A kitten fell down my chimney and I need advice!

[danteshuman]

I’m glad you are taking him to the vet. Keep him warm. Keep the house at 75F for a few weeks or until he can be warm enough on his own. I think you should try a saucer of just warm KMR and see how he does. Either way until the vet tell you his age I would feed him 6 times a day, feed him KMR or a mixture of 1/2 kitten formula & 1/2 pate wet food mixed together into a slurry (kitten gruel.) If he has the runs mix in a tiny bit of unflavored baby rice cereal into his formula or kitten gruel/slurry.

Get him dewormed and microchipped at the vet. Kittens get lost. Better to be safe.

I’m rooting for him! Please tell us his name when he gets one.

 

[Caspers Human]

Get him dewormed and microchipped at the vet. Kittens get lost. Better to be safe.

Both our cats have been chipped. It's not very expensive, it takes less than a minute to do and it can save a lot of problems, down the road, if your kitty ever gets lost.

 

[Kflowers]

Kit may associate the machine noise with the death of his family or his separation from them. If one of them was run over, it may have been an undercurrent noise from the vehicle. Our cat. who was five weeks old when she lost her family, is afraid of outdoors still, eleven years after her rescue.

 

[TobiDaDog]

Both our cats have been chipped. It's not very expensive, it takes less than a minute to do and it can save a lot of problems, down the road, if your kitty ever gets lost.

He will definitely be chipped. We came to that conclusion right away. All of our animals are chipped, but this little guy looks like such an "ordinary" cat. No truly identifiable markings or anything. He'll need all the extra identification he can get to get him back home if he is lost. Of course, he'll be a totally indoor cat...but you never know what might happen.

My mind immediately goes to the lost dog posts that pop up on Facebook. A yellow lab or a black cat, and the worried owner is bombarded with a dozen different identical lost pets. They all look the same! Even worse if they're stolen. No one would look twice at "yet another grey tabby."

Again, I might be a little paranoid, but I want to take every precaution possible to make sure that he is safe.

 

[TobiDaDog]

I’m glad you are taking him to the vet. Keep him warm. Keep the house at 75F for a few weeks or until he can be warm enough on his own. I think you should try a saucer of just warm KMR and see how he does. Either way until the vet tell you his age I would feed him 6 times a day, feed him KMR or a mixture of 1/2 kitten formula & 1/2 pate wet food mixed together into a slurry (kitten gruel.) If he has the runs mix in a tiny bit of unflavored baby rice cereal into his formula or kitten gruel/slurry.

Get him dewormed and microchipped at the vet. Kittens get lost. Better to be safe.

I’m rooting for him! Please tell us his name when he gets one.

His name is Saint Nikolas Flamel! We couldn't decide if he was a gift from Santa or if he arrived via the Floo Network. We've been calling him Niki or Niko for short.

 

[TobiDaDog]

Back from the vet!! Niko got his first vaccinations, deworming, and a full check by the vet. Our vet says that he is in great health, about 6-7 weeks old now, and cleared to move forward with introductions between him and Reese if we want. She's already seen him a few times - Once under the crack of the door and once when she pushed the door open and sniffed him through his cage before I shooed her away. Both times she really didn't care. Just sniffed him and then went about her business. We've also been feeding them both on opposite sides of the door and having her play with toys on her side of the door. She doesn't seem to care at all that there's another cat in there.

So after we got back from the vet and let Niko get settled again, I showed her to him while he was in his carrier and again...she gave him a little sniff and then just wandered off. I'm stunned with how little she cares about this life changing event. This would be the first kitten she's ever seen before and she isn't phased at all.


I'm totally expecting her to suddenly go "wait, I changed my mind, get it out of here!"

Bonus baby pic! He was pretty concerned about someone getting shaved down in another room at the vet. Otherwise he was so well behaved and everyone loved him and got a kick out of his crazy story!

 

[sidneykitty]

He is adorable! and clearly fell down the right chimney at the right time. Loving the photos and updates of his story. wishing you all the best!

can you get a little heated pet bed or blankey for him to snuggle up with and stay warm? or a momma cat plushie with a heartbeat that might comfort him when he is alone?

 

[TobiDaDog]

He is adorable! and clearly fell down the right chimney at the right time. Loving the photos and updates of his story. wishing you all the best!

can you get a little heated pet bed or blankey for him to snuggle up with and stay warm? or a momma cat plushie with a heartbeat that might comfort him when he is alone?

