Not only my first Sphynx, but my first cat! I have many questions!

[kelsheyyx]

Hi all I'm Kelsey and I just got my baby girl Ophelia this past Sunday. I am SO in love with her! I've seen a lot of people posting about kittens getting used to dogs. I have two Shih Tzu/Yorkie mixes, and they are veryyyy curious about her. And as small as they are, they seem huge compared to my tiny kitten! Anyway, I've been trying to keep them together for short periods of time but it's very difficult because they bark and whine to get into my room when I lock them out. Even after a few days she's gotten better with them though, no more hissing or hiding under the bed. Again, I don't keep them together for too long, but oddly enough my dogs now want to sleep with me (which they never do), and thankfully they won't bother her at night when it's time to go to sleep. I brought her upstairs a couple times and let her roam, they followed her, and she started to get very shaky. I'm assuming that's because she was nervous? Everyone says it takes a few weeks for them to get completely adjusted so I'm hoping that will happen because everyone in my house is very cranky with these noisy dogs!

Some of my questions:

- Soap suggestions for bath? Could I use baby soap?
- How do you clean the gunk out of her eyes without hurting her? (Wet Q-Tip?)
- Claw cleaning: I can see the dirt caked at the bottom of her claws, which I could probably scrape if I have long nails but I don't. Tips?
- She loves to try to chew on my fingers - I got her a teething toy but she doesn't like it so much. Anyone have any kitties who like something in particular?

Any other tips or suggestions for a new cat/sphynx owner are greatly appreciated!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Hello and welcome. Here is a link to a section in the community that you will find loads of info and answers. http://sphynxlair.com/community/forums/sphynx-cat-help-center.53/

Congrats on your new baby. I hope to see pics posted soon..


Patti

 

[kelsheyyx]

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Oh she is a beauty and a cutie all wrapped up into one.


Patti

 

[Rachel Candace]

So cute!!!! ♡ Welcome!! You will definitely learn a lot from this forum! I love it.. everyone's soooo helpful and nice

 

[Kitty0627]

@kelsheyyx Yes welcome. Your sphynxie is cutee. But yes you can use baby soap. Also to clean her eyes you wont hurt her. I use a wrag or my exfoliate gloves and just rub gently but a bit firm til the gunk iS off. And same wit her feet and nails. Just scrub a dub dub til its gone.they are a strange breed so id say experiment with toys. Thats what i did and she likes some and then she doesnt care for some. I got mine toward the end of teething so mine bit on things a bit. Mine like feather toys and boxes.(you know.. That weird cat love affair thing with boxes) so id say research that area a bit. Also with the dogs what you are doing seems fine. We have a hight energy pit pull. So AFTER my cat got used to te house i let her meet the pit. And then i let them sit for a few hours together to get familiar. Id say do that and increase little by little til they get used to each other. Thats my experience but mybe the other larians know better because i dont know your dogs temperment. And i dont know much on dogs (the pitt is my brothers) Just watch them so they dont get hurt! Good luck! They get easy once you get used to them

 

[Hairless Blessing]

Welcome to sphynxlair, good to have you. You have come to the best forum there is for sphynx.
I would recommend HyLyt Shampoo. It's great for sphynx.
I have baby wash clothes for Izmae and I wipe her face down and her body with warm water daily.
Bathe once a week. Clean ears twice a week use epi-optic ear cleaner. I put my small finger inside a wash cloth
clean all I can, then, I take a q-tip and clean all the little crevices I can see, none where I can't see.
Here is a link for the HyLyt http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...50000154724&cadevice=c?ref=6111&cmpid=02csegb
You can google it and see if you can find it cheaper, but, right now this is the cheapest. I've used it for years.

 

[kelsheyyx]

Thank you everyone for your input! It is appreciated I'm sure I will be posting much more on this site, I love it!

 

[Toa and Ross]

Hello and welcome to sphynxlair! Ophelia is so cute. I love the first pic were she give us the look "the world is mine".

Think you're doing a good job with the dogs and Ophelia getting used to eachother. My boys shiver when they're nervous so I guess that's why Ophelia shivers when the dogs follow her. The dogs probably want to sleep in your room cause they're a bit jealous. It will settle down in a few weeks.

