New Kitten Owners - dumb questions

Hey everybody,

This is our first post since we just brought home our first kitten last night (he's 6 weeks old). We have a few questions that are probably dumb:

1. We let him sleep on our bed last night but he only sleeps in 2-3 hour increments and then wakes us up and won't go back to sleep until we play with him for a bit. Is this normal? Is there anything we can do to get a full night's sleep?

2. Is he too young to leave on his own for a few hours? We both work 7-4 but can come home on lunch to pay attention to him.

3. When leaving him alone, is it OK to give him free reign of the apartment? It's pretty well cat-proofed.

4. He seems to have trouble seeing his water, gets scared when his nose hits it, and won't drink it. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for helping out a couple of first time kitten owners!

1-maybe you could put him out of your room at night, or play with him Alot in the evening to tire him out.
2-He's a little young and really should still be with his momma but in the absence of a playmate you should try to be there as often as possible. Consider getting another kitten maybe?
3-If I were you I'd confine him to 1 room for a week or so to ensure he knows where his litter tray/food bowls are and so he gets confident in his surroundings. When I first got my kittens it took them 3 weeks to work out there was actually a world beyond the living room
4-This one I'm less sure of but I'd try moving it around in the bowl or show him running water so he can actually see it. As long as he's being fed wet food and he's eating alright he should be ok for water. Maybe you could colour the water with a couple of drops of milk. Dilute, the lactose shouldn't be a problem.
Hope this helps!
Also pictures are always welcome

Originally Posted by FiZiX

Hey everybody,

This is our first post since we just brought home our first kitten last night (he's 6 weeks old).

We have a few questions that are probably dumb:

1. We let him sleep on our bed last night but he only sleeps in 2-3 hour increments and then wakes us up and won't go back to sleep until we play with him for a bit. Is this normal? Is there anything we can do to get a full night's sleep?

2. Is he too young to leave on his own for a few hours? We both work 7-4 but can come home on lunch to pay attention to him.

3. When leaving him alone, is it OK to give him free reign of the apartment? It's pretty well cat-proofed.

4. He seems to have trouble seeing his water, gets scared when his nose hits it, and won't drink it. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for helping out a couple of first time kitten owners!

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Welcome Fizix.....6 weeks is awfully young to be seperated from his mom and his siblings. He will barely be weaned at that age. What you may want to do is provide him with some KMR in a bowl...it is kitten milk replacment.

As for sleeping for only 2-3 hours at a time....that is a kitten for you. Most likely he is getting the majority of his sleep while you are at work and wants to "play" while you are at home. One thing that may help is to get him a kitten friend. But kittens in general do have sleep/wake cycles that are very different from adults. Playing with him (with a feather toy) and providing a can of wet food before you go to bed may help him to sleep longer...but just to give you an example...my cats took 5 years before would sleep the whole night with me.

As far as giving him free reign of the apartment...I would still wait a few weeks before he has free reign.

Katie

I strongly believe that all kittens should be adopted in pairs and that you should consider adopting a friend for him. This will cut down on the crazy nighttime behavior and ensure that he is properly socialized. I really believe that with your schedule, you're running the risk of him becoming bored and therefore destructive, aggressive and perhaps, inevitably reclusive and undersocialized with people and other animals. Also, he is waaaay too young to be away from Mamacat. At his age, he needs attention 24/7 and having another kitten would help with this. Ideally, kittens should not be separated from mom until 10-12 weeks.

To help at night, if you can't get another kitten, try getting a couple little toys a put some on the bed and some on the floor. When he wakes up he should play with the toys rather than demanding attention from you.

Even though cat's are domesticated, they are still nocturnal animals and have most of their fun during the night.

Cats are crepuscular which is why they go nuts at 5 in the morning and 9 at night. But kittens have more irregular sleeping patterns because they're growing so much they need all the sleep they can get.

First of all a 6 week old kitten should be with its mother - and should not be in a new home till about 10-12 weeks old. At 6 weeks, they are barely litter trained and weaned.

The kittens learn to drink water even after a few dips on the nose. But 6 weeks is still learning. Kittens sleep a little at a time, its normal.

As far as letting him on his own - NO way would I allow a 6 week old kitten to explore with no supervision - way too many dangers to get themselves into. You'd do best to put him in a room like a bathroom or small bedroom where he cannot hurt himself.

Where did you get the kitten?

