Looking for 2 purebred kittens: Help with breed selection, please

[goldenkitty45]

The big litter pan is kept in the basement, and it was awhile before Charlie was allowed down there safely. So I had to keep the smaller pan in the library for him. He's a digger and it was not fun to keep cleaning up litter from the smaller pan. Was glad when he started using the bigger one downstairs.

 

[bahger]

This morning, Chelsea caught sight of the kittens, who are visible to her because we replaced the opaque screens with mesh screens. She's deaf, so it's possible that she had been unaware of them until now. She hissed at them and went on high alert. I feel bad, I do not want to blight the last phase of her life or cause her stress.

I want to try and avoid litter pans all over the house, so I'm going to take the advice offered here and allow upstairs access only when we are home.

- Do you think they will use their individual litter pans (one for the kittens, the other for Chelsea) if I place them in the same room?

- Do you advise me to allow all the cats to feed freely or to supervise their mealtimes and then take up all the food but leave the water? Should I just leave the dry food down? Chelsea doesn't get dry food any more. She does very well with a special vet formula for old cats with IBD.

I'm so grateful to have found this site and so appreciatie of all your sound advice and good wishes. You have made the experience less srressful and more fun.

 

[goldenkitty45]

Since you have two kittens, be sure the pan is big enough - hopefully they are not diggers like Charlie or you will have a mess to clean up

If your older cat doesn't eat dry food, then it would be safe to leave the kitten dry food down for most of the time. If there is a chance of her eating the kitten dry food, then you will have to schedule meals with the kittens. Let them eat as much as they want in 1/2 hour. Take up the food and offer some more a few hrs later. They will learn to eat when the food is served. However, gradually start scheduling the meals over the next few months till they are eating 2 scheduled meals; otherwise they will get fat quickly. A good rule of thumb on the Oci's is the kittens should weigh about one pound more then their age (months).

So if they are 3 months old, they should be close to 4 lbs; at 4 months old about 5 lbs. This holds true till around 8-9 months old, then it evens out.

Charlie when full grown (about 18-24 months old) will go 11-12 lbs - he's about 8.5-9 now. Males average 10-12, sometimes a little bigger. Females about 8-10.

 

[catsarebetter]

Hissing is normal. They almost never get along straightaway. I'd try spraying some "no mark" which is available in the same place that you get feliway in the petstore. No Mark is an off brand, but imo, it works just as effectively and is a fraction of the cost. That should help reduce the stress levels..

Litter pans in the same room will simply be subject to their whim. They will, of course, pick the one they like best, and use that one.

 

[sadie's mom]

Woo Hoo, I'm no longer the only female Ocicat here! I'm Sadie, a 1 yr 6 month old Hot Chocolate. I come from Lotospots Cattery in Ontario.

 

[renovia]

about the litter pans, a good rule of thumb is one more pan than you have cats. i have three pans and two cats. i've been lucky and been able to reduce to two pans....but with three cats i really think you need one pan per cat at the least.

 

[sarahp]

Ohhhh man they are SOOOOO cute!!! Look at those gorgeous ear, those pretty faces, and beautiful coats! Looks like you got yourselves some gorgeous kitties there

With the litter trays, I think the number depends on how big they are and what sort of litter you use.

We have 3 cats and 2 litter trays. They are BIG litter trays, and have clumping litter which is quite deep so they have plenty of room to scratch around and be able to bury things properly. We scoop once a day, sometimes more, and I never feel like we should be providing them with more litter boxes, they seem happy with the current arrangements.

But given you have a deaf, older cat, she maybe prefer an extra litter tray away from other litter trays just to give her some privacy.

Food wise, what do you feed your Persian? How much, and how often? I think generally kitten food is high calorie, and senior food is low calorie, so it shouldn't be too bad if Chelsea eats the kittens food, but you wouldn't want the kittens eating too much of Chelsea's food - there wouldn't be enough calories in it for them.

Can't wait to get more kitten updates!

 

[hopehacker]

I was curious about how the two new kittens were doing. Not so patiently looking forward to an update.

 

[bahger]

Originally Posted by HopeHacker

I was curious about how the two new kittens were doing. Not so patiently looking forward to an update.

Hey Hope, thanks for asking. They are doing magnificently (with one caveat mentioned below); they are rascally, sweet, playful and affectionate, everything you want kittens to be. They greet us whenever we walk into a room, they love having their bellies rubbed, they adore the children and they are into everything. They love eating and climbing and I've ordered a big cat tree for them. In about an hour they have their first vet check-up since I bought them.

