# Just got kitten... :-)



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

Hello everyone. 

I am new here, and was just looking for some beginners advice.

I just got my new kitten Amber two days ago. She is so well behaved and of course adorable... 

On the first night, we had her 5 hours, we sat in the room while she explored and resisted touching her until she approached us. I am still the same now, only really petting her when she sniffs/nuzzles my hand. The first night I took her to my bedroom with litter tray and food/water. She slept the entire night on my bed and didn't cry or anything. Although she didn't touch the water, was feeding her wet food and constant supply of dry food.

Last night I took her to my boyfriends house, in his room only. She explored and wasn't scared. A few hours later we went to sleep and so did she - slept all night. In the morning she purred for the first time lying beside me (sooo cute) and as I only have her dry food here she started drinking water! So happy she is drinking water now!

Long story, sorry, but I just wanted to give some background so you know how she's doing. She played during the day until today... As I mentioned she slept all night and now she's sleeping all day! Only waking to use litter tray, eat/drink and a quick explore/play... My question is this ok and should she sleep tonight? Or should I encourage her to wake up? She's slept more or less 16 hours now and it's almost 7pm!

Thank you
Jacelyn x


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi Jacelyn, welcome to the forum This is a stressful time for your kitten. She is only a baby (but hopefully at least 10 weeks old) and has just been uprooted from all she knows, leaving behind her mum and her siblings. She is 
is in a strange environment with new humans, and it is all very scary and overwhelming for her. She does not understand what's going on, and as a result she is worn out and all she wants to do is sleep. 

Normally young kittens would not sleep for 16 hours more or less non-stop. Their pattern is to race around madly playing for an hour or two, then zonk out for a couple of hours sleep, then start all over again. At night when it's quiet they may sleep longer. 

I understand you being concerned, but for the moment as long as she is eating, drinking, peeing and pooing normally I would not worry. See how she goes over the next couple of days, and if she is still sleeping a lot then I'd get her checked at the vet.

Incidentally I wouldn't feed her dry food. Young kittens have problems drinking enough water to keep themselves fully hydrated on a dry food diet and can become chronically dehydrated leading to kidney or bladder problems as well as constipation. So feed her a good quality wet food and if you MUST give dry, give only 3 or 4 pieces as a treat. 

TopLife kitten milk (from Tesco) is a good way of getting extra fluids in to them at that age, as most kitties like it and can tolerate it (it is goats milk which is better tolerated than cows milk). 

Good luck with her, perhaps you could let us see a photo of her?


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

Hello chillminx

Thanks for your reply. 

She is 7 weeks, almost 8 weeks old. 

I do have kitten milk and wet food at my house, the breeder said she keeps a constant supply of dry kitten food & feeds wet food whenever the kittens ask for it. I will take her back to my house tomorrow and get her back on mainly wet food then, and I am going to take her to vet in next few days to get her checked anyway. Also keeping an eye on her litter tray today... No poos yet.

I uploaded a photo of her on my profile  x


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

Hello chillminx

Thanks for your reply. 

She is 7 weeks, almost 8 weeks old. 

I do have kitten milk and wet food at my house, the breeder said she keeps a constant supply of dry kitten food & feeds wet food whenever the kittens ask for it. I will take her back to my house tomorrow and get her back on mainly wet food then, and I am going to take her to vet in next few days to get her checked anyway. Also keeping an eye on her litter tray today... No poos yet.

I uploaded a photo of her on my profile  x


----------



## Julie100uk (Oct 10, 2013)

She's beautiful Ambergirl!  my kitties are about 20 weeks and they love to sleep, preferably on me, whether I'm busy or not! As above they have a mad spell and then chill out again. I'm gobsmacked that my two sleep through the night, and have done since I got them. They are like an alarm clock! 

Mine eat a combination of wet and dry (as did my previously cat) and they seem happy with that.


----------



## Guest (Dec 30, 2013)

Your kitten is beautiful what type of cat is she?


----------



## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

Poor little one taken from her mum too soon, breeders don't let kittens go until at least 12 weeks, when fully vaccinated and hopefully neutered.

For my kittens sleeping that long would be very concerning.


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

Megsie84, she is a moggie. Tabby moggie 

Alright I will take her to the vet ASAP and mention the sleeping. I had also read online it's normal for them to sleep at least 16 hours a day if under 12 weeks.

She generally seems fine otherwise. She's woke up for drink, food, a play just now.


----------



## rose (Apr 29, 2009)

She is lovely. I think they sleep for about 16hours out of 24 but in spaced out sessions in between eating and playing. Not 16 hours straight!


----------



## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

AmberGirl said:


> Megsie84, she is a moggie. Tabby moggie
> 
> Alright I will take her to the vet ASAP and mention the sleeping. I had also read online it's normal for them to sleep at least 16 hours a day if under 12 weeks.
> 
> She generally seems fine otherwise. She's woke up for drink, food, a play just now.