We actually do have a heat pad, but it's activated by body weight and shuts off when no one is sitting on it. He doesn't weigh enough to turn it on!

 

[Kflowers]

put a book on part of the heating pad so It'll think there is someone on it.

 

[sidneykitty]

ohh no! I have the same kind of heated kitty pad actually great idea to try putting something on it to help weigh it down!

 

[Kflowers]

come to think of it might want to try that out with you in the room with it. small book should do

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree, he needs to stay warm and needs a plush toy “lovey” to snuggle when sleeping.

 

[TobiDaDog]

And then there were two. I was walking home late the other day and heard this fellow crying in my garden fire woodpile. It was snowing and he was soaked to the bone. Even so it took quite a bit to catch him because he'd jammed himself so far down under the wood.

He looks nothing like Niko!! I am smitten though. He has the shortest little tail. It is so short that it doesn't wave like a cat's tail...it flicks stiffly like a tiny windshield wiper. And it has a crooked tip.

He's a solid little guy too. Not skinny and lanky like Niko. For the first day we jokingly called him Egghead before deciding on Jinx.

We absolutely Jinxed him into the garden. We had been discussing only hours before what we'd do if we found any more kittens. Whoops!

They've been happily snuggling and playing together.

What are the odds? At least we have a friend for Niko to grow up with now! And we'll be setting up a trap in the garden just in case there are more. I sure hope not!

What is this coat pattern called? It is lovely! His fur is so thick and soft.

 

[StefanZ]

He is very apparently a point ("siamese-mix"). I think it will be seal point and white, with possibly something else thrown in. We will see with time.

He has kitten fuzziness, I think he is shorthair. So, domestic shorthair, seal point and white.

My guess they are littermates, but did come apart. So yeah, there may be more of them around...
And if not littermates? Why the coincidence?? No coincidence at all, Santa is working extra and did come with a new load.... Not even Santa manages to carry every gift all at once....

 

[StefanZ]

Ps. I dont see the point has any tabby markings, but may have anyway, covered up by that white...

With purebreds one tabby and one not would be a give away they have different fathers. But street moggies are a combo of mixed genes, and thus, one littermate may easily be a tabby, but not the other... As both momma and daddy may have different genes. Some dominant, some recessive. Point gene, and long hair genes, are recessive, and need to come from both momma and daddy.

 

[Kflowers]

Sometimes the universe has excellent planning. Two kittens are much happier than one, you too, as they will spend that energy on each other instead of you and your furnishings. Just playing with each other will teach them so much, that you can't. They come in batches for a good reasons. Glad the universe got the note that your little guy was alone and sent a friend for him. These are the strongest of bonds.

 

[sidneykitty]

oh what a cutie!!! I hope the two very lucky kitties are so happy together. I had a very shy foster kitten last year with a kinked tail - I told her it gave her superpowers and that was she was super special. I think Jinx is too!

 

[TobiDaDog]

I know it's a bit early because he has only been here for a few days, but we are starting to worry that Jinx might be hard of hearing. He doesn't respond to any sounds at all. He doesn't startle. He doesn't turn when we call his name or snap our fingers. He doesn't respond when we jingle bells behind his head. He spends a lot of time happily playing all by himself, then he will start crying out loudly as if he can't find anyone. But he doesn't stop crying when we call him...only when he turns and sees us. I can walk right up behind him and he doesn't seem to react until I pick him up. He sleeps VERY deeply and nothing really wakes him up. His brother wakes at the slightest sound. A family member clapped their hands over his head and he startled but I was wondering if that was because of vibration? Can a vet do a proper hearing test or is it something I can do at home?

 

[FeebysOwner]

You know what? More time, give him more time. What you are describing doesn't have to be a hearing issue, but a 'kitten' issue. Besides, tbh, if he does have a hearing deficit, short of simple work arounds, there is really not much else to be done.

Let's see how things play out with more time.

 

[Caspers Human]

If there does happen to be a hearing issue it will be good for him to have another cat in the house to act as surrogate ears, so to speak. The hard-of-hearing cat will learn to take his cues from the hearing cat and the hearing cat will learn to look out for the other.

The two cats being presumed littermates will help even more because they have grown up together and are more familiar with each other.

I’m with FeebysOwner . It’s too early to tell whether the kitten’s hearing is okay or not. Time will tell.

If it does turn out to be true you’ll have a unique opportunity to see how two cats learn to communicate and work together as a team.