New to Cats, trying to save a life

Originally Posted by dan10101

Suggestions on how you setup the first litter box is my next question.

Also, how did you begin solid foods? He seems to be rejecting any efforts to move to solids. He did take a couple very small pellot sized dry food, (soaked in milk), but I don't think he chewed them, just swallowed them whole.

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Litter box setup: I used an old 9x13 baking pan Just enough litter to cover the bottom, and placed away from the feeding area. Nice and shallow, but sturdy too.

Solid foods: when my kittens came to me, they were older....but they didn't like eating wet food from a plate. What I did was add water to the food, and swipe my finger in it....then let the kitties eat from my finger. They loved it and still do LOL (but now they do eat from a plate, but definately prefer it on my finger). Anyways, I would bring my finger closer to the plate as they licked the food off, then lower my finger closer to the plate, then finally I stuck my finger in the plate with food still on my finger but food also around my finger on the plate. I'd sneak it out while they had moved from my finger to the food in the plate.

My boys would have nothing to do with dry food that was moist. I know alot of people recommend it, wetting dry food...but my guys would have nothing to do with it. So I just left a bowl of kibble in there with them.

They are 9.5wks now and eating 2 feedings of wet food, plus dry food available at all times. They like both.


ETA: I just checked, and Tiger is 5.5wks or so now? He's the same age that the kittens were when they came to me....I fed them wet pate food mixed with water, 4x a day, off my finger at this age... they would nibble on dry, so I left a bowl in there with the dry, and found they would eat some of it overnight.

Many cats swallow dry food whole, especially if the pieces are small. If you're really concerned about Tiger not chewing it, try to find a kibble with larger pieces. Of course, he might not chew those either, but you can always try.

My cats won't touch the kibble if I moisten it with anything. They actually started eating the dry food several weeks before they would touch the wet. I left a dish out for them near their basket. They saw their mother eating it and just had to copy her.

I found my babies when they were 3-4 weeks old and they were on KMR at first then I mixed wet cat/kitten food with KMR then eventually added moe of the wet food and less KMR, at about 6 weeks they were eating dry cat food. Oh please make sure not to use a "clumping litter" as kittens love to eat the litter and it can solidify in their tummys and cause problems. with my little ones I used a brand of litter called "yesterdays news" it is basically recycled newspaper formed into pellets it is very absorbent.

Originally Posted by dan10101

You're right, It would be heart wrenching for me. I couldn't hide that last night. Everyone saw thru me.

I need to come up with arguments against clawing and typical urine and litter box smells. Then Tiger may have a chance of staying.

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Excellent. You've already received some excellent advice and our members are always willing to give more when needed. We'll do everything we can to help you keep Tiger.

We trim trim the claws on our three and provide scratching surfaces and don't have scratching issues.

We started trimming the claws on two of them, Taz and Morgan, when they were kittens, it is routine to then and they think it is attention. Kasey, an approx. 10 year old is more of a challenge, she has had them trimmed for about a year, now and it better. We had no choice with Kasey since I recued her as an older adult but it is better to start when thsy are kittens.

We don't have any litter box smells, routinely in the house. Taz is a bit old neutered, orabge tom, he will be 11 soon and has been an indoor cat, he has never sprayed.

Wow lots of suggestions.

We had a funny thing happen, and a breakthrough of sorts.

When I get done feeding him the bottle, he tends to go spastic and start clawing for more. I just put him down with the bottle and he stops almost immediately. Well, I was ready for the next feeding and couldn't find the bottle. We looked everywhere. Turned out he found a new hiding place under the armorie and he stashed the bottle under there.

We tried the dry food again tonight. This was small round kernel. Soaking it first. I began by putting a kernel in my hand. He tends to suck on my hand anyway, so I just made the kernel get in the way. I did this about 20 times and we ran out of food. He actually took a couple out of the lid they were soaking in. Hoping to move on to solids soon.

I also tried a small square kernel. We borrowed 2 different types from our cat neighbors. That one he tried to swallow whole and almost choked. I think most of the time he was swallowing the small one whole although it was mostly mush.

Litterbox for kitten:

1. Use non-clumping litter. Kittens like to eat the clumping kind sometimes and well, it clumps inside the kitten, not cool and a medical emergency type thing...

2. You might want to start with a shallow tray, cookie or cake dish... Soemthing easy for small kitties to get in and out of. I found a plastic file tray (for holding 8x11 paper) at my dollar store to start. About 1 inch deep by 8 by 11 inches. Moved up to a dish tray and then a small litterbox.

