# advice needed in litter training



## sophie-paige (Mar 28, 2011)

hi.there i am new to this website so forgive me i get it a bit wrong i was after some advice i have a 12 month old cat and i am getting a 6 week old kitten in a couple of days this may seen like a daft question but will i need to get a seperate litter tray as they are house cats and is there likely to.be be conflicts ovet food


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

sophie-paige said:


> hi.there i am new to this website so forgive me i get it a bit wrong i was after some advice i have a 12 month old cat and i am getting a 6 week old kitten in a couple of days this may seen like a daft question but will i need to get a seperate litter tray as they are house cats and is there likely to.be be conflicts ovet food


Firstly this will get a better response in either Cat Chat or Training and behaviour ,I have to ask this why,oh why are you getting a kitten that is only 6 weeks old.This is far to young for a kitten to leave its mother and litter mates.You are very likely to have all kinds of problems,litter training,eating,behaviour problems.Kittens should ideally stay with mum until 12/13 weeks old and by then will be fully litter trained,well socialised and eating properly.If it was me I would ask the "breeder" to keep these kittens for a few more weeks,if they are not prepared to do this then walk away.if people continue to allow this to happen then many kittens will have a very bad start to life.


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## Jansheff (Jan 31, 2011)

About 20 years ago now (time flies) we took on a 6 week old kitten, not really knowing any better. Her mother had been dumped in a farmyard and the farmer kindly took them in and let them stay in their bathroom. When they got to 6 weeks though, he really needed them gone, lambing was coming up and they knew they wouldn't cope with kittens and possibly orphan lambs as well as being up at all hours for a few weeks.

We took Sophie, and although I don't remember problems with feeding, using litter trays etc, it was obvious she was never socialised properly. Despite our best efforts she never became a "people" cat, she wanted food from us and that was about it. She pretty much shunned most human contact, unless it suited her, squirmed when we picked her up, and would only occasionally allow us to stroke her. She allowed it a little more when she got older, she got a bit arthritic and she felt more "groomed" I think, when she couldn't reach wash the harder to reach places. 

We longed for her to be a lap cat, but she never was. If we sat in the sitting room, she stayed in the hall, if we were in the kitchen, she was elsewhere (unless she wanted food). Out of all our cats (it's now been 6) she was the only one who didn't love a fuss making of her and to sleep for hours cuddled up to someone. I never really knew why she was different, until I started reading on here and it became obvious. I always thought it must be because she was female and have always gone for male cats since. 

If you want a loving relationship with your cat, please try and leave him/her with mum for a few weeks longer. It's not just the kitten that will benefit, you will both gain much more satisfaction from your life together. It's much more rewarding than a cat that wants food from you, then can't wait to get out of your way.


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