 I thought she was but where you said you got her from a breeder it gave me the idea that she was a pedigree . I love tabby cats I used to have a tabby moggie and I think they are the best looking moggies out there although I could be biased .


----------



## Aeschylus (Sep 19, 2013)

She's gorgeous! Is there any chance she's been sleepy in the daytime because she was up half the night rampaging? My kittens did that a couple of times when they were very young. But definitely take her to the vet if you have any concerns at all.


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

She slept with me since I got her and I am a light sleeper, so as far as I am aware she had slept all night except for waking to eat, drink and use litter tray, and twice woke me up by putting her paw on my lips.. Lol. This morning at 9am she was playing beside me on the bed which woke me up so we are playing with her right now.

So she has slept three nights in my bed and walks over us in the middle of the night to come back to sleep. Should I think about keeping her out the bed now? I'd shut her in the living room where all her stuff is normally but I'm scared she will go for tv/phone wires when I'm not there! Should I wrap wires in bundle cords?


----------



## Aeschylus (Sep 19, 2013)

Aww, that's really cute!

I reckon if you're happy enough having her in your bedroom, and if she's finding the litter tray during the night, the best approach is to let her continue. She might get lonely if you shut her out of the bedroom.

I keep my cats shut out of the living room at night, partly because of the cables - their little teeth are very sharp! They also see the curtains as a potential climbing frame, so they're only in the living room when I'm awake and can discourage them from destroying things.

But I've heard that you can get things you put over the cables to keep them safe if you want to give her the run of the house.


----------



## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

You can buy cable protector from hardware stores or ebay which will stop your kitten chewing wires . I personally wouldn't have the litter tray in the bedroom and would put it in the bathroom or kitchen A so she can get used to using it there and B because it's slightly unhygienic to have it in the bedroom. When she gets a bit more active she will want to go play and zoom around the living room and your other rooms at night time, and almost definitely wont give you any peace if you confine her to your bedroom . Kittens can pull curtains and stuff BUT they mainly do things like that when they are a few months older than yours .


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

Thanks everyone.

I bought wire protectors & left her in her bed on her cat-tree in the living room last night & she was as good as gold. No crying 

She currently eats whiskas wet food and Iams kitten science plan food... Iams says on the packet it's for kittens from 3 weeks old to 1 year and she loves it, do people still think I should limit this? 

Edit: we have window covers but they are high up and she can't reach so curtains shouldn't be an issue.
Happy new year all xx


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

AmberGirl said:


> > Iams says on the packet it's for kittens from 3 weeks old to 1 year and she loves it, do people still think I should limit this?
> 
> 
> She loves the dry food because it is sprayed with a flavouring called "Animal Digest" which is a strong smelling yeasty smell that cats like. So it is not the actual food itself she likes, just the flavouring, i.e. the bit that is not nourishing.
> ...


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

Thank you for the info, I will look into these other brands.

Also... Currently use wood pellet litter. Non clumping. 

I was thinking of switching to crystals as they are apparently good for eliminating smell. What do you guys use for kitten litter and why do you use the one you do?

Also what age can I change to clumping litter?

Thanks for all your help.


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Wood pellet litter is a nightmare A couple of pees and the whole litter tray is contaminated, so you either chuck out the whole trayful every day or put up with the smell.  If you clear it all out every day then it works out quite expensive.

I use Cats Best Oko Plus, it is cereal based, clumps well, very low in dust and is excellent at hiding the toilet smell. A 20L bag lasts ages and is very economical. Lots of forum members use it for their cats.

Cats Best Öko Plus biodegradable Cat Litter Bargains at Zooplus

The other make that tends to get good reports is Golden Grey clay clumping litter. Personally I have always found the clay litters too dusty for me (I have asthma), so I have not tried this one.

Golden Grey Odour Cat Litter - Great deals at zooplus

By the time kittens are 3 months old it should be safe to give them clumping litter. It is the clumping clay litters which are supposed to be the dangerous ones anyway, so you would probably be OK now to use the cereal based ones such as Cats Best.


----------



## Guest (Jan 2, 2014)

AmberGirl said:


> Thank you for the info, I will look into these other brands.
> 
> Also... Currently use wood pellet litter. Non clumping.
> 
> ...


 From what I've heard if you buy a litter tray that has been designed for using wood pellets then it will be ok to use it . I think they are called sieve litter trays.... I've NEVER used them though as I'm a clumping fan. I use golden grey which I buy from zooplus . It costs £20 for 28l, but it lasts over two months which makes it cheaper than tesco value litter .


----------



## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

chillminx said:


> Wood pellet litter is a nightmare A couple of pees and the whole litter tray is contaminated, so you either chuck out the whole trayful every day or put up with the smell.  If you clear it all out every day then it works out quite expensive..


