Given a stray kitten- some advice maybe

My coworker calls me today to say that he found a stray kitten in the street and I should come get it. (knows I'm a cat lover) So anyway, I took it home. It ate a few treats I happened to have in the car because two of my cats are missing right now!!
It smells sorta "off" and has a scab on the back of it's neck. It's clear eyed and alert and very friendly. It seems pretty quiet for a kitten. maybe not well? It is very skinny but doesn't seem have the pot belly that would indicate worms. It hasn't eaten anything besides those4 treats yet but It did drink water for a solid five minutes. I checked its skin and I would say she is dehydrated.. She won't touch the wet food or the dry I put out yet.
Have not checked yet for flea dirt... What do you guys think.. Keep in mind I've had her home all of 30 minutes..

Meanwhile, two of my own cats are missing!!

First of all. I hope you have her in a quarantene room? And your own cats are fully vaccinated?

That said, do proceed. If she is dehydrated, it could explain why she is quiet. Being friendly she istn probably proper feral. But being homeless a while. this too should give she is quiet.

sounds will come first when she feels safe and secure.

A veterinary check up is never wrong by the way. Better safe than sorry.
Shots. Spaying can wait a little if you want.

Yes she is all by herself in my computer room. My other cats are all up to date. Actually this is where I kept Cookie (missing) and Suzie when they were new (they were semiferal rescues). Good news she is eating. I had initially offered her nutro adult.. but she didn't want it. Then I thought that maybe something tastier although junky would be better and I had a small bag of fancy feast dry I was keeping to use as treats and she ate some of that right away.. Pheww! I also offered her some purina one adult. Don't have any kitten food on hand right now. She hadn't touched the wet yet.

I'm planning a vet visit probably this weekend or early next week.. Earlier if something presents itself.

Kittens can eat adult food too. And if it is of high quality is should suffice. both Nutro and Purina are OK.

You can try to wet it some, ie add water. If she was homeless longer time she is perhaps unused to dry cat foods. Or her first owner gave perhaps only wet food.
Cream is good and useful, perhaps lactose-reduced cream if you want to be 100% safe. Most cats do like cream - mix it with the dry-food... Worth a try I think.

Hope your own cat will return soon.

Just an update. She was doing well this morning. She appears to have hydrated herself- drank a ton of water She won't touch wet food but is eating dry. I think I'm going to pick up a bag of nutro kitten.. Just got a coupon in the mail. She has a vet appointment Monday afternoon and I'm going to get some flea meds tonight at the vet. She is also drank some cat milk, and was nosing herself into my healthy choice chicken broth. Very friendly little girl who likes to cuddle.

Good job! Our ferals didn't like wet food at first either. Plain boiled chicken broth always worked wonders.

We always like to get them to the vet asap. Even in a quarantine room, unless you're sanitizing the bottoms of your shoes and immediately washing your hands before doing anything else, contagious diseases can be transmitted. We always go with the "safe" vs. "sorry" theory though. And we have a kitty with an autoimmune disease, so we're always extra cautious.

So sorry about your two missing kitties! We could never stand the stress, so all of our rescues are indoor-only pets at this point. And we live in a rural area on a dead-end road. I sure hope they turn up soon.

Maybe you could consider building an outdoor shelter for them, so they don't roam? I'm not totally opposed to indoor/outdoor kitties (and totally promote feral colonies) - but it's heartache like this that just tears me apart!

I don't know how familiar you are with your kitties' roaming habits. In most cases, kitties are usually very close to home (within the equivalent of a three block radius) and something happened to spook them - and they're hiding. They will not come when called. Have you already tried spending some time searching under porches, bushes - any small place? This is usually the most successful method.

Sending "come home kitties" vibes!

Thankyou Laurie. My cats were never outdoor cats since I got them. Rocky was never supposed to go out because of his vision problems. Cookie was initially a stray from somewhere else. He was living with his sister under some steps. We have distributed flyers within the neighborhood. Last we heard they might be down by the lake (my town is basically formed around a lake).

Anyway, new kitty, still unnamed is doing well. She had her vet visit and tests and all yesterday. The only not good news is that she has a heart murmur that needs to be monitored. Couldv'e been caused by her initial poor shape. She is the mellowist kitten I have ever met. Just sits on our lap while we are on the computer.

She sounds like such a sweetheart! :angel2:

Glad you've got others keeping an eye out for the missing cats. I'm SO sorry they got out! Especially since they've been indoor-only, I think the only way you'll bring them home is to search for them. Cats tend to hunker down - even when they're hungry. Often they'll find the closest thing resembling food rather than returning home for it. Sending "find the kitties soon" vibes!

Go Home Kitties!!

Sending lots of vibes that they find home..I would lose it if Trout got outside.