Help with a new kitten

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My wife and I have been talking about getting a cat for a couple of years to help with a mouse problem around the house plus I grew up with cats and wanted one for my girls. About a month ago we decided to get a Maine Coon for my 2 year old’s third birthday and reached out to 6 local breeders, we filled out questionnaires and sent multiple emails and never heard back from any of them. I grew up with mutts (or what ever the cat version is) so I wasn’t psyched about spending 3k+ on a cat and I started looking at the local shelters.

This morning I ran across a 7.5 pound 5 month old kitten with furry ears that looked like he could be a Maine Coon so we ran over to the shelter and the lady working there thought he was a Forest Cat. Once I got him back in the room he spent almost 10 seconds checking out the room before curling up in my lap. We brought the family in and he didn’t mind the girls at all and played with some toys with them and can’t 15 minutes cuddled up in my wife’s lap followed by laying with my 6 year old until it was time to take him home.

Since he was a “birthday present” for my two year old she got to name him, so his name Ducky.

I tried to drop a picture of him here but it was rejected. If you tell me how I can probably get several pictures in the coming posts.

Any how, I haven’t had a cat in 20 years and they were always family pets so I don’t know much beyond the basics. So here is me intentionally opening a cans of worms. What is the best way to deal with litter box’s preferred brands or styles of boxes or of litter? Best diet for the kitten or a different diet when he’s an adult? Any thing we should be doing or not doing?

He’s settled in after taking a lap of the house and had found his food but he hasn’t used the litter box yet.

2

Pics: I upload to Imgur and post a link.

Litter: We use Arm & Hammer Slide. We used to use pine litter, but A&H seems to be the most user-friendly.

Food: We adopt older cats because everyone wants kittens and lder cats need forever homes too. We buy Purina or Iams because of contamination issues a few years ago. Also, these brands seem to not have so much ash in them that can lead to UTI. For gooshy food, we get Friskies (I think). Each cat gets ¼ can in the evenings. Between the dry food and the gooshy food, the cats need to be monitored so that they don’t gain too much weight.

Creamsicle was a stray who adopted us. (We think she belonged to a womaon on the next street who died.) She was used to fending for herself, and we think she got ahold of a poisoned mouse. (She was a great mouser.) Sadly, she died of acute kidney failure at the age of six. If your cat is going to be a mouser, be sure there is nobody putting out poison in the neighbourhood.

3
[Album] Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Well, let’s see if that picture works.

So we should get a blend of dry and wet food. Do you just dump it in the bowl together or in two feedings? Do you feed twice a day or just leave a fixed volume of food out?

4

Use unscented cat litter, and be cautious of anything else added to it; some cats are allergic or offended, and can be put off using a litter box.

You’re going to get a lot of varying advice on cat food. Here’s mine: Start with a kitten food until he’s about a year old. Don’t buy the super cheap stuff. Mine get Science Diet and a varied selection of other quality foods, on which they’ve nearly all lived to their late teens. Don’t feed him only one thing or he may fix on that and refuse to eat anything else, which can be a problem if it goes off the market or they change the formula or (hello, covid) there’s a shortage for any reason. I feed free choice dry food (available all the time) and a bit of canned food twice a day. (Don’t mix them together in the dish; use separate dishes; and a third one for water, which should always be available.) Cats who’ve been on restricted food may get fat if they get the chance; IME cats who are used to unrestricted kibble all their lives rarely get fat as long as they get exercise. An occasional bit of a human food treat is fine but don’t give them much in the way of treats and make sure you know what they shouldn’t eat – there are a number of things fine for humans but very bad for cats.

Speaking of which: never give a cat any medication labeled for another species except under explicit instruction from a vet.

Get him whatever vaccinations your vet. recommends for your area. Do that even if you intend to never let him outside. Indoor cats occasionally escape and some diseases can be carried on your clothes.

Healthy kittens have two settings: Asleep (or close to it) and HIGH SPEED. Nothing is out of reach for a kitten. They can literally climb walls. They can open cabinets and other doors unless firmly latched. If your window screens aren’t metal, they can tear them to shreds and go right through them.

Two kittens can actually be easier to deal with than one; they’ll wear each other out. If you have a single indoor-only cat, provide plenty of exercise with cat toys and so on.

They need to be able to climb; they need something they can claw on; and they need to be able to hide. Make sure he has hiding places available that you can fish him out of if necessary, but don’t fish him out of them unless it really is necessary. – he’ll find new ones from time to time. If you can’t find the cat, look in places too small for a cat to fit into. They are fluid and can squeeze through astonishingly small spaces. Also, look up as well as under.

Supervise small children until you’re sure they know what they’re doing. A child can easily hurt the cat by accident. The cat may retaliate with claws and/or teeth, in self-defense; this is not the cat’s fault. It’s also not the cat’s fault that kittens often play with teeth and claws partially out – they don’t understand that humans have no fur padding to reduce injuries. Most cats can be taught not to play rough, but it may take a while.

