need a kitten section

We need a section just on kittens. I have my first kitten in 12 years... I'm rusty and want to read everything people have said about kittens, their eating, discipline and all that but its awfully hard to track when its everywhere.

I would go to the Breeding section. Breeders have more experience with kittens than many of our members. However, those breeders read the Cat Lounge and Nutrition posts also. I breed an occasional litter of Siamese kittens, and read posts from every part of the CatSite. Of course, Sandie and Ken are real experts. Hissy, who cares for feral cats and kittens, has a great deal of knowledge of kittens.

and why would you even think about disciplining a kitten? a kitten is such a bundle of energy, and yes the kitty will wear you down in about 2 seconds flat, but you don't discipline such a young spirit. Instead you kitty proof your home, and hold on to your hat while you ride the kitten play hurricane.....lol

I believe that Anne is working on an all-inclusive page about kitty care, but the problem there is that there are to many questions, to many things going on all at once, it is hard to cover everything. Just post your questions here and the members will answer them to the best of their ability. I deal with wild cats so my advice may sound strange to some. For example in order to get the new kitty interested in drinking water, I take a clear bowl, fill it with scrubbed rocks and put the rocks in the bottom of the bowl mimicing a stream or pond that the kitty's ancestors would have drank from. That sort of thing. Sandie is an endless supply of good kitty information and I turn to her often when I am in a bind myself. One of the most important tools to have for a kitty is a rope sisal cat post. This will blunt the nails, and also give the kitty a chance to mark her territory, as the pads of the feet are scent glands that kitty uses to trace her way around her new place. See all kinds of information. Here is a pretty good site for reading and research, I would start there. Cat Basics

I don't know what I need to know yet. My last cat, who died recently... when he was a kitten he knew just what to do... he was perfect. My new kitten is biting fingers and jumping on toes, I read another post about this somewhere. Its little stuff like that which I would like to know about. Right now I'm trying to teach her no when she wants to chase fingers. I already have a squirt bottle in case she decides to scratch the furniture. At the moment its only the biting the fingers that I really want to nip in the bud before it becomes a real problem.

The best way to stop this behaviour is to have a small stuffie on hand (i use a beanie baby) just offer the stuffie to kitty in place of fingers when kitty wants to bite. Soft chew toys work as well as a peace offering. Don't rub kitty's belly vigourously with fingers, most kittens look at this like an act of war. Also don't play blanket war with kitty, you know, stick your hand underneath the blanket and wiggle them to make kitty pounce on them. Kitty knows those are fingers under there, and fingers instead of being nice and gentle are now considered prey as they have attacked kitty. It is little stuff like that. Keep interactive play limited to peacock feathers or toys on a stick, something the cat can look at and pounce on so no one will get hurt, or no fingers will get munched. Your best deterrent to discouraging behaviour you don't want is noise. A few pennies in an empty soda can, a strip of tin foil waved in the direction, even a whistle will startle kitty out of behaviour. Also, my posts may have sounded harsh, and for that I apologize. I am not up to par right now and meant no disrespect towards you. I applaud you for taking in yet another kitty so soon, and believe it will further your healing. Again, if I sounded harsh, it is not my style and I apologize if I hurt anyones feelings.

Oh thats alright. Its easy to misunderstand when someone talks about disciplining an animal.

You could also try reading some of the archived threads which have a lot of good general information about the care of kittens. Just use the search button near the top of this page and type in the appropriate key words, the kitten related threads will be pulled up. Also the kitten will probably be learning some things by watching your older cat's behavior.

I just hope she doesn't learn to jump on the counter! I'm still working on making Isabel not do that!

Good luck with your new kitten.