Cat/kitten advise please

[Joss]

We are thinking of making the leap into the world of feline ownership. Our nextdoor neighbours have just bred a litter & temptation is getting the better of me.....
We live on a farm with plenty of other animals (dogs, horses, cows etc) so the responsibility of further pet ownership is not a big deal but I need help with the practicalities.
I would like it to be a house-based cat therefore when it(haven't decided on he or she yet) arrives it will need to be confined to the house for a good few weeks. I will also need to take great care with the introduction to our dog. I am a little worried that a small playful kitten may make an escape out of a door or window when my back is turned. Is it possible to crate train a kitten. Obviously it wouldn't be shut in the crate all the time but for those times when children are coming & going it would surely be a lot safer than trying to keep it shut in one room. Our house is fairly open plan & we use all the rooms a lot.

What did you do with your new kitten?

 

[Casey76]

First of all... if you're going to get a kitten, get 2 they will keep themselves company and amused; and having two doesn't automatically mean they are more aloof, though it may mean that they are not constant attention seekers.

I have rescued/fostered quite a few kittens over the past year, and I find a cage invaluable. It is a guinea-pig or rabbit cage that I bought from the petshop, and it is stable on a flat floor with only the corners supported. All of my fosters go into the cage for a few days/weeks (depending on their nature) 24/7 at the begining, and then over night before finally getting the run of the house. I also find it invaluable as temporary confinement for injuries or just to make sure I know where kitty is before a vet visit the next day. I don't have any good pics, but i think you can get the gist here:

I should say that all of my cats (currently 3 premanent residents and 2 fosters) have run of the house and can come and go as they please through the garage into the garden, and the cage is only a short term neasure.

 

[Joss]

Brilliant, thank you. That set up looks great, exactly what I had in mind. How big is it? As you say just a temporary thing whilst they are small & just settling in.

 

[Casey76]

It's about 4x3 feet, maybe a little bigger

 

[wkiwi]

Agree with Casey76. It also helps heaps with toilet training.
Regarding introducing dogs to kittens/vice versa; as you say, this does need to be done carefully. There should be any number of good articles on the web on this, but the important thing is to take it slowly as dog can lose eye/kitten can get munched if things go wrong (sorry for being graphic). The cage will also help with this as they can get used to each other without injury or running away. Method will depend a little bit on the breed of dog and whether dog/kittens have had any exposure with the other species before. I wouldn't leave them unsupervised together until you know they will be safe together e.g. you will probably find that the kittens want to annoy the dog (wow a moving play toy) and some dogs will put up with this while others won't.

 

[Equi]

Any time i get a new cat/kitten i keep it in for about 6 weeks. I would usually take it out after about a week on a lead to let it get used to the area. My cats are all stable cats though.