Rescued 5 week old burned kitten

On June 9th my dad called me and said he heard weak cat sounds from one of their new cars that was traded in from many states away. Sure enough I found a 5 week old feral kitten in the hood and his paws were burnt, so it seems he traveled abit of distance inside this vehicle.

Its been 2 weeks isolated in the bathroom with some amazing recovery to his paws. He is off pain meds, amoxi drops and only has a few more days of the yellow deworming med since they found Coccidiosis in his stool yet negative on serious stuff thankfully.
During this time my twelve year old cat had a week to smell between the door. A week to see me playing with him with an open door/baby gate while also playing with her from distance(my poor outstretched arms).Yet that didnt help she either runs up, confronts with hissing and spitting and ungodly sounds or burrowed herself in high cabinet places and I would not see her until until bedtime.

This has been a slow intro, I have tried using a t-shirt with kitten scent, then her scent then playing on it and giving treats, she got his scent down by now but its different world when actually seeing him and for his part he is oblivious to how anger she is with him. I have also started this only feed the cats between a door thing but it seems so cruel as my cat will not eat for day if she catches a glimpse of him, only at lower steps when the door is closed.
So my question is could this possibly work or is there too much of an age difference? I've exhausted shelters and people. My local shelter saddens me to the fact even though I spent $300 on this kitten and he is in good health they would put him in the feral section where he would be guaranteed to have UR issues fast. The only other person I know already has 3 cats and is just assuming they will all get along and would declaw him.

He has been through enough with his paws, here at least he has access to one 15x15 room of his own now, gets six hours of toy play, is trained to be quiet through the night. Its like I unintentionally have divided the apartment it safe zone for my 12 year old cat claiming and other half for him, so unless I take the risk this barrier will likely always last. Perhaps I taught her this misconception but he still has a few weeks in quarantine until the vet appointment.
I have to ask myself is this fair to him. To possibly have to be locked in one room even though he is getting alot of attention for what could be months maybe even years?

Poor little baby, what a horrible experience that must have been for him! I would be patient and give it more time if it has only been a week. Your older cat may come around given some time. You are not being mean keeping him isolated, not at all! It sounds like you are doing everything right, so just keep it up and know that you are in no way being cruel to either cat.
Please do not give him to someone who will declaw him, that would just be torture considering what he has already been through with his feet.

I would give it time. In time they will most likely learn to co-exist even if they are never good pals. hang in there.

Originally Posted by Trillcat

Poor little baby, what a horrible experience that must have been for him! I would be patient and give it more time if it has only been a week. Your older cat may come around given some time. You are not being mean keeping him isolated, not at all! It sounds like you are doing everything right, so just keep it up and know that you are in no way being cruel to either cat.
Please do not give him to someone who will declaw him, that would just be torture considering what he has already been through with his feet.

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Oh I agree! Please don't give him to someone who will declaw him

"My local shelter saddens me to the fact even though I spent $300 on this kitten and he is in good health they would put him in feral section where he would be guaranteed to have UR issues fast."

What does UR issues mean?

In case you haven't tried this, a little trick I have used in the past to fool the cats into thinking they smell alike is putting a tiny dab of vanilla on the back of their tails and neck. This will help tremendously because they will both "smell" the same and this will help them accept each other faster.

If you don't have vanilla you can always give them a very light quick spray with your perfume. It has to be a very very light spray (you don't want their fur getting wet in any way because of the alcohol). Make sure to hold the bottle at least 2 feet away from them, if you do this.

The idea is to get just enough of a scent on them to trick them into thinking they smell the same. Using the vanilla is preferable though and that too just a tiny little drop.

After the quarantine period is over try switching their rooms. IE when you let the newcomer out of his area, let the resident cat explore the newcomer's area so he can get used to his smell and presence. This way they both get to explore something new and this gives the new kitty a chance to get acclimatized to the rest of the house. In your case I would the vanilla or perfume trick first though. Because no, I wouldn't keep him locked in one room indefinitely.

Also shower your older cat with lots of extra love and attention to reassure her she is still very much loved and wanted.

You are on the right track, just give it more time please let us know how it goes!

Poor little one. Its still so new to everyone, just give it more time. I've had new kittens come in with older cats and they do learn to co-exist. In my case it started out the same way, spitting, growling, etc. given time my older one is great friends with the new cat. There always together, believe me that is not how we started out. If it never becomes a close friendship then they do learn to live together peacefully. Give it time.
Good luck.

I am speachless reading your story. All I can say is that I wish there were more people who care about animals as much as you do. You had to have spent a lot of money on that little one. Now that the meds have done their work, all that kitten needs is a little bit of time and a lot of love...I have no doubt that it will do just fine in your care.

Peace ,
Rob and Sport

It sounds like you're doing the right things. With introducing animals, you have to be very patient... they work on a slow schedule. Two weeks is nothing. As long as you keep taking it slow, they will absolutely be able to get along. I agree that switching rooms back and forth and using the vanilla will help.

At first, let them have only a short amount of supervised time together. Little by little you'll be able to increase their time together. You'll likely see some hissing, swatting or running away as they get used to each other. It usually takes a few months to establish the pecking order and a peaceful coexistence.

