Hi! I've been lurking these forums for quite a while, but I'm starting to get concerned about the kitten I rescued two weeks ago. I thought maybe she was just shy/more independent as although she absolutely loves playtime, she likes to be pet and cuddled on her own terms. She also prefers the top of her cat tree to the rest of the apartment, which is fine. If you pet her while she's up there, she'll purr up a storm and lean into your hands, etc. I figure, since she's six months old and the people who rehomed her never spayed her, she's probably starting to get hormonal, too. She does have an appointment to be spayed in a few weeks (that's the earliest I could get her in).
Here's what's happening that worries me:
- She seems to be an extremely picky eater, which I've never dealt with before. She won't eat any wet food that I've tried, including the baby food that gets mentioned on here sometimes, or Fancy Feast Classics, or cans of tuna/tuna water -- I feel like I've tried about ten brands/two or three flavors from each, and she's just not interested. She tries to cover it all up, and won't go back. She tries to cover dry food as well, although eventually she'll go back and nibble on that for a bit, but her appetite isn't anywhere near as large as other kittens I've had.
- I wasn't there to take her home, my roommate was, so she completely skipped the 'stay in the bathroom/bedroom for a day or two until you're really comfortable' phase of introducing her to the house. We also have different views (which I was unaware of before this) on how cats should be introduced to one another and their new spaces, etc, and she let my cat roam free while she kept her older cat locked up in her room, so I feel like there wasn't much of an adjustment period for either cat? There's no issue w/fighting, mostly because she keeps her cat locked up in her bedroom suite for most of the day, so Dinah doesn't have to deal with her, except for smell. The first couple of days she'd curl up on the end of my bed to take naps during sunlight hours but at night she slept out on her cat tree, but now she seems reluctant to be in my bedroom at all, except to pass through on her way to the water or litter box.
- Lately, she's been trying to gnaw on napkins, the grate on her cat-carrier, and especially pizza boxes. But she still won't eat? And I thought she might be teething, but don't most cats have all their adult teeth by the time they hit 6 months? I could totally be wrong about that.
I guess I'm mostly worried because I don't have much to go on here, re: what's happening, or how she was living in the other house, before they decided to rehome her. I know it's been a very short time-span as far as adjustment goes, is she just having anxiety about her new surroundings/being a weird, hormonal teenager? Or is something else going on, and should I get her to a vet?
This is her, by the way, little ball of fluff:
Here's what's happening that worries me:
- She seems to be an extremely picky eater, which I've never dealt with before. She won't eat any wet food that I've tried, including the baby food that gets mentioned on here sometimes, or Fancy Feast Classics, or cans of tuna/tuna water -- I feel like I've tried about ten brands/two or three flavors from each, and she's just not interested. She tries to cover it all up, and won't go back. She tries to cover dry food as well, although eventually she'll go back and nibble on that for a bit, but her appetite isn't anywhere near as large as other kittens I've had.
- I wasn't there to take her home, my roommate was, so she completely skipped the 'stay in the bathroom/bedroom for a day or two until you're really comfortable' phase of introducing her to the house. We also have different views (which I was unaware of before this) on how cats should be introduced to one another and their new spaces, etc, and she let my cat roam free while she kept her older cat locked up in her room, so I feel like there wasn't much of an adjustment period for either cat? There's no issue w/fighting, mostly because she keeps her cat locked up in her bedroom suite for most of the day, so Dinah doesn't have to deal with her, except for smell. The first couple of days she'd curl up on the end of my bed to take naps during sunlight hours but at night she slept out on her cat tree, but now she seems reluctant to be in my bedroom at all, except to pass through on her way to the water or litter box.
- Lately, she's been trying to gnaw on napkins, the grate on her cat-carrier, and especially pizza boxes. But she still won't eat? And I thought she might be teething, but don't most cats have all their adult teeth by the time they hit 6 months? I could totally be wrong about that.
I guess I'm mostly worried because I don't have much to go on here, re: what's happening, or how she was living in the other house, before they decided to rehome her. I know it's been a very short time-span as far as adjustment goes, is she just having anxiety about her new surroundings/being a weird, hormonal teenager? Or is something else going on, and should I get her to a vet?
This is her, by the way, little ball of fluff:
