Hi Folks,
First of all, I just want to say thank you for all of the amazing advice you've all bestowed on this site! Every question I've had over the last few weeks has been answered by you guys and gals and I really, really appreciate it. The kitty situation I'm in now is, I think, fairly unique and I could really use some advice and guidance on what I'm dealing with. I'd be eternally grateful for any help you can provide!
Here's the story, which is a bit long and involved, sorry!
I moved to China with my husband, Jake, and our calico cat, Lillian, just over a month ago. Lillian is 2.5 years old and was born in the Czech Republic. She's been all over Europe and the USA and is a sweet, spunky social butterfly. We moved over here to teach and had kind of a rough start since the assistant our school asked to help us hasn't been very helpful. We don't speak Mandarin and it's been tough getting used to how things are done over here.
About three weeks ago, I went to the pet store around the corner from our apartment to buy cat food and litter for Lillian. The pet store is absolutely tiny. It can't be any bigger than the average sized bedroom, which is typical for most of the local shops. The lady who owns the pet store is very kind and nice, but the place is covered with loud, barking dogs and puppies that she sells and boards. It's a nightmare to walk in there. Well, a few weeks ago, I went into the place and heard the most mournful meow I've ever heard. I looked around and saw a cage with a tortoiseshell cat in it. peered in and saw that she was very thin and clearly very anxious. She reached out her paw to me and I basically started crying on the spot. She didn't have a blanket or anything in the cage and must have been scared to death to be sitting there in the middle of all those dogs.
My husband and I had talked about getting another cat for Lillian to pal around with and it seemed like seeing her in that cage was a sign that she we should adopt the tortie. I went back the next night to ask about either buying or adopting her and the pet shop owner told me she was pregnant! I got a better look at her and could see that she was definitely knocked up and looked pretty far along. She was all skin and bones except for her baby bump. Through a translation app on my phone, I was able to find out that she had rescued the kitty off the street a month or so before I saw her. She said I could take her home with me for free if I wanted to and was genuinely glad and grateful that she wouldn't have to have her babies in the store. I took the tortie home on a Friday, named her Dorothy (though we call her Dot a lot of the time) and had planned to take her to the vet on Monday.
Well, Dot had the kittens on Sunday, about a day and a half after we got her. She must have been waiting to feel safe and comfortable enough to have them. Though I had made her a beautiful birthing nest in a small tent, she had all five kittens under the sofa on the floor. Go figure! Dot had them on January 15th and the babies, 4 girls and 1 boy, will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. They're all doing very well considering how frail and thin their mother is. Three of them are little chunky monkeys and the other two are on the smaller side. I've been giving the two small ones formula with an eye dropper to make sure they keep up their strength and continue to be healthy. I haven't been able to find a scale to weigh them with, unfortunately, but they're all peppy, playful little things who seem to be thriving.
Dorothy, though, has been an absolute nut since she had the kittens. I know new moms are territorial, but I think what she's doing has been on the extreme side. Lillian, God bless her, has been nothing but incredibly welcoming and sweet to Dot since she got here. However, Dot *hates* Lillian's guts and has taken to staring her down through the sliding glass door that separates our bedroom from the living room. We've been keeping them separated and had been trying to follow all the advice on this site about introducing cats to one another, however, Dorothy has escaped from the bedroom once or twice and tried to attack Lillian last weekend. My husband had to break up the fight and Dorothy bit his pinky finger so hard that she ripped a tendon. Dorothy hasn't left the bedroom since. My husband sleeps in the living room with Lillian so she won't be alone and I've been sleeping in the bedroom with Dot and the kittens. I'm lucky because Dorothy dotes on me and trusts me to be around her babies. However, she's also become very possessive of me and goes absolutely berserk when I go to bed at night. She meows loudly for hours and hours, jumps on my face and body to keep me awake and, worst of all, uses the babies as bait to get me out of bed! She moves them to the top of the bed, under the bed, behind the nightstand on some cords, etc., because she knows I'll get up to get them and put them back in the nest. I tried to ignore her last night hoping she'd put the baby she took out of the nest back, but she just ended up taking three of the five out and putting them at different places around the room to get me up! I know you might think she's just moving them for the sake of moving them to a new, safe place, but I can assure you she's being manipulative. I'm very tired!
I haven't taken Dot or the kids to the vet yet for a few reasons: 1) The babies are all very young and I didn't want to risk harming them or her by taking them anywhere. 2) There's only one English speaking vet in my city and he's been on vacation for 2 weeks and 3) Cost. We just moved here a month ago, which cost a small fortune in and of itself, and we haven't gotten our first paychecks from our new jobs yet. I'm going to take her in a week or so after the vet gets back. I've been in contact with the vet all the while he's been on vacation and he's been very helpful in giving advice and such. He also prescribed some worm medicine for Dot when I saw a sneaky tapeworm coming out of her behind. I'll get the kittens dewormed as soon as they're old enough! I'm also going to get Dorothy fixed as soon as the kittens are weaned.
I'm proud to take care of Dot and her kiddos, but it's been challenging both because of her anxiety and that I don't have the resources or knowledge to find the things I need for her in China. They don't have anything like a PetSmart or PetCo around here. If there were, I'd try to find something like Feliway to calm her down and help me sleep! Do y'all have any advice for me? Things I can do or should be doing? I just want Dorothy to get along with Lillian so we can have a nice peaceful household. I hope after she's fixed and the kittens have been adopted that she'll be able to become friends with Lillian.
Like I said, I need all the help I can get! Please advise! Thank you!!!
