[help] Siamese kitty, caring advice + color change ?

[ala sliipknot]

Hello everyone, 

Someone gave me a 2 weeks old Siamese kitty (he couldn't able to keep her neither her brothers and sisters with their mother at home) 

and since this is the first time i had such a young cat (i had 4 cats before but they all came by the age of 2 months or more ) 

i want to know if there is any special advice, am only giving her milk and a nice warm place to rest in, is that enough in that age ? 

and am a little bit worried about her hygiene, she is too little to have a shower, but her face (specially around the eyes) is full with something that i really don't know it's name it looks like what a human have around the eye when he just woke up from a deep sleep, i tried to clean it but she start meowing so i stopped    

i also have another question, 

since it's a Siamese kitty, when is she gonna have a Siamese look ?? for now she is fully white,her hair still very light and her eyes are just had the blue color two days ago (before it was black or something) 

anyway, 

thank you very much for your help and here is our star in action ^_^ (she was in good mood today) 

 

[denice]

They usually begin developing their points around 4 weeks.  They won't be fully developed just a spot that will spread as they begin to get older.  The kitten in the video looks older than 2 weeks they usually aren't physically that coordinated at 2 weeks.  She is adorable.  Is she able to poop on her own.  Usually at 2 weeks they still need to be stimulated with a warm washcloth to go.  That's something the mama cat does for them after they nurse.

 

[GoldyCat]

What is your kitten's name?

I hope you're giving her kitten replacement milk and not cow's milk. She looks like she's old enough you could start offering wet food, just be prepared to do a lot of washing up afterward. At that age they tend to dive in and go swimming in their food as much as eat it.

For the eyes I wet a cosmetic pad with saline eye drops and gently wipe the eyes and nose. Warm water works, too, but seems to take a little longer to soften the crusties. Be sure the eye drops are not medicated.

Good luck with your kitty.

 

[ala sliipknot]

Hello,

The kitten in the video looks older than 2 weeks 

     i doubted that too, i received her 3 days ago and the owner of her mama said that she is 2 weeks old, anyway, i think this is a good news            knowing that she spend more time with her mother .

Is she able to poop on her own.

     yes she can.

    @GoldyCat

I hope you're giving her kitten replacement milk and not cow's milk.

     i brought her kitten mil today, but the last 3 days i was giving her cow milk, is that very bad for her :/ ?

just be prepared to do a lot of washing up afterward. At that age they tend to dive in and go swimming in their food as much as eat it.

     hhhh, already happened xD

For the eyes ....

     Awesome!! so it's not a sickness or something really bad .

What is your kitten's name?

     am still thinking, any suggestion :3 ??

     about that, does cat really care about their name ? i mean if i called her, would she recognize it ?  

     i had 4 cats before and non of them comes when i call them using their name

thank you very much for your answers, that was very helpful .

 

[denice]

The milk replacement is what she needs.  It's the same thing as human babies need formula not cows milk.  The replacement has all the nutrients and has everything in the proportions that she needs to have.  

 

[GoldyCat]

The problem with giving cow's milk is that many cats are lactose intolerant. It could give her a tummy ache and diarrhea. So it's good that you've gotten the KMR now.

 

[maewkaew]

Judging from her size, head, shape, ears, movement, she must be at least 4 weeks and I think likely 5 weeks. I have no idea why the person would have said she is 2 weeks, but thank heavens she is NOT just two weeks. That would lower her chance of surviving.
I would certainly try offering some canned cat food. the paté style kind , no chunks. Many kittens will start to eat some of that at 4 or 5 weeks. If she won't eat that yet, feed her with kitten milk replacement formula, and If she won't take it from a dish, you willl need to bottle feed her at first, until you get her to learn to lap it from a dish. Then start adding a little pate style cat food to the formula and gradually add more of the wet cat food and decrease the amount of formula.
She needs to be fed 4 meals a day right now.

I 'm glad she has a home and someone who wants to take good care of her and is coming on here to get advice! -- but it is sad that her former owner was so irresponsible to not get her mother spayed, bred her or just let her get pregnant and then give away the kittens far too young , which is not very good for their health or their psychological and social development . Good breeders usually keep them until at least 12 weeks! And in many places it is illegal to separate them under 8 weeks.

Re her eyes.
I agree, you can just get some saline solution eye drops, put some on a clean cloth or make up remover pad, and gently wipe her eye with that.
I would also get some L-lysine powder and start adding about 250 mg per day to her food or formula / replacement milk.. If it is from feline herpes , that can help with that.
If it starts getting worse -- if she gets a lot of stuff in her eyes, the eyes are stuck shut , the eyes or eyelids get very red , or the stuff is yellow- greenish, you will need to take her to the vet.

( You will need to take her pretty soon anyway . She very likely has not been vaccinated at all yet. You need to phone a vet and ask when you should bring her in for her first vaccines, and also she will need to be treated for worms, which is done at least twice. (Get medicine from the vet for that, NOT from a shop.

