- Joined
- Aug 20, 2017
- Messages
- 9
- Purraise
- 6
Hi everyone,
Firstly apologies for what is going to be a long post, I've made paragraphs and bold formats to hopefully make it easier to read!
I just gotten a kitten from a friend, basically his cat produced a litter of 6 kittens and after the kittens are litter trained and weaned, I received one. My previous pet ownership experience has just been cat sitting a friend's rather aggressive cat. So I must admit that I have no actual knowledge in raising a pet long term and I have some questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with!
A little bit about my situation, I live in a 2 bed room apartment sharing a room + ensuite bathroom with my girlfriend, the other room is unoccupied. The entire apartment is carpet, apart from the bathrooms and the kitchen. Our little kitten is a short haired domestic, he's cute with his mouth in a permanent Y shape which makes him look like he has no clue as to whats going on! We named him Wu Kong, after the mischievous Monkey King from Chinese folk lore (Same Monkey in Journey to the West, fun fact - Goku from the Japanese anime Dragon Ball Z is actually the Japanese translation of Wu Kong, sharing many similarities, like the nimbus cloud)
Our relationship so far in 4 days -
We picked him up in the evening, first night he was very afraid of the new area, so he'd run around and hide, we figured that was normal, so we laid out the kitty litter and his feeding area, picked him up showed those areas to him and left him to his own devices. He used the litter for a bit, had some water, didn't touch the food (dry) and meowed throughout the night as we tried to sleep!
Next morning as we were waking up he decided to jump on to our bed and he hasn't been shy with us ever since, now he comes around and hangs out with us all the time and sleeps in our bed every night (getting in between my girlfriend and I haha)
Q1: Litter Box Placement
The kitty moved in with us whilst my ensuite bathroom was getting it's tiles repaired, so we haven't been using that bathroom, I placed the litter tray there because I figured it'll be easier to clean litter off tiles rather than carpet. Would it be ok to shower in the same room as the kitty litter? I know cats are generally protective of their litter box, will my kitten freak out at the prospect of us humans cleaning ourselves in the same room as his poo box? We already brush and use the toilet in there.
Q2: Opening up the apartment
Thus far we've kept little WuKong to the confines of our bedroom and the bathroom, he has his designated eating and littering corners and toys, but I think eventually we would want to let him roam about the apartment, he's been good so far about furniture, not clawing anything other than card boards, and occasionally nibbles on cables. Maybe I'm over reacting but I'm actually a little scared that he'd get lost around the apartment and won't be able to find his way back. Follow up to that, I'd like to start feeding him in the kitchen and have his litter tray in the other bathroom that we don't use, how do I go about doing that without confusing the poor cat?
Q3: Nibbles
I've searched for this one and I actually get more confused, I feel like everything a cat does he's doing it because he's either stressed or happy, like nibbling my hand when I pet it. Apparently it's a way of showing affection, play, but another site tells me that it's his way of telling me to bugger off, so I don't actually know! When I go to pat him, on his usually on his head, around his neck, back etc, he'd roll over, try to grab my hand/finger with his paws and give it a bite, not breaking the skin, but just a bite, sometimes one bite and one lick, sometimes it feels like he's chewing my finger (several biting motion). It doesn't hurt a lot, if it's his way of showing affection, I'd like to let him keep doing it, I'd only stop him if he's biting too hard, but I just want to know why he's biting me?
Q4: New Toy
He has a toy that he loves, I wanted to give him a couple of different ones so he won't be bored while I'm out at work. I purchased a new mouse toy, a small white mouse with a string attached, it makes a whirling/squeaking sound when in motion... my kitty is TERRIFIED of it, so much so when I first brought it in, he quickly ran away and hid in a corner, even when I put the toy down and approached him, he hissed at me (about the only time that he will). I try to play with the toy myself so he can see that it's harmless, but no dice... Should I give up on that toy and try another one? Should I try catnip?
Q5: Meowing when using the littler box
He meows when using the littler box and I'm not sure why!
Q6: Residential Switcheroo
There are a few places that I'd like my kitten to get used to, the apartment, the car, the vet and my girlfriend's apartment for when other people arrives (my mother is allergic to cats). How do I go about making the transition as easy as possible between the two apartments? Would a cat ever "own" two separate territories and feel at home in both locations?
