little help

sorry if this is not the right place for this....
right today i went to pick up a kitten...
a little back ground on the matter, one of the mums round my childrens school was asking about someone homing a kitten she has just saved from being put in a black bag and gotten rid of by someone she knows.
she said he was 4 months old but couldnt keep him as her cat was tearing him apart.
so me being the sucker i am agreed to take him home. i went to her house today to pick him up.
when i got there she didnt allow me in the house as she was about to go out and had a double buggy with her. so she went in and brought out this not so kitten out to me , she said she was told it was 4 months old , didnt know what sex it was and so on.
well poor thing looked so frightened i put him in my carrier and brought him home. well when we got home i set up the bathroom with a bed litter box food bowl and water dish. took him out and i couldnt belive how skinny is was. he dont look it as his a fluffy cat but once you pick him up you can feel all the bones he has matted fur around his tail and feet , and he is not 4 months old , more like 9 months to a yr old. he is spraying the bathroom he wont use a litter tray only his food bowl. he will not eat out of his food bowl will empty it on the floor. i feel so sorry for this poor thing his booked into the vets on tuesday for a check over and to be neuterd providing he is healthy enough.
how do i correct his habbits? im not going to give up on him this is his fourth home apparntly. he is very loverbal very scruffy looking.
do i start with basics like i would a kitten?
i hate locking him in the bathroom but coz i have 7 cats i want to make sure his blood tests and everything comes back clean first. but what makes me feel worse i was told that he was locked in a room for a month in one of his other homes. he has such sad and lost eyes i just want to do what is best for him.

forgot to mentune it was very hard to tell what sex he was ( not) some people all you had to do was lift the tail. couldnt miss it and she has 3 males of her own!!!

Is there no other place you can keep him, or at least lock up the others somewhere for part of the day so he can be out? I do understand your soft heart, and his(?) need of help, but if he's already traumatized, keeping him in the bathroom for 4 days may not be the best way to start. Lots of cats pull their food onto the floor. Try different litter for now. He may be spraying because he's not neutered yet (and should be right away - maybe when you take him in, so as not to have to bring him in again (and again and again). Don't try yet to change all his 'bad' habits.. allow him to relax and feel at home - could take a while, don't fuss over small things. Let us know how it all goes please?

Originally Posted by Larke

Is there no other place you can keep him, or at least lock up the others somewhere for part of the day so he can be out? I do understand your soft heart, and his(?) need of help, but if he's already traumatized, keeping him in the bathroom for 4 days may not be the best way to start. Lots of cats pull their food onto the floor. Try different litter for now. He may be spraying because he's not neutered yet (and should be right away - maybe when you take him in, so as not to have to bring him in again (and again and again). Don't try yet to change all his 'bad' habits.. allow him to relax and feel at home - could take a while, don't fuss over small things. Let us know how it all goes please?

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wanted to add he is being netured on tuesday.. i am letting him out for short periods of time during the day his not in there 24/7 and he used his cat box and ate out his dish without taking it all out first lol thanx for the reply .

Actually, keeping him in the bathroom might be the best thing right now. If he has any sort of parasites they might spread to your other cats if he's let out.

lemur the other cats are not allowed in the same room he is . they are uptodate with wormers and flee stuff, and also with all there vacs. the house can be resprayed once he has had treatment. but still not taking any chances him being around my cats just to be on the safe side.

Do you have some kind of large dog crate that he can stay in? If he's not neutered, that is why he's spraying in the bathroom. Once neutered he'll calm down.

Sounds like a very rough life so far and it will take a lot of patience working with him. Once he's gotten a clean bill of health and cleaned up, he should be fine. Also he sounds like he needs some top quality food!

im giving him the same as my own cats but if you know of something better that i can get in london? his on royal canin wet and hills dry.