3. Don't put a lot of litter in it. Just a few scoops to start.

4. Put Tiger into it after every meal. Show him how to scratch the litter by doing it with your fingers to encourage him. If you catch him in the act somewhere else, put him in the box. If you see him making scratching motions like he does after he poos or pees on the floor, put him in the box. Be persistant. It took about 2-3 weeks before I had Aya trained well enough not to have any accidents.

5. Confine him to a small space like one room. Put the box in a real obvious place. Or if he has access to more than one room, you mgiht want to make more than one box and put them around. Little cats can neither hold it for very long nor remember where the box was very well.

re: litter you can also try Kitten Attract litter. People say it works like a charm. You don't have to fill the pan, just pour some on top of the non-clumping stuff. It's like the puppy training pads that have an attractant in it ...

As for wet food, you can try dabbing a little bit on his nose... or rubbing some of it on his lips or gums... that way he has to lick it off and he will eventually get the idea. With one bottle baby we had... one taste was all it took and she couldn't get the wet food in fast enough!

Update:
Tomorrow the little guy turns 6 weeks.
He's now almost 1.5 lbs. Hard to weight him. I have been putting him in a Kleenex box to keep him from jumping off immediately. He's taking to soggy "dry" food pretty well if I hold it in my and and feed it to him one at a time. I need to transition him to a plate asap. I have a litter box now. Just a paint roller liner with a little litter in it. Old Johnny cat type.
He just plays in it a bit and then walks out.
Overall he's a delight and we're so happy he's doing well. I'll try to get more pictures up soon. He's so big now it's hard to remember what he was like 6 weeks ago.

Thanks again and again for all your suggestions and help along the way.
Dan

You are a true saint! I would be deathly afraid of even holding a baby kitten that young and tiny!! Keep up that positive karma!

HosMan

I'm a nice guy, but hardly a saint.
Now these people, (and I'm sure some of you are reading this), that do this on a daily basis for many many many years and then give the kittens or cats away to good homes for little or no monetary reward, You are saints.

Another update:
Why not, we keep hitting milestones!
I bought a small wet food can. Opened it up and he immediately took to it. I chopped up the paste a bit and he's been eating it for the last couple feedings.
I don't know if it gives him more energy, but he's been full of it lately.
I also switched to the KMR version #2. (since I ran out of the other formula). He has accepted that as a milk substitute.

One more... I caught him crouching in the corner, I grabed him and put him in the litter box.. He finished his duty and then began scratching in the litter. (wrong place, but he did it on his own...)

Originally Posted by dan10101

Another update:
Why not, we keep hitting milestones!
I bought a small wet food can. Opened it up and he immediately took to it. I chopped up the paste a bit and he's been eating it for the last couple feedings.
I don't know if it gives him more energy, but he's been full of it lately.
I also switched to the KMR version #2. (since I ran out of the other formula). He has accepted that as a milk substitute.

One more... I caught him crouching in the corner, I grabed him and put him in the litter box.. He finished his duty and then began scratching in the litter. (wrong place, but he did it on his own...)

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Way to go (literally) Sassy/Tiger/Logan!!!!

Sounds like your little guy is doing great under your care! He'll catch onto the litter thing quickly enough. You might want to provide several little boxes for him throughout the area of the house he has access to. Kittens are like little kids, they don't plan their potty breaks ahead of time and when they gotta go, they gotta go NOW!! Also, scooping frequently will help eliminate the smell.

New photos and a quick play movie at the link in the signature below. Here's one of them.



Update: He's big, jumps and runs around like crazy sometimes, other times he's sitting on our laps sawing logs. See the video below of him playing with a ball.

He's finding the litter box more and more. Eating solid dry food and wet canned food. Still takes the bottle, but he battles for it. We're trying to keep it from him more and more so he'll eat more solid food.

My wife reminds me daily that we're not keeping him, however, no one has done anything to advertise he's available. If someone is in the Modesto, Ca area and needs a great cat, he is available. Just ignore the old guy crying in the corner.

awww Tiger is such a cutie!!! look at that little face!

Wow - he's come leaps and bounds! Frankly I don't know how your wife can resist him!

Hmm, maybe you can hint what you'd like for Father's Day? Although, if no one is advertising....I'm thinking that's a very positive sign for Tiger. Seriously, you and your wife are going to have a very special spot in heaven for what you've done for this little guy.

I correct my original assessment of color/pattern.
He's a very handsome Blue Classic Tabby.

Congratulations to you and your family for raising an orphan through the most difficult time in his life.

t6rr nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnbnm

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Tiger says Thanks!

I've noticed his light gray color has changed in some spots to white. Yes, he is cute...