Three Little Females

They are, of course, adorable. I just piced them up an hour ago.

Within one minute of being released in my house they managed to show me every hiding place where I wouldn't want them.

They have a room of their own here.

My seven year-old, Pixel, is not welcoming them. She is hissing and growling and mainly keeping away from them. I didn't expect this, not with kittens. I hope she comes around.

I think they'll have homes before they need their stitches out. Here's some pictures. This is the first time I've done this. So, any suggestions at all, please!!!? Give it to me!

So you are fostering some foster feral kittens??

Katie

Do they have some sheltered place? So they wouldnt be forced to seek hidding places.
Igloo, or a cardboard box turned aside with some old blanket or towel in is just fine.

I think kittens tend to hide in a new environment. And especially if they just got spayed. They just need time to heal and adjust.

Remember to look at their stitches every day, to be sure they are healing well.

Originally Posted by Vik61

My seven year-old, Pixel, is not welcoming them. She is hissing and growling and mainly keeping away from them. I didn't expect this, not with kittens. I hope she comes around.

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That is a pretty normal, average expected reaction between cats meeting for the first time No matter how sweet and loving the cats seem to be.

They are beautiful girls btw. Good luck rehoming them! Are they feral or just a little nervous?

Y'know, I am SO sorry. I could have sworn I saw a forum for people who were fostering kittens. I posted this in the wrong forum! I WAS reading this one because I am interested in learning about ferals. Here in El Paso there are a lot of feral cats. TNR1 thanks for those links in your sig! I am having a time trying to get the park where I live to understand the benefits of the feral cat program here, but that is another story....

I piced these three up and had them home by 12:30. The Animal hospital keeps them and they close at noon. By dinner two had been adopted from my home! That was fast because of a truly lovely woman who runs Friends of Animals here. The last one is my favorite. I would love to keep her myself but I don't know with Pixel behaving the way she is. I mean even when they are at opposite ends of the house and I peek in on Pix, she hisses and moans and cries--it's always terribly dramitic with cats isn't it.

The kitten is crying in her room--no doubt missing her sisters. I am going to try to have some snoozing time with her tonight. Maybe now since she is howling up a storm.

I picked up a couple of cat tube-type things. Made of tent material and they kittens all loved them instantly. So they stopped hiding as soon as they acclimated to the new house.

Originally Posted by Vik61

Y'know, I am SO sorry. I could have sworn I saw a forum for people who were fostering kittens. I posted this in the wrong forum! I WAS reading this one because I am interested in learning about ferals. Here in El Paso there are a lot of feral cats. TNR1 thanks for those links in your sig! I am having a time trying to get the park where I live to understand the benefits of the feral cat program here, but that is another story....

I piced these three up and had them home by 12:30. The Animal hospital keeps them and they close at noon. By dinner two had been adopted from my home! That was fast because of a truly lovely woman who runs Friends of Animals here. The last one is my favorite. I would love to keep her myself but I don't know with Pixel behaving the way she is. I mean even when they are at opposite ends of the house and I peek in on Pix, she hisses and moans and cries--it's always terribly dramitic with cats isn't it.

The kitten is crying in her room--no doubt missing her sisters. I am going to try to have some snoozing time with her tonight. Maybe now since she is howling up a storm.

I picked up a couple of cat tube-type things. Made of tent material and they kittens all loved them instantly. So they stopped hiding as soon as they acclimated to the new house.

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Hey Vik...the forum you are looking for is here:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=36

but you can also join:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orphankittens/

As far as the ferals go....I would highly recommend contact feral cat organizations in Texas:

http://www.alleycat.org/orgs.html#tx

You can also join this group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/feral_cats/

Good luck and thanks for caring for these cats.

Katie

Originally Posted by Vik61

...The last one is my favorite. I would love to keep her myself but I don't know with Pixel behaving the way she is. I mean even when they are at opposite ends of the house and I peek in on Pix, she hisses and moans and cries--it's always terribly dramitic with cats isn't it....

Click to expand...

Introductions between cats go sooooo much more smoothly when made slowly!

The boys in our house take pretty quickly to newbies - but the girls, the first one being Spooky, always take a while to adjust. We now have three boys and three girls. Now that we know them, it's very apparent that two of them would have been perfectly happy being alone cats - but only Spooky is the one I believe would be happier without any other cats around. It takes her about 6 weeks before she'll stop hitting anewbie, and about 3 months to totally adjust. Ming Loy was our latest rescued addition - and 1 1/2 years later, when Ming Loy waddles up to Spooky (Ming Loy is handicapped) and nuzzles into Spook's chest, Spooky will now lick her head (which is what Ming Loy is looking for when she does that).

My point is - your Pixel is unhappy, and that is normal. If you want to keep the foster kitten, there are lots of things you can do to help make Pixel's transition from "alone kitty" a lot easier:

Rub kitty all over with a dry hand towel (that was washed without fabric softener). Get her smell all over it. Put it in a place that Pixel goes, and place treats on it. Do this at least once a day. You can also do the same hand-towel-smell thing and place it under Pixel's food. She will begin to associate the kitten's smell with good things. Give Pixel extra attention - spend more time than usual playing with her or petting her, whatever her thing is.

After a few days of this, or when the kitten is ready, you can open the door to her room as long as you supervise any encounters. A few minutes may be more than enough. Of course, the ideal thing is to replace the door on the room with a screen door, but most people aren't willing to go that far for kitty introductions. When they do, it works really well! They'll hiss at each other through the screen, but it sure helps them get used to each other!

You may want to read the thread stickied at the top of this forum - The Story of Lucky. It was about the type of introduction you'd have to make - with a kitten and an unhappy Pixel. In the case of Lucky, they ended up becoming great friends.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck, and thanks for caring for those kittens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laurie

Great suggestions, thank you SO much!

I just love my Pixel. I have to admit it was just a little funny to me, some of the things she was doing. I had the kittens behind closed doors before putting up a gate. And when it was closed Pixel walked all the way to the other end of the house, hissed at the closed door and walked back to the bedroom where she stayed under the bed.

Whenever I peeked under the bed to talk to her she just hissed. Not AT me, but just to let me know...she hissed and growled until 24 hours later when ALL kittens were adopted out to good homes.

It was more like kitty-sitting, really.

But I will keep doing it if only because they need me in order for the kittens to not have to be left alone in cages over the weekend. Here, they get to romp around and play.

Thanks again. I will definitely be using your suggestions this weekend if I have more kittens to watch!