dje@5941ux.UUCP (08/29/83)
Having just brought home a month-old kitten, I need a little advice on
training her. Ideally, I'd like her to use only outside toilet facilities
(shrub beds). I've been told she's too young to leave alone outside for
any extended period (like overnight), which would be especially dangerous
since there is a German Shepherd next door who sometimes roams unleashed into
our yard.
We put her in the basement overnight, and she has gone in a kitty-litter box
quite reliably so far. Is it reasonable to try to train her to hold it in
overnight by leaving her without the litter box? What about going away for
short daytime errands?
Any general advice from Usenet cat owners would be appreciated very much.
Thank you.
Dave Ellis / Bell Labs, Piscataway NJ
...!{hocda,ihnp4}!houxm!houxf!5941ux!dje
...!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!houxf!5941ux!djewelsch@houxu.UUCP (08/30/83)
It sounds to me that your cat is already well trained. The only problem you will have is keeping her trained. To do that always keep fresh litter available. Friends of mine who have not followed this simple rule have had problems. After all would you want to use a toilet that hadn't been flushed for a week. Well cats don't like it either. It is much more difficult to retrain a cat than to keep her trained. Do not worry about her using the outside. I have found that all of my cats prefer the great out doors. One month is definitely a bit young for her to go outside alone. I recommend that you wait until after she has had her rabies shot and has been altered before you let her run free. My outside cats have even tried going out in the middle of snowstorms to take care of nature, only to discover how miserable the weather is and return to the warm litter box. If she is to be an outside cat then DO NOT GET HER DECLAWED. Her ability to climb trees and use her claws for self defense are critical. You will undoubtedly have scratched up furniture. I have learned to live with it. If you cannot then I recommend that you train her to stay in rooms that do not have furniture you care about. This can be done by placing barriers and gently, though, firmly removing her from rooms she doesn't belong in. It takes great patience since cats are naturally curious, but once she discovers the great out doors the house will loose interest and the training will pay off. At one month old she needs a lot of love and attention. Be certain to give it to her. She has just been taken from her family and needs affection. As she grows older she will require less attention. A few more notes. Take her to a vet. for a general check up. When I picked up my last kitty from a house that was worth a quarter of a million dollars, she had both ear mites and worms. The vet. said she was born with the mites. Also, if she is to be an out side cat about once a week while you are petting her check her ears for mites and her fur for scratches and fleas. The scratches should be sterilized. The fleas should be gotten rid of outside with a mild flea powder. If you don't sterilize her scratches she could develop abscesses. The fleas if not caught quickly will infest your house. It is generally more expensive to have an out side cat, but I think cats prefer the great out doors. One final note. Cats do catch little animals, ie. mice, rats, birds, squirrels. They love to display their catches, so don't be surprised if you find a dead mouse on your porch. Be certain to praise her for her trophies. It is her nature, also if it wasn't dead it might be alive and in your house. I always found cleaning up the trophies more of a pain than cleaning up the litter. I had one cat that used bring back 5 or 6 dead rats a night. The neighbors could not believe how infested the neighborhood was. A Cat Lover Larry Welsch houxu!welsch
schmidt@alice.UucP (Carolyn Schmidt) (09/09/85)
I have had many cats in my lifetime, but never one with the habit my 4-month old kitten now has. I adopted a kitten at about 8-10 weeks that was born in the wild and whose mother managed to raise along with 4 other litter mates (3 of which I also found homes for) by catching and eating "junk food." My kitten is now completely domesticated and very affectionate, with the one bad habit that he enjoys suckling the clothing of whomeveis holding him at the moment. It is quite cute at this age, but I don't want a 14 pound adult cat doing it in a year from now, so we've (unsuccessfully) tried to discourage him. Unfortunately, whenever he is contented and we start to pet him, he begins to suck our clothing, purr, and knead with his paws (which is not unexpected or unusual). Has anyone had any luck with breaking this habit?
charli@cylixd.UUCP (Charli Phillips) (09/10/85)
In article <4293@alice.UUCP> schmidt@alice.UucP (Carolyn Schmidt) writes: >My kitten >enjoys suckling the clothing of whomeveis holding him at the moment. One of our cats did the same thing as a kitten. (We thought it had something to do with the fact that he had been bottle-raised; his mother was hit by a car when he should have still been suckling.) The good news is that he apparently outgrew it. We never tried to break the habit (except at night - a kitten trying to suckle at your earlobes while you're trying to sleep is annoying!). It just went away on its own. (It may be like thumb-sucking in kids. Many never do, the rest outgrow it sooner or later.) charli
k9un@ihu1e.UUCP (j w ague) (09/12/85)
> .......... > is now completely domesticated and very affectionate, with the one bad habit > that he enjoys suckling the clothing of whomeveis holding him at the moment. > It is quite cute at this age, but I don't want a 14 pound adult cat doing it > in a year from now, Our 3 year old 16 lb. cat had the same habit. The kids thought it was great and enjoyed it when he did it! I just put him down when he started it. After a while he apparently didn't have the "need" to do it anymore (except on very rare occasions). Incidently, this same cat is the more affectionate of our two. He acts more dog-like than cat-like (he doesn't act very aloof). He always loves water! As a kitten he once dove head first into an open toilet bowl and sat in it until our cat-sitter removed him. He still comes running whenever he hears a faucet running and will wade through a full bathtub (or flooded basement) like a little kid. BTW, I think it was about a year before he quite slobbering on us. I don't think anything special is necessary to "break" the habit. Wes Ague ihu1e!k9un
augustc@zeus.UUCP (Augustine T. Chan) (09/13/85)
I once adopted 2 male kittens (8 weeks old) from the same litter. One of them loved to suck on the belly of his sibling and got his belly hair all wet. The one being sucked on never complained. This habit last about a year and he finally grew out of it. Augustine C.