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She is beautiful! And your dogs look so happy.
When her poop firms up, I bet she'll have no problems with the litter box. The little ones don't always have as much control when things are "urgent".
She's off kilter right now, having been through so much and changing locations so many times in a couple of days. I'm sure she'll settle in and warm up to you soon.
Thanks for the precious pics!
Two of my cats started out life precariously. Their mother was a stray who was hit by a car--fortunately, a neighborhood boy knew that she'd had kittens and where they were. He told my bro's girlfriend because he knew she rescued and found homes for stray cats in the area (she had a florist shop). They were about four weeks old and she took care of them and let them live in her shop. Unfortunately, she lost her business and had to find a home for the cats, which is how I have them. They are now 9.
The hissing is just showing that she is scared to death. She has been traumatized with all that she has been through and is a whole new world with new people she doesn't know. That will go away.
Female cats and kittens are a lot easier to deal with than males in my experience. We have had both and females are cleaner and calmer. She will learn to use the litter box, in the meantime do not leave any clothes or stuff like that on the floor. Put her litter in a low tray that she can climb over.
It takes a little work to get them to come around, after all, you are dealing with an animal, but she will start being a kitty pretty soon that you will enjoy.
This kitten is old enough to urinate and deficate on her own. Once they start to eat solid food the mother generally no longer "cleans" and stimulates them to relieve themselves. This kit should use a litter box but make sure it's very low, like an old baking pan.
She pooped on her own. On my son's floor. Next to the baseboard. Under the curtains that are only an inch off the floor.
We cleaned it up with a square of toilet paper and buried it in her litter tray. I suggested he move the litter tray to where she pooped. I don't know if that will make a difference. When she's in her cage, he can put it in there with her.
I hope the litter tray is low enough for her to see over the edge. I used to but cheap baking pans at Goodwill stores when I was fostering kittens and pregnant cats years ago. Also, have several pans around the area she spends most of her time in.
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Should I be concerned that her poop is mushy diarrhea? I thought there was some blood when I wiped her butt. She does have worms and is on medicine for it.
The runs aren't normal and can dehydrate her. The vet can suggest something safe to help "bind" her a bit.
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I'm not expecting it instantly, but I'm really hoping she gets the hang of the litter box. Should we put her in the litter immediately after eating? It's logical to me since we take puppies outside immediately after eating.
Better is confining her in a cage or small room with several LOW litterpans that she can see over the sides. With the runs she may not be able to hold it long enough to make it to the pans. To attract her back to the pans, make sure a tissue with some of her urine/feces are buried in them.
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I have no idea if she's peeing on her own. She is cleaning herself. That's a good sign.
That kitten is old enough to urinate and defecate on her own.
Yes, her litter is in a low pan. It's just 1" high on the sides.
My son announced that she started using the litter box around 1am! He woke me up to tell me the great news. LOL
He woke up to her having a litter-fest this morning at 6am. OMG, the mess she made of herself. She got her litter and water and bedding and herself all into one clumpy mess of wet litter. We just got done cleaning her and all of her stuff. She either needs a bigger cage so her litter isn't so close to everything else, or I need to make a litter box with a little cardboard box with an opening to help keep it contained.
The sad thing is my son's allergies are starting to act up. He had allergy shots, but we didn't continue them for years and years. We may have to consider other housing options for her. We moved her cage out of his room just now. Hopefully that will give his respiratory system a rest.
What a silly girl. Maybe someone you know has a big dog crate you could borrow?
I hope your son's allergies will be tolerable with her in another room. Also, I've found I'm bothered by new cats in the house but seem to build up a tolerance to them quickly. My cat allergies aren't severe though. Really hope moving her, and maybe some antihistamines, will allow him to keep his new friend!
My son and I saw a kitten laying in the round. She wasn't in good shape. She was laying all weird. She was holding her head up funny. I went into my trunk and got an old hoodie. When I went back to her, she looked dead. I made a movement and sound to see if she was alive. She jumped up and toppled over like she had a concussion. I thought she was hit by a car but there wasn't any blood. I scooped her up and my son drove to the emergency vet hospital.
They say she's five weeks old. Her glucose was low. Apparently young kittens can't go long without a meal. They said she would have died very soon if we had not found her. $250 later, plus an additional $60 for them to keep her until 7:00pm tomorrow until I figure out what to do, it seems now I own a kitten. I couldn't bring her home tonight because it's 1am and my dog and no litter box and no food and etc. etc. etc. My husband is out of town away fishing until Sunday night. He doesn't like cats. Under the circumstances, he may concede. There is no guarantee though.
Assuming we keep this cat, now what? They're telling me kittens learn how to use a litter box better when they watch another cat do it. I have no other cats. Should I find someone to foster her until she is litter trained? There is no way my husband will allow me to have a cat that doesn't use the litter box properly.