The little boy, Chas, pees on our bed every time he's allowed on it. I cannot figure out why. He hops up, find a spot, and lets rip. It's very vexing, I have to stop this and am not quite sure how. Feliway? I don't think he's reacting to a smell, or even a texture (we have a plastic sheet on the bed now). I don't know what the "trigger" is.

Also, Chas is sneezing a little but otherwise appears completely healthy. I'll post more pics soon.

 

[goldenkitty45]

Hmmmm he shouldn't be doing that. Maybe its something in the fabric. Any chance that your older cat has been in there and peed on the bed and you didn't know it?

You need to wash all the bedding really good in hot soapy water. Include any mattress covers too.

 

[shakadaka]

Congratulations on your new furkittens ! I just know you will have many years of fun, love and enjoyment !

 

[kluchetta]

If you have washed your bedding in bleach that is sometimes a trigger...

 

[bahger]

The bed linens have not been washed in bleach nor has old Chelsea had access. The vet thinks it's behaviorial, an assertion of territoriality possibly. I think maybe he did this at the breeder's house since she mentioned that the kittens spent a lot of time on her bed.

The vet advised me to buy another litter box and put that nearby. We've been reluctant to festoon the house with litter pans but we got a hooded one, put in in the upstairs hallway and put Chas in it when he tried to pee on our bed again, which now has a plastic sheet on it. He appears to have used the litter so, fingers crossed, we may have broken the habit.

I had this minor epiphany last night, which was that owning two Persians is a leisurely business. Having three cats, including one elderly lady and two rambunctious kittens, makes us "cat people"; our cats now outnumber our children and apparently our litter pans need to outnumber our cats! It's worth it, though, and I'm so glad I held out for purebred cats. It's not a snob thing; the beauty and refinement of these tiny, high-spirited creatures is a big part of the pleasure of having them live with us.

They got a clean bill of health from the vet, who wants fecal samples. That will be a lot of fun... There was a young vet tech there, it must have been his first week, or something, because he was almost comically inept. As I took the first kitten out of the box to have his temperature taken, etc., the kid blinked at him from behind his horn-rims and said "is he safe"? "Safe??", I said, possibly sounding a bit incredulous, "yes, I'd say he's pretty safe". Well, said the tech, I didn't mean to offend you, it's just that I have to ask. He's a twelve week-old kitten, I told him, exactly how much harm do you think he can do to you? The kid handled the kittens like they were hand grenades, he bungled their respiratory check, took their temps like he was defusing a roadside device in Baghdad and was completely unable to check their teeth properly. When they tried to wriggle he frowned and kept saying "Stop" rather pathetically. In the end, I found that he was annoying me and I'm just glad that the vet knew his stuff. I have never seen anyone employed by a veterinary practice handle baby animals quite so ineptly and I hope the young dude gets better because the next patient might have been a pit bull.

 

[goldenkitty45]

Well maybe he thought the ocicats were "ocelots"......

 

[kluchetta]

Or maybe he did have a pit bull right before you!

 

[renovia]

lol, maybe it was his first day on the job.

have you fixed the peeing on the bed thing? i don't take chances at home, i shut the door unless we are all in there to sleep.

 

[missymotus]

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Well maybe he thought the ocicats were "ocelots"......

That was my first thought too

 

[hopehacker]

I can't wait to see more pictures of those adorable little cuties.

Speaking of Vet Techs getting things confused: When I took Simba in to the Vet for his health check, right after I got him, the Vet Tech thought he was an Egyption Mau. He had never heard of a Bengal.

 

[bahger]

Originally Posted by Renovia

lol, maybe it was his first day on the job.

have you fixed the peeing on the bed thing? i don't take chances at home, i shut the door unless we are all in there to sleep.

Yes, we do not allow them upstairs unless we are actually around to be able to react to unfortunate incidents. And we have put a plastic sheet on the bed, temporarily, I very much hope. I think Chas has been successfully dissuaded, maybe by the presence of a litter tray outside the bedroom. I wish I knew what could have been going on in his little head, as this was not kitten incontinence; Chas simply decided it was something he needed to do and I'm curious as to why. He's a very willful little guy but he's adorable and they both come up to greet us whenever we walk into a room.

 

[renovia]

i'm glad things are on the up and up.