Various kitten questions!

[Team Svartalfheims]

Helen I'm sure they will still love each other and stay just as close as they grow up.  (although we will of course need hundreds of pictures posted on a weekly basis just so we can check  )     
Miss Boopy and her half sister Bianka (8 weeks between them) are the absolute best of friends and love each other soooo much. They play together, sleep together and pretty much do absolutely everything together. Wherever one is the other one is usually only a few steps behind at most 

[Sarah (seldom_use)]

Thanks everyone, getting v. excited now - 17 hours and 10 minutes until I get them 

  i bet ur be so excited u wont b able to sleep tonight 
how old r they Helen ??
it is a brother and sister ur getting isnt it ??
awwwwww i cant wait to see photos and hear all about them 

Helen Tom and Tilly are brother and sister, they're really close!  They cuddle up to sleep together etc :D

I'm so excited for you!!!! 

xx

[forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa)]

the scratcher looks fab 

i want to get a big one for my cats ,theres one in my local pet shop called fat boy cat scratching post
it looks fab
its £39.99 i think

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Ooh - I'm getting all excited now! 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Hmmn, 20 glasses of wine may have the same effect but it will also make me projectile vomit and I will lose three days due to the hangover, think I'll stick with the Nytol 

Just unpacked all their toys and put them in their toy box, don't want to overwhelm them so will leave 5 or 6 different ones out to begin with. Beds are out,  litter trays are filled, food mat in place - just need a couple of kittens now to finish it off!

Lisa, the scratcher is the one in this thread, my post is on the first page.  http://www.chaptanservices.com/purrs/index.php?topic=3211.20

[Christine (Blip)]

Hey did ya know 20 glasses of wine is way better than a nytol 

Hey, Tan, you're my kinda gal!

Make sure you've hoovered and dusted for the new little ones, Helen 

Seriously - really thrilled for you. Give them a cuddle from me when they arrive.

xC

[Tan]

OOOOO this is soo exciting hun.  i can't wait to see thier pics and hear how they settle in and all thier naughty antics. 

Hey did ya know 20 glasses of wine is way better than a nytol 

[forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa)]

Helen i have a brother and sister Bailey and Bridie and they r not overly close either , they never fight or nothing like that but they just dont intract much with each other yet they both interact lots with my other cats , another 2 cats i have r two sisters who r very close indeed ,

when Bailey n Bridie were kittens they did play with each other a lot though
theyve just never slept together or  washed each other which they both do with other cats of mine 

the super duper tall scratcher sounds fab u got a photo of it ?

[Tiggy's Mum]

Yep, brother and sister.  I hope they love each other, Tiggy wasn't overly fond of her brother - they didn't fight or anything like that but they weren't overly close.  Can't wait, having a bit of a crisis as to where is the best place for their super duper tall scratcher so am going to move that and then everything will be ready for them    Think I may need a Nytol to help me drop off tonight 

[forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa)]

Thanks everyone, getting v. excited now - 17 hours and 10 minutes until I get them 

  i bet ur be so excited u wont b able to sleep tonight 
how old r they Helen ??
it is a brother and sister ur getting isnt it ??
awwwwww i cant wait to see photos and hear all about them 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Thanks everyone, getting v. excited now - 17 hours and 10 minutes until I get them 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Neither of my 2 have had any problems with NM and Jaffa tends to have a delicate stomach.  Mosi took to it like a duck to water    He was on dry food only at the breeders and the first wet I tried him with was whiskas kitten as I had 2 free kitten packs.  After that I put him onto other brands inc NM and no probs at all.  The only problem I encountered was getting him onto kitten dry as kitten food tends to be richer than adult.  Breeder told me he was on adult purina pro plan cos kitten too rich and sure enough when I tried to transition him over he got the runs.  After backtracking and trying again a week later he was ok on the kitten.  I was told exactly the same thing by the rescue when I got Jaffa - that he was on adult food cos kitten was too rich.  I got him onto kitten ok though.  So if NM kitten upsets their tummies it might be worth trying them on the adult version or just waiting til they're a bit bigger.

