MichaelFassbender
Member
Make sure you are kind to it above all else. An unhappy cat is a recipe for bad luck. Not kidding, again.
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Kitten hiding in my garage
- Thread starter rbanke
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Silly OP. You don't own a cat, the cat OWNS YOU.
Put a glove on and held some tuna in my hand and it ate it. held a bowl of water up to it and it drank that too, lured it out after a while and picked it up by the scruff and it didn't seem to mind, how he or she is in our bathroom. I guess I need to get some sort of litter box stat. While I'm out I should pick up some food too, how much should a kitten like this eat? Oh yea, it's meowing a lot too since I started feeding it.
Young kittens eat quite a bit and it is important to give them food with a high amount of protein. You can find wet and dry food made specifically for kittens.
some reading - http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/nutrition-tips-kittens
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Combination of dry and wet should be good, probably at least a 3oz can of wet and a half cup or more of dry a day. Sincere hopes he/she is not one of those rare one that doesn't come with litterbox.exe preinstalled.
Seriously, if you don't keep it, get it fixed and at least get the first round of shots and an eartip.
Seriously, if you don't keep it, get it fixed and at least get the first round of shots and an eartip.
Admiral Woofington
Member
yeah even if you can't keep the kitten, at least prep him/her up for somebody who might. He/she is very cute so it shouldn't be an issue.
Congrats, you're a cat owner now.
Just get a litter box, fill it, place her/him in it so they know what it is. They should then naturally go to it afterwards.
Dai Kaiju
Member
Get out of my head!
Darth Pinche
Member
Yay! Good job! Also remember to get one of those cardboard pet carriers, as this will allow you to take it to the vet (or just move him to a different room) safely and without it getting scared and bolting.
As the the amount of food, a little less than what ever is recommended on the can or bag. Most manufacturers recommend too much food.
As the the amount of food, a little less than what ever is recommended on the can or bag. Most manufacturers recommend too much food.
Put a glove on and held some tuna in my hand and it ate it. held a bowl of water up to it and it drank that too, lured it out after a while and picked it up by the scruff and it didn't seem to mind, how he or she is in our bathroom. I guess I need to get some sort of litter box stat. While I'm out I should pick up some food too, how much should a kitten like this eat? Oh yea, it's meowing a lot too since I started feeding it.
He's so cute!
The cats thoughts
Cbajd5
Member
Put a glove on and held some tuna in my hand and it ate it. held a bowl of water up to it and it drank that too, lured it out after a while and picked it up by the scruff and it didn't seem to mind, how he or she is in our bathroom. I guess I need to get some sort of litter box stat. While I'm out I should pick up some food too, how much should a kitten like this eat? Oh yea, it's meowing a lot too since I started feeding it.
In regards to a litter box, since you have it in your bathroom try this out and tell us if it works.
rbanke
Member
Ok, I'm going to pick up a litter box, some litter, a bit of canned kitten food, a carrier and a toy or two. I'll likely take it to the vet tomorrow or at the latest monday. It's really important to me that it's not some family's missing pet, that would be pretty sad so I'll at least have it checked for the chip and do whatever the vet recommends. I'm quickly feeling like it's here to stay and am hopeful it works out that way. I'll check this thread from Target to see if there's something I should buy that I've forgotten. Thanks for all the great help. Never been owned by a cat before so I'm a bit lost. My 2 year old is ecstatic at the idea that there's a kitty in the house.
Tail down in the bowl cats don't care
Shadax the wizard
Member
Put a glove on and held some tuna in my hand and it ate it. held a bowl of water up to it and it drank that too, lured it out after a while and picked it up by the scruff and it didn't seem to mind, how he or she is in our bathroom. I guess I need to get some sort of litter box stat. While I'm out I should pick up some food too, how much should a kitten like this eat? Oh yea, it's meowing a lot too since I started feeding it.
Awesome!
Handle the cat without grabbing it by the scruff from now on, if you need to carry it do so in your arms. The meowing might be because of the new environment you put it in, as it's unfamiliar and not by choice. Keep company and try evoke the cats playful side with a string as OCDChewie said. Don't leave alone for long especially in a tight space as a bathroom. As for food, go for dry as well as wet food. But in the long run I'm a advocate for raw meat that's been frosted (to get rid of parasites) and then thawed, because that's their natural food anyways. I consider store bought food the same as junk food for humans. It's more work but more healthy.