Welcome to TCS! I agree with the other posts, but a suggestion on the water - put a few round pebbles in the bottom of his bowl - that will help him see the water and judge the distance better.

mouses babies are 6 weeks today and i would not dream of homeing them yet,that is way too young,they are not properly weaned,and only have eyes for mum.we are actually keeping the kittens,im just trying to make a point.

I have to agree with everyone that 6 weeks is a little young to be away from the kittie's mom, however, 9 out of 10 ads in the paper (if you got the kitten out of the paper) say that the kittens are 6 weeks old. That seems to be the average age on non-breed kittens to go to a new home. I got my 3 new kittens from the paper from two different owners (3 different litters) and they were all 6 weeks when I got them. They are 7 and 8 weeks now and they are doing wonderfully. They didn't need any KMR and were eating solid kitten food just fine when I brought them home. It does help, however, that I got more than one kitten. I had them isolated to two rooms for a week before I let them have the run of the house and I haven't had any problems with them whatsoever, even with my older kitty Michoud who is a little over a year old.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Rascal has been doing great these past few days. He no longer wakes us up at night, he's been eating dry food with a little bit of water, and he's been drinking his water with a splash of milk in it (as suggested here). He's been fine at home by himself but we've been keeping him confined to the living room/kitchen area.

Here are some pics of him. Enjoy!

Your little kitty is just precious!!! I just want to pick him up and cuddle him!!!

hey there,
something my mom has always used with a kitten or puppy is an alarm clock. if you put it under the blanket in the pet's basket they tend to sleep much easier. the pet was left to sleep in a room for a week before letting it roam around the house freely at night. this really helped with the animals at night time when they were young. hope that helps a bit.

Originally Posted by mackenziepiper

hey there,
something my mom has always used with a kitten or puppy is an alarm clock. if you put it under the blanket in the pet's basket they tend to sleep much easier. the pet was left to sleep in a room for a week before letting it roam around the house freely at night. this really helped with the animals at night time when they were young. hope that helps a bit.

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I assume you mean an old fashioned alarm clock that ticks, not a digital one, correct?

This is our first post since we just brought home our first kitten last night (he's 6 weeks old). We have a few questions that are probably dumb:

1. We let him sleep on our bed last night but he only sleeps in 2-3 hour increments and then wakes us up and won't go back to sleep until we play with him for a bit. Is this normal? Is there anything we can do to get a full night's sleep? Yes this is normal. To try to get full nights sleep do some heavy playing right before bed. He should sleep a bit longer than 2-3 hours. In this play session make sure that he gets really tired out.

2. Is he too young to leave on his own for a few hours? We both work 7-4 but can come home on lunch to pay attention to him. You can leave him alone for a few hours, but I would make sure he is in a very safe area. It's a wonderful idea to come home at lunch to check on him.

3. When leaving him alone, is it OK to give him free reign of the apartment? It's pretty well cat-proofed. I would still keep him in an enclosed area for the time being. Wait a few more weeks to give him free reign.

4. He seems to have trouble seeing his water, gets scared when his nose hits it, and won't drink it. Is there anything I can do? My only suggestion here is to get a wide stainless steel bowl, one for a dog, and that may help. You also may want to try a fountain.

Thanks for helping out a couple of first time kitten owners!

No questions are dumb, I'm glad you asked them, it means you want to do what is best for your baby.

yeah one with the arms the blanket muffles it a bit so it isn't too loud...and it kind of sounds like a heart beat. guess the kittens think they're with their mom.

Your kitten is adorable, and im sure he has a loving home, when we first got misty we also had her brother Shadow who unfortunatley died of FIP (there aren't any vacinations for this) But we kept them in the living room and kitchen they liked to play and they were close to litter tray, food, water and toys ect shadow died at 6months, as Misty pined for him we decided to let her explore the house, we kept all bedrooms and bathroom doors closed and she had the space of stairs and laundry room wher she liked laying on clean clothes ha ha. By introducing her slowly she adjusted and it took her mind off of her brother. We also didn't let her out until 10 months old, they are less likely to stray then.
Well i think i have droned on enough for the time being but best of luck to you and your kitten, sadie x

Originally Posted by FiZiX

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Rascal has been doing great these past few days. He no longer wakes us up at night, he's been eating dry food with a little bit of water, and he's been drinking his water with a splash of milk in it (as suggested here).

He's been fine at home by himself but we've been keeping him confined to the living room/kitchen area.

Here are some pics of him. Enjoy!

Click to expand...

Very cute! But the pics are so small lol

Originally Posted by ABK

Very cute! But the pics are so small lol

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You can click them to enlarge.

What a cutie!