Taking Care Of New Kitten

[Mlynn99]

My boyfriend and I recently got a 7-8 week old kitten. We're keeping him at my boyfriends house and his parents live downstairs. As he's so little and will just be getting his first shots on Monday we wanted to keep him in the bedroom until he is a bit older. We are in the process of getting him from wet to dry food.
However his mom keeps taking the kitten downstairs where there are other animals. I left for work today and put the AC on/gave him fresh food and water as we would both be gone for 7+ hours. And I came home to the air having been shut off, she replaced the water I just had, and threw out a half-full can of expensive kitten food that he liked and replaced it with food too big for him.
It makes me very frustrated and upset to think he possibly was hot and couldn't eat for that long as I don't know when she did any of this. It could have been 10 minutes after I left or 10 minutes before I came home. Should I say something or am I overreacting?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, you need to politely ask her to leave the a/c on for the kitten, and to please not throw away his kitten food. I do not think you are over-reacting.

She probably means well. Explain that you’d rather he not be around the other animals until he gets vaccinated.

Hopefully she will respect your wishes if you state them nicely and in a non-accusatory way.

Who pays the electric bill?

 

[Mlynn99]

Yes, you need to politely ask her to leave the a/c on for the kitten, and to please not throw away his kitten food. I do not think you are over-reacting.

She probably means well. Explain that you’d rather he not be around the other animals until he gets vaccinated.

Hopefully she will respect your wishes if you state them nicely and in a non-accusatory way.

Who pays the electric bill?

His parents pay the bulk as we all contribute.

 

[Sarthur2]

Okay, I just wondered if turning off the air was a financial concern.

Do you feel that you can speak freely with his mom without it creating bigger issues?

 

[Mlynn99]

Okay, I just wondered if turning off the air was a financial concern.

Do you feel that you can speak freely with his mom without it creating bigger issues?

I'm not sure as I've never had any conflict with her. I don't think it will go badly as long as I'm polite about it.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree with you. I hope it works out! Let us know!

 

[Mlynn99]

Last week my boyfriend and I adopted a kitten from a random family who had a litter. They told us it was a male and about 8 weeks as of May 31st and we set up time to go see him. Well, their idea of us seeing him was sending us an address and when we got there a young kid just handed the kitten and took the money for the price they were asking for.
We brought the kitten home and he was eating well, playing, sleeping. We definitely noticed some flea dirt, that he seemed smaller than an 8 week old kitten should be (not too skinny, just small all around), and he had discharge from his eyes/nose paired with a cough.
We took him to the vet yesterday and the kitten is actually a 4 week old female. She has fleas, not to the point that they seem to bother her, but a pretty decent amount; tapeworms from the fleas; and slight pneumonia. Came as a shock as she's been acting so healthy.
Honestly I'm just so glad we got her out of that environment where they couldn't/didn't care for her. She's on medicine and we've added KMR along with the wet food she's been eating and her mood is picking up even more.

 

[abyeb]

Thank you for caring for her! I’m glad that you were able to take her to the vet and she could get the medical attention she needs. Please do keep us updated on your kitten’s recovery progress, and if you have any questions.

Have you decided on a name yet?

 

[Monk'sMom]

I'm glad you got her, also, and she's got you!

 

[Mlynn99]

Thank you for caring for her! I’m glad that you were able to take her to the vet and she could get the medical attention she needs. Please do keep us updated on your kitten’s recovery progress, and if you have any questions.

Have you decided on a name yet?

We chose Bastet. Egyptian goddess of protection and cats

 

[Mlynn99]

I have a 4 week old kitten that is eating both KMR and wet kitten food, but I don't want her to favor one over the other as we obviously want to get to all wet food, then dry food.
Is it okay to leave the KMR and wet food out or should I separate so she only has one option at a time?

 

[duckpond]

I have never used KMR, never had a rescue quite that young. But when i had young kittens i would keep kitten kibble out all the time, and feed wet food as often as i could 5 or 6 times a day, and leave it out for 30 min or so.
Good luck with your new baby!

 

[Sarthur2]

Did the vet treat for fleas and worms in addition to the pneumonia?

 

[Kieka]

I've mixed the two together into a slurry then slowly decreased the amount of KMR until it is just wet food. If you are feeding them separately, I would start increasing the water in the KMR (or watering it down if it is premixed) at 6 week old. Slowly make it more and more water so by about 8 weeks old it is just water.

 

[Mlynn99]

Did the vet treat for fleas and worms in addition to the pneumonia?

Yes, dewormer shot and a flea bath plus half dose of flea medicine as she's too little yet for full treatment.

 

[Mlynn99]

I've mixed the two together into a slurry then slowly decreased the amount of KMR until it is just wet food. If you are feeding them separately, I would start increasing the water in the KMR (or watering it down if it is premixed) at 6 week old. Slowly make it more and more water so by about 8 weeks old it is just water.

Thanks, that helps a ton!

 

[Sarthur2]

Kitten should be much better soon!

I feel sorry for the rest of that litter and their poor mom.

 

[Azazel]

Just wanted to chime in that although you may choose to feed dry food when she is older, please note that it's perfectly fine and even healthier to continue to feed all wet when she is an adult. Wet food has more moisture and fewer carbs so it's healthier than dry food.

 

[Mlynn99]

Kitten should be much better soon!

I feel sorry for the rest of that litter and their poor mom.

So do I. I think most of them were adopted so hopefully they'll get better care too. I really just hope they didn't knowingly take them away from their mom this young, although I've heard a lot of people do.

 

[Mlynn99]

First day update. She looks to be doing better already, her cough is much less significant and eyes/nose much clearer. Little bugger woke me up for more food this morning which I think is a good sign.