New Kitten

[Optatus Cleary]

Does anyone have thoughts on how often we should feed her? Right now we’re feeding her four times a day (breakfast time, lunch time, dinner time, and a midnight snack.) We also make sure to check her at least every six hours, although we’ll sleep in a little longer if she seems to be asleep still. We also leave the dry food with some water over night. She ate it once but hasn’t since.

Also, when we let her out of her pod into the house she seems a bit scared and skittish. She runs under the coffee table or the kitchen table and peeks out, but retreats if we come near her. This is not total: she’ll come up to us sometimes when she’s out, but seems to prefer to hide. Maybe she doesn’t like the laminate floors? Or just needs a smaller familiar space to retreat to?

 

[Sarthur2]

She probably needs a smaller space to feel safe in right now. As she gets bigger she will be more ready to explore more.

I always suggest feeding 4-6 times a day for kittens. Their tummies are small so they need frequent meals, though you can scale back as they get older.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Hiding under the coffee table.

Playing on a box, with her sock baby in the foreground.

Any thoughts on her reluctance to eat dry food? When and how should we introduce it more?

Edit: She seems to respond to one of my wife’s nicknames for her (Angel Heart) more than she does to her actual name!

 

[Sarthur2]

Don’t worry about the dry food. She’ll learn to eat it when she’s ready. Just leave it available. She’s adorable!

 

[EmersonandEvie]

She is precious!!

 

[war&wisdom]

Also, no cat needs to eat dry food. Wet food is higher-quality and keeps cats hydrated. So if you can afford it, stick with that!

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Speaking of food: today she ate very heartily for breakfast at about 10 AM (I had to refill her plate about four times). She ate a small portion for lunch and then hasn’t eaten any for dinner. I’m very worried that she’s not eating. I put out a plate of two of her favorites and she has barely touched it.

She went to the bathroom after breakfast but not after lunch.

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like she ate loads earlier and may simply not be hungry again yet. It happens sometimes.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

For an update: her eating habits are becoming a bit less predictable. In the beginning she’d basically always several servings. She has been eating well, but seems to prefer certain times of day for eating now. She’ll eat several servings of food morning and evening, a bit less for lunch and her midnight snack.

Her litter box habits are perfect: no accidents since she figured it out! It’s fascinating to see how carefully she digs and covers everything by instinct.

We talked to a contractor about screening in our patio for a “catio.” The idea is to have it as a kind of semi-outdoor living room for us and her, and have her toys and litter box there. Our weather is warm to hot most of the year, so she should do well there. It really will be almost like a sunroom in the house more than a patio.

I am wondering about trimming her nails. When she stayed over night at my wife’s friend’s house, her friend trimmed Blossom’s nails. I’m wondering how often this should/can be done and how to go about it.

We keep varying her food as well: I try not to fall into patterns of giving her only one type since it will be easier if she’s less picky. So far she has shown willingness to eat each kind of food we’ve tried with her.

Does anyone have any ideas about treats for her? Right now she is eating her fill at every meal, so I’m not sure how to reward her for good behavior.

Also, in what ways should we be training her? She figured out the litter box...I’m not totally sure whether she knows her name (the constant sweet nicknames my wife calls her probably don’t help). We try to not let her bite and scratch us. I’m more particular about that (I’m really not used to being scratched or bitten, so if she starts I put her down in her pod. Usually she wants to eat or use the litter box). My wife sometimes lets her nip or scratch a little, telling her to stop, and then puts her down if she doesn’t change her behavior.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

The eating: She now has a constant source of food and is not longer in "I'm starving, must eat, eat, EAT" mode the entire time. This is awesome! Let her eat as much as she wants 3-4 times a day. As an adult (1 year+), you can back off to 2 or 3 meals a day, depending on your schedules.

Great about her litterbox habits!!

You could definitely pay someone to screen in the porch. A lot of people here have DIY's their own catios. It's all about what you can afford and what you want.

