My friend's cat gave birth to a litter of kittens shortly after new years and I was asked if I wanted one which I very much did. I'll be receiving her in couple of months, she should be around 5 months old by the time I get her.In the meantime, I've resolved to build a cat tree and provide more verticality to my apartment so the cat isn't always stuck on the ground (my place has high ceilings but almost no shelves or high surfaces that are easily reached even by a cat).I live alone in an apartment in a large North American city, am male, but have no experience raising cats (my family always kept dogs, but never cats) and I'd like some advice on giving it the best possible upbringing I can. I also would like any details/tips people have about raising kittens specifically because all my experience with cats have been with adult cats. I think I know the basics (play with them often, don't use physical violence against them as punishment, try not to scare them in general, try not to eat them during times of hunger, do not crush into a ball to extract minerals, etc etc) but any more info from people more experienced than me would be much appreciated.>tl;dr noob getting a kitten and I want to know any tips you have for mepic unrelated btw my cat looks nothing like that.
>>32595612There was a guy on youtube that said cats don’t learn from discipline, they learn from positive reinforcement. So if your cat’s scratching your couch for example, get her a scratching post and so on.
>>32595612cats that are kept inside from young are tend to become mentally ill. do you have a balcony.
>>32595618I've heard this and that, in general, physical punishment or negative reinforcement makes them fear you rather than actually changing their behaviour. I was already planning on using positive reinforcement anyway since that seems to be the most reliable way to "train" cats to do anything.>>32595624I don't. I live in a basement with easy access to a series of alleyways. My neighbours and people in my neighbourhood, in a lot of cases, let their cats run around when the weather is nice. I've wondered if I would do the same since it does seem kinda cruel to leave a cat indoors all the time, but at the same time my neighbourhood is also notorious for the amount of cats that get run over. I reckon the ones I see still patrolling the hood are just the ones that managed to avoid getting killed early on. With that said, I often work at my office and not at home so I wouldn't always be around to let the cat back in when I'm gone. Seems like a bad idea to just let it run around. What if it's inept and retarded? It never had a chance to learn shit. I'm not gonna put good money into a cat just to let it get crushed by a city bus because it's an idiot.
>>32595612>she should be around 5 months old by the time I get her.Why are you waiting so long? She'll be a. fully grown adult long before that. Kittens are usually sold at around 8 weeks for moggies or 14 weeks for pedigree cats. You'll bond with her far better if you have her while she is actually a kitten.
>>32595612Cats are not like dogs. Cats are pets for narcissists. Cat people are literally the worst people on the planet. The absolute worst. This is a quality science and women have recognised, but curiously despite recognising crazy cat ladies don't seem to understand it as the massive red flag that it is. If you accept that cat, your dating pool will be reduced. You want a companion, that's a dog person trait. Dog people are nice. So get a companion, not an abusive relationship with a cat.
>>32595814My friend and I live far away from each other and, unfortunately, he won't be able to bring her to before May when he and his fiance are coming to my city for a concert. I'd prefer to have her earlier, but I couldn't bring her down myself because it would have been too early (she was born on NYE). This is the best I can do in that regard, it's not really going to be possible to get her earlier.Keeping that in mind, is there any advice you can give me about bonding to give me a better chance? I plan on asking to work from home during the first couple months to really try to spend as much time as I can but is there anything else you'd recommend?
>>32595832Dog people are psychopaths. They love a pet that does everything they say and love them unconditionally, no matter how shitty they are as people.
>>32595846>Keeping that in mind, is there any advice you can give me about bonding to give me a better chance?This isn't so much about "bonding" but here are my tips for what to do for a baby cat to set it up for success in life. Things that if you make them used to and routine for them as a baby they will be more resilient in the event that they are ever in the care of someone else. Engrained habits and routines aren't the easiest thing to change for a cat in adulthood.>get them used to being handled>touching and grabbing their feet>being picked up and carried around>being brushed>cutting their nails>expose them to different types and brands of cat foods and not always feeding them JUST ONE thing that they become so used to they refuse anything else and it makes them sick>once in a while just buy the cheap grocery store stuff and mix it in for varietyAlso I don't know if it's possible for you but for kittens that young it's recommended that you get a pair. It's not significantly more work to take care of 2 (some argue it's less work because they entertain each other) and beneficial to the kitten to have a companion and playmate. I won't copypaste all the arguments but you can just read for yourself.https://www.reddit.com/r/CatAdvice/comments/vv6kqm/what_are_the_benefits_of_adopting_two_kittens/Also I strongly recommend against letting them roam outside. I never understood people who do that. Terrible things can happen to them, why risk it if you love them? They're not wild animals they don't need to be outside unsupervised. You can give them plenty of enrichment indoors if you actually are a good owner and give a fuck.
