cable that I know of. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Like I said, she hasn't bit any since she tried several the first day, but was promptly told no and removed from the scene of the crime.

Yes, so many cords in a house I was feeling overwhelmed.... but I am going to take them out of my daughters room where we are going to have the kitten stay in while we're gone just to be safe.  She doesn't have much anyway.  

That might be best. When I first got Luna I took the cords out of my extra bedroom. There were only a couple, but wanted to be safe, she got into all kinds of stuff when she was confined to that room.

But after she moved to full house roaming she's never bothered cord. If she does you can always put bitter apple on the cords (http://www.thecatsite.com/products/grannick-bitter-apple-spray-with-dabber-top-for-cats). My friend's cat leaves all cords alone, but tried to chew her macbook cord, she uses this and he leaves it alone.

May 10 is less than three weeks away--are you getting excited?  

Hi Betsygee!  Yes, I am so excited!  I think about it all the time.  A new addition to the family!  And when I'm doing things around the house I already want to be petting her and playing with her.  It's fun to daydream about.  My husband wants to change her name to Lily.  I agreed.  Sounds cute to me.

I just keep having more and more questions.  So many unknowns.  I'm glad there's this site.

Aw, how fun.  Can't wait to see photos of the new baby.