Monday, December 7, 2009

Things I Forgot About Kitties

Well, we've had our new babies for about a month, and there are many things that are coming back to my remembrance about kittens. So if you get a kitten or two, keep these things in mind:
  1. Kittens like small round things, like hair bands(ponytail holders) and milk rings. Thus, you will find them laying all over the house, and it isn't because your kids were just being sloppy. (My baby Jazz liked to drop milk rings in our shoes. When she was a kitten, she would drop them in the shoe and swat at them. I would think she couldn't get the ring back out, so I would help her. She would then pick up the milk ring and drop it back in the shoe!)
  2. Kitties like anything that dangles. Pullies for your ceiling fans(we hold our babies up in the kitchen and let them bat them around for a little bit), strings from your ironing board cover, fringe from your scarves, hair when you bend down, and snowflakes you hang on your banister for your Christmas and winter decor. Take a tip from me--forget the snowflakes on the banister! I had 8-10 or so hanging on mine, looking so pretty. There are none left on the banister--the kitties re-decorated for me, leaving flakes, glitter, and the little metal wires you use to hang them, all over the house, and on two seperate levels of the house.
  3. Kitties have sharp claws that snag furniture and sheers. (Okay, I'm crying now!) When you have more than one kitty, the game of "chase" is a favorite across the backs of your couches. When you have tall dining room chairs, small kittens can't always aim perfectly for jumping up on them, thus allowing you to hear their sharp little kitty claws digging in while they get a grip.

A couple tips from me:

  • You can buy cardboard scratch posts for your babies-this gives them the pleasure of scratching like they desire(our kitties don't scratch the furniture on purpose, thankfully, but they obviously don't realize what running across the back of the couch does to it, and me(SSSNNNnnnniiifffffff!!!!---excuse me while I wipe my eyes and blow my nose....).
  • Instead of declawing your wonderful felines, there is a wonderful product on the market that I discovered, and they definately help! With kittens, they can be a little work, but it definately will ease your nerves when they jump on the furniture. The product is called Soft Claws. They come in different sizes and colors! They are little rubber caps that you glue to your kitten's claws. They do not hurt the kitten, and they turn their sharp little nails into soft, rubber ones. Sometimes kittens will try to get them off, until they get used to them. They should stay on for 8 weeks or so. We team up when we put them on our kitties--one holds the kitten and feeds her treats, while the other extends her claw and puts the cap on. You can find them on ebay, and I'm sure other places on the web. I'll put them in my sidebar on this page for now...you can also trim their nails, but be ever so careful not to trim them too short! Check on the web how to do it!

So there you have it! A few things to remember when getting a kitty. You will also need to have many, many treats on hand, lots of toys, and you will need to remember how to talk baby talk, and call yourself Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Grandma or Grandpa. :)

2 comments:

Babz said...

Hi, I believe, and hope, by reading your blog that you are not contemplating declawing your kittens, but as it is about cats and people who do not realise the trauma for the cat involved in declawing I hope you don't mind me posting this link
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/facts/declawing.html

Also, declawing kittens should not be routine, at 6 months or any age. The AVMA policy states that Declawing of domestic cats should be considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing presents a zoonotic risk for its owner(s).

The AVMA believes it is the obligation of veterinarians to provide cat owners with complete education with regard to feline onychectomy.

So any vet that happily declaws a 6month old kitten is actually ignoring the advice of the AVMA and simply putting profit before cats welfare.

Kittens are fun though aren't they?

A Chocolate Bouquet said...

Thank you for your post---I know that declawing is rather common, and I know that there are many who have found declawing to be a terrible thing.
I actually have a grown cat that is living outside now, somewhere---our home burned down in March, and even tho she got out, we know she was scared and confused, and everything we tried to do to catch her, did not bring her back home to us yet. I am VERY grateful that I never had her declawed!!! Spayed, yes! But not declawed!
Instead of declawing, that is WHY I listed the soft claws products-because it is a wonderful alternative. Since my babies are kittens, they are not used to the rubber claws, and so have worked some of them off. At this point, my girls and I need to team up to trim the nails again, and glue on the next set of soft claws.
Mentioning the sharp kitty claws in my blog is not meant to be a deciding factor for folks for declawing--my blog is meant to be lighthearted, and all of us cat lovers are most likely familiar with the sounds of kitties and furniture!
I am going to edit my blog post just a bit, and thank you for your comment! Your concern is appreciated!
Josanne