User 479360
Banned
User 479360
Banned
Is it male or female? Looks male to me.
Shadax the wizard
Member
Yeah, but without a 5c we won't ever know if it's touching the water.
hydrophilic attack
Member
Once a neighbour's cat snuck into my parents' garage before we went on a vacation for a few weeks. We didn't notice when it happened. Somehow this cat survived being locked up in our garage for weeks until we came home and noticed it. We think it sustained itself on water condensed from the air and blood meal which my parents kept in the garage.
Hurray! You're doing good stuff rbanke. My kitty was a little stray kitten once too.
You can feed it quite a bit, some cats are very good about eating the right amount. Some get fat doing that, so keep an eye on whether or not it gets chubby.
rbanke
Member
I ended up seeing my neighbor who very into cats and used to work at the ASPCA and she suggested I pick up dry to avoid possible diarrhea and said she'll load me a carrier. Holy shit there is a lot of food & kitty litter to choose from. Picked up all the stuff I needed and it ate a ton of food and then used the litter box as soon as I picked it up and put it in there. It's now exploring the house a bit and I'll end this with a final question. Does anyone think its a bad idea to leave the door to the bathroom open? I''m concerned of waking up and not knowing where the cat is.
Other than that I'll post an update once I've seen the vet if anyone's interested.
Other than that I'll post an update once I've seen the vet if anyone's interested.
I think it is a bad idea because kittens can get into trouble easily by just being curious. Definitely leave the door closed for at least a few days. The kitten could also get scared again and get wedged in a tight spot and get injured.
I'd leave it closed. It can take cats time to acclimate to a new space, and this cat may have literally never been inside before. It might meow some, but it'll be fine with food, water, litter, and a blanket.
Escape Goat
Member
If you keep it introduce it to a new room every so often and let it explore. You can stress it out if you let it run around a big house. Cats are sensitive to their surroundings. If you change something in a room the cat will investigate.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
In the country or just in general, you should always check for animals when you leave for the day. They can get under your hood, on top your tire, or anywhere else. They just sleep there. I make sure I check around my car before I leave or I make sure to honk my horn in case some cat is sleeping behind my tires.
I think birds can even get in under your hood if you're not careful. I get a lot of bees on my car now, which is strange.
I think birds can even get in under your hood if you're not careful. I get a lot of bees on my car now, which is strange.
HF2014
Member
Lol
Ziltoidia 9
Member
He wants to be your friend, take him in and wub him.
Good job, OP!
I suggest letting it stay in the bathroom to sleep for a few days at least, and have supervised visits around the house. Don't let it wander around unsupervised yet, especially without a bell on.
It's also a good time to teach your kid how to be gentle around pets too.
Zoe
Member
Cats have a knack for finding the craziest hiding spaces.
I had no idea my fireplace could be taken apart. But my cat did it and got into the walls the first day we let her roam.
As others have said. Keep it in the bathroom for now and get a full vet checkup on it. It looks pretty healthy but you can end up with ringworm and other annoying things. I suggest giving it a little bath to get rid of any fleas it may have picked up. Also get it a couple of toys or else it will mew from boredom in the bathroom. Otherwise welcome to cat ownership it's usually a fun experience.
Put a glove on and held some tuna in my hand and it ate it. held a bowl of water up to it and it drank that too, lured it out after a while and picked it up by the scruff and it didn't seem to mind, how he or she is in our bathroom. I guess I need to get some sort of litter box stat. While I'm out I should pick up some food too, how much should a kitten like this eat? Oh yea, it's meowing a lot too since I started feeding it.
"BEGONE, HUMAN! And bring me more of this item you call pizza!"
thesoapster
Member
One thing to keep in mind is if this is a feral domestic cat, some of the behaviors you might expect from a domestic cat will be different/gone, depending on how long its family has been out in the wild.
theechrisfox
Member
Congrats to you and your family on the new cat! >^..^<
rbanke
Member
Bought a couple balls with bells in them some weird wiry thing and gave it a tennis ball. Target had 98% 'catnip' toys and something kept telling me that's not actually a good thing.
