Question

Not sure if this is in the right section.. There is a feral colony that lives by the recovery home next to my work. This is where i got Monster from. There is a woman who feeds them, but i dont think she can afford to fix them all.

So anyway, the guy who brought Monster to me brought in a tiny little black kitten(who is soooo adorable!). Probably about 3 weeks old. Then he came in with a beautiful classic orange tabby. he is probably about 2 months old. My bfs sister really wants another cat, who is friendly. since the cat she has(Nubbz) is NEVER seen. he hides all day. the guy told me he is trying to find homes for these kittens since they would have a better life. he really cares about these cats.

Should she take one of these kittens? i know the little black one is too young, she doesnt have the time to bottle feed and wean. the orange tabby is technically wild by this point, but he was letting me hold him & my boss was holding him too. & the guy. he seems friendly, but he did try to run while we were holding him, but he didnt hiss or meow or scratch or anything. a few of the guys handle these kittens everyday so the orange tabby should be good for my bf's sister right? she is interesting in the orange tabby.. should she?

I would think she should go for it. Just give the tabby a bit of time and it should go okay.

Well her husband really doesnt want another cat, and the fact that my Monster bit him today made it worse. But, i was talking to my friend today & she told me that her cat died like two weeks ago. she doesnt know why, but she did say that her moms boyfriend used to kick it. i think it could have been from internal damage, & so does she. so i told her about the kittens this guy wants to find homes for, & she really wants the tabby.. she is going to ask her mom if she can have it & we will see, but i really dont want her to take this kitten if her moms boyfriend is going to abuse it. but either way, i think if my bfs sister is still going to get one, she could wait a few weeks until the black kitten is not nursing, and then bring it home.

I think she should go for it too! The kitties have been around people, so it shouldn't be too difficult of a transition. But the kitty is going to be in a completely alien environment - a house, with totally different sounds, smells, etc. and he'll be scared.

She should initially confine him to one room (if her kitty doesn't spend time in the bedroom, that's a great place to do it) while he gets used to things (and using a litter box - she might want to put two in his room, because he's not used to pooping and peeing in the same place).

And to help him, she should spend as much time in there with him as she can - but for the most part not trying to pet him, just being in there, reading, sewing, knitting - whatever she does. He doesn't know what "play" is yet - but he's a kitten, so an interactive wand toy will be fun once he understands he's in a safe place (at first he'll probably be scared of it).

Tell her to think of it like this: she's three years old, and doesn't understand too much. But she does understand the tone of voice people use. Something happened, and she's not with her sisters or brothers or mom or dad anymore. She gets transported to China, where everything looks and smells and sounds different. She's not sure the family she's been placed with are going to eat her, maybe beat her - and she's terrified. It would take a few weeks for her to understand they're going to feed her, take care of her, etc. It wouldn't be right for them to expect her to climb into bed with them and curl up for hugs the very first night. She'd want to spend time watching them, getting used to them and the new place and the new food. But if they brought her breakfast every morning, lunch every day at noon, and dinner every night, and gave her some toys to play with - but didn't force them on her, and waited a little while until she came to them for attention, she'd come to trust them pretty quickly.

It's the same thing for little kitties that we bring indoors from out. They need time to adjust, and we shouldn't expect them to want love from us right away. Leaving food out to free feed is good - but giving treats (like gerber's chicken baby food) every day at the same time is a real help. And feeding him "dinner" of some kind of wet food every day at the same time will also help.

Laurie

I must have been writing while you posted. But if there's any chance the kitty is going to be abused, she shouldn't have one!

Laurie

Originally Posted by LDG

I must have been writing while you posted. But if there's any chance the kitty is going to be abused, she shouldn't have one!

Laurie

Click to expand...

Yes I agree. If you are talking about two different people then the one with the best home should get the kitten.

Yeah, the first post is referring to my bf's sister, the second one is mainly about my friend. i havent heard from her regarding whether she is allowed to get the cat, but im hoping i dont.. even if i do im going to tell her i cant let her take one of the kittens if her moms bf is going to abuse it.. i feel responsible for these kittens welfare and id rather them live on the street than to be abused. my bf's sister wont abuse it tho if she gets one.