Thanks Maureen. Mei Ling is really nice too.
Congratulations Phlosphr and welcome to the joyous world of cat owner. It’s going to be a blast!
So adorable…
She is adorable.
Name suggestion:
** Long Thong **
Try Kabalarians for other chinese names: www.kabalarians.com
You hae a cutie pie there.
One thing I never notice mentioned when people are giving kitty advice. When playing, let the cat win. Let her catch the ball/string, let her win the “fights” (you know when the two of you are wrestling and she grabs your hand and starts to bite and kick). You might want to be careful about wrestling with her right now or you will end up with lots of scratches (deb says as she looks at the scars on her hand). I find that allowing the cat to win gives them a sense of superiority which as you know cats are the rulers of the home. This allows them to feel secure and therefore more loving.
At my home I encourage my cat to be the “top dog”. But she is a one person cat (me) who is skittish around others. The dogs must defer to her. I figure with one of the dogs coming in at 90lbs and the other at 75lbs, it is only fair that a cat named Petite be in charge.
Why don’t you put in a cat shelf on the window in the bedroom and have her sleep on there. It will allow her to be close to you at nite.
How about TingTing for a name.
Minmei is actually 2 words (Min-may). I can’t give you a direct translation of the first part, but the second can be “beautiful”. I don’t know what to tell you about its origin except that one of the characters in the anime Macross/Robotech was named Minmei (she was the cutsey pop singer). The character bugged me, but that’s a personal beef with a person who does not exist.
Phlosphr, I highly recommend either purchasing or borrowing the book Cats for Dummies. It has answers and/or advice on all the questions you’ve asked (litterbox usage, clawing). Some of their suggestions are a little nuts, but it’s a good one-stop info guide.
That is one damn cute kitten.
I second the laser-pointer game. Great fun. Just don’t shine it in her eyes, ever. Very bad, can cause blindness and injury.
We have one of these. It took five days before our (adult) cat got used to it enough to actually go over and sniff it. A couple of days later, he was drinking, and now he loves it. The water is cool, and clean, and fresh. The fountain is kind of a pain in the ass to clean, but I’d rather clean it every two weeks than have to remember to put down a fresh bowl of water once or twice a day.
As far as why your kitten isn’t using it yet, cats are creatures of routine; they don’t trust anything unfamiliar. Just give your kitty time. It may take up to a month before she’s accepted it in her environment enough to actually go check it out, which you may find frustrating, but which is typical cat behavior. In the interim, you may have to keep the dog out of it, because the cat won’t use it if it’s full of dog slobber.
Oh, and one more thing: Do pick the name soon, and use it as much and as consistently as possible. We made a point of working with our cat when he was about that age, then intermittently for several months, and he now recognizes his name and, better yet, comes when called. We cut ballpark franks into little chunks and had him running back and forth across the kitchen floor, associating his name with the yummies. Worked like a charm. It’s a pretty neat trick to have him come running when we call his name, and it really impresses people who just assumed their own cats weren’t trainable and didn’t bother trying. The thing is, you’ve got to resist the urge to mix up the actual name with “cutesy-snoogles” or “mooby-mooby-mooby” and all of that. Just use the name, or it’ll confuse the cat and she won’t learn anything.
Absolutely. I know our cats completely own my wife. I’m the “tough, mean” one of the two of us (although I’ll admit to being a softie at times).
I don’t understand why my wife looks at me funny when I tell her that she’s the one that’s pussy-whipped. 
BTW, when squirting the cat with water, try to make sure she doesn’t see that it’s you doing it. It should just be that, whenever she scratches at the couch (or does whatever forbidden behavior), water magically hits her from nowhere. If she associates it with you, then she’ll only behave when you’re in the room.
Actually, let me recommend two books on cat behavior & training: “Think Like a Cat” by Pam Johnson-Bennett and “How to Get Your Cat to Do What You Want” by Warren Eckstein". As someone who hadn’t had any cats until we got our current ones a year and a half ago, I learned a lot from these books.
She’s Siamese. She IS in charge. Right now she can use sheer adorableness to get her way, and as she grows up her Attitude will become apparent. (Even the most affectionate Siamese have Attitudes, don’t worry, I am NOT badmouthing your baby!) If you’re allergic it would be a good idea to keep her out of the bedroom, but that may or may not work. You’ll find out.
I’m jealous. She’s SO cute!
In our house, I’ve made it clear that I am the alpha cat (sort of like alpha male). It’s an idea that I got from some friends of ours, and is a good one. We spoil our kitties rotten, and play with them lots, but when they’re doing something bad, I just growl a bit and they stop doing it. They’ll beg for play and stuff, and are extremely friendly and snuggly, but (thankfully) they don’t act as if they own me or as if they think they can get away with everything.
You took that out of context. If you notice, I proceed to talk about the other pet members of the family, specifically the 2 dogs who are large. Yes I make sure I am the alpha cat. All I have to do is say “ah, ah, ah” in a soft voice when Petite is doing something and she will immediately stop. I yell at her hello, to come to me, but corrrection is always done in a soft voice. But I also let her get away with alot cause I don’t care if she (for example) sits on the paper at exactly the place I am reading, I think it is cute and not a major sin. Plus the winning thing for a cat playing shouldn’t be a big deal, cause we know who is really bigger and who really rules the roost so why not let a small cat think they own the world.
Sorry. I see what you mean now.
And as for playing, ever since they were tiny kittens, they’ve been hesitant about wrestling with either me or my wife. So most of the playing has them chasing ribbons, feathers, etc. And of course they do catch it very often (does that count as “winning”?), but those darn toys just won’t die, and keep flying away, to be chased again. 
Keep your foot down as far as the cat in the bedroom is concerned. Sleep is the time for recovering from allergies, not being covered in allergens.
That is one cute kitten. I just about hyperventilated when I saw the picture!
Cover your bases. Just name her Sweetie.
Remember: every kitten is an Olympics full of games. There are no boring games.
she is tooooo cute!
From the descriptions you’ve given of you house, I think this little sweet-heart just found her way to cat paradise!
Actually, I think YOU will be the one to first invite her into the bed.
According to a Doper-In-Good-Standing LINKY-LINK it means “Bright Flowers” or “Bright & Beautiful”. It’s also a girl’s name, but if it’s descriptive, so what?
I slept alone last night. My wife slept downstairs with the fuzzbucket. I could not believe it. My wife is a person who values her sleep time. She is a stickler for being in bed at a certain time to get her 8 hours sleep. Welp, I awoke at 5:30 this morning, walked down stairs, said hello to the dog who shot back a quizzical look as if to say, “Yo! Mrs.P slept in there with that thing last night…”
I opened the door and peeked in only to see my wife on the Papasan chair fast asleep with kitty on her chest curled up like a ball…
Visions of uphill battles and kittens on my neck appeared in my mind.
and you didn’t take a picture?
where are your priorities, man?
If you are allergic to the cat the worse thing you can do is let it sleep in your bed with you. Don’t let yourself get bullied into it by the cat or your wife.
She is a beautiful cat.