small, frightened kitten

[lynne180]

Hi, I'm new to this site so forgive me if this subject has already been covered, my partner and I lost our beautiful cat Neo,  two months ago - he had a growth in his throat and had to be put to sleep.  We were, and still are, devastated.  However, we decided that since there are so many cats needing a home, and our home needed a cat, we went ahead and adopted two five month old kittens from an RSPCA shelter.  We were told they were from the same litter (although information was a little vague) but while the boy is outgoing, energetic, affectionate, curious and playful, his sister, who is only half his size simply wants to hide away.  She comes out  to use the litter tray and to eat, then goes back to hide again.  She doesn't play or show any interest in anything, she doesn't do any 'kitteny' things, although I wouldn't say she was lethargic because she does seem alert, watching and listening.  Two days after collecting them from the shelter we took them to our vet as the boy was sneezing and both their eyes were  red around the irises.  The vet gave Jasper (the boy) an antibiotic injection and said he would be fine, which he now is, but he seemed very concerned about Zula (the girl) as she was very underweight and her teeth are not in great shape.    He said to bring her back in a month (this was almost two weeks ago) and he'll weigh her again, and if she hasn't gained weight he'll do blood tests.  Well, she's eating really well now and she does seem to be putting on weight, but she's still very frightened of everything (she's not too bad with me now, she does seem to trust me but she's still nervous)  She's afraid of her brother, as he wants to play-fight with her all the time and he's so much bigger.  I've just bought her a big cage, where she has her hiding place (the carrier we brought her home in) as she feels safe in there, and it means that she now has space to  walk around inside the cage  without getting bullied by her brother.  we've put toys in there and she has her water bowl (although she never seems to drink) and also if I have to go out there is room for a small litter tray, so I can lock the cage and she has everything she needs until I get back.  I think she's probably spent most of her little life hiding away from bigger cats and surviving on leftover scraps, and I want her to feel relaxed and safe now.  I don't want to keep the two of them apart all the time so I make sure they eat together (supervised) and she seems ok with that.  My partner has made a large outdoor pen for when she eventually goes outside so that she'll be safe.  Another thing - she was spayed before she left the rescue shelter and personally I think it was too soon, she was so small and frail.  I'm sure it added to her trauma.  Has anyone else had experience of this type of situation, and if so, what was the outcome?  I really want her to be happy so any suggestions would be welcome.  Thanks in advance xx

 

[2Cats4everLoved]

I'm so sorry your sweet girl is timid and frightened.  

Do you get to have alone time with her.  Laying quietly on your bed or sofa without her brother interfering.  Zula gaining trust with you and your partner, may gain confidence.  It sounds like she's not strong enough for aggressive play.   

That does sound like a lot of medical procedures for such a frail kitty.

How much does she weigh?

I know members will chime in with their expertise on this matter.  

I would say, while it's great she has space of her own, make sure you socialize her with you and your partner.

We love pictures, so feel free to post. lol

Best of luck with your sweet family.

And I'm so sorry you lost your angel Neo.  I lost my two furballs last year and my heart goes out to you both. xoxo

 

[Freedom]

I'm sorry for the loss of your Neo.  It is always hard, losing a family member.

And thank you for adopting, and a pair at that!   Jasper and Zula are fortunate to have a home to call their own.

You mentioned that both had some eye issues, but then only Jasper received the antibiotic shot.  Did Zula receive any medical treatment? 

While age 5 months is young for neutering and spaying, it is a normal practice with many shelters.

It is odd for a 5 months old - Zula - to have bad teeth.  Did the history include how they arrived at the RSPCA?

I worked with a TNR program for a time (trap neuter return, for feral cats).  We would sometimes catch kittens, and hold them to socialize and adopt out.  What you are saying re Jasper and Zula fits with the 2 brother / sister pairs I trapped.  The male was larger, the female was smaller - at that young age.  The male was boisterous and, well, acting like a boy!  The female was cautious, insecure, and often hiding.  In both cases, I basically let the boy be and get on with being a kitten.  For the female, I had to spend a great deal of time socializing her.  This was easiest done by keeping her in a smaller, confined area, so that I could easily find her and be with her.  Sometimes just sitting and reading out loud was all I did.  I needed to spend time tapping my fingers on the floor, to encourage her to come to me.  And I had to spend time holding her, letting her get used to humans.

