# Just got a 6-week old Siamese kitty!



## Sassan31 (Oct 23, 2013)

I just got a 6-week old Siamese female kitten and will be looking in the next week or two to find another kitten to join her. In the mean time, this is the first cat that I have ever had and the first real pet (other than birds) since I was 1 or 2 years old. I will be looking online for tips and advice on how to raise it properly but I wanted to ask for some suggestions on here. For example, this kitty is not litter trained yet. How do I go about on training her? Also, the kitten is no longer bottle fed and the people that I got her from said that they mix dry and wet food to feed her. I would appreciate all the advice. I work from home and study from home and my girlfriend works as a teacher during the day. We will take good care of this kitten as well as the other friend that we will be looking in getting for her soon. Thanks in advance and hope all is well. ​


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

She is absolutely adorable. Welcome to the forum! Now, in the name of education:

She is not Siamese, Siamese is a breed. Any cat can be pointed, much like any cat can be gray and not be a Russian Blue. Kittens can be born pointed in a litter without any other pointed kittens, etc. ... she appears to be seal point. Seal=her coloring, point=her pattern type.

On to some more important stuff... 6 weeks is too young to leave the mother. 8 should be the absolute youngest and if you want them to 'learn how to be a normal cat' which includes learning to cover poops and that biting hard is not acceptable (NEVER play hand games with her -- it's only funny when they're small), then waiting until they are 12 weeks is even better. These weeks are extremely formative. Right now you have an infant, so the litterbox has not been learned yet... they do it instinctively, but you may need to teach her a bit by placing her in and digging yourself. You should perhaps keep her in a single room when you are not watching her so she is always close to a litterbox. Kittens easily get caught short. It'll also keep her out of danger from household items; kitten proofing is important.

The next cat you get I would strongly recommend be older than her, a cat closer to 1+ year old. One that can teach her about being a cat, not one still learning. A kitten's personality is not set (an aloof kitten can grow into a loving cat and vice versa), an older cat is set and their personality unlikely to change. A shelter worker should have a good idea on each personality of their cats and can find you a good match. 

On to food: Despite general myths about kibble cleaning teeth, that isn't the case. What it does do is dehydrate a cat, as it is only 10% moisture. Cats do not have a strong thirst drive and do not make up the difference, wet food is 75% moisture which much more closely mimics a live animal's water content, which is where a cat naturally gets their water intake from. Good wet foods are to be found in a pet store. Grocery stores carry cheap foods. You want to avoid grains, byproduct, and fruits and vegetables. Also fish, as cats may become addicted to it and want to eat nothidng else and because of the murcury levels. Basically the less on the ingredients list the better. Here are some good foods: EVO, First Mate, Tiki Cat, Weruva, Wellness (especially CORE). Cats require zero carbs in their diet, another reason grains aren't any good for them... cats are carnivorous so stick to meats. You may not even be considering this, but keep in mind feeding just breast meats etc. is an unbalanced diet (they need organs and bone too) so stick to wet foods. They Also cannot make taurine on their own so foods need to add it (cooking/freezing destroys it). If you want to supplinent wet with kibble, because kittens should be fed 5+ times a day and as much as they an eat... and they can eat a lot! Then here's some good brands: EVO, Instinct chicken version, Go! Fit chicken/turkey version, Innova Prime version. Also don't feed her cow milk! Cats are often lactose intolerant. Diarrhea? All over the house.

Cat toys! Got any yet? They like toy mice and Da Bird, and a cat tree should be purchased too if you don't already have them. Cats love getting up high and scratching, as well as stretching their legs, so make sure you get a tree with a really long section that's long enough for a filly grown stretching cat.

... longest intro reply? I think so.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Typing from my phone always fails. *sigh* Anyway, I mean they should be fed 3+ times a day. Not 5+. When she gets older just twice a day should be fine. Scheduled feeding times are best, not leaving food out all day long. It helps keep track of how much they're eating and cuts down on the possibility of becoming over weight.

Also, do not declaw. I know you mentioned nothing of it but I wanted to throw that out there. Most countries besides in North America this is banned due to how awful it is. It is like cutting off your first joint of the finger. Cats can no longer stretch their muscles in their paws and it can lead to several behaviour problems (biting or peeing and pooping all over the house). They may also suffer chronic pain afterwards.


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## Jetlaya67 (Sep 26, 2012)

She is adorable! About getting her a friend, IMHO, I would get one close in age to hers so they play and entertain themselves plus an older cat may not appreciate such a high energy companion. As far as the litterbox, make sure it has sides low enough so she can get in and out easily. Put her in the litterbox, grab her little paw and make digging motions with her paw. Always put her in her litterbox after she eats and if she poops outside the litterbox, get her poop and put it I the litterbox and place her in there too, let her look at it and hopefully she will get the idea. Don't punish her for accidents, she is just a baby. As far as feeding, at her age, feed her as much as she wants, she is growing. Wet is a lot better than dry. Get the best food you can afford. You can leave dry out for her to snack during the day. Get her a scratching post and some toys, Da Bird is a good one. Thanks for posting her picture and I can tell she is in an awesome, caring home.


