KITTENS!!!

sweetnjuicy

Ok so I'm getting 2 new kittens next week.
This is not a new situation for me as I already have 2 one year old female cats.
What will be new to me is the fact that one of the kittens is male!!
So basically first of all I need help coming up with a name for him. The girl is gonna be called maisy, and my other babies are socks and charlie.

Also wanted to ask everyones advice on vaccinations. And before you all yell yes my older 2 are fully vaccinated, wormed, flead, neutered, spoilt rotten etc etc. What I want to know is, how hard it is to vaccinate your own cats?
Cuz with 4 needed vaccinations in the comming 6 weeks its gonna be expensive to do 4 vet trips. Obviously I need to bring the little ones at least once, but the older two are totally healthy so would def like to vaccinate them myself. Just unsure how??

Also How early do males come into heat? I know the cat hospital in cork will neuter from 16 weeks so I'm def looking into that with 3 girls in the house. Whats everyone elses experience with Toms?? Hes gonna be 10 weeks old on monday when we get him.

Ok so i think thats all. Im gonna have a full house

morganafay

It's good to take the cats to the vet to be checked over, but obviously you know a lot about cats and have a good idea that yours are healthy. And they are only two so probably fine. I'd bring the kittens in for their first vaccination, but then do it yourself afterwards if you want.

And it is so expensive to bring them all to the vet. I vaccinate my own ones and it's pretty easy. Cats have thick skin though, and can wriggle away from you so be careful they don't bite or scratch, only my cranky old cat tries to! The others just sit on my lap and don't seem to notice.

You just have to gently scruff them, stick the needle in til you feel it's gone through the layer of skin, draw back the plunger on the syringe to make sure you're not in a vein (if no blood comes out, you're not), then inject them and rub the neck afterwards. I think that's all . . . I had the vet show me and my mother who's a nurse.

Oh but first, you have two bottles for the vaccination, if it's like the ones I get anyway, one with liquid and one with powder. Stick the needle into the liquid one (there's a rubber thing you stick the needle through), turn it upside down and draw out the liquid, then squirt it into the powder one and shake it. Use it straight away after mixing. (Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's pretty much all?)

Males don't really come into heat, but they should be fine to be neutered at 16 weeks. He won't have started spraying by that age or anything.

JKM

My two male cats are Ollie and Oscar (just in case either take your fancy for a name).
Just in case you are not aware, you may encounter some issues when introducing the two new arrivals to your two existing cats. Even if Charlie and Socks get on fine together and are placid cats they will more than likely not take to kindly to the kittens at first.
We had major issues when we brought home two kittens (Oscar and Lucy) to our then one year old cat Ollie. And then again with all three of them when we introduced Ruby a few months later.

There are a number of things you can do to help with the introduction:

• Don't introduce them face to face the first time you bring them home. Keep them in an adjoining room to the one your other cats are in. You'll probably notice your older cats sniffing at the door and then most likely hissing and growling. They do this because they can smell a strange cat in their territory.
• Keep them seperated for a few days, maybe let them see each other through a glass door or something if possible. While you have them seperated use an old towel to rub down your older cats, then rub the kittens down with this (transfers their smell therefore making them a little more familiar).
• After a few days you could try introducing them face to face. Never ever force them to be together though. Always allow escape routes and ideally provide a few places the cats can hide. The older cats may swipe/hiss/growl etc. and may run away altoghter. Again, never force it. It could take weeks for things to settle down.

This might seem like a bit of work but well worth it if you want harmony in your home. I am speaking from experience here. We thought for a full week we were going to have to rehome our new kittens because Ollie had such a bad reaction. Then all of a sudden one night we found Oscar sleeping in the cat bed with him. See photo.

Sorry for the rant, I just know what a house full of cats can be like!:rolleyes:

sweetnjuicy

Thanks for the replys guys. Still no clue what im gonna call the lil guy.
I will def be keeping them separated for the first week. Socks was 12 weeks old when we got charlie and after 5 weeks of being the only kitty she was not happy to have charlie in her house. A few showers sorted it quick enough tho :P
Think i am def gonna vaccinate myself after the lil ones have there first vet trip so the vet gets to know them.
And omg that is the cutest pic i have ever seen. Cept my lot
I have tons of pics of my girls on here somewhere, should be able to see them if you look at my older posts if your interested.
And I went and bought a new carrier and blanket last week thinking we were getting 2 more girls so i hope the lil fella doesnt miond a pink blanket for his first few carrier rides :rolleyes:
Anywho ill stop ranting. any more advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh and names ppl I need names. All sorts of weird and cooky names will be accepted :P