Orphan Kitten And Foster Dad Cat

[Cphillips]

Almost 3 weeks ago, I rescued a one day old kitten. She was "found" (i say abandoned for being a runt because her umbilical cord was tied with thread) with a deceased littermate. I believe she was a runt, as at 3 days old she was only 90 grams.

Anyway, as she has gotten older, our male (neutered) one year old cat has had an increasing interest. At first he would sit and watch me feed and potty her. Then he came and gave her a few sniffs and a lick. Now he routinely jumps in her enclosure and cleans and potties her. He was an orphan as well, raised through a shelter program.

Is there anything to watch for with him? He seems to get a little rough at times (pushes her with his paws, or steps on her to keep her still), in which i usually remove him and close her pen so he cant get in... But then he becomes aggressive towards me, like I "stole" his kitten away. She cries when he is not with her.

Should he be completely removed from her until she is big enough to fend for herself? They are NEVER unattended when together.

 

[Sarthur2]

How sweet that he has adopted her! It is good for her to have a feline friend.

As long as he is supervised and not too rough, things should be okay. Mom cats potty, clean, hold kittens down, etc.

He is much bigger, so stepping on her is dangerous.

I would let them be together, but continue supervising!

 

[Kieka]

I have two males and they completely dote on my little girl. She was only a pound when I she joined us and I never had any problems with my males being too rough of hurting her (and my one male was about 11 pounds of muscle at that point). Fury lives bringing her toys and Link will yell at me if I fail to notice her waiting at the door.

Prior to that my female and her littermates were cared for by a one year old male when their mother abandoned them at about 4 weeks old. That male took very good care of the kittens for nearly three months (then a heat wave hit and all but one of the remaining kittens died). But I remember looking across the street at the hoarders house they were at and seeing the male lead the kittens around. If one wandered off he would run and get them back with the others.

As long as your male is neutered I don't see a problem with letting him care for her. A little rough with her is teaching her how to act like a cat and behave. Just keep an eye on it if he doesn't stop when she cries.

 

[Cphillips]

How sweet that he has adopted her! It is good for her to have a feline friend.

As long as he is supervised and not too rough, things should be okay. Mom cats potty, clean, hold kittens down, etc.

He is much bigger, so stepping on her is dangerous.

I would let them be together, but continue supervising!

Yes, he is quite the big boy at 13 lbs to her 12 ounces!

I figured her having a friend to teach her how to "cat" would be beneficial, I just wanted to ensure I'm not allowing problems to grow in regards to him being too rough or aggressive.

 

[IndyJones]

I would only be concerned if he was intact. Intact males kill kittens who aren't their offspring and eat them.

Sounds like this isn't the case here though. I wouldn't let them be together unsupervised though.

 

[StefanZ]

Some moms may be a little rough them too, so him being a little unpolished isnt that unusual nor serious. Although its of course wise of you TS to watch and observe!
Its not totally unusal males are co-parenting, sometimes even being the main caretaker. Neutered are more common than fertile, but there are examples of fully fertile toms and studs whom did coparent.

Nice he learned the trade by looking and taking example from you, the caretaker / rescuer.... Until the instincts kicked in.

Nay, toms dont eat kittens they killed. In these cases, they kill by shaking them to death and leave the body. They do so to take over the momma as his new wife, so to speak. Its only toms whom dont know the momma since earlier. Toms whom are friends with her, or mated with her, dont do that. so although its not myth, the danger in practice is much exaggerated.

I would only be concerned if he was intact. Intact males kill kittens who aren't their offspring and eat them.

Sounds like this isn't the case here though. I wouldn't let them be together unsupervised though.

 

[Cphillips]

Well, now I have a more interesting issue. Last night, our male was cleaning the kitten as usual. I noticed his tail starting to twitch, and pulled him from the pen. He jumped back in a few moments later, rolled kitten into her back and grabbed her by the throat. Kitten began crying so I grabbed male cat, pulled him out and picked up kitten (who at the sound of my voice ran to me, she continued to make the where's my momma meow for a minute or so before she settled and began suckling on my hands.

Then male cat jumped back in the pen and peed on kitten's blanket. We've had issues with this cat peeing inappropriately long before kitten, but am I right in thinking this whole thing is to assert dominance? That because I removed kitten, male cat decided to use peeing as an alternative form of being assertive? My husband thinks male did it out of spite (much of his inappropriate peeing seems spiteful, though Im sure there are deeper reasons than spite).

Advice? Help?

 

[StefanZ]

could be dominance yes.

 

[Sarthur2]

He is likely jealous of the kitten, and wanted to mark the territory as his. Spraying is all about marking territory and asserting dominance.

His actions towards the kitten were aggressive and potentially harmful. I think at this point it might be best if you keep him away from the kitten until the kitten is much bigger.

 

[talkingpeanut]

You are right that cats don't pee out of spite. They will pee outside of the litter box if something is physically wrong, like a UTI, or if they don't feel secure in their space.

Have you taken him to a vet since this started? How do you clean up after he pees.

I agree that you should keep him away from the kitten.

 

[Cphillips]

You are right that cats don't pee out of spite. They will pee outside of the litter box if something is physically wrong, like a UTI, or if they don't feel secure in their space.

Have you taken him to a vet since this started? How do you clean up after he pees.

I agree that you should keep him away from the kitten.

He has been to a vet. Clean bill of health. I use Natures Miracle for cats to clean up after him. We have no carpet, luckily, and he usually pees in laundry piles so it is a bit easier to manage. He was peeing on beds for a while but he stopped.

