New Kitten

[mazie]

By the time the cold weather season arrives, she will be about six months old, close to old enough to be left alone in the house maybe? Don't quote me on this, but our experts who have raised kittens will chime in and tell us if I am close to right. Anyway, she is a darling kitten and so lucky to have found the two of you to take her in. She chose her humans well, that little one did!

 

[Optatus Cleary]

By the time the cold weather season arrives, she will be about six months old, close to old enough to be left alone in the house maybe? Don't quote me on this, but our experts who have raised kittens will chime in and tell us if I am close to right. Anyway, she is a darling kitten and so lucky to have found the two of you to take her in. She chose her humans well, that little one did!

That is what I’m thinking. We will get some gates to block of the more problematic rooms for her, and she could be inside a lot of the time.

In the Central Valley winter is very short. It probably won’t get cold until November, and it will start warming up in March. The catio will be totally sheltered from rain and such, but could get cold during that season.

She’ll be able to come in any time she needs to. We’d like to have everything she needs on the catio, but certainly not to the exclusion of having her inside.

 

[mazie]

when the time is right, will you have an opening, usually a flap, special door with a flap so that she can go in and out at will?

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Maybe. We’re trying to figure out how it’s going to work. We were never pet people and had no plans of getting one, so it’s a bit overwhelming figuring out what we need. It’s a happy responsibility though. My wife is home all day so for a while she will be able to bring her in and out as needed.

 

[mazie]

Hey, don't sweat this new joyous blessing bestowed on the two of you. We all just figure life out as we go along. Blossom knew what she was doing when she chose you and your wife to be her humans. (I like to call us pet parents) Just enjoy and know that you have the best help in the world on this site. The expert cat resources here are outstanding, as i think you are finding out.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Absolutely. This site has been the greatest resource I’ve found. We asked the vet as many questions as we could, but we can’t call him with every question that comes to mind. It’s only because we have this site that we have been able to figure out so much so easily.

 

[danteshuman]

The human/cat patio sounds divine! My advice? Give her a cat door if you can & have them install that extra thick wired screen that cats can not tear/rip open.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Yes. It’s going to be the extra thick screen. I’m hoping it keeps bugs out too (it should). We’ve had flies and junebugs (who don’t seem to realize it’s late July already) as well as mosquitos lately.

The cat door might be difficult with our door setup, but if the screen is bugproof we could leave the door open much of the time.

 

[danteshuman]

You can have them install a cat door in the wall or in a window. It will cost more than a regular cat door installation but should work. They have cat door additions you can attach to sliding glass doors but I have no idea how well they work.

June bugs are annoying! Plus my cat will destroy anything to catch a flying insect! Worse the dumb beetles get stuck in your carpet.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Leaving for Hawaii:

We set up this two tent with a tube system at my in-laws’ house for Blossom. My father-in-law likes taking her out for playtime as well. This way she has a familiar environment and time out as well. We put t-shirts from each of us on her towel beds (one in each pod) and her favorite toys. Although it’s sad leaving her for so long, I know that my in-laws will approximate everything we do with her closer than anyone else could. They have no other pets and are recently retired, so they have plenty of time to dedicate to her, and she has already gotten to know them when they’ve visited us.

In other news, our catio screening is almost complete! We’ll finish when we get back from Hawaii, but it’s looking great so far. We hired a contractor and I’ve been acting as his assistant to learn how the whole thing is put together so I can make any needed repairs as they come up. The material is pet screen, which is supposed to be much stronger than regular screen material. I can’t wait to get it finished and introduce her to her new play space! (In fact, screening the patio has been a long-term goal of ours. We plan to set it up as an outdoor living room/dining room. Blossom was the CATalyst for us to complete the project.)

Hopefully she has a good time with my in-laws and we can all look forward to a happy reunion in two weeks!

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like she will have a blast and not want for attention while you are away. The catio screening looks good too!

I hope you guys have a wonderful trip to Hawaii. We look forward to hearing from you when you return!

 

[danteshuman]

Are you sure you will get her back?
Your in-laws might love her so much they get a cat of their own!