Lastly I just want advice on general bonding with the cat... so that he likes me more! Thats so much for reading!
Firstly apologies for what is going to be a long post, I've made paragraphs and bold formats to hopefully make it easier to read!
I just gotten a kitten from a friend, basically his cat produced a litter of 6 kittens and after the kittens are litter trained and weaned, I received one. My previous pet ownership experience has just been cat sitting a friend's rather aggressive cat. So I must admit that I have no actual knowledge in raising a pet long term and I have some questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with!
A little bit about my situation, I live in a 2 bed room apartment sharing a room + ensuite bathroom with my girlfriend, the other room is unoccupied. The entire apartment is carpet, apart from the bathrooms and the kitchen. Our little kitten is a short haired domestic, he's cute with his mouth in a permanent Y shape which makes him look like he has no clue as to whats going on! We named him Wu Kong, after the mischievous Monkey King from Chinese folk lore (Same Monkey in Journey to the West, fun fact - Goku from the Japanese anime Dragon Ball Z is actually the Japanese translation of Wu Kong, sharing many similarities, like the nimbus cloud)
Our relationship so far in 4 days -
We picked him up in the evening, first night he was very afraid of the new area, so he'd run around and hide, we figured that was normal, so we laid out the kitty litter and his feeding area, picked him up showed those areas to him and left him to his own devices. He used the litter for a bit, had some water, didn't touch the food (dry) and meowed throughout the night as we tried to sleep!
Next morning as we were waking up he decided to jump on to our bed and he hasn't been shy with us ever since, now he comes around and hangs out with us all the time and sleeps in our bed every night (getting in between my girlfriend and I haha)
Q1: Litter Box Placement
The kitty moved in with us whilst my ensuite bathroom was getting it's tiles repaired, so we haven't been using that bathroom, I placed the litter tray there because I figured it'll be easier to clean litter off tiles rather than carpet. Would it be ok to shower in the same room as the kitty litter? I know cats are generally protective of their litter box, will my kitten freak out at the prospect of us humans cleaning ourselves in the same room as his poo box? We already brush and use the toilet in there.
Q2: Opening up the apartment
Thus far we've kept little WuKong to the confines of our bedroom and the bathroom, he has his designated eating and littering corners and toys, but I think eventually we would want to let him roam about the apartment, he's been good so far about furniture, not clawing anything other than card boards, and occasionally nibbles on cables. Maybe I'm over reacting but I'm actually a little scared that he'd get lost around the apartment and won't be able to find his way back. Follow up to that, I'd like to start feeding him in the kitchen and have his litter tray in the other bathroom that we don't use, how do I go about doing that without confusing the poor cat?
Q3: Nibbles
I've searched for this one and I actually get more confused, I feel like everything a cat does he's doing it because he's either stressed or happy, like nibbling my hand when I pet it. Apparently it's a way of showing affection, play, but another site tells me that it's his way of telling me to bugger off, so I don't actually know! When I go to pat him, on his usually on his head, around his neck, back etc, he'd roll over, try to grab my hand/finger with his paws and give it a bite, not breaking the skin, but just a bite, sometimes one bite and one lick, sometimes it feels like he's chewing my finger (several biting motion). It doesn't hurt a lot, if it's his way of showing affection, I'd like to let him keep doing it, I'd only stop him if he's biting too hard, but I just want to know why he's biting me?
Q4: New Toy
He has a toy that he loves, I wanted to give him a couple of different ones so he won't be bored while I'm out at work. I purchased a new mouse toy, a small white mouse with a string attached, it makes a whirling/squeaking sound when in motion... my kitty is TERRIFIED of it, so much so when I first brought it in, he quickly ran away and hid in a corner, even when I put the toy down and approached him, he hissed at me (about the only time that he will). I try to play with the toy myself so he can see that it's harmless, but no dice... Should I give up on that toy and try another one? Should I try catnip?
Q5: Meowing when using the littler box
He meows when using the littler box and I'm not sure why!
Q6: Residential Switcheroo
There are a few places that I'd like my kitten to get used to, the apartment, the car, the vet and my girlfriend's apartment for when other people arrives (my mother is allergic to cats). How do I go about making the transition as easy as possible between the two apartments? Would a cat ever "own" two separate territories and feel at home in both locations?
Lastly I just want advice on general bonding with the cat... so that he likes me more! Thats so much for reading!
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