Always check the washer and dryer for kitten before turning them on. If you have the kind of chair with moving inner mechanisms, make sure he’s not in there before moving them. If there are any dangling cords in the house with loops in them, or curtains with edges coming loose, get rid of them or tie them up tight; kittens climbing them may get their necks tangled and strangle.

And after that long list of warnings – congratulations! They’re worth it. Every moment of it.

(Pretty cat in picture. Imgur gave me a ‘may have adult imagery’ warning.)

5

That’s a really handsome kitty and a really adorable kid hand reaching in to pet him.

I always just feed dry food, left out always. I hate the wet food mess, smell, cost and my vets never thought they needed wet food.

I feed Science Diet when I could afford it. If in a pinch I buy a bag of Purina at the grocery store til my next SS check.

Litter-I use the store brand of clumping. Scented or unscented, odor control or multi-cat, whatever is in stock.

Here’s a great cat toy that decades of my cats have loved and it would be an easy one for little kids to use to play with their new kitty, which you want the kitten and the kids used to doing with each other successfully and safely for all parties. Buy a bunch of them so there can be one in every room a kid and the kitten might find themselves.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/cat-dancer-original-interactive-cat-toy

6

Good advice. I forgot the ‘kitten formula” part on my dry food advice.

He really is a beautiful cat, you did good!

Here are the cats scratchers that my kitties love. They are the cheapest ones but my cats love them and use them more than the expensive carpeted ones.

https://www.chewy.com/frisco-double-cat-scratcher-toy/dp/201486

7

When he’s on your lap and relaxed and happy, touch his paws and feet. Be very gentle, and if he objects, stop, but keep at it. You have a limited window to teach him certain things, like getting used to being handled. This will make your life much easier in the future in all sorts of ways.

Here’s a good to rule for everyone to learn: hands are not toys. Toys are toys. Hands are for affection only.

Also, if he does gets excited when you’re playing and he grabs your arm and bites and/or clamps on with his claws, don’t pull away, push towards him, gently. Of course your instinct will be to pull away, but that will activate his own instinct to clamp down harder, because pulling away is what prey would do; pushing into him will confuse and stun him, and he’ll let go. It’s not intuitive, but if you remember to do it, you will save yourself a lot of bleedy injuries, and he’ll eventually learn to not do that (hopefully).

8

We don’t free feed, but you’ll find there’s a range of opinion on that. :slight_smile: I second the recommendation to get a higher quality cat food if you can. We use clumping litter and an automatic box, to give you yet more options.

Make sure that Ducky has safe places he can go when he wants quiet time. Mine have spots behind the couch, or up on a cat tree, or in my husband’s office.

Make sure there is plentiful water available. Kidney failure is one of the main causes of death for cats.

I’d add to start brushing. If you’re lucky, Ducky will love it. If not, you may have to experiment with types of brush and bribes to get him used to it. If he is forest cat, his fur may tangle and mat. Brushing is a good habit to develop.

I think he sounds like a wonderful cat. I hope you have many happy years together. :slight_smile:

9

Another thumbs up for the Cat Dancer. All of our cats have enjoyed playing with these.

10

Cats often aren’t very interested in drinking water, but a cat fountain helps a lot. I use this Veken model, and I can’t praise it enough - sturdy, easy to clean, inexpensive, and the cats love it. I think the instruction booklet says it should last about 2 years but mine is three-and-a-half and as good as new.

11

If you’re short on money: put it into the cat food and the vet. bill. Take a piece of string and a bit of paper. Crumple up the paper and tie one end of the string around it. Hold on to the other end of the string and there’s your cat toy. – The paper will need occasional replacement.

Don’t leave the whole thing loose around the kitten unless you’re right there and paying attention; tie one end to something. This goes for any string – never leave loose string, yarn, rubber bands around a cat. If they start chewing on it, they may swallow a bit, and if the other end’s not firmly attached so they can get it loose just by backing away, they can’t deal with it except by swallowing more.

If you come across a cat with a bit of string hanging out of its mouth or anus --DO NOT PULL with any degree of force. If you can’t swipe it out very easily with your finger, call the vet.; there may be more of it stuck down in the cat’s digestive system and pulling may do damage.

Sorry to be so full of dire warnings! most of these things will never happen.

– yes, some cats will drink plenty of water on their own from a bowl of still water, but some won’t drink enough that way and need it moving.

12

What a handsome cat. His head looks exactly like that of my own kitty, Vienna, who just turned 15. Different body, though.

13

Regarding litter:
Call the place where you got him and ask what brand they used – that’s what he’s used to. (But don’t be surprised if they say whatever brand was donated or whatever brand was on sale last week.)