I use baby shampoo for my boys. I did read a lot of good thing about Hylyte shampoo but at the place I live I can't buy it. Before I wash my boys I put a little (warmed up) cocknut oil on them. The dirt gets of more easy. Make sure to rinse it very well cause otherwise it will attract more dirt afterwards or your baby will look a little orange/brown the next day (happened to me).

For the eyes I used a cotton ball soaked in hor water. Yesterday I bought special eye wipes for cats at the pet store. They get the boogies of very easy and fast!

The nails I clean with baby wipes. It helps to get the dirt of easy. If Ophelia is easy at bathing and she's willing to stand in the water for a while, the warm water will help to get of the dirt on the nails more easy (mine hate being bathing).

Hope the dogs and Ophelia get used to eachother soon. Looking forward to the first play or cuddle photo of the bunch together!

 

[admin]

Hello @kelsheyyx and welcome to Sphynxlair! So glad you found us! What a cutie you have there! Great tips so far from the group - please enjoy the community! Oh, here is a good video on nail cleaning. (y)

 

[MelissaAlice]

What an adorable little lady!

Not to worry, these guys are tough. And if by some chance you do manage to get a little too rough they're not shy about telling you off!

As for your dogs, everything will settle, try taking the pups for a nice walk before they play with the kitten.

 

[Gesundheit]

Everyone adjusts differently. My Smidget sleeps a lot when she's adjusting to a new location, and whereas Nym blows in like a storm. It's weird, because Smidget's the bossy-pantsless. She even keeps our housemate's cats (each easily twice her size, and not overweight) in line!

For shampoo, I use earthbath.

 

[Yoda mom]

@kelsheyyx , Welcome! just checking in on baby Ophelia how is she doing?
I do use l -Lysine too - mine would not eat go past from the vet so I use the now brand pure 100%
Powder for I get from amazon- I use a 1/4 teaspoon mixed in wet food as maintenance for immune system
You can ask your vet about the powdered l-Lysine ,any of use us here- there are several good ones
I also warm up a teaspoon of pure pumpkin to give for loose stools
I take it our of the can and store in plastic. Containers - one in the fridge for a couple of days and freeze the other small containers- some use covered ice trays to freeze- I have to get one

Has Ophelia had a vet check when you brought her home? Some contracts list it -?

I don't use a breeze litter box so sorry no help there
I got a Catit litter box at chewy.com but had to cut off the lip beg holder because my boy got his tail stuck in the corner.. I like it because the top folds back to scoop easier I put a little rug on the top so they can't chew the filter
My other box is a xlarg Vanness I like the high sides
Many of use use dr elseys clumping litter unscented in blue bag- I get a chewy.com 40 lb free shipping of litter too with $49 purchase - comes in 2-3 days, I get food there too-amazing customer service
If something doesn't work for your kitty- food, toys etc - anything- call and they take care of you immediately

Please keep us posted Ophelia looking forward to your journey and pics with us!

 

[kelsheyyx]

@Yoda mom the breeder brought her to the vet for her first checkup and first round of vaccinations, it was included in the contract, and I have to take her for her second round of vaccinations in 3 weeks. i have the paperwork.

Also, good call on the pumpkin! I'll keep that in mind. I finally removed the original litter box and she has successfully been going in the Breeze system which I'm happy about. BUT she did step in her poop AGAIN this morning, while I was sleeping. I woke up to poop paw prints on my sheets :arghh: So I was up at 6 AM doing laundry, cleaning her up, and sanitizing any other surface she might of went on before she climbed in bed with me.

I immediately scooped out all the poop from the litter box (I had still left some of the poop I moved from her old litter box into the breeze until I knew she was definitely using it). So hopefully as long as I stay on top of scoop duty we'll avoid this in the future.

I'm going to order the L-Lysine today, thanks everyone!

She is also doing much, much better with the dogs and vice versa. I think Brutus thinks he is her bodyguard LOL. I know they just want to play with her and mean no harm, she's just getting used to them. When she runs around to explore the dogs get excited thinking that she wants to play and chase her, tails wagging the whole time, but she gets scared.

Tonight is the first night I'm working a full shift since I got her and I'm sad to have to leave her!

Also, her first bath (by me) is going to be this weekend so I'll let you all how that goes!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Good luck with the bathing. Go in confident and you will do great.