[Ellie]

Hi Helen you must be sooooo excited I know I was 

The boys were on Whiskas kitten wet at Teresa's and I haven't changed over yet. I want them to have Hi-life kitten, was going to try Nature's Menu kitten but read somewhere on here that can be a bit rich for them. At the moment they have RC kitten dry but I have been mixing it with Purina kitten and so far no runny bums    I'll leave mixing their wet for a few more days as they are still getting used to us and Mupps and Rascal.

Teresa used woodbased litter I use fullers earth and they took to it with no problems  they share a tray as they are in the cage at the moment. The other two have always just had one tray, they did have two but never used the second one 

Be prepared to be run ragged  it's wonderful and I am really excited for you.

Can't wait to see their pics and give them gentle cuddles from me 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So excited for you and the clock is ticking very fast 

Just one word of warning about Natures Menue,  its very rich, so I would make the change slower than faster and watch for any tummy probs.

Hope everything goes fine. 

[CurlyCatz]

thats true susanne, cody didnt reallly have much wet food at all (they only get 1 or 2 x per week i think) and now he just wont eat "normal" wet food.  I would stop the petit pate tins altogether but he does expect them every night now even tho he doesnt necessarily eat it all 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

When I got Mosi I temporarily used a 2nd tray so that I could have Jaffa's usual tray (hooded with flap and containing clumping cat litter) and one for Mosi with the hood but flap removed and containing the litter he was used to (normal non clumping clay litter).  Guess which one he used?  Yup - straight into Jaffa's tray!    After a couple of days I got rid of the 2nd tray and just left the one with flap and clumping litter and he was fine with it.  I only have the one tray and they are happy sharing it.  When I first got Jaffa he was only 8 weeks so I put the tray base out for him and added the hood after a few weeks (with flap as I didn't realise it came off - if I'd known I'd have taken the flap off until he was happy with the hood then added the flap).  He had no problems with any of it.  I would stick with the litter they are used to in both trays and once they're happily using that try them with what you want them to use in one of them.  If it's a similar texture there probably won't be any problem.  I'm not sure what chick crumbs are like?  Often little ones don't like anything too large or hard as their paw pads are soft so it can feel uncomfortable.  I tried lots of different litters when I first got Jaffa and Magpie and they used them all until I tried wood pellets which Magpie refused point blank to use for poos (he was a good boy though and went on the newspaper the tray stood on rather than on the carpet!).

Personally I'd keep them on the food they're used to for at least a week, if not 2.  Sometimes being in a new place can result in an upset stomach so I think it's best not to mess around with their food for a few weeks.  Wet food is usually easier to swap over as it's mainly water anyway so the transition can often be done a bit quicker than with dry, but 7-10 days is what is usually recommended.

You  must be so excited!   

[forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa)]

ooooooo i love kittens
i bet ur sooooooooo excited Helen
i cant wait to see photos and hear all about them 

[Team Svartalfheims]

I'll try to make the ETA!  Want to see hundreds of pics of them!!

[CurlyCatz]

yeah i meant use 7-10 days to do the swap over.  Perhaps leave them on what they are accustomed to for 24-48 hrs maybe ? just to help the settling in ,  so's not everything changing.

[Tiggy's Mum]

I think you should arrange for one or two kitten experts to be standing by their pooters on Monday in case you have an urgent question. 

Yes, good idea!  We have an ETA of around 10:30, cancel all your appointments 

[Christine (Blip)]

I haven't a clue about kittens, but just to say I'm really excited for you, Helen 

I think you should arrange for one or two kitten experts to be standing by their pooters on Monday in case you have an urgent question. 

[Team Svartalfheims]

Makes sense! Saves you ending up with Litter trays 'R' Us in the loft like we've got lol.

