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My Niece and nephews have been feeding a kitten that looked pretty sickly. She came back to them for over 2 weeks crying for food. They were not able to keep her. She is now in my care.
She is in my house happy and seems to be healthy. She's eating like a horse. Getting used to the lay of the land. She comes to me and lets me pet her. She's not too scared of humans.
She's already using the litter box
I live alone and in the city. would like to keep her as an indoor cat. My work sched is 7am to 5ish pm.
questions:
Collar? Do cats like these or does it bother them to have it on?
Food? I assume most grocery store cat food is junky and gross right?
Home Alone? any concerns about leaving her there alone for long periods ?
We've discussed these same issues on here before, and you are going to get different opinions from different people. Here are mine:
!) I do not like collars on kitties. I found one hanging on top of a chair one morning, evidently Sniffy had gotten hung up there the night before and was able to wiggle out of it before she was strangled to death.
2) I buy food from the grocery store. Two of my cats will eat moist food, one would starve himself first and will only eat dry. I buy Fancy Feast with gravy, Lucky and Daisy love it the best, and I buy Chewy Beyond salmon flavored dry. You will see a firestorm of opinions on this food subject, but I have raised a bunch of cats over the years on this kind of food, and all were healthy and lived long lives.
3) We also leave our kitties at home every day while we work. Always have done that with every cat we had. They adapt fine and I think they prefer a little "ME" time to themselves. They roam the house, go out onto the lanai, and sleep a lot. While I love my 3 to death, I do not coddle them, they are independent and quite capable of taking care of themselves while I am away.
(Some will say they are not independent, but at this very moment our 3 have had their breakfast and two are off on the lanai and Chewy is sleeping on my shoes. They do not need me to be there 24/7 to make them happy)
Now get ready for a bunch of different views on the same subject.
Don
Oh, and thank you for taking the little guy in. Your life will be enriched in ways you can not imagine.
My Niece and nephews have been feeding a kitten that looked pretty sickly. She came back to them for over 2 weeks crying for food. They were not able to keep her. She is now in my care.
She is in my house happy and seems to be healthy. She's eating like a horse. Getting used to the lay of the land. She comes to me and lets me pet her. She's not too scared of humans.
She's already using the litter box
I live alone and in the city. would like to keep her as an indoor cat. My work sched is 7am to 5ish pm.
questions:
Collar? Do cats like these or does it bother them to have it on?
Food? I assume most grocery store cat food is junky and gross right?
Home Alone? any concerns about leaving her there alone for long periods ?
Feed wet and raw food. One of my ladies is 21 years old, and she eats wet and raw. She chases her toys around the kitchen floor every night. She jumps up on my bed every night. She even managed to jump up to my high kitchen island recently. Dry food contains way too many carbs from grains. Carbs (grains) are not good for cats, since they are obligate carnivores.
I have 2 cats, and 1 wears a break away collar. The other one (the old lady) refuses to keep a collar on. They both are indoor only, though, so I don't worry about that.
Cats are pretty independent. Make sure she has access to water, a window, and a sun shiny spot. Mine are home alone while I go to work, and they do just fine.
1. I'm not fond of collars. I'd suggest a microchip instead.
2. I feed canned and raw, a variety of brands. Fancy Feast classics (check the label) for canned, and Stella & Chewy's raw, Rad Cat raw, Nature's Variety raw. You can make your own raw if you prefer, but please make sure it's a balanced recipe (there are recipes in the link PeachSalsa provided).
3. Given that you have a kitten, she will need lots of playtime to stay happy and release that energy. I'm a fan of having a pair of cats, but if that's not possible, make sure to play with her morning and evening. I'd suggest a tall cat tree and some scratchers, and a place where she can look out a window for entertainment.
GeePee ... I agree with everyone -- no to the collar, feed wet (I buy Fancy Feast at the grocery store), cats do fine while we're at work since they spend a good deal of the day sleeping/napping anyway.
Yes to things to scratch - posts, inclined corrugated cardboard, flat corrugated cardboard, carpet squares - some like carpet, some like cardboard, some like sisal rope ... you'll find that some cats prefer standing up and scratching while others like to scratch something horizontally.
Yes to a tree or some kind of perch. It doesn't have to be anything big and fancy, but just something they can lay on to survey their world or to climb. Some cats are "tree dwellers" while others are "bush dwellers".
thanks for this: Can I have a quick example of what your cat eats on this carnivore diet. I myself eat essentially Paleo. Maybe its best my cat is too
Oi, paleo diet for humans is not the same as raw diets for cats. Our ancestors had larger jaws, bigger molars, for chewing through tough fiber. Our diets (a variety of meat, veggies, fruits, etc) is definitely not the same as a cat's diet, who changed very little over the years.
With that said, the cat food debate rages on. Which is best for da kitty? Raw? Commercial canned? Dry? Human food scraps? Prescription diets?
I feed canned food to my cats. One of them must stay on it because of health and old age reasons. The other do not like dry food, no matter the brand. Feed your cat based on your cat's preference and your budget. Try to stay away from the obvious corn filler dry foods if you can. Simply Nourish Rabbit and Chicken recipe is pretty good and affordable. I like Merrick dry and canned food but they were recently bought out by Purina. Wellness have a good rep, Blue had some recall issues in the past (not uncommon in the pet food industry).
Lastly, make sure to take your new kitty to the vet for a check up! Start looking for a vet you want to use for the future.
I'll leave the food debate to others, except to say lose the dry food and go to canned wet food at the very least.
I'm also not a fan of collars on a cat, especially if they are indoor only. There's simply no reason for it. If you're concerned she may ever get out & lost, a microchip is a better solution than a collar.
Lots of cat-experienced folks here on this forum, and it's a good source of advice for whatever you need to know.
Bless you for taking the little one into your life. You will be rewarded many times over.
Thanks for the replies. I will try and post a pic tonight. Do i need to get her a scratching post or tree thinggy?
Oh yes, a scratching post (or several) is a must! Many cats love cardboard scratchers. Kittens really seem to like those elevated ones with a hole underneath to play. Like this: https://www.amazon.com/KONG-Naturals...+cat+scratcher
Another great one is called the Ultimate Cat Scratcher. Amazon has a good price on that one and it's a nice sturdy post.
Kittens do love cat trees, if that's in your budget. Our youngest gravitated right toward the one we have.
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