Re color, Some point colors develop much sooner and more quickly than others. But if it were going to be a dark point color , you would already see it now. -- except if she has been kept somewhere with the temperature always VERY warm -- like 97 F. / 36 C. Otherwise, I can at least tell you she's not a seal point or blue point. Seal point is the most common color in pointed cats, those are the ones with points that are very very very dark brown or black -- like the Siamese in my avatar photo) Blue point is with dark blue-grey points.
Even at a week old you can usually see dark edges on the ears and a little smudge on the nose in a seal or blue point kitten. (In fact the seal point kittens start getting the dark edges on the ears sometimes even at 1 day old! )
Chocolate points are slower. lilac points still slower, and red points & cream points are very slow.

The video is very cute, but not the greatest quality to see subtle details of her color. But unless she has been kept in a very hot environment, I am guessing either red point, cream point or lilac point.... or else it's possible she could just stay white!

What color were her parents? That would give us a clue.

If you could post some still photos in bright daylight, ( but not with too much contrast that makes everything pale look even whiter than it really is ) I can try to make a better guess.

Cats definitely do learn their names if you say it often. Maybe you will think of a good name as you get to know her.

 

[ala sliipknot]

Thanks you guys, i'll keep that in my mind

@maewkaew

thank's a lot for such detailed explanation!! 

about the color, actually she is indeed a very warm place, the weather is been very hot in my country (Tunisia), and for the last month until now, the temperature didn't get less than [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]900 F. / 37 C (in the day of course, by night it get lower)  so maybe that would explain the "delay" , in the current time she only have a very light gray spot in the top of her head, nothing more, her mother is just like the one in your avatar but with a little more rounded head, the father is also like that but with less rounded head (i didn't see him but that's what the owner said) and [/color]unfortunately [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]i don't have any good quality camera for the moment, but as soon as i get one i will post her pictures . [/color]

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]again, thank you all for your help, that was very kind from you, thank you .  [/color]

 

[franksmom]

I also wanted to mention you can also give her raw goats milk, which is really nutritious and cats can digest that. You can also mix the KMR or goats milk with wet food to see if she will eat that

 

[maewkaew]

OK well that explains it. I'm glad I thought to mention the exception of a very hot climate.

The pointed coat pattern is based on the temperature of their skin and that is influenced by the temperature of the environment. The hair gets darker at the coolest parts of the body. The pointed pattern may have been an adaptation to the tropical climate in Southeast Asia in which cats with this pattern evolved .
If it is over about 37 C ( almost 99 F.) the hair root won't produce pigment so the hair stays white. That's why the kittens are born white -- they have been inside their mother's body, where the temperature is about 38 - 39 C.

So if she were in an environment that always stayed over 37 C , she would NEVER get color!

But with it getting cooler at night, that has been enough to start to slowly get a hint of some color. But if is over 37 all day and staying over about 30 even at night, her color development is going to be very slow until the weather cools down some.

But at least we can rule out some possibilities. If her parents are seal points, that means she cannot be red point, cream point or tortie point.
Also her parents having solid points without tabby striping, that rules out her having very distinct tabby points of any color. (she could stlll go through a stage of "ghost tabby" markings but would not end up being a tabby point ( also called lynx point).

So we have narrowed it down to black-based color with solid points .
But depending on what genes her parents are carrying, her point color could end up seal, blue , chocolate or lilac. That is also the order of what is most likely. There are a couple other colors that come from Abyssinian and would be very unlikely.

But this could potentially take many months before you know for sure! because when the color starts coming it doesnt start out super dark. All of those 4 colors could look sort of grey at first.
But if she is going to be a seal point, and if you are getting temperatures staying under 30 C at night, , I would guess you will see her get a dark brown nose and at least the edges of her ears within 2 months. ?
But that IS a guess. This is new to me. I know about Siamese kittens in North America & Europe, and I something about how they get in Thailand (Siam) but you are somewhere even hotter .
So basically I guess you will see like what I see in kittens, but in very slow motion.
Of course, if you kept her in a house with air conditioning and could keep it under 30 C. all the time, it would happen faster.

I hope you will stay around here on TCS and will keep posting photos or videos as she grows up . It will be interesting to see the color changing and how long it will take. So we need to see a lot of her, for strictly scientific research Oh, OK., also because she is ADORABLE. :lol3:

Re names, maybe a Thai girl's name ?

And I agree with Franksmom about goat's milk.

 

[ala sliipknot]

Hello, 

(am sorry for taking too long ) 

first of all, thank  you very much for all these advice, am here today to post a new video of my little kitty cause yeah as maewkaew  said, she is soo cute :3 but also i still wanna ask about the color cause as you can see she still all white and i really like her like that ^_^ but since she is a siamese, isn't necessary for her to change her color ? i mean, if she didn't, could she be in some sort of danger or something, not because that she didn't change but the cause that cause her to don't change can make some troubles no ? (i hope i was clear )

thank you

 

 

[GoldyCat]

Looks like you've got yourself a live one there. Cute video.

Have you seen the parents? Are they really siamese or pointed cats? It could be that she's a white DSH and not a pointed cat. In that case the main thing to be aware of is that some blue-eyed white cats are deaf. Also, be careful if you take her outside. White cats can get sunburned easily, especially on their ears.