Have fun in Hawaii! You might want to ask them to take trips of her visit so you can see her through your trip.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Happy Reunion!

We got home from Hawaii and went to my in-laws’ house. My wife picked up Blossom and Blossom started purring immediately. She has grown so much! I can’t wait to get her back to our house so we can weigh her. She clearly remembered both of us and purred happily in our arms (then started scratching and biting a bit).

I’ll be working on the catio for the next two days, then I have to go back to start my school year. Hopefully we finish it by then.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Update: Blossom was spayed a week ago. The little pink jumper was my wife’s idea, but it turned out well. It prevented her from pulling on her stitches and potentially damaging them. She didn’t like the cone, so we switched to this.

We kept her completely quiet the first couple days after surgery, but her energy level started to increase so we let her start playing again.

The catio is now complete (except a little caulking I still need to touch up). It is now mostly bug free (on par with a house with open windows.) Last night we moved her tents out there and let her sleep in her tent on the catio. Tonight we were going to have the tent open so she had free reign of the patio, but still has her familiar tent.

Our goal is to have her moving seamlessly from the catio to the house and back, but it’s a bit difficult right now because we need to block parts of the house. I’m going to build gates for the purpose, but for now we have cardboard boxes doing the job.

I am a bit worried because she seems sleepy today. Certainly not lethargic: she played quite a bit, ate, groomed, drank water, used the litter box, etc., but much more sleepy and cuddly than usual. My hope is that it is because she now has a lot more room to roam and tires herself out more easily. She might also have gotten less sleep as she gets used to the noises she can hear out there.

To be clear, the catio is as far “outdoors” as she will be allowed to go. We think of her as an indoor cat, but this was our way of giving her her own space that can be cat-centric in a way our house can’t. We’re open to her sleeping inside as well (either in the tent or if we get reliable gates set up) but I want her to have both experiences and be able to sleep there if necessary.

Any ideas why she might be so tired? I know it’s probably fine, but I worry about her.

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like she is just tired from all the wonderful new experiences in her life, as you suggested!

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Blossom Update: So, Blossom is allowed in the whole house except for the guest bedroom now. As it has gotten colder we have put her on the catio less and less (although we did purchase a heated cat house in case she ever needs to be out there on a cold day). Her favorite pastime is bird watching at the front window. We live near a school and she also enjoys watching the students get picked up and dropped off, as well as leaves and raindrops.

She still loves her “sock baby.”

And her toy bird is perhaps a slightly deficient substitute for catching real birds, but does seem to satisfy her.

She has started jumping on the counters a bit (she struggles to get up there, but she can do it) and I’m wondering what advice you’d give. My wife got a recommendation for this product, which releases a spray when it detects motion nearby. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I really want to make sure not to traumatize her, but I can’t have her on the counter and if we can’t figure out a way to stop her she’ll have to be more limited in what rooms of the house she can go in. I worry about the cleanliness of having an animal in food preparation areas as well as the thought of her getting in to something bad for her up there. If that product wouldn’t be good, does anyone recommend anything else?

Next, with colder weather and Christmas coming up I have two concerns. For one, how to deal with the Christmas tree. We get a real tree and hang ornaments on it. We do have gates that could keep her out of the room, but that is her birdwatching room. Does anyone have any ideas? My sister says her cats aren’t really that interested in her tree, so the jokes might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I want to make sure to take any precautions necessary. And I think at least for this year we will forgo the intricate porcelain nativity set and use the chunky wooden one instead.

Also, most of our heat has traditionally come from the wood stove seen here in this picture of Blossom watching The Crown. It has always been cold and she occasionally jumps on it. I worry that she will jump on it or try to get in it if I build a fire. I feel like she’ll probably instinctively avoid the fire, but I wanted to get people’s opinions before using it.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Look how she has grown! Such a beautiful baby!

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the hissing machine is supposed to mimic a mother cat hissing at her kittens- it's how they tell them "no!". It won't traumatize her- if anything, it teach her naturally due to her instincts. If that doesn't work, you can put some double-sided tape on the counters (Sticky Paws is a brand I have used before). When she jumps up, she won't like the stickiness, so it should teach her to avoid that area.

