Hope someone can give me some tips. My daughter collected her kitten yesterday, he has spent most of the time behind the sofa. I have just asked her how old he is and he is 8 weeks tomorrow. Now we have a cat but she is 14 and a bit so I can't remember how old they should be before leaving mum, having googled it the advice is 8 weeks- 12 weeks. Is there anything she can do to help him settle in, I have told her not to force attention on him and let him settle in his own time as he is probably rather shocked.

Any tips welcome so I can pass them on, I think she thinks I am being judgemental by saying that he should have been older but I want him to grow into a well adjusted cat.

Kittens should be 13 weeks before leaving their mum -one full week after they have had their second vaccination. At 8 weeks they should still be suckling. I've even had kittens twice that didn't start solids until 10 weeks! But that is rare, and generally moggies are quite mature compared to pedigrees so I'm sure eating will be fine. Let the kitten come out of his own accord, just make sure that food, water and litter tray is nearby -even if moved to a different position later on when the kitten is happy to go everywhere. He will come out when ready! I have just brought two kittens out into the main house, only them in the litter, and I always keep litters separate until fully vaccinated etc. It took about 4 days before they started eating with the other cats and running around everywhere, until then they were just hiding, and that's despite being born here, albeit in a quiet room of their own. Others start investigating instantly, it really is different individuals. I always tell my kitten buyers to not force anything because it will only scare the kitten, it has to be on his own terms.

Thank you Marianne. Apparently he is eating so I will pass on the "let him be" advice, I thought that would be the case. He looks a nice little chap so I hope being away from Mum too early does not cause any long term problems.

This is why it is a good idea where possible to have 2 kittens together, they give each other confidence and company, I've always found that older cats basically ignore kittens at least mine always have, they didn't play with them at all, it has always been down to me on the rare times I've had a lone kitten with an adult cat, to be mum and keep a kitten occupied, (much like with a puppy) my cats have always become friends once a kitten is older but never from the beginning.

I've never had a kitten hide though, they are usually very curious, I would be upset if one hid behind the sofa, poor wee thing must be very scared.  All you can do is as Marianne has already said and just give him time I guess, your daughter should talk, laugh, put the tv on etc until he is brave enough to see what is going on.

I think many of us used to have our kittens (moggies) from 8 weeks, (some poor things even from 6 weeks tut, tut) so wouldn't worry about it, the only one I had later was my only pedigree, but most moggies come from people who do not understand kittens like a 'real' breeder does, however, they have all seemed to make it regardless. ;-) As long as he is eating, (which he is) he will be ok.

Hope, he gets brave soon, so that your daughter can begin to enjoy watching him causing havoc. :-D

Thanks, I texted her the advice and she said he was much better yesterday evening and she is not forcing him into the limelight. I got a picture of him sent last night where he is sitting on her lap ( unrestrained) When she left for work this morning he was stretched out on the sofa :) he is eating and pooing.
I was a bit concerned as in the back of my mind I thought I had read ( probably on here) that they should be older.

She will be taking him to the vet for a check up, anyone give me a clue at what age they should be neutered as I don't want the vet to do what they do with puppy owners and advise the op at the first possible opportunity.

Thanks for the help, it's a long time since I had a kitten! I seem to have become a dedicated dog person ;)

She will be taking him to the vet for a check up, anyone give me a clue at what age they should be neutered as I don't want the vet to do what they do with puppy owners and advise the op at the first possible opportunity.

A lot of vets will say 12 weeks these days, which even a lot of breeders go along with -me, no way. As moggies do mature quicker I'd say 6 months.

My vets go by weight & for the toms, whether their bits are fully developed :-O

Mine say 6 months for both

My girls were spayed at 6 months, which was the vets recommendation. However, she did say that if we were having trouble keeping them in (they were plotting their escape routes), she would consider doing them at 5 months. Luckily we managed to keep them contained (albeit our newly decorated hallway suffered through their frustration).

Quick update:
I am having pictures of Oscar on the curtains, playing and curled up on the sofa on top of my daughter so I am guessing his early departure from Mum was the cause of him being a little stressed but he is now settling and purring loudly. I have also passed on the advice about neutering.

Many thanks for the help, much appreciated.

That's brilliant, sounds like a perfectly normal kitten to me. He's already up to mischief. :-D A purring cat on the lap says it all. :-) Wishing them both many years of happiness.

Final update- Oscar went to the vet today for jabs, I messaged her to say that she should be aware that the vet would be pushing for neutering him asap- no worries there as Oscar is a ginger female!! We are now having a rethink on names ;)

LOL easy mistake to make -especially as the majority of red cats ARE male, so it's often taken for granted. Even so, I once brought a white rescue cat to the vet for vaccinations, and the vet looked at me funny and asked whey I had called a MALE cat Lilly! Oops.

I'm definitely sticking to dogs I know where I am with them :0 Strangely enough Goldimali she is thinking of calling her Lillly. I have suggested Gerri after Gerri Haliwell as she is a ginger ;)

Sounds like you have a gorgeous cat there :-)

List of famous redheads for you.      Might I suggest "My name is Pond, Amy Pond"     :-D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_redheads

Thanks for that Dill, just had a look and saw Rula as in Rula Lenska, I always fancied a dog called Rula so may suggest that. I thought it was a really pretty kitten but in my ignorance thought they were mainly toms and she bought it as a tom!

> I thought it was a really pretty kitten but in my ignorance thought they were mainly toms and she bought it as a tom!

Ginger females are less common than males but not rare... (as some people think).
It just means the mum was either ginger herself or Tortoiseshell, and found herself a ginger husband.

Given that there are many many male cats around who are not ginger, there is less probability that a Tort or Ginger girl will be mated by another Ginge - tossing the coins, it's usually a black or a tabby. i.e. a non-Ginge Dad.

Female Ginger (aka Red/Cream) pedigree cats are much more common, as of course their owners can choose matings that will produce them.

Is it true that all, tortoiseshell cats are female? as  that is something else I have heard of.
What are the genetics behind producing ginger  cats? I dont think dogs have any similar colour s limited to one sex do they?

MsT is the person to explain genetics, but yes, Torties are all female -except in rare cases when something goes wrong with a chromosome and you end up with a male, who invariably turns out to be infertile. There are loads of different types of torties; the usual black/red, then you have BlueCream (which is the diluted version where the black has beome blue and the red has become cream), Torte Tabby, Blue Tortie Tabby, Chocolate Tortie (Chocolate and Red), LilacCream (the diluted Choc Tortie), etc etc etc - I could go on forever as ALL colours have a tortie version, EXCEPT for red and cream of course. You can for instance have Tortie POINT in Siamese, Birman, Colourpoint etc. The male versions are the reds and creams but as explained you can get red/cream females as well, but ONLY if you either mate two reds or creams together or a red or cream male mates a female that is tortie in any form. If you mate a red or cream male cat to a female of any other colour, ALL the resulting female kittens will be torties.

The only other animal I know of where there are proper sex linked Torties, are hamsters. There are rabbits, guinea pigs etc known as Tortoiseshell, but they are not the same gene which only produces female torties.

I love torties.

We had a tortie colourpoint male born in Selkirk Rex last year or the year before, I can't remember.