You can trim her nails weekly. Keep it up so she will be used to it. I cradle mine like a baby, gently press on the paw so the claws come out, and trim just the tip. You have to be careful that you don't go too deep. Like humans, cats have a quick and it is painful if it get knicked. Also have scratching posts/cat trees/cardboard scratchers/etc. available for her to scratch.

The fact that she isn't picky about her food is a BLESSING. Hopefully she will continue that into adulthood! Most people feed a rotation of wet foods, myself included. What brands are you feeding?

For treats, I use dry food because it's complete food. I also buy the Friskies Natural-YUMS and sometimes freeze dried chicken if I can get it on sale. Just make sure that non-complete food treats make up less than 10% of her overall diet.

For training: if she bites/scratches, tell her NO firmly, withdraw you arm/hand/foot/whatever, and ignore her for several seconds. If she does it again, hiss at her like a cat would, withdraw, and ignore her. This is how mama cat would have taught her kitty manners if she was with her.

She is doing so well! I am so glad you and your wife took this sweet girl in. I hope she is a joy in your lives for many more years!

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Another question: people have said not to leave her alone for more than six hours. Does this include nighttime sleeping? Right now we’re staggering our bedtimes so that we can not leave her alone longer than six or six and a half hours. It would be a great help to our sleep schedules if she could go a little bit longer, but we don’t want to harm her at all. She is starting to eat the dry food snacks, drink water, and she always uses her litter box, so besides interaction she has everything she needs.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

I think she would be fine on her own for more than six hours. I myself have never heard of that rule of thumb.

 

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(Climbing her new scratching post)

Fireworks and Earthquakes Update

So the towns in my area mostly have fireworks shows on the Third rather than the Fourth of July. We went to the fireworks show in the nearby town where I teach, and left music on and Blossom in her pod with plenty of food and water. She had been doing fine with the sporadic fireworks through the neighborhood in the week leading up to the Fourth.

She seemed to do fine. The food was eaten and she was peacefully asleep when we got home. Also, she met our nieces and nephew, and did very well with being held and pet by them.

The morning of the Fourth brought new fears: an earthquake shook the house a little, and frightened her much more than the fireworks. I was playing with her outside the pod when it happened. She hid behind some furniture and when I got her out she stayed very calm and quiet (not her usual ball of energy). We had a Fourth of July party to attend last night, so we left her the same as we had done on the Third.

Today there was a worse earthquake. My wife was holding her and so I don’t think she felt it as much. Earthquakes are not common in our area (or at least they didn’t used to be) so they aren’t something Blossom had experienced before. Hopefully she’s not too frightened by them. It maybe be personifying her too much, but I wonder how she feels without being able to look up the information and find out where it was, if more are likely, etc, that we take for granted.

 

[Sarthur2]

Cats are sensitive to noise and movement for sure. That’s how they are able to hunt prey in the wild, but it sounds like she hardly noticed the second quake as your wife was holding her. I would not be overly concerned, but I hope for everyone’s sake the quakes will end in California and that all are safe!

 

[danteshuman]

So sweet of you to take her in! She is adorable! When you talked of her fur split it made me think of two face from Batman ..... but phantom of the opera sounds nicer.

About her lack of drinking/constipation. Try mixing a teaspoon or two of water into her wet food if you are still worried. If she gets constipated again try the water and/or adding a spoonful of unflavored canned pumpkin.

The litter box: yes give her one. I think she will take to it quickly! Give her one in every room she goes in, in the same spot, to start with.

The toys: buy a ball in the track toy and a assortment of toys to see what she likes. (A feather wand toy, cat teaser wand toy, jingle balls, crinkle ball, catnip toy and fur poof ball are kitten staples.) My kittens LOVED the rabbit fur poof balls (still do. They love the rabbit fur mice more but I have to cut off the tails because they eat them!)