[Tiggy's Mum]

I've only got two, they are bigger than 'normal' trays though.   Tiggy and her brother only ever had two between them and they were fine, if I have any problems I can always get a third

[Team Svartalfheims]

Also I don't know how many litter trays you have bought but the general rule of 1 per cat + at least 1 isn't always needed. I worked on that and had 3 trays in my bathroom at my flat and 3 in the bathroom at the house up here and they only ever used two (one for wees and one for poos) and just ignored the third one in each house lol.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Thanks Lottie, that's great.  Love the idea of one lid, one without - pure genius!  The hooded trays I've got are really good so I don't think they'll have a problem climbing in, all the ones I'd seen online were really deep and I think I'd have struggled to get in them.  My ones are the same size and depth as the tray Tiggy used to have (bigger and deeper than 'normal') but with a hood!

[Team Svartalfheims]

Mix it in over the 7-10 days. So all Whiskas on day 1, half Whiskas and half new food by day 3-5 (depending whether you paln to do 7 or 10days) and then all NM and JW by day 7-10

Can't wait to see the pictures of them!  Kittens are fab 

[Team Svartalfheims]

I'd prob say about 7 days for food changeover. Bilbo changed his food the second he arrived home (he started munching Tigger's Hills kitten rather than his own Royal Canin Kitten) and was fine but gradual changes are always best provided you know what food they currently eat and can get hold of it before they come home.

With regards to litter Tigger's breeder had used wood pellets and when I decided to swap her over to silica litter (which was what Bilbo had) I put down a tray of her usual litter and a tray of the silica and she never used wood again.

Maybe take doors off both trays and the lid off of one and see what they do. Kittens are very curious so no doubt they'll dive straight into the hooded one to see if it's more fun. Tigger had to have a little step either side of the opening of the hooded littertray so she could get in and out when she was little as she was so tiny with such little legs so you might need to do that with yours depending how big they are.  

[Tiggy's Mum]

Thanks Lynn,

They are on Whiskas kitten (wet) at the moment, I want to put them on Natures Menu wet and James Wellbeloved dry.  So do you mean keep them on Whiskas for 7 - 10 days then gradually mix the new stuff in or mix it in over 7 - 10 days?

Will try your litter timetable, that sounds ideal! 

[CurlyCatz]

Hiya Helen, i bet your so excited.

Firstly do you know what food they are being fed on now and what do you want to put them onto ?  as with any other food changes are best done gradually but i'd say 7-10 days is percectly fine if they are healthy and robust with no dicky tummy problems. 

Re Litter I got a bag of wbcl with cody (breeders get "kitten packs etc") and so he used it straight away, However i dont think his breeder used it herself and i had no issues with cody using it.  I think i left his hood off for 2 or 3 days, then used the hood with the door flap off and left it like that for a few weeks then put the door on and no problems. (the only thing i'd say to watch for possibly is the hooded trays are quite deep so i dont know if a shallower one is better for them ?? cody was 4.5 months so he was bigger.)

I bet ellie would have a few tips for you since she'd just got 2 babies herself 

Really looking forward to seeing the piccys  (must only be around 43 hrs and 45 mins now i reckon  )

[Tiggy's Mum]

'K' day is looming (43 hours 52 minutes and counting...), I've just finished kitten proofing the house and have a few last minute questions...

With regards changing their food how long should I keep them on the original food before I start gradually mixing in the new food?  I was thinking a few days but then I read somewhere a few weeks.

Litter: 

I'm going to try them on the famous chick crumb, seeing as they are only little and not stuck in their ways do you think it's OK to start them off straight onto CC's or will I still need to mix in what they use at the moment?

I've got hooded trays for them (at the moment they have a normal tray),  I was going to take the flaps off at first but should I take the lids off too to begin with?

Thanks for any thoughts, you will be rewarded with pics whn they arrive