I have nothing to add to the wonderful advice already given, except plenty of PRAYERS AND VIBES for the kitten's continued recovery and for harmony and peace to return to your apartment
Bless you for sacrificing your time & money & efforts in helping that precious kitten - a true kitty's hero
And welcome to TCS Susan

I would keep him. I have a 16 year old Cat and she is great with young Cats. My Oreo is only 11 months and she tried to nurse on Coco and she let her. Give your other Cat time to adjust.

Don't fret. I know it is hard to live in a divided home right now but it won't always be that way. I keep my cats divided for a long time unless I get an indication that it will go smoothly faster.
The resident cat is older and set in her ways so it will take some time. I would revisit the idea in 2 more weeks.

Thanks for the feedback, the last two weeks seems like full year. Wearing out the kitten and attending to my 12 year old drama queen that is wasting $1.50 a day by turning up her nose at food she always liked. She will definitely make this as difficult as possible!

Aww...hugs to you and your two sweethearts. I can understand somewhat of what you're going through. I brought my Simon home almost a month now, and we're still working through introductions between him (he's about 3.5mos old) and my other two sweeties (litter siblings, 4yo). They're not able to be out together overnight yet (and I don't see it happening for another week or two, at least), and my two older kitties are still quite busy trying to teach him that they are the hierarchy of the household (in fact, I hear them trying to teach him right now, lol).

When I brought Simon home, a week into him being here (and just about when I would try to do some slight intros), we discovered an abscess on his chin. Two weeks, and antibiotics run now finished, and abscess site healed over, we're now starting intros. It's been difficult, what with him wanting to be out of this room (he lives in the office currently) and Sunny and Hobbes (my older two) very slowly adjusting to his presence. It was also difficult having to quarantine for so long, since I had counted on things going a bit quicker than they are...but I'm just letting things take their time.

So, though I don't have a burned kitty, I do know somewhat of what you're going through. It's frustrating! And you feel so bad for your new baby, having to go through so much, at such a young age. And you feel so bad for your older kitty(ies) because you wonder if it was the best thing bringing the kitten in, and you see them stressed getting used to him. BUT...I know that you and I are doing the right thing by all our kitties.

Who knows? Maybe your older kitty was wanting company, and is just trying to be SURE that baby knows she is NOT his mama! LOL...I know that's what my Sunny is doing!

Hugs to you three...I know it's rough...hang in there!

Rosie, Simon, Sunny, and Hobbes*

I wish everyone treated animals the way you do

Cats can be slow to come around, even when you do everything the 'right' way (slow introductions). I do not think it's an impossible situation at all, but I understand how you feel. My two cats are only about a year apart (I think) and they don't get along....but they co-exist just fine. I wish they were buddies, but they are so different (one is very playful, the other is just....not).

I don't think keeping the cats in separate rooms is cruel, even if it has to be a permanent thing (and I don't think it will be). Your older cat is very set in her ways I'm sure.

It's only been a week...they need a lot more time than that to be ok around each other.

Try feeding them close to each other and keep the kitten as entertained as possible (do you have Da Bird?).

Good on you for rescuing the poor little kitten! What a horrible thing for him to have to go through!

Like everyone else has said, just give it more time. I have 5 cats and there has always been sparks and tension when new additions have arrived. But they get over it.
Good luck!

Good for you for rescuing this kitty. Cats will adapt, despite how much they make it seem like they hate eachother. My cats aren't the best of friends, we had Morgan since a kitten and got Luna last year and Morgan still tells us she hates us for the new cat.
Good luck, oh and have you named it. I would assume Hobo would be a good name.

Okay 6 week update. Akihiko's burns are nearly unnoticeable, he has recovered especially to his front paws amazingly well. His back ones show a darker smudge to them but he does not seem to be in any pain.

I got a nice size dog cage I bring out with him in it for 3 hours into other room since my twelve year old has attacked him 3 times and attacked me and was hospitalized for two days for refusing to use restroom and vomiting 8 times a day which is 4x more the last two years of this nonsense. I also had my dad build a screen door that fits into spare room he resides in. Both of these had lead to my twelve year old showing aggressive curiosity.

She gets right up by the cage and sits for hours. If the little one so much as twitches or god forbid tries to use the litter box in there she spits, yowls and swings the claws.

By the screen door divider she adds puffed out tail and a very low ground hunting stance. If he gets near the door, ungodly yowls, spits, swipes and then immediately bangs into the screen trying get in and go after him. My thoughts are to continue with this caged/screened interaction until it seems less aggressive, likely another 3 weeks.

The food trick of any kind does not work, nor vanilla, she automatics hisses with vanilla smell. The apartment is too small for yowling of any kind so for her sake she is going to have stop being high maintenance and at least tolerate him walking around during the day. I get the vibe from the vet she doesnt have much longer in her lifespan left given the issues we had with her the last few years but it would be nice to let her live out those few years contented though I can tell last two quality just isnt there even though they dont find anything too pressing with $300 in tests, exploratory stuff in thousands is way over my league unfortunately.

If you can PM me and tell me where you live, perhaps I can network with others and find a place for this kitten. You have done a wonderful thing, but it sounds like your resident cat is stressed and stress brings illness especially to senior cats.