Kittens how long to keep inside

For this reason, RSPCA recommends confining your kitten in their safe haven for up to two weeks at first — and a minimum of 10 days.

Next, use a doorstop to prop the door slightly ajar — just enough so that the animals can see each other, but not enough to allow them to get in or out of the room. You could also rub a towel on the kitten and put it underneath the food bowl of your resident cat. Start by bringing your kitten out in their cat carrier and see how it goes.

If either animal becomes fearful or aggressive, separate them and start the introduction process from the beginning.

Keep your dog on their leash and give them a cue to sit and stay while offering a treat. Then, allow your kitten to walk around the room and explore without your dog chasing them. During this time, make sure that your kitten has access to jump to a height where they feel comfortable this could be the top of their scratching post or a counter top. You can repeat this process until both the dog and cat are tolerating each other without fear or aggression.

Whether you decide to train your cat to stay on your property at all times or roam during the day, RSPCA strongly encourages the confinement of cats in an enclosed area at night time.

Confining cats to your property during this period can help to protect them from disease and injuries that occur through fighting and accidents, while reducing the impact of hunting and disturbance to neighbours. Some local councils even require night-time confinement as a matter of law. We all know that cats love to clean themselves on the regular, but some varieties may still need a bit of grooming help from their fur parent. Without regular brushing, medium-haired and long-haired cats can be prone to furballs, matting and other problems.

Prior to adoption, all kittens and cats from RSPCA South Australia have received their first set of vaccinations, and are therefore protected from serious diseases including Feline Enteritis and Feline Respiratory disease.

But, we do recommend that you administer a flea and worm treatment on your cat monthly. To make it easier for you to keep your kitty flea-and-worm-free, we give everyone who adopts a feline or canine from us a voucher for a discount on a 6-pack of this treatment.

Being a responsible pet owner has never been so simple, right? When it comes to vaccinations, some kittens are rehomed before they are ready for their second set. If this is the case, we will give you a vaccination certificate at the time of adoption and advise you to make arrangements with your local vet. Vaccinations are vital to protect your cat from severe infectious diseases, while preventing them from passing anything nasty on to other animals in the area.

Stay tuned for part 3 to this series, where we cover common behavioural problems in cats and what to do about them. My new kitten has been set up in the laundry and has used the litter trays. Do you think she did this because she could smell my other cat or because this was a pretty new area or just that she needed to go and went here? My older cat basically just comes in to eat and sleep at night. He stands by the door wanting to go out any other time.

He has stopped hissing at the new cat and I feed them together on different levels of my giant 5 level cat tower. I have to keep the cat food out of the dogs reach.

I have a under age orfin kitten. The Ultimate Guide. Getting a new kitten is an exciting time. You may have been anticipating getting a kitten for some time or you might have not even known a kitten was about to join your household. But regardless of the circumstances of the arrival, the first month with your new kitten is a month of changes, and there are things you can do to make these changes go smoothly.

Purchase the items that your kitten will need and place them in your home for other people and pets to start adjusting to. Pheromones can be diffused prior to the arrival of the new kitten to help both your older cats and the new one feel calm and relaxed.

Even if you already have a cat, make sure the new kitten will have its own bed, food and water dishes, and a couple of toys. Set up a bathroom or other small room with these items for your kitten to stay in for the first few nights in its new home.

You should have at least one more litter box than you have cats and there should be no direct line of sight from litter box to litter box. Extra litter and, of course, kitten food will also be needed to help your kitten feel at home. If you have other pets, allow them to sniff the kitten while you hold it but be sure to keep the kitten safe at all times. Make sure the kitten knows where the litter boxes are and that they eat and drink. If the kitten wants to sleep, let it sleep.

Keep the carrier you brought it home in accessible to it, in case the kitten is nervous and wants to curl up inside of it. The kitten room should be prepared in advance to enable the new arrival to settle in comfortably with minimum disturbance. Place the cat basket on the floor gently and open the lid; allow the kitten to explore in its own time.

