Is Nine Weeks Old Enough for A Kitten to Leave Mum - Photos of new 2nd kitten

tesuhoha

gettingready wrote: »

Firstly one small thing - the woman you got the kitty from is not a breeder.

Breeder would not allow accidental pregnancy, would have a waiting list for the kittens and not advertise for sale as she did, breeder would handle the kitties a lot and vet potential homes.

Please make sure you insure your kitty asap - hopefully kitty is healthy and will bring you years of joy but just in case, pls insure as vet costs can be massive.

The 4 I have at home now plus the 2 with my daughter - they came to us at 6 weeks and although all non pedigree they were handled from babies and adapted to life with us pretty fast even having a go at the dog too - Zara was mothering them though...

My babies at 6 weeks:



And the brave 0.5kg of ginger fluff George sharing a meal with a 40kg Zara:



Please do not get me wrong, I am absolutely not having a go at you, all my cats are Gumtree babies, I paid for them but your "breeder" seem to be taking the mickey to be honest, perhaps get another kitten from someone else?

All the best

xxx

Your kittens were so beautiful and the dog is too. Thank you for posting such lovely photos.

I think I might have confused you a bit. We are going to get two cats. This first one was advertised on Gumtree and she is the one who is nine weeks and the one we have brought home. The couple who sold her were not breeders and the pregnancy was accidental.

The second cat we have not got yet. She is 6 months old and is coming from a breeder. This breeder is the one who is giving me advice about the little cat. She did not know we were getting such a young kitten and when I told her she voiced her concerns. The cat who is coming from the breeder will be fully vaccinated, spayed, microchipped with our details and flea treated and wormed. We are going to introduce them slowly to each other and hope they will be friends. I am hopeful of this as the new cat is known for her gentleness and we are bringing up Poppy to be the same way.

tesuhoha

Update on Poppy.

This morning I went into the kitchen and pulled away the small cushion behind which Poppy was lying. She was awake and immediately got up and came out. She proceeded to wander around the kitchen diner and jumped onto one of the dining room chairs.

After this she nearly gave me a heart attack. I was on the floor at her level and she wandered around our kitchen island and into the kitchen tiled area so that I could not see her. After a bit when she didn't come back I popped my head around to see that she had disappeared! All the doors and cupboards were closed and holes blocked up. I could not believe my eyes.

After a few seconds of frantically searching and calling I realised that she had somehow squeezed through the slot under the dishwasher. So off came the plinth. I was really worried that she had gone behind or under the dishwasher but then I saw her hiding behind the pipes at the bottom of the sink. There was no way I could reach her to get her out but luckily when I called her name she came out.

Since then we have been playing this game of she goes to hide under the sideboard, I stroke her, she purrs and bites my fingers, then makes her way towards me. She comes up on my lap purring away, sniffs my face, sometimes has a cuddle then the whole thing starts all over again. She has been playing with her toy and has used her litter tray for a wee.

Sadly I have not seen her eat or drink while I have been in the room. The people that sold her told me that they had been feeding her on dried food and tuna in spring water. They gave me the dried food which she will not touch. My son went out and bought her the tuna last night but she will not eat that either. I smeared my fingers with the tuna juice and she has been licking my fingers but when I give her a teeny piece she sniffs it but won't eat it.

I am thinking of going to Pets At Home now to see if I can get her some cat milk. I want to her to progress to Hills Scientific eventually but at the moment I would just like to see her start eating as it is 24 hours now. I don't believe in giving a cat cow's milk but they told me she was drinking milk so I will try cat's milk. I am also going to buy her some more toys and maybe a plug in thing if I can find it.

She just went to sleep while I was stroking her under the sideboard, her head was resting on her cuddly toy and she was snuggled up to her blanket. She was purring away and snuggling against my hand. So quite a different cat today!

tesuhoha

Johnny_Dangerously wrote: »

If it's any use, I've broken down all my animal costs since 2008 here. Mainly to highlight dog costs, but also included the two cats as well. I see to have been fortunate with my two, very little expenditure at all.

I'd agree with cat insurance though. Although I self insure, our cat insurance was minimal (around £12 per month) which was good value for money purely for the big vet bills alone.

Yes, will definitely insure both cats.

no1catman

Cow's milk can be okay, but not always - it can lead to diarrhoea, some cats are more susceptible than others.


Rather than the expensive 'cat milk' you could try lactose free (cow's) milk - the litre carton will store in the fridge - last several days.

tesuhoha

no1catman wrote: »

Cow's milk can be okay, but not always - it can lead to diarrhoea, some cats are more susceptible than others.