The pen: can you let her have a bathroom that you remove all cleaning supplies and trash cans without lids? (Baby proofing is not just for human babies!) You can let her roam around the house with supervision.

Vacation: she should still know you. I would suggest you both sleep in a t-shirts for a night or two, then seal it in a zip lock bag. Then t-shirt set #2 you can put in her pen, to comfort her/give her something to sleep on. My little dude knew me after he was gone on a failed adoption for two weeks (& never wanted me to leave him alone again!!!)

Cat allergies: there are many things you can do to reduce your allergies to her (in my case I found out I wasn’t allergic to inside cats ..... I was allergic to grass/dirt they rolled around in.) A Heppa filter vacuum will be a god send. Wherever she goes, wash/vacuum once a week. They also sell shampoos or waterless baths that help the dander to stick to the fur instead of free floating around your house. Also as much as I tell people to let their cats sleep with them in your case keeping her out of your bedroom can help.

Take lots of pictures/videos, they grow up so fast!!!

 

[Optatus Cleary]

So sweet of you to take her in! She is adorable! When you talked of her fur split it made me think of two face from Batman ..... but phantom of the opera sounds nicer.

Yes. Her face is very cute, how the two colors split all the way down under her chin even.

About her lack of drinking/constipation. Try mixing a teaspoon or two of water into her wet food if you are still worried. If she gets constipated again try the water and/or adding a spoonful of unflavored canned pumpkin.

The litter box: yes give her one. I think she will take to it quickly! Give her one in every room she goes in, in the same spot, to start with.

Thankfully these problems have been solved! She has gone to the bathroom regularly and always used the litter box for a couple weeks now. Food with pumpkin in it helped get things started.

The toys: buy a ball in the track toy and a assortment of toys to see what she likes. (A feather wand toy, cat teaser wand toy, jingle balls, crinkle ball, catnip toy and fur poof ball are kitten staples.) My kittens LOVED the rabbit fur poof balls (still do. They love the rabbit fur mice more but I have to cut off the tails because they eat them!)

She loves the “sock baby” we made for her, more as a cuddle toy than a play toy now. She chases a fake fish on a string and a lion with a bell attached, although I only let her play with those two while supervised for fear of her swallowing the bell or the string.

The pen: can you let her have a bathroom that you remove all cleaning supplies and trash cans without lids? (Baby proofing is not just for human babies!) You can let her roam around the house with supervision.

We are letting her roam with supervision now, but it seems like too much freedom stresses her out sometimes so we’re keeping her little “pod” as her main home for now. We just bought a larger one so she’ll have more room. Also, the 300 square foot catio will be finished in a couple weeks .

Vacation: she should still know you. I would suggest you both sleep in a t-shirts for a night or two, then seal it in a zip lock bag. Then t-shirt set #2 you can put in her pen, to comfort her/give her something to sleep on. My little dude knew me after he was gone on a failed adoption for two weeks (& never wanted me to leave him alone again!!!)

That’s a good idea! We both have several shirts from my previous school which I don’t really wear out lest my current students wonder if I’m still “loyal to the other school” (teenage rivalries are silly), so those would probably work well as “cat shirts.” There has been a small change in plans: my in-laws are going to watch her at their house! That’s actually a very positive change because they are retired and my father-in-law is very warm and affectionate with animals, and has really taken to little Blossom. My mother-in-law is highly allergic so she won’t interact with her much, but is just as concerned for her well-being as the rest of us. It really set our minds at ease when they agreed to do this.

Cat allergies: there are many things you can do to reduce your allergies to her (in my case I found out I wasn’t allergic to inside cats ..... I was allergic to grass/dirt they rolled around in.) A Heppa filter vacuum will be a god send. Wherever she goes, wash/vacuum once a week. They also sell shampoos or waterless baths that help the dander to stick to the fur instead of free floating around your house. Also as much as I tell people to let their cats sleep with them in your case keeping her out of your bedroom can help.