There's the basset issue too. He's very interested in cats. He met one a few weeks ago at the vet. He's not aggressive. I realize I have to keep them separate and the kitten protected when not supervised.
So here's the plan. Tell me if it's a good or bad plan. We're going to get a cage that is big enough for a small bed and a tray of litter and some extra space. My son is going to keep it in his room so the kitten and the dog will be separated. That's as far as we've gotten with the plan.
I've owned cats before, but the last kitten was when I was a teenager, and she was much older than this little girl. We can't even name her yet because we feel we need to get to know her personality first. So far, all we came up with is Bobbles but we're certain there is a better name for her once her personality is shining through.
ANY advice is greatly appreciated!
(btw, after we left the vets, we drove back to where we found her and looked for the rest of the litter. We couldn't find any more kittens.)
First of all, God Bless you and your Son for picking this little kitty up off the road. You might not have seen any other kitties because someone could have very well tossed this little one out on the road. We have two kitties, both adopted and our older one, a Russian Blue and very beautiful was tossed out a car window. Some good Samaritan like yourself saw this happen and brought her to the shelter. I have had kitties my whole life. Two now. In general, cats will be naturally drawn to the litter box and don't need another cat to teach them how to use it. When we brought each of ours home, I would put them in a spare room with their own box and would spend time with them or my husband would. He had never had kitties before and is absolutely crazy about our two. I don't think you need a cage and the litter now a days is good so the odor is at a minimum for sure. Be sure you line the box with special plastic bags for kitty litter. You can find them in the grocery store near the pet supplies. As far as your husband goes, I am sure once you tell him the poor babies story, he will relent to letting you keep her. Anyone who has been around pets of any kind can sympathize with an animal who has been abused and perhaps tossed out a car window. Sad stuff. Her name is cute! Bobbles and you could call her "Bobbi" for short. We gave both our kitties names as they are both girls as well. Our oldest is named "Doris" and the younger one is named "Lily". I just think girl kitties are meant to have sophisticated girls names. Again, God Bless you and your plan is GREAT...don't forget the plastic bags for the litter box and if your dog is ok with her as she gets better, don't keep them separate. Dogs and cats can and do get along. We have a Pit Bull and our oldest cat is mean to HER so we keep those two apart when we can. Oh, by the way..our Pit Bull has a girls name too "Alice" Good Luck!!
We're really disheartened by the hissing, spatting, growling and attacking. I do believe all of you that they are just like this at first. My son is really concerned though. He has held her, petted her, fed her almost constantly since she arrived. But she is still doing this to him. He sadly said, "I have a cat I'm allergic to and who hisses and attacks me." She absolutely hates the dog. BIG TIME. I can't imagine her ever tolerating him. The basset adores her too. It's like everyone loves her and she hates everyone. I know she has been through a lot. I just seems our environment may be too challenging for her.
When my son said that, I recommended we rehome her to a family that doesn't have a dog and get a non-feral kitten for him. (He's a young man who needs a cat. He's taking benedryl, we're keeping her out of his room, and we plan to restart allergy shots.) He responds, "Why are you so quick to suggest getting rid of her?" Geeze. I'm thinking of everyone involved. She can find a good home as a kitten. The older she gets, that becomes less likely. My son has to change his clothes every time after holding her. As a result, he's not holding her as much now. I don't think they're going to end up with the strong bond they would have formed if he wasn't allergic.
Please don't attack me for thinking this. We saved this kitten's life. I spent $500 doing it. I don't regret it for a moment. I just want to do the right thing. I'm not giving up yet. My son just took the cage back to his room so she can walk around while he's playing video games and such. He's back to holding and petting her. She's much happier in his room. We'll slowly acclimate her to being comfortable with her cage in another part of the house by only removing it when he's sleeping for now. When she gets more familiar with the rest of the house, we'll keep it out of his room entirely.
Does anyone have any advice on how to acclimate this kitten to the dog? He is a major stress factor for the kitten. I've done everything everyone said. But all of the suggestions were for getting the dog acquainted with the kitten. The dog isn't the problem. He really likes the kitten and he's respecting the kitten's boundaries. The kitten is NOT getting used to seeing the dog. We try to not overly stress the kitten with the dog, and we keep her away from him as much as possible, but we can only keep him away to a small extent because he lives here and he's interested. But I'm wondering if we should just let them both be loose walking around as much as possible---supervised of course. I'm wondering if more exposure to the dog is the solution.
My son and I are perplexed about this aspect, and we strongly disagree. My son thinks the kitten will NEVER like dogs if she is overly stressed out by the dog at this young age while she's going through such a big adjustment. I think the kitten needs more exposure to the dog so she can get over herself. My son says she isn't ready because she's still walking around hissing and meowing at inanimate objects in his room.
Last edited by Hopes; 06-23-2013 at 07:49 AM..
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