- Joined
- Oct 19, 2016
- Messages
- 75
- Purraise
- 25
Hey All!
A few weeks ago I got my first ever kitten at 10 weeks old. I have now had her for about 4 or 5 weeks and she awesome (will admit I kinda hated her at first due to all the things she was doing). It has taken a while, but she is finally seeming to start to like me. She will purr when I pick her up and come jump on my lap when I'm on the computer. Its super cute. She also greets me at the door when I come home. (She is a Siberian by the way, if you would like, ask me to post some pics and I will post some!)
Now I know, from experience and from your advice, that cats take time to become adjusted to you and grow affectionate. My question is whether or not it is a bad idea to take a 1 week trip this December. She will be about 18 or 19 weeks old at that point. I got the opportunity to go to Vienna, Austria and I've heard its beautiful in December.
There are several solutions for her placement while I'm gone. One, she could stay at my gf's friend's house. She has a grown cat though and I have never introduced her to the kitten (shots are not complete as of yet). I really don't want a situation where the cat hurts my kitten though.
Two, I could leave her in my old bedroom at my parent's house. It is quite large and totally kitten proof. The problem is she would be in one room for the duration of the week. My dad would play with her throughout the day, but I'm nervous she wouldnt appreciate being stuck in one room. She does like my dad though and purrs loudly when he pets her. I cant let her free roam his house because they have a dog (a cockapoo). The dog is SUUUUPER sweet and gentle (except to chipmunks)...which has me a bit scared. I took the kitten to my parents house and left her in the carrier and let my dog approach and look in. I kept it very calm and reassured her the whole time and she was very gentle and calm. I then took the kitten out and held her so that the dog would know the kitten is something I care about and once again spoke calmly and assuringly. The dog seemed very calm....but the kitten on the other hand...not so much. She actually growled and hissed at the dog and tried to leap at her! Dog got scared and wouldn't come back near her. I put her back in the carrier and if dog came anywhere near she growled and hissed again. I'm nervous that if I let the kitten on the floor, she may attack the dog and the dog may defend herself to the kitten's and my own's dismay =/. Am i doing the socializing wrong or would it just take many visits? Is there enough time to socialize them between now and December 16th? Their dog is actually really good with little dogs, in fact she leaves them alone and doesnt really care to play with them lol, they are too energetic for her and she only likes big dogs ( she's so calm its catlike haha....except with chipmunks). Also, one side point is that the dog did shake a chipmunk to death at one point. I know this is instinctual and I dont hate her for it, but I'm nervous this instinct could translate to a kitten. She has NEVER shown aggression to other small dogs, or even when I tried to let her meet the kitten.
Three, I leave her at my apartment for the week and ask my neighbor (who has a cat) to stop in and feed her each day. The only issue with this is she would be alone for most of the day/week and might get lonely. Also, though he seems super sweet, I dont know him very well and am not sure how I feel about giving him a key to my apartment. This also assumes he will be around and willing to feed her.
My main concern with the trip is that when I come back the kitten will not be affectionate or personable anymore. It took basically 4 or 5 weeks to get her to this point and I dont want to lose that progress. At this age, can that time apart be a bad thing for our relationship? Is it fixable or would it result in a kitten that is stressed out, flighty and wants nothing to do with me as she gets older? I dont want to have to tell my gf we cant go due to the kitten (she wasn't super happy about getting her but did it for me...now she really likes her but I dont want to giver her a reason for resentment).
Please help me out. I know I wrote a novel, but I tend to obsess about things I care about. If you need any extra clarification, please let me know and I would be happy to provide it!
A few weeks ago I got my first ever kitten at 10 weeks old. I have now had her for about 4 or 5 weeks and she awesome (will admit I kinda hated her at first due to all the things she was doing). It has taken a while, but she is finally seeming to start to like me. She will purr when I pick her up and come jump on my lap when I'm on the computer. Its super cute. She also greets me at the door when I come home. (She is a Siberian by the way, if you would like, ask me to post some pics and I will post some!)
Now I know, from experience and from your advice, that cats take time to become adjusted to you and grow affectionate. My question is whether or not it is a bad idea to take a 1 week trip this December. She will be about 18 or 19 weeks old at that point. I got the opportunity to go to Vienna, Austria and I've heard its beautiful in December.
There are several solutions for her placement while I'm gone. One, she could stay at my gf's friend's house. She has a grown cat though and I have never introduced her to the kitten (shots are not complete as of yet). I really don't want a situation where the cat hurts my kitten though.
Two, I could leave her in my old bedroom at my parent's house. It is quite large and totally kitten proof. The problem is she would be in one room for the duration of the week. My dad would play with her throughout the day, but I'm nervous she wouldnt appreciate being stuck in one room. She does like my dad though and purrs loudly when he pets her. I cant let her free roam his house because they have a dog (a cockapoo). The dog is SUUUUPER sweet and gentle (except to chipmunks)...which has me a bit scared. I took the kitten to my parents house and left her in the carrier and let my dog approach and look in. I kept it very calm and reassured her the whole time and she was very gentle and calm. I then took the kitten out and held her so that the dog would know the kitten is something I care about and once again spoke calmly and assuringly. The dog seemed very calm....but the kitten on the other hand...not so much. She actually growled and hissed at the dog and tried to leap at her! Dog got scared and wouldn't come back near her. I put her back in the carrier and if dog came anywhere near she growled and hissed again. I'm nervous that if I let the kitten on the floor, she may attack the dog and the dog may defend herself to the kitten's and my own's dismay =/. Am i doing the socializing wrong or would it just take many visits? Is there enough time to socialize them between now and December 16th? Their dog is actually really good with little dogs, in fact she leaves them alone and doesnt really care to play with them lol, they are too energetic for her and she only likes big dogs ( she's so calm its catlike haha....except with chipmunks). Also, one side point is that the dog did shake a chipmunk to death at one point. I know this is instinctual and I dont hate her for it, but I'm nervous this instinct could translate to a kitten. She has NEVER shown aggression to other small dogs, or even when I tried to let her meet the kitten.
Three, I leave her at my apartment for the week and ask my neighbor (who has a cat) to stop in and feed her each day. The only issue with this is she would be alone for most of the day/week and might get lonely. Also, though he seems super sweet, I dont know him very well and am not sure how I feel about giving him a key to my apartment. This also assumes he will be around and willing to feed her.
My main concern with the trip is that when I come back the kitten will not be affectionate or personable anymore. It took basically 4 or 5 weeks to get her to this point and I dont want to lose that progress. At this age, can that time apart be a bad thing for our relationship? Is it fixable or would it result in a kitten that is stressed out, flighty and wants nothing to do with me as she gets older? I dont want to have to tell my gf we cant go due to the kitten (she wasn't super happy about getting her but did it for me...now she really likes her but I dont want to giver her a reason for resentment).
Please help me out. I know I wrote a novel, but I tend to obsess about things I care about. If you need any extra clarification, please let me know and I would be happy to provide it!