how bad is too bad?

About ten days ago, I picked up a semi-feral kitten the neighbourhood kids were kicking about, dumping water on and otherwise tormenting.

Lately I've only had an hour or two at most of waking time at home. The rest of the time, SemiFeralKitty is shut in the bathroom. She has litter, toys, water, food, litter, a towel folded and rolled as a bed.

Yesterday I went by for 5 minutes to check on her, made sure she had food and water and litter was ok. Then got home after midnight, and spent a few minutes sock-wrestling with her. (I lie on the couch and drag a stuffed sock around on the ground, and she wrestles it.)

What kind of behavioural and developmental problems could arise from her getting so little interactive play time?


I really can't provide a better environment for her at the moment. It looks to me like she's imprisoned, yet even that still seems better than what she'd face out on her own.


Any insight?


(No, I can't get another kitten -- the complex doesn't permit pets at all. Am looking for a place that does, but that won't happen overnight.)

Right now she's using the bound part of a broom. Not ideal, but I can't have obvious cat paraphenalia around.


Aww, thanks. At times, I really wonder. Then I see much larger the kittens that neighbours say are litter-mates of "that little black one that died" (they don't know I have her) and how much stronger, faster and more capable they are than she is ... and then I wonder if she has some congenital defect or something and won't make it anyway.


No, and truly can not afford it right now, especially at foreigner prices. I've modified my own eating so she can eat meat and have natural litter.

No sign of fleas, but am pretty sure she has at least roundworms. At first she seemed too weak for Revolution, so I bought (at foreigner price, over twice that for locals) diatomaceous earth and have been giving her that. Her belly is less extremely round, and the stench has largely disappeared. If the DE doesn't work, at least she's getting stronger, and I can still do the Revolution or local equivalent.

A vet in town spays as young as 12 weeks. Looking at her teeth, she'd have been 8 weeks already when I took her in 2 weeks ago ... but her size and coordination seem like 6 weeks now. So I don't think she'll be a candidate for early spay.


I've been pseudo-crafting toys out of bendy straws, and she loves them! Glad to hear they're safe for teething.

Kitty-proofing my bedroom won't happen until she's through the biting, pawing, pouncing stage. I need my sleep.

Some of those toys look like they'd be fun for humans!


I'm hoping to re-home her before too long. Not sure how realistic that is, though.

@StefanZ, it's just one couple who's taken notice. But I think they'd help with TNR. I like your optimism.

Thanks for your point about females tending to be smaller. It's probably breed/mix-specific as well, and I'm comparing her to the huge adult cats I had in the past.

Very good point about preparing with objects from the new home, once I find her one!


@strange_wings, brilliant tip! So far I only know one cat-positive person here, and I can't tell her I have a cat illegally locked in my bath. Dogs are another thing she's not getting used to ...

In under three weeks, she's outgrown the mini litter box. Probably not yet ready for a full-size one, but I'll find something mid-size, no problem.

But it's pretty clear she's outgrown the bathroom. In the past 24 hours, she was locked in there for all but maybe 2 hours total. I know I need to find new toys for her ... but this is inhumane. Will probably be moving in a few weeks, but how much mistreatment like this can she take?

 

Update ...

 

I was not "able to" rehome the kitten when I left the country. None of the options seemed quite good enough for her. So I bought a crate, and she came along on a slow and winding journey, six months of hitch-hiking, wandering through cities and camping in the woods. Cats aren't supposed to travel well, but she did, and thrived. Her balance and coordination improved dramatically along the way.

 

Suddenly, instead of only a few hours a day, she was with me all the time. The better her social and play needs were met, the more pleasant her company became. She's turned out to be a very people-positive little creature. When on lead, she'll approach strangers on the street and roll onto her back, hoping to play.

 

She's still eating raw prey-model, and increasingly whole prey, with ever-better diversity of diet. Loves green tripe.

 

Thanks to everyone who helped me improve her situation when I first posted, and especially to StefanZ for your kind words and pragmatic encouragement.