As far as Christmas trees...it really depends on the cat. My Dexter will climb a tree in a skinny minute and all of mine occasionally try and chew the branches (we have an artificial tree). We put more hardy ornaments near the bottom and nicer glad ornaments at the top. You could try the hissing machine near the tree if she shows (negative) interest in the tree.

She may try to touch the fire *once* but that will be it! She will learn not to go near it.

 

[CatLover49]

I’m new to this forum, and to be honest it’s not a forum I ever thought I would join. My wife and I are both allergic to cats, and have been married for nine years without a pet.

On Wednesday I was taking out the trash and saw a cat with what I thought was a dead gopher. She didn’t run like cats normally do, so I approached a little closer. She ran, and to my surprise the “dead gopher” started meowing and hid under a flower pot.

I waited a few hours and the mother never came back. As it was getting dark the kitten started approaching me and meowing. I have never had a cat so I didn’t know what to do at all: I grabbed a box, put a towel in the box, and picked her up with my rose trimming gloves (thinking she might scratch or bite...as a matter of fact she was very gentle.)

We took her to the vet the next day. He says she is healthy, about six to eight weeks old, a girl, and doing fine. We named her (and for forum purposes we’ll call her Blossom. My real name isn’t Optatus, either). We bought some kitten formula for her, which she ate. The vet recommended placing some dry food in with the formula, and we tried it but she wouldn’t eat it. We tried wet food today and she ate heartily.

Our only concerns so far are that she doesn’t drink a lot of water (I put a dish of water in the box with her and she walked right in to it and then started licking her paws) and that she hasn’t defecated much. The vet gave us a kitten enema for her, and we used it and she was able to go immediately after. That was yesterday. She hasn’t gone since despite eating a bit, and we aren’t sure if we should give her the enema again or just let her wait. We don’t want her to suffer or feel constipated, especially with all the eating she’s doing, but she also hates the enema and we don’t want to give it to her unnecessarily.

Thank you for any help: my wife had cats growing up but I’ve never had any experience with them. I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions and I thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

[lucicat]

View attachment 289267
This is where and how I found her. You can see her little body between the fence and the flower pot.
View attachment 289268
Cozy Blossom! We love how her face is two colors, and how it continues to her mouth.
View attachment 289269
My wife holding Blossom. She is more inclined to be cozy with my wife than with me...she will sleep on her lap and often licks her hand. It’s very cute, but my wife worries a bit about what it might mean. Does anyone have any insight into this behavior? My wife wonders if it has something to do with no longer nursing from her mother.View attachment 289270
We bought this pod for her so she wouldn’t have to live in a box. She had been sleeping and eating in a cardboard box in a bathroom. It seemed a bit small so we bought this, which I realize will soon be too small. We feed her and give her play time in here, and also take her out to play with.
View attachment 289272
Exploring a step stool and looking adorable.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how you would describe her coloring? She seems to have stripes as well as tortoiseshell coloring. There are a lot of stray tabbies and tortoiseshell in the neighborhood, so she’s probably related to them I’d guess.

She’s a tortishell and she’s beautiful!!!! One of my babies is a tortie and she’s awesome. Very smart and playful! Sometimes they use the term “tortitude” bc torties can have big personalities! My tortie girl has one ginger striped leg and it’s so cute!!! Often torties have tabby stripes in the mix too in the ginger bits.

I think you’re on the right track! Good luck

 

[lucicat]

Another question we’ve had: the vet said not to start with a litter box until she’s had her shots in a month. I wasn’t sure exactly whether he thought it was dangerous for such a little kitten to have one, or if he just didn’t think she’d be likely to use it yet. Do you all have any thoughts on this?

Also, any recommendations for toys? Right now we have a little feather ball and a fish on a string. I don’t let her play work then when one of us isn’t there because I worry about choking. Any toys you guys would recommend that she could play with unsupervised?

My kitties love a ball chaser toy. The balls are trapped in little tracks and they can bat them around. There are many varieties of this toy.