It's hard to tell with young kittens, but I'm not really seeing much siamese in her. The body type and shape of the head aren't quite right. Her fur looks a little too long and fluffy, but that could just be because kittens are generally fluffier than adults.

 

[ala sliipknot]

thanx  GoldyCat   

and i know the mother, it is a siamese but i don't know the father, how ever the owner told me that he is just like the mother, and about being deaf, am really sure that she listen very well ^_^

i'll make sure that she don't stay in the sun (she is always inside, she just go out to do her buisness or when the ball runaway from her like today :3  ) so since she is not in a real danger then i actually don't mind if she change her colors or not, but maybe as other member said it's because of the hot weather of my country,it's always between 80F and 90F, and there is 2 days where it reached 105F (man these days was like hell !! ) 

anyway, 

i'll try to keep you guys updated, thank you very much for your help, i really appreciate it 

 

[maewkaew]

  Thanks for the update!    She is still super cute and wow  she really has not darkened,  has she?   It does make me wonder if her mom might have sneaked out and mated with some white male cat!    

But she is moving so much  and it's not a very close up shot,  so I can't see for sure if she even is getting color on  her ears or her nose.

It looks like she might have some color on the ears.   but I'm not sure if it might just be some pinkish color of her skin showing through?  It looks to me like it may be pale grey though,   and you mentioned a few weeks ago that you did see some grey on the ears?  

Do you have the possibility to take still photos as well as videos?  Close up photos of her face and ears in good lighting?  

Can you ask the owner of the mother and father    if they had them when they were kittens and if so,  ask how long it took them to get their color?

Also you could ask about other kittens in this litter,  if they still have any or are in touch with other people who got kittens.  

  

Your possibilities are...    

A)  she is a seal point like her mom ( and what you were told about her dad)  but because of the heat it is taking a very very very long time.   But if it's around 80 F.  for some of each day,  I would have thought that should be low enough for the color to be developing more  by now.   

B)  She's pointed ,  but she is going to be some other point color because both parents carried a recessive gene for a lighter point color.   It would be just a different color, not a health problem associated with it.   Blue point , the dilute version of seal point,  usually starts to show  up in kittens almost as soon as seal point,  but it is not as dark,  it ends up being a dark grey on the points and lighter grey or greyish- tan on the body.   

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• maewkaew
• Aug 13, 2013

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• maewkaew
• Aug 13, 2013

Chocolate point and lilac point are well known for taking longer  to develop their point colors and the body usually stays lighter.  especially lilac points,  which is the dilute of chocolate.

Here  at right  are pictures of a lilac point kitten --  but he was in a much colder climate in the northern USA.     I can only imagine how light a lilac point might be  in North Africa!  

His nose is actually darker than it "should" be .  in the standard it's supposed to be lavender pink like his paw pads.   

   

IMG_6448.JPG

• maewkaew
• Aug 13, 2013

Here at left is the same cat as a 2.5 year old.  (Photo by Helmi Flick)  you can see his body stayed light.   Again,  he would probably be even lighter in North Africa

C) If NO color ever develops,  then either

.............. 1. the mom mated with a white tomcat.  ( which would only take her getting outside for a minute!)  That would be by far the most likely cause. 

............or  2. there is an extremely rare possibility  of a blue eyed albino that has been seen in a few Siamese ( and proved by genetic testing that the kitten came from pointed parents.  so it wasn't from the usual cause of white cats  ( a gene called Dominant White or Epistatic White)     That is just insanely rare and the only way I would consider it possible is if it is  100% certain that both parents have color on the body,  and there is absolutely no way the mother could have possibly mated with some white male cat .  

 I think the true albinos with pinkish eyes  might tend to have some more health problems.  I'm not sure about those blue eyed albinos and they are so very rare that they have not been studied much.   

 It's mentioned in this article  .  http://www.messybeast.com/whitecat.htm

Even if she turns out to be solid white,   it is more likely from Dominant White and means the mom sneaked out and mated with some white tomcat.    The main risk of a blue eyed white is deafness but you already said your kitten is not deaf .   and as Goldycat said ,  the other risk is white cats are more likely to get sunburn and are at higher risk of skin cancer,  just like very pale humans have a greater risk.    and should stay out of direct sun in the middle of the day.  

 

[ala sliipknot]

Here i managed to take some pictures,

beside the veeeeeery light gray spot on the top of her head

she has no other color except white, and i think i need 

to rethink about the deaf possibility, i said i was sure 

because she always make noise when i come in, i thought

because she hear me, cause she can't see me (maybe the smell ?? )

the reason am saying this is because today i tried to make a check,

she was sleeping and i sneak behind her and clapped my hand really strong

upon her ears, she did absolutely nothing, zero-reaction, she kept sleeping until i touched her,

could she be deaf ? is there a way to make sure of that ?

thank you  

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• ala sliipknot
• Aug 14, 2013

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• ala sliipknot
• Aug 14, 2013

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• ala sliipknot
• Aug 14, 2013

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• ala sliipknot
• Aug 14, 2013

 

[denice]

I don't know if she's going to develop points are not, they usually begin with a smudge on the nose.  She is a cutie and a little live wire so does it really matter if she has points are not?