Kitten practicailities

[Siliconslave]

I'm looking at getting a kitten, but don't know too much about looking after them.. can anyone answer some questions:

how old do they have to be (or should they be) before they can visit a cattery?
how long should you keep them inside before you let them out?
how long do they need people to be around for 24/7?
when & how often do they need feeding?

is there a good getting started guide somewhere?

Cheers
Sam

 

[Siliconslave]

Yeah sorry if it sounded like it really did.. I meant it to come across as thought asking 'do you really want one'

Edit: Im here to offer advice to you if you need it.

don't worry i am just doing the research ahead of time

The reason I'm asking all the time related questions is that I'm trying to work out how feasible it is to get one and when in the year would work with our planned holiday in Sept... i'm thinking we may well be too late and will have to wait till next year. Also we both work long days and only my g/f would be able to get home lunch times to do a midday feed (although i can work from home a day a week or so...)

We were planning on taking off a week to settle the cat in and then one of us being around every day of the week after.

I guess having someone in to house sit if we were to go away after 4-5months would be the best option (although i guess not going would be the best overall)

feeding wise its been suggested that while they are kittens you need to feed 4 times a day, would that have to be like 8, 12, 4 & 10 or similar? is an automatic feeder thing a no-no to space the feedings out over the day if we can only get back at lunch during the week?