Kitten

[Mermaid]

Don't feed the kitten dry food. Keep her on wet food of high quality. Dry food has a lot of carbohydrate, and cats, as obligate carnivores, can't handle that and very often develop diabetes due to dry food.

Besides, she's way too young for crunchy dry food right now. She's barely old enough to be weaned.

There is absolutely no reason to declaw a cat, so please don't.

The best advice I can give you, besides pleading with you to PLEASE realize this is a 15+ year commitment (and if you have any doubts, please take her to a shelter while she's still small and adoptable) is that cats are very intelligent and curious. They need a lot of mental and physical stimulation and exercise. Get some interactive toys for her and dedicate some time to her every day. They absolutely crave routine, and without that and any sort of stimulation, they can develop behavioral problems.

This is a commitment. Please love your cat and commit to her, a sentient, living, feeling, breathing creature with emotions and feelings, for the rest of her life.

[Mermaid]

Oh! I forgot an important thing! Get her spayed as soon as you can.

[Mermaid]

One thing I am wondering about is whether I should take it in to get it's front paws declawed. Does anybody have any useful input on this?

DO NOT!  A declawed cat has no defense.  Try as you might, the cat will get out of the house and cannot climb effectively to escape the neighbor's dog nor be able to defend itself.

It's not just defense. It's physioogical function and pain. They need their claws to properly exercise and stretch their shoulder and back muscles. Declawed cats can develop behavioral problems after the very painful procedure (which is just like cutting off the first joint of your fingers) such as reluctance to use the litterbox due to pain from digging and also declawed cats can develop biting habits. I've seen that more than once.

[Shining_Finger]

Please don't trim your cats nails, and certainly don't get it declawed. Learn to stop kids from annoying your cat or just keep them away and it will be fine. Most kids have it coming anyway.

Kittens love boxes. Seriously. Love.

I second this. As soon as I open a big box, my cat loves to jump in it and will stay there for hours.

I don't see why I shouldn't trim my cat's nails, at least from time to time. I trim my dog's nails and obviously avoid the quick. Here is a Wikihow page on trimming a cat's nails.
http://m.wikihow.com/Trim-Your-Cat's-Nails
Go ahead and read it a bit.

[Shining_Finger]

Don't feed the kitten dry food. Keep her on wet food of high quality. Dry food has a lot of carbohydrate, and cats, as obligate carnivores, can't handle that and very often develop diabetes due to dry food.

Besides, she's way too young for crunchy dry food right now. She's barely old enough to be weaned.

There is absolutely no reason to declaw a cat, so please don't.

The best advice I can give you, besides pleading with you to PLEASE realize this is a 15+ year commitment (and if you have any doubts, please take her to a shelter while she's still small and adoptable) is that cats are very intelligent and curious. They need a lot of mental and physical stimulation and exercise. Get some interactive toys for her and dedicate some time to her every day. They absolutely crave routine, and without that and any sort of stimulation, they can develop behavioral problems.

This is a commitment. Please love your cat and commit to her, a sentient, living, feeling, breathing creature with emotions and feelings, for the rest of her life.

You don't need to emphasize that it is a Pet. I have had multiple other pets. 
Anyways, I have had some practically annual problems with mice, so this is a particularly good thing. 
I am trying to hold him for at least 5 minutes a day so that he gets used to being held. 
He has regained a lot of weight from the first day we got him, so that is good. 
The only reason I would give him to a shelter is if he doesn't get along with the two, small, old, dogs at all. If they get along decently, I can build on that. I plan to introduce the Cat to the Dogs tomorrow.

[Losty]

Please don't trim your cats nails, and certainly don't get it declawed. Learn to stop kids from annoying your cat or just keep them away and it will be fine. Most kids have it coming anyway.


I second this. As soon as I open a big box, my cat loves to jump in it and will stay there for hours.

I don't see why I shouldn't trim my cat's nails, at least from time to time. I trim my dog's nails and obviously avoid the quick. Here is a Wikihow page on trimming a cat's nails.
http://m.wikihow.com/Trim-Your-Cat's-Nails
Go ahead and read it a bit.

Dogs and cats are not the same. I think a good scratching post is all you need instead of trimming the claws. If you decide to, be sure to have gauze and anti bacterial cut spray/cream on hand for your arms.

[Mermaid]

Don't feed the kitten dry food. Keep her on wet food of high quality. Dry food has a lot of carbohydrate, and cats, as obligate carnivores, can't handle that and very often develop diabetes due to dry food.

Besides, she's way too young for crunchy dry food right now. She's barely old enough to be weaned.

There is absolutely no reason to declaw a cat, so please don't.

The best advice I can give you, besides pleading with you to PLEASE realize this is a 15+ year commitment (and if you have any doubts, please take her to a shelter while she's still small and adoptable) is that cats are very intelligent and curious. They need a lot of mental and physical stimulation and exercise. Get some interactive toys for her and dedicate some time to her every day. They absolutely crave routine, and without that and any sort of stimulation, they can develop behavioral problems.

This is a commitment. Please love your cat and commit to her, a sentient, living, feeling, breathing creature with emotions and feelings, for the rest of her life.

You don't need to emphasize that it is a Pet. I have had multiple other pets. 
Anyways, I have had some practically annual problems with mice, so this is a particularly good thing. 
I am trying to hold him for at least 5 minutes a day so that he gets used to being held. 
He has regained a lot of weight from the first day we got him, so that is good. 
The only reason I would give him to a shelter is if he doesn't get along with the two, small, old, dogs at all. If they get along decently, I can build on that. I plan to introduce the Cat to the Dogs tomorrow.

Excellent. I didn't mean to imply otherwise about you in particular, forgive me. I've seen how shitty people can be to animals, so I get a bit defensive. Good luck to you and your new baby.

[IATIA]

You should never need to clip a cat's nails. They use the sharp tip to catch on what they are scratching and it flakes off the old tip which leaves a freshly sharp tip. Just make sure you have a scratching post and I sprinkle a little catnip on mine a couple times a week. Get yourself a squirt bottle with water and use it when the cat is scratching something they are not supposed to be tearing up. If you clip them, it reduces their effectiveness for climbing and defense. Unlike declawing, however, the nails will eventually be sharp again.

[rexbeccarox]

You should never need to clip a cat's nails.  They use the sharp tip to catch on what they are scratching and it flakes off the old tip which leaves a freshly sharp tip.  Just make sure you have a scratching post and I sprinkle a little catnip on mine a couple times a week.  Get your self a squirt bottle with water and use it when the cat is scratching something they are not supposed to be tearing up.  If you clip them, it reduces their effectiveness for climbing and defense.  Unlike declawing, however, the nails will eventually be sharp again.

I highly disagree with the squirt bottle method:

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/the...ntroversy/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/behavior/squ...-behavior/

http://catingtonpost.com/jackson-galaxy-...-your-cat/

[IATIA]

We have found it to be effective. We have alternatives for what the cats are not supposed to do except for the hot stove. They come up right next to me while I am holding the squirt bottle. I have one that will come up to me and start slapping the bottle around.

Those links suggested problems due to over abuse of the squirt bottle. We use our sparingly and effectively.