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## Lotu (Apr 26, 2013)

Anyone know if a litterbox trained kitten were to join this one, would the untrained one learn from the trained kitten or would the trained kitten start going anywhere learning from the untrained one?

The kitten is very cute...any name yet?


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## Wannabe Catlady (Aug 6, 2012)

Adorable! I second everything Carmel said in that fantastic post. 

I would like to add that you should use a non-clumping clay litter. A kitten that young may choose to eat some of it, and clumping can really hurt their digestive systems. 

I also strongly suggest an older cat as a companion (around a year) that has shown to be playful and very tolerant of other kitties. I think if you adopted a second, very young kitten who didn't have time to learn proper cat etiquette from their mother (lol) you would end up with two holy terrors on your hands.... 

Good luck! I can't imagine going through those crazy kitten stages again, so more power to you lol


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

She is quite cute, but at only 6 weeks you are going to need to be a surrogate momma to her! Because she is so tiny - kittens should really stay with momma until about 12 weeks or so for optimal emotional well being - you will need to keep her confined to a semi-small space (don't give her the run of big scary house). A very small bedroom or bathroom would be good but don't lock her in there alone for long periods. They make kitten attractant that can be used in the litter box until she figures it out. 99.9% of cats take to the litter box in time - you just need to make it VERY convenient to her.

For feeding, skip the dry. Give her watered down canned food and as much as she wants. Pate or "classic" is better than chunks right now. NO cow's milk!!!!, although she may enjoy cat milk from a pet store. KMR makes a brand. Whiskas is another.


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## Sassan31 (Oct 23, 2013)

@Carmel: Thank you so much for your response. I absolutely understand that six weeks is too young to leave the mother but the alternative wasn't good. This person sold her for $90 and she was the last one and all her siblings were already gone. It would have gone to some other home and fortunately I work and study out of the home and therefore I can take good care of her when my girlfriend is at work. I am looking for a companion for her so that she has someone to play with and to socialize with so that she matures as best as possible. I don't think the people who had her took good care of her and I am making sure to treat her super well. I have been feeding her good wet food from the pet store and bought some good accessories to keep her warm and playful. Today she used the litter box and afterwards she was a little shy and went and hid for a couple of minutes. But after that she became a new cat and has been so energetic, inquisitive, playful. I think after she was able to relieve herself she felt much better. 

And I won't declaw!

@Jetlaya67: Thanks for your advice. Well taken.  

@Lotu: No name yet! 

@Wannabe Catlady: Thanks for the hint on the cat litter.

@Marcia: Thanks... yes... I feel bad that it is without her mommy at this point in time. The person who gave it said the mom was rejecting the litter but that could have been a lie. Anyhow, Thank you for your advice.


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

There's a ton of good advice here, so I'll toss out mine as well 

Carmel is spot on, the only thing I'd do differently is rather than get another cat who's a year old my preference would be another kitten that's about 6 months old. The reason I'd prefer a younger kitten than Carmel suggested is because intros between kittens are WAY easier than trying to intro an adult cat (over 1 year) to another. TBH after 9 months I've found they can be a bit touchier. The younger the kitten is the more flexible and adaptable they are, but if you get one at 6 months it'd also have a lot of other 'cat' things to teach your baby.

I very seriously second keeping the baby in one room when you aren't directly supervising. When Doran was a kitten I had a ziploc container as his litter box and if I went into another room with Doran I'd bring his box with us so there was always one nearby.

Clay clumping litter is a serious no-no for a baby this age, but you could use a clumping litter that's NOT clay based. I use Swheat scoop, but world's best (corn based) would be fine as well.

Ditto all the people who suggested canned food, although raw is always my preference canned is a good second 

If you do a search for 'kitten problems' or 'kitten training' you should find a LOT of great posts about what you should and shouldn't do to help your new baby learn. My general rule of thumb is that if it shouldn't be done to a 6 months old human baby you shouldn't do it to your kitten. Ie: no yelling, scruffing, hitting, hissing, ect.

At this stage they're easily distracted, so if the kitten does something naughty you can just call it over in a happy voice, or toss a toy nearby and the baby should redirect to pouncing that thing rather than doing the naughty thing. Ta da! lol

No playing with baby using your hands!!! It's SUCH a bad habit and is incredible hard to correct in an older kitten. Use wand toys, laser pointers, balls, teddy bears, ect but NEVER your hands or other body parts.


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