Rather than the expensive 'cat milk' you could try lactose free (cow's) milk - the litre carton will store in the fridge - last several days.

Thank you. I had already bought some kitten milk when I saw this. She won't touch it though.

Today Poppy has gained in confidence. She has been playing all day. I bought her a cloth mouse toy from Pets At Home and she loves it more than anything. She has been chasing around with it.

There have been other developments too. She has fallen in love with our sideboard but instead of underneath it, her favourite place is now on top of it. It seems bizarre but now whenever she gets startled she jumps onto the dining chair and onto the sideboard top. There is no protection there apart from the tv but she seems to feel safe there. She is in no danger of electrocution as the cables are well out of the way. Her blanket is now on top of the sideboard and she is sleeping better there than she has since she arrived. She is also very playful up there rolling on her back, stretching and she loves anything to do with biting, pawing or scratching fingers.

Also, by this afternoon we were getting very concerned that she had not eaten for over 24 hours so when she climbed from my husband's lap onto the table I offered her some fresh tuna and finally she started eating. She is not happy about eating on the floor. The second meal was also tuna and she ate it from the bowl while my daughter held her in her arms standing up and I held the bowl under her nose.

I'm not sure how we are going to resolve this but she certainly won't be eating her meals on the dining room table! It was just to get her to eat as she was getting cold and shivery. She has refused everything else. I have offered dried food, tinned kitten food, boiled chicken breast and now kitten milk. She won't even drink water. I clean her bowl each time and offer her fresh food. At least I am not so worried about her now.

Johnny_Dangerously

You'll get a routine down. Cats usually prefer being higher up as it's a natural safe spot for them. Both our cats eat on the worktops, but that's mainly to stop the dogs sneakily eating their food.

This thread makes me want another cat!

Grimbal

We have rehomed 4 cats from Cats Protection, the last one being a young kitten that had been found in the lift shaft of a local car park. She was very very scared & spent the two weeks whilst in CP care hissing at everything & everyone & hiding. When we went to see her, she would cower away in terror.

We didn't know if she had brain damage, such was her behaviour, but we took her anyway. We kept her in our bedroom where she hid under the bed for two weeks. For two weeks, I sat on the bed talking to thin air and dangling a cat toy off the edge of the bed. Then one day, with encouragement in the form of a liver stick, a tiny little black kitten emerged & started to play.

She would still run & hide every time the door was opened, but gradually with encouragement, she has transformed into a playful loving little cat, that wants to interact & play & loves tummy rubs.

Sorry about the long post, but I just wanted to use it as an example of how some kittens just can't be rushed into settling in. Give her a room where there are lots of hiding places, a litter tray & food & water bowls (separated). Spend time in there just "being there", talking to the furniture. Waggle a few toys & offer some occasional treats. Let her find her own way, she will come around eventually

oh, and as thread not valid without pictures:

tiny scared hissy girl
[IMG][/img]


cuddle monster:
[IMG][/img]

gettingready

Johnny_Dangerously wrote: »

You'll get a routine down. Cats usually prefer being higher up as it's a natural safe spot for them. (1)Both our cats eat on the worktops, but that's mainly to stop the dogs sneakily eating their food.

(2)This thread makes me want another cat!

(1) Four cats eat on the workshop for the same reason



(2)... or two......

Grimbal

oh, and feeding:

she may not be happy eating just yet as she is still scared. Try giving her one safe room & take things from there again. You may find that she isn't happy eating in your presence just yet. As a previous poster mentioned, some kittens will dash out at the dead of night to eat then go back into hiding.

Is there a particular reason you want to get her on to Hills ? I just ask as there are lots of excellent high meat content foods out there. Have a look at zooplus (via topcashback) for brands like animonda, bozita, yarrah, cosma etc (wet) or applaws, happy cat (dry)

In the short term (as they're pretty expensive), one food that our cats absolutely cannot resist is the Encore range (chicken & rice / tuna & whitebait) - both very good quality food available from supermarkets eg http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=273824724


- try not to give her too much tuna. Tuna for humans doesn't have the right balance of nutrients for cats, and tuna for cats 1. can lead to mercury poisoning (obviously, they'd have to eat pretty much nothing but!) & 2. can be addictive to the extent that some cats will start to refuse other food

Grimbal

Sorry, me again !

I've just picked up on one thing - please discourage the biting & playing with of fingers. You don't want a cat that sees hands as toys. If you want to play with her, use wagglers & things on strings, but definitely not hands !