New kitten in my home

tarnikhouse

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Hi,
i just introduced (yesterday) a kitten (about 6 months old) into my home. i need some help/advice as to what to expect and what to do.

she was born of a stray and a friend of mine finally managed to trap her and her brother in her home. she took well to being inside and loves attention and people. however, my friend has 4 cats of her own, and can't keep both kaley and her brother (and since kaley is very good with people and her brother isn't, kaley was the one to move out).

anyway, she came to live with me yesterday. she is about 6 months old and hasn't been spayed yet - i made an appt to have her spayed this wednesday, but she's got a bit of an upset tummy from the stress, so the vet suggested i wait. she's only got three legs - apparently the umbilical cord may have wrapped around her leg while she was in the womb and either prevented it from growing or cut it off. either way, she has nothing below her back right knee. she gets aroung very well, though.

my two cats, delph and josie, are about 3 years old each. they are both hissing at kaley and kaley is hissing back. is this normal? josie has collitis and i'm worried she'll have a bout b/c of kaley coming into the home.

kaley is hiding permanently under my bed. i'm not sure if she's eating and drinking, either. i've tried coaxing her to do both, but she's not interested.

can someone give me advice as to what to expect? i really want to help her - she's gorgeous, inside and out, and is so friendly and loving.


i really want to help kaley, but not at her, delph and josie's mental expense.

thanks,
steph
 
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tarnikhouse

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just in case it sheds more light on the situation, delph is just over 11 pounds, josie is around 9 1/2 pounds and kaley, who i think might be a runt, is just under 6 pounds. maybe the weight difference is a problem?

thanks,
steph
 

valanhb

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Tarnikhouse, your new little one just had her whole world turned upside down, so hiding is to be expected for a little while. Have the lights turned low in the room and play some classical music at low volume to calm her a bit. Keep the other cats out of the room so she doesn't feel like she has to defend herself at this point.

This article that Hissy wrote has some really good pointers on introducing cats so they can be friends later on. I'd Like You To Meet....

One more thing, you may want to edit out your phone number from your first post. This is a pubic access board and you never know who may be lurking as a guest. I would suggest that you just put that you can give your number to someone through a PM if they want to contact you.
 

rbg

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Like I was told when we brought our new one home, keep them in a small space for a while and gradually introduce them into the rest of the house with your other cats put up some where so he can explore without fear. He can get used to their scent that way also.
I'm no expert by far, but I've learned a lot from the shelter owner and we just introduced a new one to the one we had first, but ours are both under a year.
I wish you the best and enjoy!
 
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