From what I can gather, he is VERY particular about his routines. He has one box to pee in, one box to poop in. He loves when our house is spotless and he can run around being crazy psychotic cat (slamming into things, scrabbling/sliding on floors, jumping into windows). He likes knowing our daily routine, and if we divert from that, he usually pees somewhere. When he gets fed, he likes to be pet for a few minutes while he eats.

We knew the kitten would be an adjustment and ultimately I had only planned to foster her. He did great with no accidents the first two weeks we had her.

History that may be relevant. He was an orphan stray that was raised through an humane society kitten program, so I dont think he learned to use a box from momma cat. He got REALLY sick a few weeks after we got him. He was four months old at the time (adopted from a shelter at 3 months). He had such bad diarrhea that he couldn't make it to his litterboxes. Like, sick enough our vet warned us to be prepared for him to pass. He quit eating, quit grooming, just basically laid around lifeless until he soiled himself. I had to bathe him and force feed him. It took almost a month for him to start feeling well enough that he began grooming himself and consistently using a box again, but he has had "accidents" ever since.

I will add, he is NOT spraying. He is squatting and peeing large amounts of urine, completely soaking whatever he pees on.

 

[Kieka]

I am going to start with I hate psychological medications for cats. That said it sounds like your boy has anxiety issues. The stressing over routines is a key sign along with growing up in a humane society which gave him an unsure mindset about his place in the world.He gets anxious when things are different and he pees to reassure himself of his territory and all is right. You can try increasing his scent marker spots around the house with more litter boxes or catified furniture (cat beds or trees). Basically you are making smell anchors for him with those so that he doesn't feel as much of a need to pee to find himself.

The other option would be talking to your vet about a short term anti anxiety medication while he adjusts. I hate them I know. But they are a great short term tool when anxious cats are adjusting to change. Short term is key to my advice. A few months while the kitten grows and things change in the home. When things settle then talk to your vet for how to wean him off the medication and see how he does.

 

[Cphillips]

I am going to start with I hate psychological medications for cats. That said it sounds like your boy has anxiety issues. The stressing over routines is a key sign along with growing up in a humane society which gave him an unsure mindset about his place in the world.He gets anxious when things are different and he pees to reassure himself of his territory and all is right. You can try increasing his scent marker spots around the house with more litter boxes or catified furniture (cat beds or trees). Basically you are making smell anchors for him with those so that he doesn't feel as much of a need to pee to find himself.

The other option would be talking to your vet about a short term anti anxiety medication while he adjusts. I hate them I know. But they are a great short term tool when anxious cats are adjusting to change. Short term is key to my advice. A few months while the kitten grows and things change in the home. When things settle then talk to your vet for how to wean him off the medication and see how he does.

Thank you! We are actually getting a new big cat tree (6' tall) tomorrow for our family room, and his current post will be moved to my daughter's room (one of his favorite pee spots). He has litter boxes on both floors of our home, and as the kitten grows we will add another.

I hadnt even thought about anti anxiety medication, but it's a good suggestion. We are to the point we have considered trying to rehome him, but it would break our daughter's heart (he is technically her cat). I just can't give up on him for now.

We are doing an overhaul of our house this weekend (spring cleaning!) And hope to clear out some clutter and minimize the amount of "stuff" we have in an effort to help him feel like he has his space to run around.

I have also considered getting him an exercise wheel to help relieve some of his energy/anxiety.

 

[Cphillips]

I thought I would swing by and give you all an update. We kept Whiskers (older male) separated from Luna (kitten) for a few days, but they didn't like it very much. He slept against her pen on the floor, and she would try to get to him.

We got a new cat scratching post that is 6 feet tall and allows him access to the tops of the bookshelves. He really seems to like it.

We have started allowing them to interact again, and after watching very closely, we realize Whiskers is disciplining Luna. She has started biting and using her claws on us humans, and yesterday she did it to Whisker's paw. Oh boy, he was not going to put up with that. He grabbed her, pinned her down by her throat and held her there. We stayed calm and just watched (i was about 2 feet away). Luna was clawing and still trying to bite him and he just kept her there, giving a little shake occasionally. Once she laid still and quit attacking, he let her go. She laid there for a moment more, then jumped up and tried to bite him again. He pinned her again and she almost immediately quit moving, which he then let her go.

Her biting has been getting a little out of control, so I'm actually glad Whiskers is stepping in and stopping her.

 

[Sarthur2]

This is exactly how Luna will learn her manners. The best teacher is another cat!

 

[IndyJones]

If only whiskers could teach my Kabby how to do that. Kabby lets Indy do whatever to him. She is a herder and he just let's her nip his ankles and pin him down.

 

[Cphillips]

If only whiskers could teach my Kabby how to do that. Kabby lets Indy do whatever to him. She is a herder and he just let's her nip his ankles and pin him down.

She is kind of a brat. She has her claws in his face and is biting him here.

 

[Cphillips]

Thought I would update you all. We've only had one incident now where Whiskers became to rough, and our chihuahua went running to Luna's rescue before we could even move. Safe to say, she's got a variety of protectors! We have moved onto weaning, and I managed to snap this picture after Whiskers gave Luna a lesson in how to drink water from a bowl. I just can't get over the adorable-ness that they both have their tongues out.

 

[Sarthur2]

Cute! Kittens will imitate their moms in amazing ways. It's fun to watch!

 

[IndyJones]

Cute! Kittens will imitate their moms in amazing ways. It's fun to watch!

Or in this case their dads.