>>32595874No, sorry. In case you missed it, every serial killer in the history of ever, has been a cat person. Look it up. Also, there are literally studies on this, cat people are more disagreeable than others, score higher on narcissistic personality traits and exhibit antisocial behaviours. In short, science says they're literally crazy psychos. For you morons who don't understand what antisocial behaviour is, that has nothing to do with being reclusive. It's behaviour that is harmful to others. Being abusive, committing crimes, setting fires, irrational agression, psychosis, drug use, spousal abuse, etc. It's not a coincidence that all the seriously mentally ill people naturally grabitate towards cats. Cats are an instant red flag that the person is going to be a nightmare. On the converse, dog people are normal. They hold no special qualities over people who have other pets or no pets at all. Dog people do have a slightly higher tendency to be emotionally well adjusted but not so much higher as to stand out. Dog people tend to be normal. So do fish people. So do bunny people. So do bird people, horse people and whatever other pet animal people. It's just cat people who stand out as not being normal. They're stange psychos who should be avoided
>>32595915Thanks, these are all things I've heard before so it's good to confirm it's not shit advice. As for getting two kittens, it could be possible but unlikely that I would get the other in the same time frame. I imagine that it *would* be less work for the same reason you mentioned, so I've thought about it but I'm not banking on it. At the very least that means I'll have more time to focus on this one cat and trying to mould it as much as is possible/get to know its personality.When it comes to letting cats out I tend to agree with you, although I do appreciate my neighbours for doing it because it means their cats come and visit my apartment sometimes, but I was planning on trying to do some harness-training anyway. I've looked up some basic videos and it doesn't seem all that difficult, just tedious and requires patience/consistency like training most animals. Do you think it's worth bothering? As much as I agree you can probably make an enriching environment for a cat indoors, I still don't like the idea of never letting an animal out (especially if you can feasibly supervise it properly).
>>32595972Yeah. These incels lack social skills, act out with aggressive fantasies, obsess about sex, claim all women are copies of each other and only exist for sex, talk about raping women, don't understand others, have no empathy, sometimes talk about harming others and they all have cats. Then they wonder why some people consider them a threat. You put it well, they're psychos with no self awareness.
>>32595915>>32595983Do NOT cut a cats claws. They are not nails like yours and mine. They have blood vessels and nerves running through them. Trying to cut their claws even if you manage to do it without them bleeding to death, is animal cruelty.
>>32595983I don't see any harm in trying to harness train a cat. Just know that even if you do everything perfectly sometimes the cat just doesn't have the personality or will to do it. They are much more variable than dogs that way in their desire to please and try doing things they don't feel like doing. That's something else that is probably good to start early training. Put your kitten on a harness and take it out with you walking around the block, even if you're just carrying it the whole time or something like that. I don't have much experience with training cats and stuff so you can probably find much better advice than that elsewhere.
>>32596015>They are not nails like yours and mine.They pretty much are. You can cut the cuticle or whatever and cause bleeding if you're careless but the actual nail part is no different than cutting your own nails. Cutting the nails just to blunt them is routine.
>>32596021>I don't have much experience with training cats and stuff so you can probably find much better advice than that elsewhere.Rest assured I'll be looking elsewhere, but I appreciate your responses nonetheless. If I had a picture on this device, I'd bless you with a photo of her but you'll just have to use your imagination I guess.She kinda looks like a cat but smaller.
>>32596057I hope you enjoy your new kitty, anon. It seems like she will be in good hands. Do you have a name picked out?
>>32595972>Look it up. Also, there are literally studies on thisWell are you going to post one of those studies or are you just going "trust me bro"?
Have two litter boxes. Clean them always as soon as you one has been used.
>>32595669>I don't. I live in a basement with easy access to a series of alleyways. My neighbours and people in my neighbourhood, in a lot of cases, let their cats run around when the weather is nice. I've wondered if I would do the same since it does seem kinda cruel to leave a cat indoors all the time, but at the same time my neighbourhood is also notorious for the amount of cats that get run over.Sounds like a bad environment for a cat. Locked up in a basement, never seeing the outside world, or if one day then it's not safe there.It is possible to keep a cat sane indoors. But they need stimulation and attention, and I think at the least a nice window through which to _see_ something from the outside world. And better two cats than one alone.
>>32595612>in 5 monthsWhat? Why are they waiting that long?
>>32596067Hehehe thank you, I don't have one picked out yet but I've been referring to her as "Mole" because of a distinctive mark on her nose/lip that makes her stand out from the rest of the litter. I think I'd rather get a feel for her before I give her a final name.>>32596131I'm in the basement but I do have pretty huge windows in most of the rooms. Any cat would have plenty to look at and, in general, won't be more mentally ill than you.>>32596792Explanation here: >>32595846
>>32595612Ask /an/