This is the current front runner.
If you're serious about toilet training your cat, I've tried both that product and this one, the Litter Kwitter, and I strongly recommend (and had more success) with the latter. Both my cats now use a human toilet for both kinds of waste elimination. I will try to put up a photo next time I catch them in the act.
The reason I feel the Litter Kwitter was more successful than the CitiKitty is that the former is made of thicker and more high quality plastic. So it doesn't flex under the cat's weight. You really need to make your cat as comfortable as possible during the learning process, so the LK's sturdier platform was much preferred by both my cats in comparison to the CK's somewhat flexible plastic. You can also go back a ring (i.e., narrow the opening) with the LK if your cat has problems when you move to a wider opening by taking one of the three rings out (you can't do this with the CK, since you are actually widening the hole yourself with a scissor).
Other useful things that you should have if you want to try training your cat to use a human toilet:
1.) flushable litter - I used this brand: Nature's Miracle.
2.) a motion-controlled light that you put near the toilet (like a nightlight or one of these) so that they can see where to go if they need to go at night (they have good vision but they can't see in total darkness).
3.) a little plastic stepstool to help the cat/kitten get up to the level of the seat (you'll take this away eventually).
4.) also remove all soft things from the bathroom (bathmat, dirty clothes on the floor, etc.) - this is also temporary and the reason you do it is because you want to make sure they don't decide to go in something soft and fabric-like. They will be tempted to do this while learning.
5.) some really delicious treats for positive reinforcement (every time they poop/pee they get a treat)
6.) and ideally it's great if you can devote a single toilet to training them as otherwise you'll need to remind each human in the household to put back the LitterKwitter every time that human uses the toilet themselves. Again, you'll only be using the Litter Kwitter while the cat is learning how to use the toilet - you'll take it off eventually once they learn.
If I could do it again, I would also get the second set of rings - makes the widening of the hole process a bit more gradual (and thus less intimidating to the cat - they will be FASCINATED by the water once you take off the initial red plate, which has no hole at all) as the rings are thinner.
In any case, I cannot tell you how awesome it is to have cats that use a human toilet. My house is cleaner (no dust from clay litter) and there's no cat smell! It's great. Also every time I hear them use the toilet, it's like having my kid come home from school with straight A's.
Put a glove on and held some tuna in my hand and it ate it. held a bowl of water up to it and it drank that too, lured it out after a while and picked it up by the scruff and it didn't seem to mind, how he or she is in our bathroom. I guess I need to get some sort of litter box stat. While I'm out I should pick up some food too, how much should a kitten like this eat? Oh yea, it's meowing a lot too since I started feeding it.
Is it a hungry meow or a distressed meow?
Link
The Autumn Wind
Holy crap, that thing is adorable.
Put a glove on and held some tuna in my hand and it ate it. held a bowl of water up to it and it drank that too, lured it out after a while and picked it up by the scruff and it didn't seem to mind, how he or she is in our bathroom. I guess I need to get some sort of litter box stat. While I'm out I should pick up some food too, how much should a kitten like this eat? Oh yea, it's meowing a lot too since I started feeding it.
Seraph_Nicholas
Member
Aw, cute kitty. The best cats are the ones that find you.
8-Bit Sunset
Banned
I'm glad there are people like you out there O.P. Good on you for looking after the cat! Made me happy after all of the dreadful news stories today!
Shao Kahn on the Lawn
Member
Pop the hood of any vehicles you have and check inside them before starting them again. A lot of cats climb up inside the engine bay once it starts getting cooler and finding that out the hard way is a pretty good way to ruin your month.
Same. That said I have been around cats for most of my life. We had one til she died (sometime during my childhood) and sometime during my teenage years, we had a cat come over almost daily to feed and explore our house (it was a nearby neighbor's cat) and this continued until one day it stopped coming (happened a few years ago after I moved to my own place). Turns out she died
.Mum told me a new cat comes over now, not for food, just for attention.
Cats are great and cute creatures <3 and I hope to get one again eventually. (I mean, I read up online, it's not unusual for some allergic people to own a cat but we'll see in the future...)
To op: super cute kitty. I'll keep an eye on this thread out of curiosity XD.
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