Offer food, water and a freshly prepared litter tray to the kitten within the room or in the cage so the kitten knows it is its den.

The piece of familiar bedding can be placed inside a cardboard box or cat bed to help the kitten feel at home. It may be helpful to maintain the same litter material that the kitten was used to in its previous home during the initial period, making any changes gradually once the newcomer is completely settled.

Kittens need their sleep when they are young, even more so than adult cats, but in between catnaps they exhibit energetic bursts of activity. Kittens love to climb so be prepared to go to the rescue; going up is always easier than coming down. Getting to know the kitten is really important to enable a bond to be created so interaction should take place during the times when it feels naturally active and appears responsive.

No matter how cute a kitten looks it should never be woken for affection or playtime. If you want to appeal to your new kitten, spend time on the floor at kitten level — allow family members to visit individually rather than crowding into the room all at once.

During the first couple of days, any handling should ideally take place when the kitten initiates it. After the first forty-eight hours, handle the kitten throughout the day for short periods of time, rather than providing continuous physical contact.

If you have young children, allow them limited supervised contact initially to avoid the kitten being over-handled. See our information on introducing children to a new cat or kitten. At this age, the kitten needs plenty of rest so always allow the kitten to sleep uninterrupted. If you have a kitten cage you can simply put it away for a while so it can rest in peace. It also has a tiny stomach at this age so offering small meals at regular intervals throughout the day will avoid any potential stomach upsets.

How to introduce a new kitten to your resident cat How to introduce a new adult cat to your resident cat. Many owners feel that kittens need to be close to them at night, particularly when they first arrive, but this can set an undesirable precedent for nocturnal games and excitement and no sleep whatsoever for you! Cats are naturally active at dawn and dusk but your kitten can soon learn to adjust its sleeping patterns to fit in with your lifestyle.

There is nothing cruel in putting a kitten to bed in a cosy, warm and secure environment such as the kitten cage until you wake in the morning, but the location and type of bed are important to ensure a stress-free night. Any bed provided for a kitten should have high sides to keep out draughts and a low front for easy access.

The lining material should be thick and thermal to keep the kitten warm. When you first take a kitten home feed it on the same food it has been used to.

A sudden change of diet combined with the stress of adapting to a new home can cause stomach upsets and diarrhoea. Kittens have small stomachs and have to be fed little and often, like babies. It can be very difficult to put together a homemade diet which provides all the nutrients required by growing kittens — it is a great deal easier to feed a good quality commercial kitten food and spend the time playing with the kitten instead!

There are foods which have been specially formulated for kittens because they have different nutritional needs to the fully grown cat. Read and follow the feeding instructions carefully. Kittens aged weeks need four meals a day, months three meals, and kittens over 6 months old, two meals. You may want to provide some dry food on an ad lib basis — it depends very much on your lifestyle, what your kitten likes and is used to and if you have other cats in the house with certain feeding routines and habits.

If you wish to feed milk use one that is specially formulated for cats. Diarrhoea that persists for more than 24 hours requires veterinary attention. Introducing your cat to the outside It's likely that your cat will want to go out and explore the garden and beyond. How long to wait before letting your cat outside Adult cats How long you leave it before letting your cat outside depends on the cat's personality and how quickly they settle.

Kittens The timescale is slightly different for kittens. How to prepare your cat for the outside Before you let your cat or kitten outside: Make sure your cat can be identified.

A Battersea cat will already be microchipped, so if your cat is scanned, the chip will be linked to your contact details. Even if your cat has been microchipped, it can also be a good idea for your cat to wear a quick release safety collar with an ID tag containing your details.

This will mean you can be readily contacted by anyone if your cat becomes injured or goes missing, without your cat needing to be taken to a vet to be scanned.

Make sure your outside space or garden is safe, cat-friendly and inviting for your cat. Doing this can also encourage them not to wander too far.