Caring for Young Kitten

I'm hoping to gain some general insight on caring for a young kitten.

At what age should the kitten be able to roam free? Do you out the kitten away when you can't watch him or at night? How did you integrate your kitten in a house with dogs? Do kittens get into trouble like puppies? What should I watch out for in terms of keeping the kitten safe from things like electrical wires, etc? At what age should I start litter box training?

Sorry about all the questions that probably seem like common sense to the rest. If you can share any other relevant info would be greatly appreciated, every tiny little detail would really help me a lot.

Cheddar said:

 
I'm hoping to gain some general insight on caring for a young kitten.

At what age should the kitten be able to roam free? Do you out the kitten away when you can't watch him or at night? How did you integrate your kitten in a house with dogs? Do kittens get into trouble like puppies? What should I watch out for in terms of keeping the kitten safe from things like electrical wires, etc? At what age should I start litter box training?

Sorry about all the questions that probably seem like common sense to the rest. If you can share any other relevant info would be greatly appreciated, every tiny little detail would really help me a lot.

Click to expand...

I am posting a link to the articles section of this site. www.thecatsite.com/atype/45/Cat_Care  It will give you basic lessons on cats.

How old is your kitten? It should already be litter-box trained if it is old enough (10-12 weeks) to be away from its mother.

I'll move this thread to the Pregnant Cat & Kitten Care forum. There should be people there who are more experienced working with young kittens.

They become more movable at about 6 weeks, and it increases more and more.  Yes, you must kitten-safe everything as well as you can..   Although they must have some freedom to run around, to try out, to experiment, even if it is somewhat risky...   This is part of life itself...

She seems pretty young, so above all, you must be very mommy to her.

I will return later during the day / evening, to write in some more, unless others step in.

Good luck!

StefanZ said:

 
They become more movable at about 6 weeks, and it increases more and more.  Yes, you must kitten-safe everything as well as you can..   Although they must have some freedom to run around, to try out, to experiment, even if it is somewhat risky...   This is part of life itself...

She seems pretty young, so above all, you must be very mommy to her.

I will return later during the day / evening, to write in some more, unless others step in.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you! Please come back when you get a chance. :-)

A few weeks ago my 10 week old kitten stormed out of the bathroom and behind the couch.

When she came out she was covered head to toe in water. She had fallen in the toilet and gotten out herself, thank goodness.

This morning at 16 weeks she jumped in a half full bathtub. Apparently she hasn't learned anything about trying to jump onto things she can't see.

So yes, kitten proofing is needed.

I kept mine in a dog crate until she was 12 weeks. Then it was clear she knew what a little box was for and she was too big to get anywhere really dangerous in our house. Behind the dishwasher and stove were by biggest fear. Both were easy to get to, but not so easy to get out of for. Tiny kitten.

I really never trusted her to roam about much, but she was older than yours, 8 weeks when we got her. Her mom was feral and had time to Instill some fear of humans.

I can only say what I did, which I mostly did with help from here.

Datagrrl said:

A few weeks ago my 10 week old kitten stormed out of the bathroom and behind the couch.

When she came out she was covered head to toe in water. She had fallen in the toilet and gotten out herself, thank goodness.

This morning at 16 weeks she jumped in a half full bathtub. Apparently she hasn't learned anything about trying to jump onto things she can't see.

So yes, kitten proofing is needed.

I kept mine in a dog crate until she was 12 weeks. Then it was clear she knew what a little box was for and she was too big to get anywhere really dangerous in our house. Behind the dishwasher and stove were by biggest fear. Both were easy to get to, but not so easy to get out of for. Tiny kitten.

I really never trusted her to roam about much, but she was older than yours, 8 weeks when we got her. Her mom was feral and had time to Instill some fear of humans.

I can only say what I did, which I mostly did with help from here.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the info. I assume you keep a small litter box inside the crate too? At what age did you litter box train? How is it done? How do I know when the kitten can eliminate on its own without my help to stimulate?

He is still on formula, should I start to wean him onto regular kitten food?

I feel like i'm being annoying with so many questions. Sorry.

We used a small crate at first, then a big crate. Both we used the smallest little box.

Mine was older, so I fed her dry food and we used wet food to bribe her. Like I said she was very scared of us, different situation.

Everyone welcomes your questions. There are some great articles on here about nutrition, so that might give you more info about weaning him.

If you can't crate him, keep him to one room until he has the little thing down. If your house is big I would add extra boxes. There little bodies are too small to hold it long once they realize they have to go.

I only have about 400 sq feet she has access to and she was 12 weeks when she was allowed free roam of that. So she was fine.

I have been using a crate since I have 6 dogs. Should I put a small litter box in his crate now or is it more effective to stimulate him to go then put him in it?

I never did but I had 3 kittens at once. We made sure to have enough litter boxes and the new cat tree was a God-send. I want at least one more as we have 4 cats with Wallypops.
FUNNY THING... my kittens often sleep in my dog's kennel. No idea why, but if my dog isn't in the kennel and we are not home... they go sleep in the kennel. More than Louie the dog does.
So far no issues... however, never say never. Wally is much more curious and I expect for him to get into some trouble. LOL Luckily... the girls are all "Mom's" to him. They do keep an eye on him.