[emmski7]

Hi All,

I have a 8 week old boy kitten "Harlan" i brought him at a pet store and since i got him i have decked him out with a scratch post, toys, food bowls, including separate ones for dry food, water, meat, litter tray etc.

I gave him a kitten flea treatment last night as i keep all my pets treatments up to date strictly as i have a dog also. He has been given his all wormer and vaccinations booked in for Thurs for the first lot and at the second lot at week 12 i will get him de-sexed also.

I have got him confined to the laundry while im at work at the moment (approx 7hrs) and he seems ok he sleeps in our washing lol! Even though he has a bed with one of my jumpers in it to hide.

Anyway he runs around the house when we are home and investigates and has had no accidents yet.

I was wondering when is he allowed to have the whole house at his disposal? We have cockatiels so we need to teach him that he cant pounce on them apart from that he can have the house whenever but i didnt know the age they should?

Any advise would be appreciated as i have always had dogs not cats!

Cheers

Em

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[Bethinx Ragdolls (Kaemma)]

Until he learns your house map - start small - let him have the run of a couple of rooms - ie shut off bedrooms and bathrooms, so he doesn't get "lost".

Also more litter trays in the early weeks - as they are like little toddlers - when they have to go they have to go NOW! - and gradually remove them as they learn your house map.

good luck

Liz

[aboutTaya]

Sounds like Harlan has really fallen on his feet We brought Taya home when she was a little older so I'm not too sure about one that's a bit younger and we're in a unit not a house but Taya had access to all over within a couple of weeks.

Be careful to make sure any rooms that you start giving him access to have been kitten proofed as best as possible. Wires might get chewed on, strings from blinds and toys with strings on them can be very dangerous if left with a cat unsupervised (they can tangle tightly around limbs/necks), oh and Harlan will discover a million hidey holes where you probably won't be able to find him for a bit so it's helpful to know they he can only be in say two or three rooms LOL. A friend who recently came over to feed our darling couldn't find our 4kg burmese in our one bedroom unit despite all cupboards being closed and rather minmal furnishings...aftter much searching Taya just showed up behind her when she went to scoop the litter.

You'll probably want to keep Harlan a bit quiet if possible after his vaccinations so it won't hurt if he's used to being confined a bit during the day. Also if you have him desexed while he's young, it might be easier to keep him quieter and confined while he recovers. The calling behaviours, including fighting and increased aggression, and territory marking of an entire male cat are something you might not be familiar with and probably would wish to avoid in a pet cat anyway. Not sure about how to go about teaching a kitten to leave birds alone but I believe there are some members on the forum who have both. Generally a loud clap and no is the starting point to teach what not to do but this might startle your birds so maybe you'll need a little squirt gun, ie Harlan gets a little squirt if he goes too close or looks like he's going to pounce. With almost everything regarding kittens behaviour, slowly slowly seems to be the answer.

Look forward to hearing how you go.

[Randiocoy]

I got my first cat daisy from a shelter when she was just 8 weeks. I kept her confined for about 2 weeks to my bedroom while i was away for a long time. I started with keeping her out with keeping all the doors shut to all the rooms after about 5 days when i would go out to the store for an hour. so that way i could see how she reacted alone. I don't think i would leave him alone with the birds in the same room until he is properly trained and you know he will leave them be. start slow and small. and definitaly make sure things are kitten proofed before leaving him alone to explore!

[emmski7]

Hey all,

I thought i would update you on Harlan's progress.

He is settling in well and has taken over the house when we are home!

He has started some naughty habbits such as biting and scratching but he is only 9 weeks old so i expect this, any ideas or suggestions on how to stop this would be appreciated. He does have 2 scratch posts!

I am at work for 8 hrs today and have allowed him the kitchen, nook & laundry which is where his stuff is all stored and bed etc.

He uses the litter tray even if he is at other end of house which im thankful for

So far so good!!

[CoralD]

Sounds like you're doing great. I know a lot of members recommend a stern NO when furbabies bite or scratch.

I have always found a loud cat hiss works..... a growl always worked with my dogs too.
When we had the raggy Ragdoll here for fosetering for a couple of weeks he bit me...after that I would hiss at him if he tried and he's look shocked and roll over to show me his tummy~!

Keep up the great work......

Coral

[Lara]

I have always used the word "gentle" with my cats when they are getting a bit rough. For some reason it mostly seems to work well!