Hi folks - I'm the foster coordinator with a small local rescue organization. One of our former fosters called me Friday about a person asking them to take a kitten they found. The circumstances are a little strange, the girl that found the kitten said she found the kitten alone in her parent's basement. They don't have any cats of their own, and there was no mother around, nor did she see or hear any other kittens. She said her parents are "sort of" hoarders, so I'm thinking there was a lot of clutter in the basement and there must be some way for a cat to get in and out, because kittens don't just materialize out of thin air right? Either the mother cat gave birth and has been living there without the homeowners knowledge, or she moved her litter in there after they were born. The fate of the rest of the litter is unknown. Anyhow, this little lone kitten is about 4 weeks old and is eating on his own. We have a mother cat that gave birth to a litter in one of our foster homes and her litter is almost exactly the same size as the orphan. Her kittens have just started eating kitten food, but are still nursing periodically. Ideally, the orphan could be raised with the other kittens so he'll get properly socialized and have some playmates instead of being fostered as an only kitten. We introduced the kitten to the others and the mother last night and the kittens are pretty accepting of him, but the mother cat hissed and growled at him. I did wash the little guy out of concern for fleas because he's too young to treat with medication, and if I had been thinking ahead I would have used unscented shampoo, but I wasn't, so I'm sure he smells strange to her. Obviously, he doesn't smell like one of hers, but I'm wondering if I should wash him again with unscented shampoo and then confine him with the other kittens for a while so he might pick up some of their scent. I've had good luck introducing a newborn to an existing litter, but not a kitten that's already weaned. Would love to hear any tried and true suggestions. (and thanks for reading my long-winded post!)