Wood pellets are not meant to be used in a normal litter tray, they break down into sawdust when wet, so when used correctly with a sieve tray that sawdust falls through leaving the top litter clean.
It's the longest lasting, least tracking, zero dust, best odour controlling, economical litter I and most breeders I know have found. 
One bag of pellets lasts 6 months for 1 cat.

I wouldn't think of using it in a normal litter tray, it just can't do it's proper job that way.


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

spotty cats said:


> Wood pellets are not meant to be used in a normal litter tray, they break down into sawdust when wet, so when used correctly with a sieve tray that sawdust falls through leaving the top litter clean.
> It's the longest lasting, least tracking, zero dust, best odour controlling, economical litter I and most breeders I know have found.
> One bag of pellets lasts 6 months for 1 cat.
> 
> I wouldn't think of using it in a normal litter tray, it just can't do it's proper job that way.


What you say makes a lot of sense SC. D'you know I've never heard of a "sieve tray" before Not sure they are in general use in the UK.......

I've never used the wood pellets for my cats, but the stuff is used at the Shelter where I volunteer, and in ordinary litter trays. Now I understand why the stuff is so wasteful and smelly! I have been trying for months to get the Shelter to use a different cat litter but because the wood pellets are very cheap, by the ton, I have not been able to find anything to price match them.

Using the wood pellets in ordinary trays is creating big problems at the Shelter and I have been on a mission to try and change this. 
What happens is to save waste of litter the Welfare Officer puts only a little bit of litter in each tray, so the bottom of the tray is barely covered. This means there is nothing for the cats to dig into, and also means the litter is soiled in no time. As the trays are only cleared once every 24 hours it means for a good part of each day/night the cats have no clean litter trays, so inevitably they toilet on the floor next to the tray, or in the bedding.

This means that we have loads of soiled laundry to wash every week:mad2:
It also means the cats are not being provided with decent toilet facilities and this makes me really mad, as it shows a lack of respect for them and their basic needs.! 

It had never occurred to me to look at the problem laterally and wonder if the litter trays were the right ones! So thank you SC

Now all I need to do is find a source of cheap sieve litter trays, and buy a few for the Shelter to try for starters. If anyone in the UK can recommend a good source of these trays I shall be very grateful. 

SC - can you advise me what depth of litter should be put in the top part of the tray? Same as any other kind of litter, say 6 cm?


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

chillminx said:


> If anyone in the UK can recommend a good source of these trays I shall be very grateful.


I'm in the UK too. I didn't know that it was to be used in a sieve tray!

Also Amber is bitey because her wee teeth, any recommendations also for something they might like to chew on to help them with teething? :3


----------



## AmberGirl (Dec 30, 2013)

Ps by mum bought Sanicat crystal litter (small bag) to try out - as we have a small house & the wood pellets themselves smell even if it's fresh. Will let you know how it goes.... Another question first! Do I mix wood pellets and crystal, or just go for a direct change of the litter type?


----------



## Guest (Jan 3, 2014)

AmberGirl said:


> Ps by mum bought Sanicat crystal litter (small bag) to try out - as we have a small house & the wood pellets themselves smell even if it's fresh. Will let you know how it goes.... Another question first! Do I mix wood pellets and crystal, or just go for a direct change of the litter type?


 I would just go for a complete change and not mix them, Ebay and amazon have a wide range of toys for kittens to chew on at affordable prices .


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

chillminx said:


> What you say makes a lot of sense SC. D'you know I've never heard of a "sieve tray" before Not sure they are in general use in the UK.......


Sieve Litter Tray

Not sure if you can use either of these with wood pellets

(sadly not cheap hooded one) Sieving Hooded Cat Litter Tray by Ferplast | Pets at Home or an open one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stefanplast-Litter-Strainer-Furba-4-Parts/dp/B001DXFHLA

Not sure how big the holes need to be for it to work though?

I guess it depends on how cheap the wood pellets are - not sure if they're aware of this (and it may be how they get them cheap) but the wood pellets used for horse bedding do the job just the same & are hugely cheaper than cat ones


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Thanks LL :thumbup1: Crikey those sieve trays are not cheap are they? Imagine buying 80 of those for the Shelter!  And the covered ones are an even worse price! 

Y'know I have a feeling the Shelter is probably using the wood pellets intended for horse bedding and that's why they are cheap. Thanks again


----------



## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

chillminx said:


> What you say makes a lot of sense SC. D'you know I've never heard of a "sieve tray" before Not sure they are in general use in the UK.......
> 
> SC - can you advise me what depth of litter should be put in the top part of the tray? Same as any other kind of litter, say 6 cm?


These are the trays I use http://tgwcs.utlvq.servertrust.com/Default.asp, breeders and rescues get them about half the price of regular retail here.
The cost is quickly recovered though, by using far less litter.