First of all, I just want to say thank you for all of the amazing advice you've all bestowed on this site! Every question I've had over the last few weeks has been answered by you guys and gals and I really, really appreciate it. The kitty situation I'm in now is, I think, fairly unique and I could really use some advice and guidance on what I'm dealing with. I'd be eternally grateful for any help you can provide!
Here's the story, which is a bit long and involved, sorry!
I moved to China with my husband, Jake, and our calico cat, Lillian, just over a month ago. Lillian is 2.5 years old and was born in the Czech Republic. She's been all over Europe and the USA and is a sweet, spunky social butterfly. We moved over here to teach and had kind of a rough start since the assistant our school asked to help us hasn't been very helpful. We don't speak Mandarin and it's been tough getting used to how things are done over here.
About three weeks ago, I went to the pet store around the corner from our apartment to buy cat food and litter for Lillian. The pet store is absolutely tiny. It can't be any bigger than the average sized bedroom, which is typical for most of the local shops. The lady who owns the pet store is very kind and nice, but the place is covered with loud, barking dogs and puppies that she sells and boards. It's a nightmare to walk in there. Well, a few weeks ago, I went into the place and heard the most mournful meow I've ever heard. I looked around and saw a cage with a tortoiseshell cat in it. peered in and saw that she was very thin and clearly very anxious. She reached out her paw to me and I basically started crying on the spot. She didn't have a blanket or anything in the cage and must have been scared to death to be sitting there in the middle of all those dogs.
My husband and I had talked about getting another cat for Lillian to pal around with and it seemed like seeing her in that cage was a sign that she we should adopt the tortie. I went back the next night to ask about either buying or adopting her and the pet shop owner told me she was pregnant! I got a better look at her and could see that she was definitely knocked up and looked pretty far along. She was all skin and bones except for her baby bump. Through a translation app on my phone, I was able to find out that she had rescued the kitty off the street a month or so before I saw her. She said I could take her home with me for free if I wanted to and was genuinely glad and grateful that she wouldn't have to have her babies in the store. I took the tortie home on a Friday, named her Dorothy (though we call her Dot a lot of the time) and had planned to take her to the vet on Monday.
Well, Dot had the kittens on Sunday, about a day and a half after we got her. She must have been waiting to feel safe and comfortable enough to have them. Though I had made her a beautiful birthing nest in a small tent, she had all five kittens under the sofa on the floor. Go figure! Dot had them on January 15th and the babies, 4 girls and 1 boy, will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. They're all doing very well considering how frail and thin their mother is. Three of them are little chunky monkeys and the other two are on the smaller side. I've been giving the two small ones formula with an eye dropper to make sure they keep up their strength and continue to be healthy. I haven't been able to find a scale to weigh them with, unfortunately, but they're all peppy, playful little things who seem to be thriving.
Dorothy, though, has been an absolute nut since she had the kittens. I know new moms are territorial, but I think what she's doing has been on the extreme side. Lillian, God bless her, has been nothing but incredibly welcoming and sweet to Dot since she got here. However, Dot *hates* Lillian's guts and has taken to staring her down through the sliding glass door that separates our bedroom from the living room. We've been keeping them separated and had been trying to follow all the advice on this site about introducing cats to one another, however, Dorothy has escaped from the bedroom once or twice and tried to attack Lillian last weekend. My husband had to break up the fight and Dorothy bit his pinky finger so hard that she ripped a tendon. Dorothy hasn't left the bedroom since. My husband sleeps in the living room with Lillian so she won't be alone and I've been sleeping in the bedroom with Dot and the kittens. I'm lucky because Dorothy dotes on me and trusts me to be around her babies. However, she's also become very possessive of me and goes absolutely berserk when I go to bed at night. She meows loudly for hours and hours, jumps on my face and body to keep me awake and, worst of all, uses the babies as bait to get me out of bed! She moves them to the top of the bed, under the bed, behind the nightstand on some cords, etc., because she knows I'll get up to get them and put them back in the nest. I tried to ignore her last night hoping she'd put the baby she took out of the nest back, but she just ended up taking three of the five out and putting them at different places around the room to get me up! I know you might think she's just moving them for the sake of moving them to a new, safe place, but I can assure you she's being manipulative. I'm very tired!
I haven't taken Dot or the kids to the vet yet for a few reasons: 1) The babies are all very young and I didn't want to risk harming them or her by taking them anywhere. 2) There's only one English speaking vet in my city and he's been on vacation for 2 weeks and 3) Cost. We just moved here a month ago, which cost a small fortune in and of itself, and we haven't gotten our first paychecks from our new jobs yet. I'm going to take her in a week or so after the vet gets back. I've been in contact with the vet all the while he's been on vacation and he's been very helpful in giving advice and such. He also prescribed some worm medicine for Dot when I saw a sneaky tapeworm coming out of her behind. I'll get the kittens dewormed as soon as they're old enough! I'm also going to get Dorothy fixed as soon as the kittens are weaned.
I'm proud to take care of Dot and her kiddos, but it's been challenging both because of her anxiety and that I don't have the resources or knowledge to find the things I need for her in China. They don't have anything like a PetSmart or PetCo around here. If there were, I'd try to find something like Feliway to calm her down and help me sleep! Do y'all have any advice for me? Things I can do or should be doing? I just want Dorothy to get along with Lillian so we can have a nice peaceful household. I hope after she's fixed and the kittens have been adopted that she'll be able to become friends with Lillian.
Like I said, I need all the help I can get! Please advise! Thank you!!!
Interesting story. I got touched by this pet shop owner. Apparently she wanted genuinely to help Dorothy. I can understand a high preg street cat is no big business for her, so she may want to get rid of the problem. but having there an actual customer, a rich foreigner at that, whom is ready to pay good money - AND giving away for free - this is a true good heart. To the cat and to the foreigner.
