New to the forum -- kitten dumped on our doorstep

[chocolatebunny]

Hello all!
I am new here -- wondering if some of you might be able to provide me with some advice. Just as a little background, my real name is Rachel and I live in Texas; I go by "Chocolate Bunny" quite a bit online because of my love of chocolate and bunnies. Anyway, yesterday, my grandmother (lives next door to us) found a little black and white kitten in her yard. It's very small -- my aunt (visiting that day) thought perhaps it was 6 weeks old. We have two other cats (Button - black DSH and Chuck - siamese), but it has been a long time since Button was a kitten and we got Chuck from the pound as an adult, so I don't have a good sense of how big cats are at certain ages. My grandmother is currently keeping the kitten, but she already has one cat and doesn't really want to have another to clean up after and for which to pay vet bills. The kitten seems to be healthy except for a case of fleas (no signs of worms, but I thought we might treat him/her for them anyway just in case). We are thinking someone dumped this kitten; my grandmother asked a bunch of neighbors about it, and no one is claiming him/her. My, this him/her/it stuff gets tiresome quickly -- which brings me to my primary question: how can one determine a kitten's sex?

My mother has wanted a long-haired cuddly-type cat for a long time, but this kitten isn't quite what she had in mind. Very sweet and friendly -- in fact we all have somewhat fallen in love with him/her -- but apart from the short hair, s/he is also very mischievious and hyper. Which is fairly normal for kittens I suppose. Assuming we try to re-home this kitten, does anyone have tips on finding a good home? We have a tendency to get really attached to every stray that comes along, and end up with more pets than we every intended.

So I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up keeping this one too, but I'm going on the idea that we are going to try to find him/her a new home.

Sorry for the long post; as you can see I tend to be wordy. Any suggestions/advice would be welcome.

 

[coolcat]

Hi and Welcome to TCS!!!

See you on the forums

 

[hissy]

You can go to www.kitten-rescue.com and learn about sexing a kitten. I would also recommend a vet visit and a safe way to deflea and deworm a kitty. If she has fleas, she also has tapeworm- The vet will tell you her aprox age and if she can be safely treated for both fleas and worms. Please do not use over the counter products on her, she is much to young.

 

[catsknowme]

Welcome to TCS, Rachel! Thank you to you & your family for taking in this "discarded" kitten.

Hissy is right - the kitten is much too young for treatments, except by the vet. Are there any teen-age girls in your neighborhood that might be willing to take on a little one? As for your mom, I am sure that the shelters nearby have lots of long-haired, cuddly adult cats that would love to have your mom for a forever family - maybe even some poor cat whose owner has crossed Rainbow Bridge. Again, bless you for looking out for Creation's little ones!

Susan

 

[chocolatebunny]

Update on the kitten: she is doing very well. We have also found a family for her.

I'm so glad my grandmother found her; it turned bitterly cold very soon after and that poor kitten could have frozen to death.

As to getting a cat for my mother, yes, getting one from a shelter is what I had in mind. We were pretty flexible when it came to our other kitties, but in this case, I want to find my mom exactly what she wants if at all possible. Actually, we were at a pet store, and a rescue had a bunch of cats there. We went over and looked, and my mom fell in love with a beautiful, huge, senior male, blue tabby maine coon mix. But someone had already spoken for him.

So I am trying to find one that's similar. What she would really love is a cat like she has had in the past -- one that will curl up in your lap. Button is sweet, but she really doesn't care to snuggle, and Chuck is full of mischief and only likes to be touched when he's in a good mood.

I've been looking online, but haven't found one yet. I thought about just going and looking, but I'd never be able to leave without a kitty, whether I found one that was just right or not.

 

[valanhb]

Congratulations on finding the sweet kitten a home!!

If you haven't done so already, I would definitely check Petfinder for rescues in your area. There may be a smaller rescue that has foster home that will be able to tell you exactly what the personality of the kitty is. Foster homes will be able to help you find exactly what you are looking for, and they may have kitties that aren't yet listed in Petfinder.