Otherwise, get 2 or 3 identical litter boxes (you should have this many anyway, scattered in various locations). Then buy small bags of various types/brands of litter, and use a different one in each box, until you see which one he uses most often. Though it may be the location/privacy of that box he prefers. You can then try switching the litter used in the boxes, and see if he then uses the one with that litter more, even if it’s in another location – that means he definitely prefers that litter. Many cats seem to be fairly unconcerned about the specific litter, compared to location. (My cats want to be in the same room I’m in, but then want to go to a different room to use the litter box there.)

And I echo thorny_locust about the pet fountain with running water – my cats drink more from them. And it’s filtered water, and you only have to fill it every 2 days or so; less often than water bowls. My cats prefer these multi-tier ones: https://store.petsafe.net/drinkwell-multi-tier-fountain

14

Awesome. Thanks for all of the advise. We’ll get the fountain on the way today.

The litter ended up almost biting us last night my wife bought a Purina pellet system litter box (no idea what it’s really called) and he wasn’t using it during the first 6 hours he was home. So we went over to Walmart and got a cheap bin with some clumping unscented and he immediately went.

We locked him in a bathroom over night with the litter box, food, water and a bed. This morning he’d used the box over nigh and was ready to come out and play. He did a lap around the house and then decided to follow my big dogs outside until they noticed him ( at the same time I did) and he scrambled back inside. They he played with the girls a bit chasing toys on sticks before curling up in my lap.

This is just weird. I just have the one photo on Imgur. I guess it’s because I’m showing some leg.

15

My guess is that they have some software, not a human, trying to screen images, and it misinterpreted something. As to what exactly it misinterpreted I don’t have a good guess.

And it seems you’ve got the litter issue sorted, anyway – basic unscented it is. If the Purina was scented that was most likely the problem; or he may not have recognized the pellets as suitable material. You could try nonclumping as well as clumping; my three will use either; but if you yourselves find the clumping easier to deal with then just stay with that.

Shutting him up overnight at first [ETA: or when you’re not home] is a good idea, until you’re sure things are worked out with the dogs and the children. But it seems that he’s entirely happy with his situation. Good start!

– I have a guess as to why you didn’t hear back from the breeders: if you told them you wanted a kitten as a present for a two-year-old, they may have thought you intended to hand the kitten to the child as if kittens were stuffed toys; which would almost certainly have worked out very badly for the kitten, the child, or both of them. But in any case you seem to have wound up with the right cat (or a right cat) for the particular circumstances.

ETA again: if he’s drinking well just from a dish, you may not need the fountain. Again, they’re necessary for some cats, but not for most of them.

16

A woman who adopted a couple of kittens from a rescue I follow got them used to having their paws handled by “sitting” them in front of her with their backs propped against them and rubbing the paws.

The cats not only got accustomed to getting their paws handled, they literally demand “hopper rubs” every day, multiple times.

17

Our cat is a barfer, so we switched to wet food to cut down on incidents. Also, wet food is more like what a cat would eat in the wild. Kibble is less mess, but a lot of vets don’t like it.

We use Blue Buffalo Naturally Fresh litter, made (partially) from walnut shell. It clumps and it doesn’t have any chemicals in it.

You might look into Chewy for ordering your cat food and litter. They’re about the cheapest around and have most all brands available. You can even set up periodic automatic deliveries.

I’ll third getting them used to having their paws handled. Trying to clip a cat’s nails when it’s not wanting it done is no fun for any party involved.

Lastly, please keep your cat indoors. Life expectancy for an outdoor cat is not great.

18

Nor is it good for the songbird population.

You’ve gotten great advice, and I still consider myself a newbie scat owner, so I don’t have too much to add. One thing, though: I’m sure you’ve heard the trope about cats and boxes? It’s 100% true. I usually leave any decently sized boxes that come into the house laying around for the cat for a few days. Even better if they have brown craft paper in them (like Chewy’s boxes). Hours of entertainment for both of you. :smile:

19

Congratulations on your new feline overlord! What a cutie!!!

I was considering buying a Maine Coon a few months before the world ended and breeders were asking 800 for a kitten. Every breeder I contacted got back to me withing a few days.

The world ended, people were staying home and had time for pets. Shelters were emptied and breeders were able to triple and quadruple their prices while having people beg to be put on their year long waiting list.

Our Maine Coon cost 2600 three months ago. I just checked the website and he wants 3000 each now.

George was 8.2 lbs at 5 months, coons and forest cats make very big kittens. Keep the lids down on your toilets, the breed is known for playing in water. I agree with the fountain suggestion but be sure to get a heavy porcelain one that Ducky can’t knock over.

Giant breeds mature slowly and Ducky probably won’t have his full growth until at least two years. George isn’t showing any signs of growing his mane yet and is only now growing his snowshoes. Coons are also known for intelligence, George has already learned to stay off the counters when the people are around.

As others have said, handle his feet often. His claws are going to grow very quickly and you want to keep on top of them because three year old’s have pretty fragile skin.

Enjoy and share pics often!

20

I assume the cat will be allowed outside. This is an interesting article about what cats do when not with us.