Kitten mewing non-stop

I had someone call me looking for kitten advice. Their neighbours' cat had kittens, and on Sunday they took one of the kittens which is now 10 weeks old. The kitten has been mewing non-stop since they got it pretty much. She wanted advice on what to do.

They have a 75lb Malamute who has been great with the kitten - and the kitten has been trying to suckle off the dog. Apparently the kitten was weaned, so I assume this is comfort suckling, and that it's not actually hungry.

The kitten also pooped on her bed - it's litter trained, so I think this is probably either stress, or it just "forgot" where to go?

Apparently the kitten is happy, and is a huge purrer, it just meows constantly for attention. She tried putting it down her shirt - it just purred while it mewed. I could hear it in the background meowing the entire phone call. She got lots of toys for it, but it wants human contact. I suggested a second kitten, and she said she would love to but doesn't have space for a big dog plus 2 cats in her apartment.

I told her that 9/10 weeks is pretty early to be taken away from its mother, and after its spent its whole life with its siblings and mum, then gets taken away and put in a new environment, especially at that age, it most probably will be stressed. I thought maybe if the mother cat will still accept the kitten, then she should see if her neighbour will take him back for another few weeks until he's a bit older, then try again. The little guy just sounds stressed to me.

What do you guys think? She's been home pretty much the entire time with the kitten except for a few hours on Monday, and has been giving it lots of attention, but he still mews constantly.

Any other advice I could give her would be appreciated!

Originally Posted by sarahp

. I thought maybe if the mother cat will still accept the kitten, then she should see if her neighbour will take him back for another few weeks until he's a bit older, then try again.

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That sounds like the best idea to me. Sounds like the kitten wasn't quite ready. Maybe just a couple more weeks with mom.

I agree with everything that you told her.

We all know that far more often than not, even adult cats don't react very well to major changes. In this case we're talking about a baby who was just moved for the first time in its life to a completely different environment --- one not only without siblings and mom, as you noted, but without any other cats at all. So I think the kitten's actions are to be expected.

The only thing I would add is that your friend should have multiple litter boxes around the house, at least until the kitten gets older. Sometimes they get so engrossed in play that they don't realize that they have to go until its too late. Or they forget exactly where the box is. It won't stop the constant mewing, but it'll make everyone's life a lot more pleasant.

Thanks, I'm glad everyone agrees with what I told her! I don't the person - she called the shelter asking for advice, and they told her to call me as a cat expert All the people at the shelter, and they tell them to call me - a volunteer!

IMO with Siamese type of cats its better to let them stay with mom/siblings until 12-16 weeks old. Siamese are pretty needy cats. I'm wondering how soon the neighbor tried to wean and litter train.

Kittens will still nurse on mom up to 3 months old. It might have been better to take 2 littermates in this case - is that possible?

1) it was taken from its mother too early that is why it is suckling, meowing, etc

2) it is lonely suddenly being away from its siblings and mother, it is always recommended to take two when they are so young so they have company and someone to play with

3) don't expect the kitten to always make it to the box if it has full run of the house. that is way too much space for him to always remember where the box is and to make it there. where is the box and how big is the house? I would confine the kitten when it is this young.

If the meowing persists, just to be extra cautious, have her take the kitten for a full vet exam. You never know.....

Not to be pushy but...

If she has room for one cat, does she really not have room for a second or just think that she doesn't? A second cat, especially from the same litter, would most likely be fine with sharing a litter box, food dish, water dish (our kitties, at least, are perfectly happy with this arrangement!)... the second cat really only takes up about one more square foot of space at any given time!

I know with our kitties, because they were, as my hubby likes to put it "free range kittens", we caught the girl a few days before we were able to catch the boy, and she was MISERABLE until we got him home to be with her, meowing and crying up a storm, hiding under all the furniture. Once he was there, though, she calmed down a lot.

So, it might be worth talking it over with her, and seeing if she thinks that there'd be a lot more hassle associated with a second kitty than there really needs to be, and maybe things could work out just fine with a sibling in the mix.

It would have been best to take 2. That is what I did with Rusty and Dusty. I got my girls at 7 wks old. The first couple of days, when they would lose sight of each other, they would cry.

It doesn't take up that much more room with 2. My 2 share the food dish, litterbox and toys. They keep each other company and usually sleep together, but here lately they sleep apart. They will be 17 weeks old tomorrow.