Adopting a kitten...tips?

Shelter. NOT a pet store.

If you decide to get a pair to be buddies to each other (or brother-brother, sister-sister, sister-brother, whatever), then do it at that time and not later, if approved.

Agree with the pet shelter suggestion.

Spay or neuter.  Declaw?  Your choice, depends if the cat will be more an outdoor cat and needs to defend itself or if it is more an indoor cat and you value your furniture, especially wood frames and stair bannisters (learning from experience here), and you don't get a claw pole.

Oh, yeah, stay away from Pseudoyams' cat, Milo.

Yes, spay or neuter. Forgot to mention that! Female cats in heat are super-annoying and male cats will calm down a bit and be less likely to spray. Andif they go outside - the choice should be obvious (spay/neuter).

Cats can not be trained.  They train you.

Your wife might say one, but I can tell you (from experience) that she might change her mind later.  Two is SO much easier, especially if they start out as litter mates.  They have each other when you are gone and are a lot happier.

We adopted one and then ended up getting another one 6 months later.  We took the first cat to my parent's house and she was so much happier with other cats that we got another one.  My husband had been set on the "ONLY ONE CAT" thing.  If you want his email address so she can talk to him, let me know.   

I was just going to say saute with some grape seed oil and some spices ..........

Please don't declaw them.  It is VERY bad for the cat.  Many have problems with litter boxes after that.  You can get a cat used to cutting their nails and if you have several scratching posts around the house, they don't claw the furniture.  Please read a lot more before you make the decision to declaw. 

There are other options to declawing, though I will say that both of mine are and are fine.  There are caps you can put over their claws (works best if you start doing this at a young age...once they hit a certain age, some cats don't like having their paws touched), etc and so forth.

As far as training them, if you mean litter training, it really doesn't take much.  Cats are naturally fussy creatures and most of them gravitate to the litter box.

most cats learn pretty quick... much quicker than dogs... I don't even remember having to train mine to use the litter box.. i think he knew from watching his mother use it...

Tibbs, the cat in my avatar is a shelter cat and is declawed.  He was already that way when we adopted him.  When we returned to the shelter for a playmate for him, we again chose a declawed cat so that neither one would have an unfair advantage.

If the cat is declawed, it cannot go outside.  When we got Tibbs,  his owners left him outside after their new baby became allergic to him.  He was attacked by another cat who still had claws...fortunately, however, the wounds healed and we got to adopt him! 

Shelters only offer neutered/spayed cats, so you should be covered there. They might even chip the kitten for you (they do that in Florida).

Cats are litter box trained almost immediately. Just put the little furball in the box and he/she will figure it out pretty quickly.

Give the kitten his/her own bed, just so it knows it has its own space.

Start it on a good diet - Science Diet or something comparable.

Toys!

Get two.  They'll keep each other amused when they're awake.   

1. have patience

2. take lots of baby pics

3. don't buy toys - they find joy in simple things like toilet-paper tubes or balled-up aluminum foil.

4. catnip

5. don't declaw - get then used to having nails snipped.

6. no need for vax's other than rabies if they're indoor kitties (unless you board them). we over-vax our pets in an unhealthy and expensive way.

have fun!

X2...please reconsider. I've never had a problem with my cats if I keep scratching posts/toys around. As was mentioned earlier, most shelters wonm't adopt to you if you de-claw, and even some veterinarians refues to do it anymore.

I couldn't agree more with the recommendations about not declawing. A lot of cats develop personality issues after declawing and become biters as it's their way of compensating for not having claws. My cat loves his cardboard scratchers and a sisal post. He's not too into being trimmed, but he allows it.

Since you're in NYC, I highly recommend you check out Mighty Mutts. It's a Coney Island rescue shelter that brings animals to Union Square each Saturday. I got my cat from them 10 years ago and he is the most incredible cat I've ever had. The animals are socialized, healthy and treated very well. They will not adopt though to someone who declaws, FYI.

Lastly, I encourage you to consider a slightly older cat. There are a lot out there for adoption that are 8 months - 1.5 years old and they are still very youthful, but they look full grown and tend to get passed over for the fuzzy little kittens. Mine was about 9 or 10 months old when I got him and it gave me a chance to see what type of personality he would have since he was a little more mature. I spent about an hour with him in the Mighty Mutts van and knew he was the cat for me.

If you get a kitten, I recommend two as well. Kittens never stop moving and having a partner in crime will keep them occupied and happy.