Because of the history I have with young pairs, that is why I asked if you have any info on how the kittens arrived at the RSPCA.  Were they born outdoors, or at the shelter?  Or in a home and then turned in?  And maybe you don't know, but if you do, that may help piece things together.

With the first part of brother / sister, I followed the instructions of the TNR program I was with.  We separated the pair, and the male was eventually adopted out.  I did not like the way things went so when I again trapped a brother / sister pair, I insisted on keeping them together.  Today I still have all 3 - the one female from the first pair, and the siblings.  Both females grew up big and strong.  The female who remained with her brother came around, and is better socialized.  The female who became a 'singleton' - and I use that term in quotes as I have other cats here! - is still very skittish, even with me.  And I live alone, so I am the only human she has to adapt to!  They have all been with me over 9 years, now.

It is good Zula is eating. Do you think she is gaining any weight, at this time?

 

[lynne180]

Hi, I'm not sure how to reply to individual posts, lol (newbie) but yeah, Zula was very thin, she weighed around 1.5 lbs but she is gaining weight now.  Nigel and I spend a lot of time with her - the other night I was sitting on the kitchen floor with her while she ate her food, and she climbed up onto my lap.  I ended up sitting there for around an hour and a half  - I didn't want to disturb her because she looked so comfortable, lol - which is more than I could say for me!  Mega pins and needles in my legs when I finally stood up!!  And of course I had to then spend time with Jasper so that he didn't feel left out, lol. 

Losing our Neo was awful, he was only ten years old,  We live in a village and everyone knew him.  Our next door neighbour cried when we told her he was gone, she's elderly and he used to visit her.

This is Neo

neo in the garden.JPG

• lynne180
• Mar 17, 2017

 

[lynne180]

We don't have any background history of the kittens, except they were from the same litter and they had been at the shelter for two months.    Yeah Jasper had the antibiotic shot because he had cat flu, but Zula hadn't caught it, and as far as we know, she wasn't ill, just small and frail - the vet said the best thing we could do was to just give her plenty of good food to build her up, which we are doing, and it seems to be working.  As for her teeth, he said it could be just poor diet, or a symptom of some underlying problem, perhaps even F.I.V. but we're just taking one day at a time and she definitely looks healthier now.   I am a bit concerned about their eyes, though - Jasper's eyes seem red around the edge of the iris, it doesn't seem to be bothering him and there's nothing wrong with his eyesight, while Zula's eyes are a bit pink and her third eyelid is visible about quarter of the way along her eyes,her eyesight seems fine and she's not rubbing her eyes but I'm going to have to get them checked out.   Here is big boy jasper on his climbing frame and a close-up of little Zula 

jasper on frame1.JPG

• lynne180
• Mar 17, 2017

zula2 (1).JPG

• lynne180
• Mar 17, 2017

 

[Primula]

Are you sure you want to let them outside? I presume her brother is neutered?

Someone mentioned that it's odd to have teeth problems at five months old. Unfortunately these things happen. My Harry had all his teeth extracted at ten months due to potential stomatitis.

 

[Freedom]

Neo was a very handsome mackerel tabby!

So good to hear Zula is gaining weight.  Whatever her issue, seems that regular meals and good food along with good company is doing the trick.  You said she has a check up coming, make a list and have her eyes checked at that visit.

So funny what we do for our pets - sitting on the floor that long!  I'm glad she is coming around and is bonding with you!

@Primula yes it does happen that even the very young have teeth issues.  We saw this often with the ferals.  I never really understood it as they should have been eating a 'normal for cats' diet - mouse tartare!  LOL. 

Zula can be combo tested for FIV and FeLV.  Even if she has FIV you can still keep her.  My Bobby was tested FIV + as a kitten - he is one of the feral kittens I trapped, now age 10 years.  He also was very weak and underweight when we trapped him, but a few weeks on good meals and he has been fine since.  FIV is not a 'death sentence,' they live long happy lives very often.  They do need to be kept as indoor only cats.  And if she is FIV + she needs to only have killed virus vaccines.  FeLV is the one you need to worry about; an FeLV+ cat should only live in a home with other FeLV+ cats, as that is highly contagious.

In any case, do consider keeping both of them as indoor only.  It is safer for them.  Outdoor cats haevg a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years, while indoor only live  15 years and longer. 

