Hi all,
My boyfriend and I adopting a kitten and I wanted to get advice on a few things. The kitten was born on the last day of April - so it is 6 weeks right now. The woman we're adopting from is moving and wants us to take the kitten by the 19th (kitten will be 7 weeks and 1 day). I'm a bit nervous about this because I've always heard that 7 weeks is on the younger side for adoption. The kitten is eating really well, I've seen it use the litter box many times, and has lots of fun playing with its siblings. The owner is sure that the kittens will be weaned by the 19th - but I'm worried about what to do if they aren't by that point. Will it be harmful for the kitten to be taken away from its family that young? Should I be worried about it missing out on socialization? The kitten is friendly and wasn't uncomfortable being held when I visited him 2 days ago.
My plan right now is to drop off a towel with the owner a few days before I pick him up, so that I can bring the kitten home with a familiar smell. We will take it to the vet within a day or two of bringing it home (as you can probably tell by my use of "it", I'm useless at sexing kittens although judging by its size and my uneducated guess I'm thinking it's female).
Once kitten is home, we know to keep it confined to a small cozy room to get it comfortable with where the litterbox/food is, and then to start letting it explore. Our apartment is pretty small so I'm hoping it wont be overwhelming. I'm going to leave the cozy towel with the kitten and use a warmed up rice bag tucked in a towel to give it something cozy. I know what brand of wet food the owner's been feeding it so I'm going to continue with that for a week or so, and then hopefully transition to dry food.
Does anyone have any advice? Have I covered all of my bases? We're so excited and have been doing tons of research, but I just want to make sure that coming home is a minimally traumatic experience for our little one. Thanks!
My boyfriend and I adopting a kitten and I wanted to get advice on a few things. The kitten was born on the last day of April - so it is 6 weeks right now. The woman we're adopting from is moving and wants us to take the kitten by the 19th (kitten will be 7 weeks and 1 day). I'm a bit nervous about this because I've always heard that 7 weeks is on the younger side for adoption. The kitten is eating really well, I've seen it use the litter box many times, and has lots of fun playing with its siblings. The owner is sure that the kittens will be weaned by the 19th - but I'm worried about what to do if they aren't by that point. Will it be harmful for the kitten to be taken away from its family that young? Should I be worried about it missing out on socialization? The kitten is friendly and wasn't uncomfortable being held when I visited him 2 days ago.
My plan right now is to drop off a towel with the owner a few days before I pick him up, so that I can bring the kitten home with a familiar smell. We will take it to the vet within a day or two of bringing it home (as you can probably tell by my use of "it", I'm useless at sexing kittens although judging by its size and my uneducated guess I'm thinking it's female).
Once kitten is home, we know to keep it confined to a small cozy room to get it comfortable with where the litterbox/food is, and then to start letting it explore. Our apartment is pretty small so I'm hoping it wont be overwhelming. I'm going to leave the cozy towel with the kitten and use a warmed up rice bag tucked in a towel to give it something cozy. I know what brand of wet food the owner's been feeding it so I'm going to continue with that for a week or so, and then hopefully transition to dry food.
Does anyone have any advice? Have I covered all of my bases? We're so excited and have been doing tons of research, but I just want to make sure that coming home is a minimally traumatic experience for our little one. Thanks!