Before we found her we started allergy shot treatment, which included tests. We’re both allergic to cats, as well as dogs, horses, grass, and cockroaches (there to my pet cockroach plans :/). My main allergy is grass, so I suspect outdoor cats are worse for me than indoor/patio cats.

Take lots of pictures/videos, they grow up so fast!!!

My camera roll on my phone is full of pictures of her now! I can’t believe how much she’s grown! She was eleven ounces at her first vet visit, and she’s gained a pound since then!

 

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A few Blossom updates and questions:

So I had her out of her tent playing, and she ran into another room and hid under a chair. I looked under the chair and tried to coax her out, but rather than emerging she disappeared! I searched all over the house for her, and couldn’t find her anywhere. I went back to the chair where she had been, and she had reappeared! I turned around to grab a toy to lure her out, and she was gone again. Thankfully this time I saw her tail.
She had jumped up to a board under the chair and was hiding there. Once she knew I knew she was there, it became a game to her to pounce down on my hand and jump back up before I could pick her up. Thankfully, she came down of her own free will.

We took her to the vet for her shots today. She weighed 2 pounds 3 ounces. It’s hard to believe she was only 11 ounces when we found her. She got her first shots and did fine with them, and the vet said everything looks good. My wife bought the cat bag that she is in in this picture, and it seems like she is fairly calm in it.

We have a contractor building a screen for our patio later this week. The catio will be a 350 square feet space. We’ve thought a lot about screening this patio anyway before we had a cat. We have a lot of flies and mosquitos living basically in the country, and the screen will let us use the patio as another room in the house. It will also be Blossom’s main living area where we will have toys and cat trees and such.

I’m also planning to build some furniture for us out there, and use it as a kind of outdoor living room. It’s a nice big space covered with a real roof like the rest of the house, and two of the four walls are the walls of the house.

For now, she spends much of her time in this tent in our family room. We let her out often throughout the day, but she sleeps and eats and has her litter box in here. (She’s asleep in the top left corner here, but hard to see).

My question is that when she is out and playing, she sometimes seems to become scared of us, especially if we are sitting on the couch. If I’m sitting on the floor playing with her, and my wife is on the couch, she will sometimes approach where my wife is and start arching her back and walking sidewise (my brother-in-law said she looks like she’s in “a movie about a witch” when she does that). I’m not sure why she’d do that since she is usually very cuddly with my wife and is more likely to go to her than to me most of the time. Any thoughts?

 

[Sarthur2]

She’s just playing! That side-walk is a really cute little move that kittens do. She won’t do that once she grows up.

What provisions will you make regarding heat and cold in the screen room? You may find her wanting to come in more to be with you. Cats are sociable creatures!

 

[EmersonandEvie]

My Dexter (a year old in August) does that too! He sometimes comes out of the bedroom/spare room, sees me and/or husband, arches, and hops across the living room sideways! It cracks us up every time. She isn't scared of you, she is playing like she would with other kittens her age.

We also have a "cat room" for our cats. It's a spare bedroom that we keep their litter boxes and an old cat tree in. They usually sleep in there during the day since it's the warmest room in the house, but they spend a lot of time elsewhere in the house with us. Emerson and Dexter sleep with us every night, and occasionally, Evie does as well.

Since she is now two lbs, you can talk to the vet about having her fixed. It's best to do before she has her first heat cycle.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

She’s just playing! That side-walk is a really cute little move that kittens do. She won’t do that once she grows up.

What provisions will you make regarding heat and cold in the screen room? You may find her wanting to come in more to be with you. Cats are sociable creatures!

She’ll be able to come in when we’re here, and we plan to spend time out there. I’m not too concerned about heat. Even when it’s very hot outside, the patio is almost as cool as the house. Cold weather worries me more (as I understand it cats like it warmer than humans do). To be clear, the plan is for this to be a safe, always-catproofed place for her to be, not a place of exile away from us. We’re planning to use it to spend time with her out there and to bring her in when she wants to be in.