From your story of sitting with her last evening, it sounds like you are on the right track.  Zula just needs some time to adjust and adapt to her new life, and new health!  Bet feeling better helps her (and any pet) feel more courageous, more willing to risk a venture out to see the rooms and humans. 

Thanks for the photos!

 

[2Cats4everLoved]

I hope they start feeling better and get along soon.

Little Zula looks like she has a black butterfly at the tip of her nose.

Very sweet family you have.

 

[lynne180]

We live in a rural part of Wales in the UK,  hardly anyone keeps indoor cats and I would never consider it.  Neo was free to roam and never came to any harm from being outside.  Jasper is already running in and out, happily finding his way around the trees and fields and streams and as soon as Zula is big and healthy enough , she'll be out, too, unless she wants to stay in, which would be her choice and perfectly fine.  I'm not knocking anyone who thinks differently, it's just not our way around here, and believe it or not, most cats live to a ripe old age.  My cousin has an outdoor cat who's eighteen years old and still going strong    Neo only had ten years, but that was nothing to do with being outside, and while he was here he had a fabulous life.  And yes, of course Jasper has been neutered, the shelter had him done the same time as Zula and he's fine - if it had been up to me I would have waited a few weeks until Zula was stronger.  All my cats have been neutered/spayed - there are too many unwanted and uncared for kittens as it is.   

Zula seems a lot more relaxed now that she has her own space, she came out of the cage and led me into the kitchen  earlier, lol.  Still a long way to go but we'll get there with little steps    xx

 

[Primula]

We live in a rural part of Wales in the UK,  hardly anyone keeps indoor cats and I would never consider it.  Neo was free to roam and never came to any harm from being outside.  Jasper is already running in and out, happily finding his way around the trees and fields and streams and as soon as Zula is big and healthy enough , she'll be out, too, unless she wants to stay in, which would be her choice and perfectly fine.  I'm not knocking anyone who thinks differently, it's just not our way around here, and believe it or not, most cats live to a ripe old age.  My cousin has an outdoor cat who's eighteen years old and still going strong    Neo only had ten years, but that was nothing to do with being outside, and while he was here he had a fabulous life.  And yes, of course Jasper has been neutered, the shelter had him done the same time as Zula and he's fine - if it had been up to me I would have waited a few weeks until Zula was stronger.  All my cats have been neutered/spayed - there are too many unwanted and uncared for kittens as it is.   

Zula seems a lot more relaxed now that she has her own space, she came out of the cage and led me into the kitchen  earlier, lol.  Still a long way to go but we'll get there with little steps    xx

Sounds good. There are tons of dangers here in the States that outdoor cats have to face. Cars, animal predators, cruel people, etc., etc. In fact, you cannot adopt a cat here from a shelter unless you sign an agreement that it will be indoors-only.

 

[lynne180]

Well I'm not sure what happened just now, I heard a scrabbling noise coming from Zula's bed and when I checked on her she was frantically scratching herself - not in the normal way - it was like she was obsessed, like she was attacking herself but not in the playful way kittens sometimes do.  She stopped, then stopped and started again, I was just about to grab a tea towel to wrap her in, to stop her hurting herself,  when she  accidentally toppled into her water bowl and she realised her side was wet.  She still just stood there though, staring into space, and she didn't respond to my voice at all.  She finally came round when I did the thing that never fails to get her attention - I opened a food pouch.  She came into the kitchen and settled down to her food.  She seems ok now, back in her bed looking  relaxed.  I don't know if she was dreaming?  Was it  some kind of fit?  What worries me is, my partner saw her do it about a week ago - I didn't see it, I was in another room and he shouted to me, but by the time I got there she seemed fine but the way he described it was exactly the same as today, but it lasted a bit longer today.  That first  time she seemed hungry afterwards, which is why I offered her some food today, and it seemed to work.  I've never seen a cat do that before.  I don't think she's drawn blood but there's a bit of fur on the floor which she tore out.  The vet's not open until Monday.  Has anyone else had any experience of this type of thing?

 

[Freedom]

Definitely print and show this to the vet.  And if it happens again, if you can grab a video to show that will help as well.  Sounds like some sort of seizure, but why FOOD would pull her out of it I don't understand.  Good that works and you KNOW it works.  Be sure your partner knows as well, in case it happens and you are not home.

 

[Primula]

Zula's mad scratching may be because of fleas.

