Bringing a 9 weeks old Kitten home from Shelter

I have a 9 month old old female kitten at home and I'm thinking about adopting another one, so they could keep company. I went to a shelter yesterday and saw a 9 weeks old kitten, she's very playful, and seems to be healthy. I asked the shelter staff about her background, but they seem to know very littler about her. My question is, is 9 weeks old too young to leave the mom cat? and thus have some sort of problem like not learning how to cover her business in the litter box properly? If that's the case, would I be able to teach her? or would she stay like that forever?

Your older cat should be able to teach her because if they use the same litter box then she/he wont want uncovered stuff in there.

Originally Posted by Phenomsmom

Your older cat should be able to teach her because if they use the same litter box then she/he wont want uncovered stuff in there.

Click to expand...

icic. any other things that i should be aware of? i brought my older one home when she's 7 months old, 9 weeks is certainly very young for me and i'm a bit nervous about it, not sure if i'm the right person to take care of her.

I'm sure she'll be fine. Follow the advice in the thread and article about introducing a new cat/kitten into the home and do make sure she is up to date on her flea and worm treatment and her vaccinations. Other than that, lots of toys and love, introduce any change in food slowly and, most importantly, relax!

And don't forget to take photos. we like photos.

anne

At 9 weeks they should know how to use litter and eat. It is recommended 10-12 weeks to take the kitten from mom and siblings - not earlier, but this is for home-tame cats. For ex-ferals, or cats in shelters, it may - and for ferals should be earlier IF there is a permanent loving home waiting. As it is easier to socialize the ex ferals if they quite young. More difficult later.
And you do have a cat home. If she is kind to the lilttle one - this will be super. Either if she will be foster mom or older sister and playpal...

You should do fine!

I don't think 9 weeks is too young to bring them home. I brought mine home at 8 weeks, and who knows how long they were seperated from their mom already I do want to mention that if you've never had a kitten before you're in for some fun lol. Usually it's a good idea to have a seperate area that you can keep them in when you're not home. Also kittens are very very messy! I used to keep mine in the bathroom at night and every morning I woke up to poo kicked up on the walls and streaked on the tile. I'm in no way saying that it's a bad idea, just make sure you have enough time to handle them lol Usually 2 cats won't get along right away and aquanting them can be very stressfull. But when everything's said and done it's completly worth it!

The 9 weeks old is already taken when I went to the shelter again. So Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m on my search for another one now. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve already set up a kitten room for the new cat, planning to keep him/her there for at least 1 week, while I bring her to do all the necessary health checkup and vaccination, then after that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll slowly introduce the kitten to Nana.

While I went to shelters over the weekend, I saw a couple kitten that doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t cover their business, but then I saw their sibling/friend cover it for them, sooo nice! I hope Nana would take care of her future friend too.

Thanks for the replies!

Hehe I find some cats are *neater* than others...even as they get older.

While I went to shelters over the weekend, I saw a couple kitten that doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t cover their business, but then I saw their sibling/friend cover it for them

My guys SELDOM cover their business. As a matter of fact, the other night (MIDDLE of the night) Kotton got hungry and of all the 8 litterboxes in the house she came into MY ROOM and did a poop and did not cover it.

Needless to say the smell woke me and I saw an "innocent" looking Kotton smiling up at me as if to say " I didn't do it but I AM hungry!" LOL! I picked it up sprayed the room and fed her. Then I went back to bed again. Darn smart cat!