I use about 2cm of pellets in each tray. I spend the equivalent of £13 a month on litter for 12 cats. Over £50 for regular litters.


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

chillminx said:


> Thanks LL :thumbup1: Crikey those sieve trays are not cheap are they? Imagine buying 80 of those for the Shelter!  And the covered ones are an even worse price!
> 
> Y'know I have a feeling the Shelter is probably using the wood pellets intended for horse bedding and that's why they are cheap. Thanks again


Just came across these Purrshire Sifting Enclosed Cat Litter Tray on Sale | Free UK Delivery | PetPlanet.co.uk

Might be worth a try & very reasonably priced at the offer price


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

spotty cats said:


> These are the trays I use http://tgwcs.utlvq.servertrust.com/Default.asp, breeders and rescues get them about half the price of regular retail here.
> The cost is quickly recovered though, by using far less litter.
> 
> I use about 2cm of pellets in each tray. I spend the equivalent of £13 a month on litter for 12 cats. Over £50 for regular litters.


SC - many thanks for the the link, and the info. Unfortunately those trays are a bit expensive to buy for the Shelter.

I meant to ask - what if the cat using the tray has diarrhoea? I imagine it would be very messy trying to clean the sieve 
Also, how well would the tray work if it is only emptied every 24 hrs - would the wet litter just sit on the top until it is sifted by human hand?


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Lilylass said:


> Just came across these Purrshire Sifting Enclosed Cat Litter Tray on Sale | Free UK Delivery | PetPlanet.co.uk
> 
> Might be worth a try & very reasonably priced at the offer price


LL - thank you so much for finding that! Tempting to buy half a dozen at that great price, but have restrained myself and cautiously bought just one to try it. There is also the small matter of persuading the Welfare Office they are 
*a good idea*


----------



## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

chillminx said:


> I meant to ask - what if the cat using the tray has diarrhoea? I imagine it would be very messy trying to clean the sieve
> Also, how well would the tray work if it is only emptied every 24 hrs - would the wet litter just sit on the top until it is sifted by human hand?


Not had diarrhea here, it would either mix with the pellets or fall through and require hosing down I think.
So long as you only put a small amount of litter in the sawdust falls through, 24 hours shouldn't be an issue.

I think the holes in the tray linked above might be too small and could clog with sawdust, hard to tell from the pics but know similar trays people have tried didn't work.

The OzPet trays are apparently chinese vegetable trays, and may be found in Chinese markets for a cheaper price.


----------



## moggiemum (Mar 28, 2013)

loved your really cheap special offer price one lilylass , now which pellet to use????

just found this one , not bad price ?what you think?

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product....&sp=&mscssid=K7CH28JDH8LS8MWV448QGN48MB1C83C9


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

chillminx said:


> LL - thank you so much for finding that! Tempting to buy half a dozen at that great price, but have restrained myself and cautiously bought just one to try it. There is also the small matter of persuading the Welfare Office they are
> *a good idea*





moggiemum said:


> loved your really cheap special offer price one lilylass , now which pellet to use????
> 
> just found this one , not bad price ?what you think?
> 
> Pampuss Wood Cat Litter 30L on Sale | Free UK Delivery | PetPlanet.co.uk


Ohhhhh  I would be interested to know how well they work / if it's economical etc

I can't see myself ever going back to wood pellets BUT my local rescue also uses them (I guess they may well bulk buy the horse ones too!) with the same issue of wasting loads of good litter when the trays are cleaned in full each day

I'd love to be able to feed back to them if these work well & reduce the amount used 

Moggiemum - that looks good & a great price  I used to use the PAH stuff but just before I changed to clumping, the price shot up and the quality went down


----------



## jessahh (Dec 24, 2013)

Hiya, 
my kitten is 4 months and i had him when he was 8 weeks and he used sleep all night but now he only has a couple of hours a night and prefers to sleep through the day, when i first got my kitten he used to sleep for ages in the day like your kitten but then the next day he wouldnt sleep until the night, i mentioned this to my vet and he said its just a stressful time for him, Freddie is all healthy so it is probably just stress, enjoy your kitten sleeping through the night that wont last very long i have 3 hours max with Freddie and hes also teething x


----------



## jessahh (Dec 24, 2013)

Hiya, 
my kitten is 4 months and i had him when he was 8 weeks and he used sleep all night but now he only has a couple of hours a night and prefers to sleep through the day, when i first got my kitten he used to sleep for ages in the day like your kitten but then the next day he wouldnt sleep until the night, i mentioned this to my vet and he said its just a stressful time for him, Freddie is all healthy so it is probably just stress, enjoy your kitten sleeping through the night that wont last very long i have 3 hours max with Freddie and hes also teething x


----------