 

[catwomanbahrain]

I have the similar problem, one kitten out of four is extremely antisocial. Snowy comes out for food and holds it to come out one time a day for the litter box. That was when the kittens were separated. Now they've grown up, they had to join my other cats in a bigger place. Snowy is always hiding, he gets jealous when he hears other cats purring around me and getting all the love, so he runs to me and sometimes half way he remembers his fear, that's when he runs back to hide or freeze and look stuck in the middle not knowing where to go. But when I'm closer to him he doesn't remember his fear just until he rubs himself against me and i pat him for a while, then out of sudden he starts running like crazy to hide. Sometimes he suddenly looks up at me ears down as if he's expecting me to hit him. I know this happens to cats if they've gone through bad experience with bad owners, but Snowy was pampered since he was little, vet said he's in a great shape, which only makes me think that he might've fallen down or something when he was a baby and the mom was carrying him around. I know cats never forget and hold grudges, but yet i don't believe they could necessarily remember at a very young age unless its only the fear growing with them wgich leads to a behavior non-logical problem. I'm showing him some love everyday in a hope he'd change.

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[catwomanbahrain]

From how you explained it, it seems to me that Zula is being continuously attacked. And she doesn't realize what's happening to her. She needs ur help. Find out whether if its fleas, hidden ringworms, or an ear infection. I've had cases of ear infections which usually irritates the cat if its deep and they go crazy scratching themselves till they bleed of course cuz they are unable to reach it and satisfy themselves so they keep digging.

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[catwomanbahrain]

I solved this issues with my female cat Blacky (accidentally), she always treated me as if i was gonna hurt her and she freeze (act dead) if i carry her. I could feel her heart wanting to jump outta her chest. I've moved Blacky out to the garden cuz i wanted her to move her legs a little, i couldn't catch her back so there she stayed hiding. Days later she felt comfortable coming near me while i scoop her food, she would just stand next to me and watch me do it. Slowly she let me touch her while she's eating or she would hide her face but still let me cuz it felt good. To my surprise when i tried to take her back to the room she used to be in, all the cats hated her and she wasn't welcomed. She was attacked by three cats (her lover being first) and two females. So it was a new start that she had to find herself new friends. She realized she was unwanted by her old family, and that i was her only friend. She became extremely clingy to me, and slowly she started climbing up the wall and finding friends. I didn't realize it until she got pregnant. Now she has babies and a friend and a perfect life in the garden. So if you have an antisocial cat, i think if she feels how much she needs you, she will be working to fix her issues. Don't starve the poor little things but make sure u force them to come out and close for food till they learn that it's how they will survive. Just wanted to share my experience with you. Hope this helps.

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[lynne180]

Hi all, sorry I haven't been online for a couple of days, just catching up with the replies now.   Zula's slowly making progress (very slowly!)  at the moment she's lying on a cushion in the window and she looks quite relaxed, which would have been unheard of a week ago.  She has fallen asleep on the sofa next to me a couple of times.  I'm still keeping her brother away from her as much as possible as he wants to play and sees her as a toy, but they are still eating together with me supervising.  He's outside a lot of the time now, so he's using up his energy exploring, climbing and running furiously here, there and everywhere, lol!  So he doesn't have all that pent-up energy indoors.  He has a few hours sleep in the afternoons so it's nice and quiet then and we leave Zula's cage door open so that she can come out and explore if she wants to - which she doesn't so far, lol.  I'm a bit concerned that she's not getting any exercise though.  Her brother Jasper is really building his muscles up and looking big and healthy, while little Zula just mainly sleeps all day.  I managed to get her to reach for a little toy mouse, she seemed interested for a little while but almost afraid to do anything about it. She reached for it a few times but then had to hide again.  She's not washing either - just the odd little paw on her face for a few seconds.  She's quite alert though - she hears and sees everything!  As for the scratching, there's been no repeat of that so far.  It wouldn't have been fleas because both kittens were flea'd and wormed before they left the rescue centre,and if it had been an ear infection she would have been scratching it more frequently.  Perhaps she was just dreaming all along (hope so!).  It hasn't been quite three weeks since we got them so it's still early days.  She's still eating well and she purrs when I'm holding her, so that's good.  Here she is  - she made a nest among the cushions on the sofa the other day

Zula ultra-comfy.JPG

• lynne180
• Mar 23, 2017